Ep. 76 - Love, Exciting and New

August 21 2019

Writer: Lissa Levin
Director: Frank Bonner
Original Air Date: January 6, 1982

I have been having a terrible time trying to write about this episode. I written things and scrapped them and written again and I think I've finally come to a conclusion as to why: THIS is the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati that doesn't hold up. THIS is the one for which the changes in society over 40 years have finally been too much for the writing to survive. And to be clear, this is a show in which Les has appeared in blackface and also threatened to kill himself because someone thought he was gay. And this episode is also very funny, which IS the point of the show after all. Although it often took on issues of the day, this is a situation COMEDY and the situations Andy finds himself in here are very funny. Andy caught on all fours on a pool table is inherently funny!

Also, we are into a fourth season with these characters. We understand their motivations so there is no REAL threat. Also, this might be Carol Bruce's best performance in the role of Mama Carlson and Gary Sandy plays to all of his strengths here. Make no mistake, this is a very well executed episode of WKRP.

And yet. And yet.... yeech.

WKRP has a history of using the first episode of a calendar year to explore a topic no one else of television is tackling and I have to wonder, before January 6th, 1982, how many people in the audience had even heard the term "sexual harassment."

Of course, everybody knew what it was. It was so prevalent as to have become invisible. So the humour in this episode comes from giving it a name and shining a light on it and and they way they do that is by reversing the standard gender roles - Andy is the victim of his female employer.

At first, Andy thinks he's the clever one, flattering Lillian Carlson by going to dinners and the opera with her in order to have her pay for a new transmitter (a call back to the beginning of season three and the "phone cops" episode). When Les let's the others at the station know about what Andy has been doing, they each react in the same way: "Are you insane?"

The only one who doesn't know is Arthur Carlson, who is just delighted his mother has seemed so happy lately. Andy brings Arthur to the mansion to discuss the transmitter with her because Andy is starting to feel as if he may not have the situation as in control as he thinks.

There are two scenes in this episode that don't age well. This is the lesser of those scenes. In the "games room" (not a random use of the phrase), Mama quietly threatens Andy that when she expects to see him alone, she doesn't want him to bring anyone else. The most important line in this scene comes from Lillian. As she is chalking up a cue stick, she explaining the rules of the game "Everyone plays very hard and in the end, I win." Everyone but Arthur knows she is not talking about pool.

The scene that ALMOST redeems the episode is next, in the station lobby. Andy asks Jennifer and Bailey their opinion of his feeling a sense of pressure from his employer. It is something he realizes more commonly happens to women. During this exchange, Andy stands up to Herb for bothering Jennifer and uses the term "sexual harassment." This is important because it highlights that sexual harassment, even at that benign level, has been a staple of WKRP since the beginning.  In fact a "Herb hits on Jennifer" joke is the VERY FIRST LINE delivered in the pilot episode.

Herb brushes it off as if it's no big deal but Andy is learning it is a big deal. The Big Guy is also learning that any of this is going on, as he overhears Andy, Jennifer and Bailey's conversation.

The Big Guy calls his mother over to the station to clear up what may be going on, and it is THIS scene, in Carlson's office, that in my opinion is a bridge too far. Arthur wants to know what his mother's intentions are and why she is using Andy in this way. And she says: "He's an employee of mine and that's what you do with employees (use them). What's the point of being in charge?"
"He wants something... a transmitter. And I want something... good hair." That idea that when an employer is paying an employee, they get to do whatever they want is a corrosive, evil idea and here it is a punchline! Especially when Arthur follows up "That all sounds pretty innocent to me."

But next, now that Lillian knows of Andy's discomfort, she wants to use that knowledge to mock him. Back in the Game Room that night, Andy is trying to build up the confidence to confront her when he spills his drink on the pool table. He's desperate to clean up this mistake, using his jacket to soak up the stain and even climbing on the table to apply more pressure. So this is where Lillian finds Andy... with his jacket off on all four on top of her pool table! It's a very funny reaction shot and the audience loves it!

