Ep. 24 - For Love or Money, part 2

August 15, 2015

Writer:  Mary Maguire

Director: Will MacKenzie

Original Air Date: September 24, 1979

One nice thing about a blog is if you want a recap of last week's episode, you just have to go back and read the last posting. Back in the days of episodic television, you needed to spend two minutes letting a narrator remind the audience of what had happened. One nice thing about watching a DVD boxset is you can watch the two episodes back to back and judge how well the narrator did.

He did fine.

It was neat to see how they used a couple of different cuts and camera angles in the recap than what they used in the actual episode. Johnny recap adds the line "She got nice and weird!" and Herb reclines to a full shot of the bull pen rather than a close up.

But that's really nit picking an episode that has some very nice acting and subtle themes. The episode has the same writer and director as the first episode which makes sense since this is really just one long episode cut into two rather than two completely different episode tied together as in the two-parter from season one (Goodbye, Johnny and Johnny Comes Back)

It starts almost exactly the same way as the first episode, with a wordless shot of Bailey alone in the station, and then she comes up behind the DJ (in this case, Venus) in the studio and startles him. Jan Smithers really gives her best performance in the series so far, because she is finally given something to do. With Venus, she is angry and embarrassed. but as she sits at Herb's mirror, primps her hair and goes on her imaginary date with Johnny, she's sweet and (to use the modern term) Adorkable. So when Andy catches her doing it, we can really feel her humiliation being piled onto the humiliation of being stood up.

The audience should be turning against Johnny right about now except we know he's having problems of his own. He's called Venus to come help him because Buffy, the woman he lived with in California for two years, is coming back to sue him for (a new idea in 1980) palimony.

"I put poison in the brandy!" "How very... medieval of you."

Now it's Howard Hesseman's turn to continue the fine acting we saw in the first episode. At first he is distraught and panicy. Maybe Buffy wasn't the only drama queen living in Laurel Canyon back in the day. Johnny swings from dramatically shocked and depressed, to resigned and even level-headed. Then he swings back to dramatic when he discovers he may have been poisoned! He finishes the episode acting as if he's on speed. Don't just listen to the fast talking, but look at the darting eyes and lip licking too. That's a lot of emotions in about ten minutes.

After everything, Bailey still wants Johnny 

Bailey delivers the heart of the episode by saying that some people "aren't cruel. Just thoughtless." She is directing this at Johnny, who at first thinks she means Buffy, and when the realization of what he has done to Bailey hits him, his whole demeanour collapses under the weight of the bad karma he has brought upon himself. If Johnny had only kept his date with Bailey, not only would none of this have happened but he could have been starting a whole new, healthy relationship with someone who isn't crazy. (Relatively speaking that is. This is still WKRP. Everyone is crazy). Another wide emotional swing that Hesseman sells well.

Let's go back a little bit to the scene in the booth when Andy and Carlson come in to discuss the budget numbers with Venus, before they all get routed to Jennifer's apartment. First, I don't remember most of this scene from syndication. The discussion for the price for a new transmitter? That seems new to me, but it doesn't fit with anything else in the episode so I can see why it might have been cut for time. However, it is interesting the show wants to show Venus as some sort of tax expert, or at least knowledgeable about finance. I said in the last post that the producers obviously wanted to develop the characters deeper this season, and the juxtaposition of funky nighttime DJ against jargon spouting accountant give both that depth while keeping the funny.

That scene of Andy, Venus and Carlson together in the booth is reflected nicely at the end of the scene in Jennifer's apartment. Bailey and Johnny finally go on their date and the three men are left alone in Jennifer's apartment. You would think these men wouldn't have much in common outside of work, but Jennifer's apartment is a "nice place." All three of them are curious to take the tour, drink the fine liquor... and check out Jennifer's bedroom. The three men getting caught together by Jennifer only tightens their peculiar bond.

Other notes: If your wondering which snifter Johnny picked up, he DID pick the "poisoned" cup. Carlson checks out the bottom of the same brass bowl Buffy checks out in part one.

Ep. 23 - For Love or Money, part 1

August 9, 2015
(...aaaaand I'm back!)

