Writers: Dan Guntzelman
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: December 6, 1980
The great paradox of Herb Tarlek's life is this: His being Sales Manager may not be that important to WKRP but being Sales Manager of WKRP is the most important thing in his life.
This is evident before the credits even roll. Herb brings a letter to Mr. Carlson stating that "Herb Tarlek is ... essential and indispensable to the operation of the company" and Carlson, who has always been Herb's biggest supporter, literally laughs in his face. "Is this some kind of joke?" he laughs. The thing is, jury duty or not, that has always been the way Herb has seen himself at the station - as essential and indispensable. In the season two episode "Venus Rising," Herb bluffs he has a job elsewhere to get WKRP to give him a raise and loses big time when Carlson is ready to just let him go. The Sales department is essential to the running of any radio station, and he is the sales manager. Those two things are true. The false conclusion Herb then jumps to (and lives his life by) is that, therefore he is personally essential to the station. The great dirty truth in business is anyone can be replaced.
So Herb goes off to jury duty and Andy steps in with the intention of showing Herb the way things should be done. Andy is confident he can do the job better because he thinks ANYONE could do the job better than Herb. We'll come back to Andy's story in a minute.
Herb is elected foreman of the jury and what ensues is the "WKRP in Cincinnati" version of "12 Angry Men," except Herb is trying to convince everyone the defendant is guilty. As is alluded to in the final scene, this is suppose to represent Herb stepping into Andy shoes, trying to get a group of disparate people to work together without much success. Writer Dan Guntzelman made a wise decision in not having the jury be made up of representative characters from the station. There isn't an old hippie, a commie-hating paranoid, a smart, beautiful blonde, etc. Instead we see an "old, immigrant man," a bimbo and a guy trying to hit on the bimbo. This group can't even decide what to order for lunch! How can Herb wrangle them into a conviction?
He does so by pretending to be pretending. Herb gives a heart-tugging speech about how all the time spent in the courtroom is letting some young hotshot have a chance at taking over his job. He starts to tear up. The lady tries to comfort him and he reveals he is "acting" the same way the defendant is. Thing is, he's not acting. That is the real reason he wants out of jury duty. He's not missing his wife and kids - he's afraid someone is taking over his job. Once the jury finally lets out, the first place he goes, even late at night, is back to the office. And a real moment of fear overcomes him when he sees Andy, dressed in a suit, sitting at the Sales desk.
Before we get to Andy's "mile," what is happening with the rest of the cast? Venus has been made temporary Program Director and it's interesting to see he's now not dressing like funky "Venus" or cowboy "Andy." They say dress for the job you want, and in his suit, he more resembles General Manager Carlson than anyone else. He immediately bumps up against the same problems Andy constantly faces: Johnny not playing the playlist and Les with some hairball, award-baiting scheme.
The C-story in this script is that Les wants to adapt John Howard Griffin's 1961 book "Black Like Me" for radio. There is so much wrong with this idea, both in the WKRP universe and in the real world.
I have often critized Richard Sanders' showy acting, and I realize he was just following his script here. However, I'd like to point out that in three of the past four episodes, Frank Bonner has been working as a lead character, utilizing his comic timing and improve skills to elevate the show. In contrast, Richard Sanders has been reduced to a bit player, who with this episode, reaches the lowest point the character of Les Nesman would ever reach. The joke is Les in blackface - period. Look how silly Les is in blackface, especially in front of Venus ha ha ha. Sanders doesn't add anything to that joke and even in 1980, that joke isn't funny. It feels to me like the writers don't trust Sanders to carry an episode as much as they do Bonner.
But just go back to the world of WKRP. The book Les wants to adapt is already 20 years old. There was already a movie made of it 16 years earlier. So the premise is outdated. Also, this is a Rock 'n Roll station, with a mixed raced listenership, as evidenced by the popularity of both Johnny and Venus. This is not the audience for an expose on race relations in Cincinnati. But most obviously, you can't see Les in blackface on the radio. Venus is equal parts offended and terrified by Les in blackface. How would the whole listenership react?
Now it's time for Andy, who once again proves he's not as good at his job as he thinks he is. Andy loses six clients in a week. He claims to have "lived and breathed radio since (he) was a little boy" and "done every job there is to be done at a radio station, including sales" but after all this time he still doesn't understand WKRP's position in the marketplace. There are no national advertisers on this station, no agencies buying blocks of airtime. Herb has cobbled together a string of shady, sleazy clients because that's what he's had to do since the station was 24th in a 28 station market. The "Mile in My Shoes" of the title is a reference to Andy, who in four minutes in Smilin' Al's office sees what Herb has lived with, day after day for years. He needs to drink "hootch" and make mindless, glad handing small talk all while jumping around professional hustlers who are just waiting to take advantage of him.
Andy slowly turns into Herb, from the suits and slicked-back hair to killing time around the bullpen, building pencil towers just waiting, HOPING for one of his contacts to come back. When Herb comes back to save the account, Andy gains a new appreciation for him and how tough his job is. But not enough of an appreciation to actually hire some more salesmen, or a professional collection agency to help Herb out. The debts problem isn't solved, Herb has to earn back six new clients to make up for what Andy lost and Andy still needs to wash that stuff out of his hair.
Roy
Other Notes - Shout out to the scene of Johnny and Venus speaking in unison. Genuinely funny. Walter Jonowitz, who played the immigrant juror, made a career out of playing either Jewish immigrants or Nazis (specifically on "Hogan's Heroes"). That's a unique range
No comments:
Post a Comment