Lillian tries coming on strong to Andy, in an effort to make him even more uncomfortable. Andy insists she must be kidding. She holds him from behind and says "Let's run away together... to Los Angeles. They'll understand there." The LA based studio audience roars! The scene concludes when Andy knocks the wall rack off, letting the billiard balls clank off the floor. They have arrived at peak ridiculousness and now begin to talk and clear the air.

At the end, Andy confronts Carlson about not telling him what his mother had in mind. Andy is mirroring Lillian - Arthur does the same "are you kidding" routine - around and around the desk as Andy make Carlson more and more uncomfortable.

Just not as uncomfortable as I was with previous scene in his office.

Roy

Other Notes - So Many Notes! This is the only time we ever see Les Nesman's "Show Beat." In it he interviews real life actress Colleen Camp who is promoting the Peter Bogdonovich's film "They All Laughed." I have no idea what the connection between WKRP and this film were, but that film has a weird, twisted history. It was the last film from actress and Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratton. According to the film "Star 80," it was her affair with Bogdonovich that drove her boyfriend to murder her. This was also Audrey Hepburn's last major role. Bogdonovich went into bankruptcy trying to self-distribute the film.
Andy yells at Les for grilling Colleen Camp "like she was Adolph Eichmann." Eichmann was one of the major organizers of the Holocaust and, when captured in 1960, was interrogated for months before his trial.
Check out the first scene in the Game Room: Gary Sandy is trying not to break up as Gordon Jump obviously improvises that he can't find all the balls.

Ep. 75 - The Consultant

August 14, 2019

Writer: Hugh Wilson
Director: Dolores Ferraro
Original Air Date: December 30, 1981

^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^


I think Hugh Wilson writing this episode is very interesting because I propose this episode is about two things that are of great interest to him specifically.  The first is the direction of the entertainment industry as a whole and radio in particular. The second is the expectations and judgements of types of people that he has always played with.

Let's begin with Norris Breeze, an old friend of Andy's that has come to Cincinnati to "evaluate" the station. Many in the radio business would look at him and say he has surpassed his old boss and become even more successful. Breeze is programming 45 radio stations across America - Cincinnati would be a small pick up to the empire he is building. And he is very clear about that with Andy - he's not interested in evaluating Andy's performance to help improve it at all. He is there to sell his programming service, meaning one more station would sound like 45 other stations.

This is of course the way radio has gone. Virgin Radio, Clear Channel and I Heart Radio now don't only program 45 stations - they program hundreds at a time. But Wilson is fighting against this and Andy is his stand-in. Andy doesn't even program ONE radio station; the DJs play their own stuff. Wilson is arguing for this very personal approach to the music and the audience. He purposely makes Breeze a villain with a coke habit who calls Cincinnati "small town." But it's Andy who judges Breeze for "changing" ie. selling out. I think Wilson may be commenting of people in the Hollywood industry who he has seen "surpass" him and sell-out their artistic beliefs, not just to make money but to accumulate power.

You know what we haven't talked about for a while? The Suits vs the Dungarees! "WKRP in Cincinnati" exists to blow up the preconceived perceptions about how these two groups behave. At this station, it is the Dungarees who are responsible and the Suits are the buffoons. Even Mama Carlson says "I only trust my son and I always trust him to do the wrong thing." So how can Andy and the rest of the staff make a mockery of Norris Breeze's evaluation?

Play into the stereotypes.

Jennifer is a gorgeous blonde? She must be an airhead. Bailey just came out of college? Probably still using drugs (let's just jump over Norris' coke use when judging a stoned Bailey). One black man working at the station? There's probably racial tension and he's probably armed.  Wilson steers his cast into the roles society would have expected them to play.

But his (or Andy's) most brilliant move is to get the Suits to play the roles they should be playing in WKRP. Arthur Carlson SHOULD be constantly on top of the station's numbers as the General Manager running a family business. Herb SHOULD be exhausted as the only salesman on the staff. Most radio stations have more salesmen than DJs in real life! Also having these two "responsible" looking men tell Breeze that they need his sort of service just give them greater credibility in his mind.

And I personally have always believed that WKRP should have promoted Les as the wacky newscaster, rather than try to hide him and be ashamed of him. NOBODY listens to a rock station for cutting edge news reporting! But I'm not being paid to be a radio consultant.