Writer:  Mary Maguire
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: September 17, 1979

So now imagine you are Hugh Wilson and the other writers and producers of WKRP and it is the summer of 1979. Against long odds, your weird and edgy sit-com has just been picked up for another season. At this time, you are looking back on what worked, what didn't work and how improvements can be made. What you you change? What things would you highlight and what things would you move away from?

Given what we see, here is the list I think that team came up with:
1) More character development. The audience is loving these eight people. Let's see more about their lives - where they came from and how they interact with each other.
2) Love (today, we would call it "shipping") Maybe some sparks could fly between our characters
3) We can be ridiculous with these characters and still not lose their humanity. Let's do more of that! But still keep current to issues of the day.
4) We need to do more with that Bailey Quarters character. Jan Smithers is a far more confident actress than we're showing now.

So, ladies and gentlemen, the minds at WKRP in Cincinnati bring you the two-part season opener "For Love or Money."

The very first character we see, for almost half a minute without speaking, is Bailey. She is going to be the fulcrum of this episode, the pivot point. The next thing we see is ridiculous: Johnny jumping up from under the console. Two ticks off the list and we're not to the opening credits yet.

These are now the opening credits fans will be most familiar with. Gone are the fake radio intros and long panning shots of barges on the Ohio River. A glimpse of Cincinnati and shots of the whole cast are presented, not just the names of Gary Sandy and Gordon Jump.

The theme of both parts of these episodes (but much more in the first) is the relationships and expectations between men and women, but it's heartening to see such a big topic is handled in a gentler way that it would have been in the first season. Those expectations are also about the power structure of men and women at that time.

I don't think the issue of a woman asking a man out on a date carries as much sense of empowerment as it did in 1979. (It might. It's been a long time since I was asked out!) It's strange now to see a college educated woman such as Bailey take so much pride in asking Johnny out to the movies. She worked up her nerve to to it then brags to Jennifer, not about the date, but that she had the courage to ask for a date! Remember, Bailey still has ties to the University... that's where the movie is being shown. Issues and discussions about Women's Liberation would be more prominent there than almost anywhere else in the city.

Johnny obviously doesn't see it with her same import. At first, Johnny thinks it's a group event. He tells Les it's nothing more than a movie. Then, once he agrees to go, he literally blows it off one minute later when another opportunity (with a better chance for sex) comes along.

As much as Andy and Johnny are teasing Herb to provide his "professional advice on women," his "objective" is the same as Johnny's... get her into bed. The River Flowing Past Both Doors is nice, but, the show tells us, we all really know what men want.

Law Suit?!?

In the same way, we know what women want. Enter Buffy! Laurel Canyon Buffy! No Kidding Around Buffy! She's crazy! She's spacey! She's casing the joint! From the minute she walks into Jennifer's apartment, she's figuring out how much everything is worth. It's a story that's been often told... Men want sex and will spend money to get it (Johnny asks everyone in the station for cash to impress Buffy) and women want money and will use their bodies to get it (Buffy drapes herself across Johnny while checking out the value of things).

There is one hero in this story who doesn't fit into this pattern, but we don't see that payoff until part two. So keep reading.

Lots of other things are happening in this episode to reintroduce us to these characters. Herb's whole speech, interrupted by the mere presence of Jennifer, shows both his depth and intelligence, and the sudden limits of those same depth and intelligence. Les displays his frugality and self control, as does Venus, albeit in a less Scroogey sort of way. Carlson shows he doesn't quite know what he sounds like to other people.

As I've said, the best thing about this box set is the inclusion of the original music. The show ends with Bailey walking around a darkened studio listening to Earth, Wind and Fire's "After the Love Is Gone." Not only is it an appropriately melancholy song for the occasion, but it's a song I can easily believe Venus Flytrap would actually play on his show. A different, watered down track wouldn't have worked as well.

Other Notes... Howard Hesseman obviously can not play the piano in real life. His scene at the piano should be a cue for him to play something special to Buffy, but he's really just hitting keys. "Raoul" was famously the fake name Hugh Wilson used when writing "Fish Story"

Bonus Feature - A "Fish Story" Story

April 18, 2015

The reason most people buy DVDs anymore is for the extra bonus features. It's why we don't just download everything... usually.

So it is with the new "WKRP in Cincinnati" DVD box set that, along with all the other joys it provides, there is a disc of bonus features. So since we have come to the end of reviewing Season One, I thought I would look at one of these features.