Of course, the coupe de gras is Andy, the man who manipulated everyone in the station in order to keep the union out, coming across as naive, even while sitting on Mama's couch during the evaluation. Once again he has manipulated everyone, especially his old friend Norris.

Notice something here with Mama: she is not mad at Andy. She is bemused at what Andy has done. She loves the paring back and forth the two of them are doing. My wife watched this episode with me and said "why does she keep Hirsch around if he acts that way all the time?" The reason is because she likes it! So many people in her life are frightened or grovel around her; especially her son. She likes it when people stand up, speak their mind and are not afraid of her. That's why she would keep a rude houseboy for over 40 years. It's also why we hear no more of Norris Breeze.

Roy


Other Notes - David Clennon, who played Norris Breeze is a long time character actor who is probably best known for playing Miles on "twentysomething" - who was essentially just a meaner version of Norris. Bailey is singing the like Farfel the dog, a puppet who did Nestle Quik commercials from 1953 to 1965. See that side eye Andy gives Herb when he says "No Problem-o" rather than "No Problem"?


NEW NOTE - I was watching the episode "Pills" when my seven year old daughter came into the room and decided she wanted to watch Daddy's show with him. So I stopped watching the episode about taking Speed because that would raise just too many questions, I looked for what I thought would be the funniest episode on the same disc... "The Consultant."
     But she didn't find it very funny and that is because she didn't know any of these characters. It hadn't dawned on me because I've spent three decades with this show, but in a vacuum, this episode makes very little sense. And that made me think more about season four as a whole. This is the season in which WKRP really leaned into the continuity, and I have praised them for that. But the flipside is the writers are expecting the viewers to bring a lot of knowledge with them.
     But she did think Loni Anderson's airhead voice was really funny!

Ep. 74 - Jennifer & the Will

July 31, 2019

Writer: Blake Hunter
Director: Dolores Ferraro
Original Air Date: December 2, 1981

This is the episode from which, most of us in 1981, learned what an executrix is. And it has nothing to doing with high heels and leather!

Colonel H. Buchanan had been a hero of the second world war, during which he had become the beloved leader of the Fightin' 42nd Division. Upon returning to Cincinnati he beaome a multimillionaire entrepenear who enjoyed the finer things in life, such as expensive French dinners and going out with our own Jennifer Marlowe. The prologue takes place during one of these dinners and by the end, the Colonel passes away.

This sets up an interesting duality running though this episode. On one hand, it's been a running joke that Jennifer almost only ever dates older, wealthy men. We've heard in past episodes of Jennifer being jetted off to Paris for supper or that the Admiral is waiting for her in the car. We've always laughed at these lines because we've snickered at Jennifer being a gold digger. But in this episode we see the other side of Jennifer: she really cares for the Colonel. She may be the only person in the episode who is genuinely upset that the man, not the millionaire, has died. It at once goes against our snickering while reinforcing Jennifer's role as the caretaker of the group. Now she will be caretaking the Colonel's final wishes.

But there are a few things standing in her way and these make up the next three acts of the episode. First are the reactions of her co-workers, who are uncomfortable even discussing death and unsure as to how to comfort her. The people you think would be cool are uncomfortable now dealing with her. Johnny offers to take her out to night court (imagine an episode in which Johnny and Jennifer go on a date to night court!) Yet it's Herb, someone who is comfortable with himself all the time, who makes Jennifer feel better. He would love to have led the life the Colonel did: "He caught the big bus while eating at the best joint in town. Pretty good if you ask me."

Next are the people of Cincinnati, specifically the press, who are curious as to the torrid details surrounding the death of this rich a famous man and the "blonde floozie" he was last seen with. When Mr. Carlson accompanies Jennifer to the funeral, it turns into a madhouse! She can't just be allowed to respectful grieve the loss of someone she cared about.

The scene goes back to our "theatre of the mind" discussions, with Mr. Carlson telling Andy and Bailey about how the press ran across the cemetery, trampling flowers to get a picture of the mystery woman. We never see the chaos but we can imagine it. The highlight is someone shouting out "Hey! She's with another old coot!"

But mostly it is the Buchanan family Jennifer will need to overcome. They've used their powerful connections to plant the stories about "blonde floozies" to lay the groundwork for contesting the will.

And now we see something that only ever happens in TV sit-coms... the video will. In fact, "WKRP" appears to be one of the first shows to use what is now a TV Trope. Often in these video wills, the deceased will respond to what the living characters say because he knows them so well

"Do you have anything to say, Cedric?"
(whining) "No"
(exaggerated whining) "Nooooooo"

Maybe my favourite line from this episode is the Colonel's reason why his first brother is getting nothing: "You've always been an all-or-nothing type of fellow and since you can't have it all, you get... nothing." Even Jennifer, who asked that he leave her nothing so that she wouldn't appear to be a gold digger, receives one dollar, and they two throw kisses to each other.

As executrix, seeing the Colonel like this gives her the strength to face down the family. The Colonel wants the money to go to his beloved Fightin' 42nd Division, not his money grubbing family. He know that she actually cared about him, and how capable she can be.  The Colonel's lawyer sees both how beautiful and how capable Jennifer is when he says "Dating Ms. Marlowe might just prove his mind was as clear as a bell!"

Roy

Other Notes -- Pat O'Brien, a very well known character actor from the 30's, 40's and 50's played the Colonel. WKRP was one of his final roles. Bailey runs to the lobby with Les' tearsheets, however she puts her coat on to enter the lobby. Continuity error!!

Ep. 73 - Three Days of the Condo

July 23, 2019

Writer: Lissa Levin
Director: Linda Day
Original Air Date: November 18, 1981

In 1980, there were only 2.2 million condominium units in the United States. That number today is north of 14 million. But it is strange today to think of a time when this form of home ownership was looked at with suspicion, as if the builders were "scamming" buyers by selling them a home without selling them the land. It was synonymous with conforming to the majority to relinquish your homeowner rights to live in a cookie-cutter condo with condo fees and condo rules.

It's not just the cheesy "Gone With the Wind" theme that is causing people to laugh in this episode. The very idea of Johnny Fever in a condo that they are reacting to.

In 1980, homosexuality was illegal in the United States. It wasn't until 2003 that the Supreme Court struck down same-sex sodomy laws, essentially making laws against consensual sexual activity unconstitutional. But it is strange today to think of a time when this form of relationship was looked at with suspicion, as if gay couples were "corrupting" people into joining them. It was synonymous with abandoning decency to "choose" homosexuality despite the fact most people knew and/or were related to homosexual people.

It's not just the "whole slavery bugadee boo" that is causing people to laugh in this episode. It is the very idea that Johnny Fever could be gay that they are reacting to.

See what I did there?

But lets begin our discussion of this episode with probably its most controversial plot point: Johnny Fever has money!

Johnny receives a settlement cheque of $24,000 from the radio station in L.A. that fired him all those years ago for saying "Booger!" on the air. It was a great call back to the very first episode that Jennifer gets a laugh just for saying the word "Booger." An inflation calculator tells me that in 2018 dollars, that would be a cheque for $62,700. Another funny call back is that the first things Johnny and Venus can think of doing with that much money involve careless ways to pay more for your phone bills (always worrying about the phone cops!).

Johnny immediately blows over a $1000 in one day on leather clothes, women, intoxicants of some sort, harmonicas and "soap you can see through!" But he had previously asked the more financially savvy Venus to help him manage his money. Venus wants him to be smart with this money and invest it. "Real Estate has never failed" he tells Johnny and, it just so happens, Herb has the perfect investment opportunity: his client Gone With The Wind Estates. According to their radio spot "it's Con-Doo-Minium Living... Plantation style."

The gang visits Johnny in his new condo, each commenting on how much they like it, before he confesses to Venus how much he hates it. They need to get him out of this deal.

Venus arranges for a meeting between Johnny and himself and the condo salesman Mr. Wainwright and "one of the company's top people" Ms. Archer. Ms. Archer is some sort of cross between Miss Trunchbull and a women's prison warden; all tightness and cruelty. Venus tries to approach these "Gone With the Wind-ers" like a true financial consultant at first, or perhaps even as a lay lawyer. He is reasonable, even offering a cash penalty.