The featurette "A "Fish Story" Story" first appeared in the Season One WKRP box set that was released in 2007 ("The Black Box") and I want to refer you now to my blog post from Ep. 21 - "Fish Story." At that time I went into detail about the story of writer Raoul Plager, who wrote this episode. I said in that blog: "any interview with Hugh Wilson, or members of the WKRP cast, will touch on the story of Raoul Plager." I realize now that where I had heard the story the most was from this featurette back in 2007.

Is this Raoul Plager?

Cast members Loni Anderson, Frank Bonner and Tim Reid, along with creator Hugh Wilson, tell the story of getting notes from CBS saying the show wasn't funny enough and they want a "Laverne and Shirley" type of script with more sight gags and more jokes. Hugh Wilson is furious and decides to show CBS the error of their ways.

The featurette begin with very somber music, underscoring the seriousness of WKRP's situation. The first sentence spoken has Loni Anderson using the word "bastard!" This is the lowest ebb in WRKP. The show might be cancelled and the solution CBS is offering seems to be a sellout of all the ideals Wilson and the writers are trying to create. What will they do??

As Tim Reid tells it, Wilson called everyone into the writers' room and said "I want everyone to tell me the worst cliche comedy thing they can think of." So they came up with ideas like Herb in a fish suit and Bailey in the men's room.

Of course, Wilson was so embarrassed by what they came up with, he used the pseudonym Raoul Plager for the writing credit. Frank Bonner says "Psychologically, I've tried to delve into "Raoul Plager" and I can't come up with anything."

But as Loni Anderson puts it, Wilson's idea backfired. "It got huge ratings and everyone was crazy about it." The popularity of this episode, still an audience favourite, helped get WKRP renewed. The dark, troubled tone from the beginning is gone and we are left with a fun antidote.

This piece is only about three minutes long and I would have much preferred to have Hugh Wilson and these cast members actually provide a commentary track to the episode. It's cute, but it's just one story. Also, as I've already pointed out, it's a recycled story from 2007.

So take this one for what it is and get ready for season two!

Roy

Ep. 22 - Preacher

April 9, 2015

Writer: Bill Dial
Director: Michael Zinburg
Original Air Date: June 4, 1979


These last two episodes aired a month after the rest of the series was originally shown, when the producers and even the network weren't sure the show was coming back. These were the episodes the creators of the show felt were their weakest. With the previous episode "Fish Story" they misjudged its quality and eventual popularity. With "Preacher," they did not.

Just as a small indication, check out the credits at the end of the show. They are blue - something we hadn't seen used since "Mama's Review". That means this was 1) produced at the time of the original 9 episodes and 2) thought so lowly of that it wasn't worth updating the credits. I mean, it's not like 35 years later, some guy with a computer will ever see this episode and write about it...

But like pizza, a bad episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" has some good to it and we get a few nice gags along the way.

The build up to revealing the Reverend Little Ed Pembrook works well. Johnny and Mr. Carlson both know him and are terrified of him, both claiming he's crazy. Venus is the one to tell Andy that he is a 300 lb former wrestler whom he once saw drive Haystacks Calhoun through a soda pop machine.

Finding the Sinners

So when we meet him, it's kind of a disappointment. The actor, Michael Keenan, did a fine and over-the-top job, but he doesn't come across as a gigantic lunatic. He's just a fat loud-mouth. He's shorter than Mr. Carlson even. It leads to a bunch of lame fat jokes, like having his backup choir, the Merciful Sister of Melody each be heavyset, for no particular reason. Pembrook states at one point that the sisters are "waiting for me down in the Honda" which was a notoriously small car for 1979. Four fat people driving in a Honda?!? Har-dee har har!

"Ahem!"

The big joke is the Reverend seems more interested "selling" "religious artifacts" on the air than providing any real spiritual guidance. I can imagine a session in which the writers sat around trying to come up with the most ridiculous items imaginable: John the Baptist shower curtains; The World is Coming to an End lawn furniture; My favourite: the St. Peter and Paul spice racks. But these items never seem like they are anything more than a string of punchlines.