At this point you may wonder why Ms. Archer et al are so unwilling to let Johnny out of an agreement that isn't even a day old at this point. Most reputable condo companies don't want owners who are so unhappy with their situation that they are even threatening to raffle off the condo to get out of the agreement. I will submit the idea that Gone With the Wind Estates is doing poorly - very poorly. That the good people of Cincinnati don't want to live on Piddy Pat Lane. My evidence is two-fold: first, they have to hire a hard ass like Archer to keep owners in line in the first place; and second, they have stooped to advertising with WKRP.

Much like Mr. Carlson in certain situations, we sometimes forget how wise Johnny can be. He has seen some things, and although he will burn through money buying clear soap, he has survived this long by being able to read people and make unemotional choices (other example include the union and Venus dating Andy's sister). So as Venus fails, Johnny reads Wainwright and Archer, the Old South themes of the Condo and Venus' fuchsia suit and develops his plan.

Once again, please remember that this is 1981, 15 years before Nathan Lane in "The Birdcage." A flouncy, broad depiction of gay behaviour BY ITSELF would still read as very funny in ways that it might not widely today. But please consider what Johnny is trying to do here - we wants to make Wainwright and Archer so uncomfortable with what would be Venus' and his openingly gay lifestyle that they would be willing to go back and rip up the contract. They can be no half measures! He has to go full "Liza Minnelli this and Liza Minnelli that." So even more of the comedy comes from watching Mr. Wainwright and Ms. Archer squirm (as well as, unfortunately, Venus). As well, the places he goes with this, from "textures" to "scampi" to "we will practically LIVE in the sauna" are very inventive and each chosen for maximum discomfort. And maximum comedy.

As a nice bonus, Johnny also knows this is all making his buddy Venus very uncomfortable as well.

Roy

Other Notes - More continuity - is Venus helping Johnny sort out his finances as a result of Johnny's run in with gambling debts in the previous episode? This is the episode in which we learn where Herb gets his suits! The Harmonicats were exactly what you think they were - a harmonica-based musical group from the 1940-50's. They even had a #1 Billboard hit in 1947 called "Peg O' My Heart."

Ep. 72 - Who's On First?

October 25, 2018

Writer and Director: Dan Guntzelman
Director:
Original Air Date: November 11, 1981

One of my favourite WKRP episode is ep. 50 "Hotel Oceanview;" an episode full of mistaken identities and oddball guest characters that builds and builds in its ridiculousness. This is not that episode. It doesn't have the same clockwork precision of that script, but it shares much of the same DNA with generally good results. And it all builds to one, huge joke.

The continuity continues with the episode opening on Herb in the hospital awaiting the test results from the previous episode. His greatest fear of going to the hospital has been realized - not that he may be ill but that WKRP will think he's too sick to keep working. The station has run an ad for a new salesman. But Mr. Carlson swears to him his job will be there "as long as he wants it."

This upsets Andy. Carlson got panicky AGAIN after he had already explained to Carlson why they should hire a SECOND salesman, not replace Herb. Andy has complained that having only one salesman is wrong since the first season. Now Andy is frustrated that he'll have to meet with a concert promoter from Philadelphia himself.

That's when Jennifer throws out a strange curveball that, if the series had gone one more season, would definitely have been the source of some great stories - maybe SHE would like to become an account executive! I wonder if this idea comes out of seeing her predecessor, Joyce Armor, become an account executive in Cleveland. Anyhow, Mr. Carlson agrees to help train her by accompanying her to this meeting with the promoter.

Look how well she does right away. Pat Parillo is in a panic that he can't be busted again for fraudulent contracts. Carlson doesn't understand what he's talking about, but Jennifer understands immediately - so quickly in fact that she's essentially translating Parillo's slang and innuendo to him in real time. In the previous episode, we saw that Jennifer knew the holding cell guard by name. What other seedy dealings is she just as aware of? Because she also immediately has a solution for Mr. Carlson - it's only a kickback if he accepts it and he doesn't want to add to Andy's disappointment.

BUT there's a wacky catch - Herb has told Parillo that Carlson is incompetent, and Parillo thinks Carlson IS Herb, so... Parillo wants to meet Carlson and see how incompetent he is for himself!

While all of this has been going on, Johnny has begged everyone in the station for money to pay off a poker debt of... $562.16. This runs as the classic WKRP situation of one staff member bring a problem to each of the other staff members and watching their reactions. The best is either Les's description of his depression, cured only by "beating his rugs" or Bailey's response to the number $562.16: "Who do I have to kill to get it?" Unfortunately, this isn't just any poker debt - it's owed to famed Cincinnati gangster Guido Scalici! Guido is so disappointed that Johnny hasn't paid, that he has sent a gentleman to meet Johnny at the station.

The episode starts getting where it wants to go, and gets a big audience reaction, when Dave comes into the lobby where Bailey is eating a sandwich. The director made Bailey look very small at the desk when she looks up, waaay up, to look at Dave, played by the 6'7" character actor Mickey Morton. She looks like a tiny little girl compared to this mountain of a man.

Jennifer runs in and quickly tells her Carlson is Herb. They bring Parillo into Carlson's office and Jennifer goes off to find a Mr. Carlson. The real Carlson, as Herb, hears more of the insults Herb had said about him to Parillo. Jennifer returns with Les to play Carlson, but his acting and improv skills are so bad, it makes "Carlson" seem "looney tunes" to the promoter.

Johnny has to do some fast talking when he and Venus run into Dave in the lobby. He quickly introduces himself as Andy Travis, introduces Andy as his brother Randy and ol' Venus, of course. Andy watches all of this happening as the new accounts executives come out of Carlson's office, where Les is Carlson and Carlson is Herb and Bailey is not Jennifer. All of this mind swirling name swapping convinces Andy that the place is falling apart and he takes his digs at Mr. Carlson, calling him "Herb" and sarcastically compliments him for the sales department "running like a well oiled machine."

The entire episode has been building to this joke, and something we should have all learned by now... don't underestimate Mr. Carlson. With a quick glance to Dave, Carlson says "I'm just doing my job, Johnny." Dave looks Andy, Andy turns white and the audience builds in its reaction. It's the sound both of laughter and recognition - recognition of both what Mr. Carlson has just done and what is about to happen to Andy.

But Carlson doesn't end there. In the epilogue, in which Carlson and Jennifer go visit Herb in the hospital, we learn Andy is in emergency, although "no bones were broken." But he does want to speak with Johnny. He also asks several times making sure Herb is feeling great, as he rolls up his sleeves. Mr. Carlson would never go back on his swear that Herb's job will be waiting for him. And he would never hurt a man while he's already injured. But he still has no problem beating Herb down with his bare hands.

Roy

Special Notes - One of my all-time favourite quotes from this show, one I have used countless times is "Do you know what will happen if you don't eat?" Because invariably the person will answer "What?" to which I can finish the quote... "You'll die!"

Other Notes - Mickey Morton portrayed Chewbacca's wife, Mailia, in the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special." (That may be the greatest WKRP/Star Wars piece of trivia ever!).

Ep. 71 - Straight From the Heart

September 28, 2018

Writer and Director: Dan Guntzelman
Original Air Date: November 4, 1981

Some episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati" were written to explore social issues in America through the eyes a diverse group of individuals. And some episodes were written to have a scene in which that same diverse group of individuals end up in a porno theatre.

This is a very awkward episode. After a few episodes in which a lot of plot moved across our screens, this one seems like it's kind of treading water, with a few interesting set piece that don't quite add up to a whole.

The first thing is the running plot of Les winning the Copper Cob award for "conservative agrarian broadcasting" and needing to get to Omaha Nebraska to accept his reward. This gives us a strange scene in which Andy is overly proud of his wrapping job for Les' present and a staff presentation that no one, including Les, is interested in. But it does give us the line "Omaha! Oh, Omaha seems like  dream to me now!" which I've found can be used in all sorts of real life situations.