Speaking of punchlines, did you hear the one about the priest, the minister and the rabbi? When the three members of the Greater Cincinnati Inter-Faith Council (there's no such thing. I looked it up) arrive at the station to complain about Little Ed and his "Church of the Mighty Struggle," it again looked like the writers creating stereotypes to joke with, rather than real characters. Why was a Cincinnati priest Irish? Stereotype.

Crisis of Faith

I completely understand that WKRP is not a documentary on the inner workings of the late 70's radio scene, but more than most episode, thing happen in "Preacher" that make even a casual observer say "really?" Of all the characters, VENUS watches wrestling? Why would Mr. Carlson put an exercise cycle in his office, and then ride it in a three-piece suit?

But most importantly, what rock station carries a religious service on Sunday mornings? Why would a religious service want to stay on a rock station? Why bother with the threat of an IRS audit when an Inter-Faith Council is complaining about Little Ed? That should be enough to void any contract the station might have.

The only part that felt genuine is that Bailey is the one who comes up with the idea of an IRS audit. Her shyness is exaggerated, but the enthusiasm she has in delivering her plan to take down Little Ed shows how wild she will be one day.

This ended the first season. Spoiler alert: the show didn't get cancelled.

Other notes: No Herb in this episode. I believe this is the only episode Frank Bonner missed. Haystacks Calhoun was a real wrestler in the 1950's and 1960's. He was one of the first famous Big Men, like Andre the Giant and the Big Show later on. There is no way Little Ed would even have been able to put his head through a pop machine.

Roy

Ep. 21 - Fish Story

March 20, 2015

Writer: Raoul Plager
Director: Asaad Kelada
Original Air Date: May 28, 1979
^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^

This episode is just funny. No heartfelt monologues, no topical issues. "Fish Story" is just straight up, catch-your-breath funny. Because of this simple fact, it is one of the most beloved episodes in the series; perhaps the second most famous after "Turkey's Away." And it's all thanks to the writer Raoul Plager.

Almost any interview with Hugh Wilson, or members of the WKRP cast, will touch on the story of Raoul Plager. CBS kept demanding this new show be funnier - broader comedy for a larger audience. Wilson resisted, wanting to concentrate on more realistic topics. But CBS continued to insist, and thinking the show was about to be cancelled anyway, Plager was brought in to write a parody of a broad, farcical sit-com just to shut them up.

Raoul Plager is a pseudonym for Hugh Wilson himself. He was so embarrassed by the script, he took his name off of it. So how bad is it?

It starts with Johnny and Venus drinking on air. A fat guy (who is NOT Jonathan Winters) is leering at Jennifer  when Herb walks by in a fish suit. Bailey end up arrested in a men's room. All this while Andy is being interviewed for a magazine. The trick of stew isn't the ingredients - it's how all the ingredients are blended together. Although Plager may have thought the ingredients weren't the best, it's how each grows organically out of the situation that makes this a classic.

Isn't that what a "situation comedy" suppose to be? A simple idea taken to it's most ridiculous conclusion.

The 'B' story of this episode follows Johnny and Venus on the air together (!) participating in a drunk driving awareness campaign for which they take a drink every 15 minutes then have their reflexes tested by a sheriff. The test is to show even after one drink, a person's reflexes slow down. Except Johnny's keep getting faster, infuriating the Sheriff. Neither Reid nor Hesseman play drunk with any conviction, but Reid's "Drunk Venus" is weirdly over the top. He swings from being uncoordinated to quick witted and back; sometimes within the same sentences!

Of course, everyone who has ever been drunk has imagined they are just Dr. Fever - getting better at life with each drink. If only it worked that way, I could get these blogs out faster! ;)

The 'A' story is another instance of Mr. Carlson coming up with a station promotion. This one is not as stupid as hurling turkeys from a helicopter. Creating a mascot for the station and sending it to the university pep rally is not a bad idea - it's a stolen idea from their biggest competitor WPIG, but it's not bad. Sending Herb out to represent the station is probably a bad ideas.

But just look at this picture below, and tell me how this is not funny? In any language it reads absurd!

And if you watch this episode again, listen for the woman in the audience who is literally SCREAMING with laughter! That really just how the scene begins. Look at these shots:

Even Bailey takes a swing at the pig!

Nesman of Queensberry!