The next next major plot is Jennifer becoming suspicious of Herb's behaviour before he goes on vacation, resulting in her determining that he was actually going to the hospital. On one hand, it's sweet to see that it is Jennifer, of all the staff members, who takes the time to check on Herb. We have often suggested she is the "mother" to this group, and here is a prime example. EXCEPT, and here is an awkward moment, she does not accompany Les to the hospital to confront Herb. She is also not the person Les calls to help get him back to the hospital - he literally calls EVERY OTHER MEMBER OF THE STATION to meet Herb and him at the adult cinema and not the one person who knows what is going on.

The second half of the episode shifts to Herb, who runs away from the hospital to "embrace life." Of course Herb's idea of embracing life wouldn't involve going to see his wife and kids, but going to a 3D German porn theatre when (as we learned from Les' news story earlier) the city is in the midst of an "adult theatre" crackdown. But this all starts in the hospital, where Les sneaks in to visit Herb who is in for a "few tests." This might be the most awkward we have ever seen Bonner and Sanders act towards each other, as if the script just said "the two buddies improvise for three minutes before Herb escapes." The two of them are just sitting on the bed slapping each other. Herb is just starting to look at his own mortality but he is too shallow to look very deeply. All he sees is the fear, not of death, but that other may see him as weak; that being weak might cost him his job. There should be more going on here, but we're really just moving the scene along to get to the theatre.

Once at the theatre, the only real joke is the audience dodging whatever is coming out of the screen in 3D. Otherwise it's just the sight of our cast walking in the dark in 3D glasses and an argument between a scared and vulnerable Herb vs his young and healthy boss, Andy (once again I will point out, Andy is not actually Herb's boss - they are equals who each report to the station manager. But Andy takes on that role here). And why is everyone so concerned about what Bailey will see on the screen? Is THIS where the chivalry is going to come out of Venus and Johnny?

The final set piece is in the holding cell and here it all comes down to a game of chance. Simply cut the cards and Herb could win $200, two weeks vacation and a night with Jennifer "[he] will never forget." Personally, I would have liked about two seconds more of the camera to hold on Herb while he contemplates his card. I want to see him really consider how much each of his co-workers care about him, that they would get arrested with him AND offer up so much in an effort to get him to return to the hospital, before he says he drew the low card. We are suppose to assume this is why he won't show his card, but it's played too subtly for this episode.

By the way, Jennifer knows the holding cell guard by name?!? And not in a way that suggests she just learned his name, but in a way that suggests she has been here before. Who else has Jennifer had to bail out? As this whole episode has taught us, Cincinnati can be seedy after dark.

Roy

Other Notes - We learn Bailey was Summa Cum Laude from Ohio State University. Jan Smithers mistakenly flashes the card she drew towards the camera - it was the two of clubs!

Ep. 70 - Rumors

September 10, 2018

Writers: Peter Torokvei
Director: Linda Day
Original Air Date: October 28, 1981

Alright all you Bailey lovers! This is the episode you have been meme-ing, screen capturing and pause buttoning for the past 37 years. Any image search of "Bailey Quarters" will find a dozen pictures of Bailey in Johnny's T-shirt. And we will discuss that! But first, getting to what really matters... Sam Anderson is back!

The fourth and final character Sam brings to life for "WKRP in Cincinnati" is the creepy/harmless mid-morning DJ Rex Erhardt. At one moment, he is seductively pouring Perrier water for lonely housewives listening to his show and the next he is flustered at making simple conversation with Bailey. Once again, Sam Anderson creates a fully rounded character in just a couple of minutes of screen time.

"Continuity is so important," says Bailey. "Thank you for always being a jerk, Herb." That's a funny line, but the first part could have been written on a plaque in the writers' room for this season. There is a direct line of continuity from last episode. Andy continues with his plan for remodeling the lobby, and begins to give out the much deserved raises. These links will continue all season long.

This episode is called "Rumors" because it follows the intertwining of two related rumors going around the station. The first is Andy is going to give his morning drive time slot to the younger Rex Erhardt. Johnny created this idea himself, of course, but as he says "when everyone is out to get you, paranoid is just good thinking!" The second is that Johnny and Bailey are sleeping together since he is spending the week at her apartment while his place is being fumigated for lizards. (Do you believe Johnny was telling Les the truth about the lizards?)

Focusing on second rumor first, it's not hard to see why the whole station thinks something is up. Bailey has been openly pining for Johnny since the beginning of season two in episode 23 "For Love of Money," when she asks him out on a date to the movies. In Ep. 60 "I Am Woman," Johnny asks Bailey if he were to get her a pair of cut off jeans, and he got a boat... and she cuts him off by just saying "Any time." We know they like each other, and that they have chemistry.

1981 is also the middle of the broadcast run for "Three's Company," (a show that was WAY more successful in the ratings than "WKRP in Cincinnati" ever was) that was entirely about the sexy misadventures of a man living, platonically, with TWO women. The idea is in the collective conscienceness. So the staff has been primed and ready for the idea of these two together. If Les were staying at Bailey's place, no one would think much of it.

However, the one person who also thinks there might be something going on is Johnny himself, and I'm going to go back to my commentary about Joyce Armor and Arthur Carlson in this season's premier, "An Explosive Affair." In that, Joyce behaves in such a way that ANY reasonable person would think she's coming on to Arthur. Also so here, under the guidance of the same director, Linda Day, Bailey rubs her hands all over Johnny and tells him to "reach out and touch that beauty. Take advantage of your situation!"

It may not be "changing into something more comfortable" but it's pretty suggestive. Especially at a time when Johnny is worried people think he's getting old.

Bailey may think Herb is being a jerk by suggesting something is going on, but really he's just being the most forthright in saying what literally EVERYBODY at the station is thinking. Les is shocked at the inappropriateness of Bailey and Johnny's arrangement. Jennifer wants the girl gossip. Andy and Venus reveal how silly they can be together as they snicker and, literally, howl at the thought of Johnny with Bailey. So it's peculiar that they would then be so offended when Rex says "I hear Johnny's squeezin' her." Which, on one hand, ewww, but on the other hand is exactly what Andy was just lying on the floor laughing about.

Bailey comes home and ties the two rumors together for Johnny. She is upset that the station thinks she is some sort of a "floozie" or that Johnny would be anything less than a gentleman. She also feeds Johnny's paranoia by reporting that Venus agrees that testing for Rex in his time slot for a week would be a perfect way to moving Johnny out. She soft pedals that fact that Venus also said he doesn't think Andy has any plans to do this. She is so tied up in the rumors herself that she doesn't notice Johnny had prepared an entire candlelight dinner for the two of them.

Then, playing back into the mixed messages set up, Bailey tells Johnny she should just give the station what they all want... then leaves him cold. It's the turning point of the episode.

I am going to direct all readers of this blog to what I wrote about Ep. 45 "Most Improved Station" when it comes to Bailey fandom. Because the next scene is the same level of fan service to Bailey's fandom that Jennifer's scene in the bathing suit from "Filthy Pictures" is to her fan base. This is Bailey's sexiest scene in the series. It concludes with Bailey straightening Herb's tie and purring "I was naked Herb. And this was on the bed so... I put it on."

Johnny shows up in Andy's office and finally becomes the gentleman Bailey thinks he is, defending her honour before fighting for himself. Johnny just wants to deal with the truth. It hurts him to see Bailey thought of poorly and it's tiring to stay paranoid. Returning to the continuity, Andy confirms "Alright. There's going to be some changes around here," starting by giving Johnny a $200 a month raise (which is a pretty good raise even today!)

The final misunderstanding, between Mr. Carlson who has just learned of the Bailey/Johnny rumors and Bailey, who is talking about being given the hand-me-down business show, doesn't really work. The business show plot was too thin for Bailey to really be that upset about, but it does allow her to say "I get off on it" to Mr. Carlson, which is weird in it's own right.

Roy

Other Notes - Number of times I, as a Canadian, spelled "Rumors" with an extra "U" while writing this post... seven! Things in Bailey's apartment include: a chalk board shopping list that includes "Milk, Vitamin C and Wheat Bread." Isn't all bread wheat bread? How crunchy granola does Bailey have to be to remind herself that if she's buying bread, it needs to be "wheat bread?" Also a poster for the Sea Shepherd, a conservation group (still in existence) that uses "direct action" to protect marine life.