Everything about this is ridiculous!

Add to this that throughout all the craziness, Andy is trying to impress a reporter writing a story about how professionally the station is run.

If you've been keeping an eye on the original air dates, you'll notice this aired about a whole month after the previous episode. CBS was loosing faith in the show and looked to burn off what had been produced. Once episodes like "Fish Story" and "Turkeys Away" were played in repeats over the summer, word started to spread, a fan base grew and WKRP was brought back for at least another season.

Roy

Ep. 20 - Young Master Carlson

March 9, 2015

Writer: Hugh Wilson
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: April 30, 1979


Sparky Marcus was not the Omen. That was an English kid named Harvey Stephens. Sparky Marcus was just another 1970's precocious child star who worked a lot playing kids who acted much older than they were.

I bring that up because there is a scene in this episode, when Andy introduces Arthur Carlson jr. (played by Sparky Marcus) to Venus, that Johnny calls the child "the Omen" and the audience reacts with an enormous laugh - a much bigger laugh than that joke deserves. And I don't know why.

Big Guy and Little Arthur

I get that "Little Arthur" has a special gift for doing or saying the one thing that will offend a person the most. I just don't think that qualifies as the spawn of Satan. It might be something even more annoying.

The first time he meets Johnny, Little Arthur immediately moves into the role of an authority figure, telling Johnny to get a haircut and a shave. He doesn't act like that to anyone else but it would be the one thing that Johnny would hate the most - someone acting like a parent or a cop.

For Jennifer, it's digging into her personal things and disrupting her orderly life. For Venus, it's something else.

This is another episode about showing who these characters are, but coming at it from a unique perspective: How would our regular WKRP friends act if they met the person who most annoys them? That it's all the same person, a child, and the boss's kid (someone they clearly shouldn't retaliate against) makes it all the juicier.

Herb's reaction is uniquely Herb-ish. What annoys him is the idea that the Carlson family is talking about him  and he doesn't know what they are saying. Now, this is ridiculous! The Carlson family, especially Mama Carlson, doesn't think enough of Herb to ever mention him "around the dinner table." Only a complete egotist would think otherwise,.. oh yeah, we're talk about Herb here.

Les is bothered by Herb knowing something he doesn't know. Little Arthur is just using all of this to get $10 and amuse himself by watching two idiots fight over which one gets to be "adle-minded." Watching Les read the dictionary to find out what "obtuse" means, only to realize it is an insult, might be the funniest bit in the episode: "Don't tell me to calm down! I just paid $5 to find out I'm 'Rounded at the Free End!'"

The reason we are initially given for this behaviour is that Little Arthur has been away at Prussian Valley Military Academy and has been sheltered by their strict military ways. So much so, he is shocked to see a real, live black man! And in calling Venus "boy," Little Arthur both finds Venus' breaking point and loses all audience sympathy. Now he's not a precocious kid; he's a straight up racist and Venus is first the person who has threatened to kill him who might actually do it.

But the writers are playing with out preconceptions of what life at a military academy would be about. We learn he's flunking out and "just dying for attention." Arthur Carlson didn't learn to offend people from Prussian Academy; he's getting kicked out of Prussian Academy because he offends people.

So what would bother his father, Arthur sr., the most? We've always been lead to think it's the fear that he might not be a good enough son for Mama Carlson. It turns out his afraid he hasn't been a good enough father to his son.

It has only been two episode since Gordon Jump poured real emotion into standing up to, and standing up for Venus when he had to face the Army, going so far to say he was his "father." Now he does it again, giving an impassioned monologue about his guilt as a father. Carlson confesses his failings to his son for almost two minutes straight without a laugh. It's touching. Then it nicely sets us up to end on some warmhearted laughter over the Big Guy's collection of toys.

The lesson is just as strong in today's world. Mama Carlson says her grandson has just suffered "a traumatic career setback" to which Mr. Carlson argues "this is just an eleven year old boy." We see this argument played out today, with parents who push their children into better schools and academies, hoping to advance them in life, rather than just letting them be kids.

Other notes: Why is Bailey so unimportant she doesn't even merit getting annoyed? Her role in the episode just seems to be settling everyone else down. Prussia is the region in Germany around Berlin and is usually referred to for "professionalism, aggressiveness, militarism and conservatism;" Interesting choice for the name of a fictional military academy. 

Roy

Ep. 19 - I Do, I Do... For Now

March 4, 2015

Writer: Tom Chehak
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: April 23, 1979

When I started this blog, I didn't expect to use WKRP as an exploration where media and the entertainment industry have gone from 1979 to today. I thought I'd be writing about Johnny Fever quips. Well with this episode, I get to do both.

Meet Hoyt Axton. He is a successful singer-songwriter most famous for writing Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" and right now he is playing guitar in the lobby of a fictional Cincinnati rock radio station. The only reason for him to do this would be to promote his upcoming album. But it seems to me that his being there is a huge missed opportunity.

Hoyt Axton is... T.J. Watkins

Remember, this show exists only three years after "Star Wars" taught the entertainment industry that kids will buy toys based on their favourite movies - something we all now take for granted. At the time of this writing is three years after the cast of "Glee" has had a dozen Top 40 hits releasing songs they sang on their show. Other shows like "Nashville" release musical tie-in albums. So I look back and wonder how did CBS or MTM Productions not think to release an album of songs showcased on "WKRP in Cincinnati:" the Linda Taylor ballad, the Ferryman Funeral Home jingle... and "Della and the Dealer."

To be fair, "Della and the Dealer" was released on a 1979 Hoyt Axton album called "Rusty Old Halo." It went to number 17 on the US country chart. But the producers obviously have some rights to the song because it has always been part of the show in syndication. If you bought this box set of DVDs, wouldn't you also be likely to buy a compilation album of songs from the show? Shout! Factory? Get on this! This could be the break Detective (the real band from "Hoodlum Rock") have been waiting for for 30 years.

With the previous episode we learned a bit about Venus' background; this time we learn about Jennifer's. Jennifer seems so worldly and beautiful, why would she be in Cincinnati? But when you think of her a little Jennifer Elizabeth from Rock Throw West Virginia, a big city like Cincinnati must have seemed like going to the moon! Loni Anderson even plays up a West Virginian accent when talking with T.J. (I looked it up - Anderson is from St. Paul, Minnesota. See? Acting!)

Now she lives such a fairy tale life, even her doorbell chimes "Fly Me to the Moon" (which is a wonderful recurring joke). Her apartment is massive, even by TV standards, and we've already seen the relatively modest apartments for Andy and Johnny. It's stuffed with a "warehouse" worth of gifts from her many "friends." So the thought of her losing all of this to marry T.J. Watkins and go back to West Virginia must have been so terrifying Jennifer understandably would do anything to keep her life.

Very Happy!

Cue Johnny's entrance. Kissing Johnny and lying that they are married seems a pretty simple solution that just gets away from her. As much as this is Jennifer's episode, Howard Hesseman performs some great physical comedy, starting with his delayed over-reaction to that kiss. I particular like how he continues to miss steps in Jennifer's apartment. He doesn't telegraph it coming, so the straight-legged fall is as jarring to the audience as it is to Johnny.

Tom Chehak, who just wrote the very serious Venus Fly Trap episode last week, now writes this very funny, very tight episode with a lot of nice lines for Johnny, like "Wait... I'm the chips!" followed later by the frightened "Chips are falling!"

In an episode full of great performances, I also want to mention Frank Bonner, whose Herb claims "squatter's rights" on Jennifer over Johnny. What a perfect phrase! Follow that with Herb's clear discomfort of having to listen to T.J. play, or obliviousness that it would be rude to drink two of the six beers you brought as a present to a party. That may only be topped by the loungey preparation he takes in entering Jennifer's bedroom for the first time.

I don't want to finish without talking about the scene at the elevator where Jennifer and T.J. come clean to each other. The very simple inclusion of one guy standing there waiting for them to be through with their argument injects all the humour in what could have been a very flat reading of exposition. That guy is Buzz Sapien, who was the stage manager of the show.

Other notes - um, this is a show about a ROCK radio station and this is clearly a COUNTRY artist singing a COUNTRY song? Why is Les so excited about Johnny and Jennifer being married? He sees conspiracy in everything, but this he doesn't question?

If you've liked these blog posts, or you have anything to say about them, please feel free to leave a comment. Let me know you're out there!

Roy