Ep. 54 - The Painting

September 12, 2017

Writers: Steven Kampmann
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: January 10, 1981

This is Steven Kampmann's first script since "Hotel Oceanview" and it shares that episode's clockwork- like story structure. It is so complex, I created a chart to follow the money and the ownership of the painting...

In fact, I can't quite tell if Mr. Carlson ever actually gave Herb any money for the painting, and/or if so, if Herb paid it back. Even if the accounting is a little off, the passing of money is little more than the slamming doors in a French bedroom farce. The doors don't matter; it's all about the people showing their true faces.

We've always known Herb's true face. It's his only face! He's a hustler, whether hustling Carlson for favour by showing up at a church auction he has no interest in, or trying to cut Les out of a deal to make big money from the painting. Herb fancies himself "a shrewd businessman" while admitting "when have you ever known any of my schemes to work out?"

What is more interesting is Bailey. Throughout the entire episode, she holds herself in higher moral standing to Herb because she acts as the only true lover of the art for the art's sake. But when Herb's price jumps up to $500, she is willing to sell. Herb even calls her out on this, saying "Deep down inside you're just a shrewd businessman like me." Bailey protests by saying she doesn't hold Herb's belief that everything has a price. But Bailey is the one who sold the painting! She proves Herb's point, AND demands the tax deductable receipt while doing so! The episode ends with Bailey gazing lovingly at the painting, but we've already seen that she has a price.

Les is also a lot more like Herb. He originally intended to go to the auction with Herb for the same reason - to curry favour with the Big Guy. And he might get guilted into visiting his mother and paying Herb $50. But in the end, he uses Herb's own cheque to suck up to Carlson, all while smirking at his "best friend."

I brought up Kampmann because this is a very "writterly" episode, with call backs and repeated phrases used one on top of the other to building comedic effect. Whether any real people would ever speak like that is another matter.

Here are some of the phrases Herb uses over and over:
     - planning on taking the family to Milwaukee/Oklahoma City
     - were you there when...  ?
     - that's just a word people use...
     - no lectures
It really only gains some traction when Bailey repeats these phrases back to him, especially the very well timed "so's your mother." By repeating Herb back, it shows us that she has been learning from him this whole time. Again, she is more of the "shrewd businessman" than she would want to admit to herself.

There is one scene that seems like it may have been written by somebody else, because it doesn't follow along with the clockwork symmetry of the main story and that's the scene in Andy's office in which Bailey shows off the painting. Can we all admit here that this is a terrible painting? Maybe not terrible, but stodgy and old-fashioned and certainly not the sort of item a young, college educated woman would literally swoon over. It looks like it could be hanging in a hotel hallway.

Andy likes the frame. Maybe he could use it to frame his bumper sticker collection. Venus exaggerates his poses before proclaiming it "nice." Johnny's rants on how he doesn't like it. But the boys all come to Bailey's defense when Herb threatens to take back the painting. I've always loved the line "How about the four of us pounding you to dust?" No one backs down from the threat - there is solidarity. Someday I'll work it into a conversation.

By the conclusion. Herb was right and his scheme doesn't work, but he's only out the amount he spent on the painting anyhow and Bailey get the painting she desperately wanted. It's a "Midsummer Night in Cincinnati."

Roy

Other Notes: Steven Kampmann might be best known for the two season he played the character of Kirk Devane on "Newhart."

Ep. 53 - Baby, It's Cold Inside

August 31, 2017

Writers: Blake Hunter
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: January 3, 1981

Shirley Levy was 21 years old when Irving Berlin himself tapped her for a role in his latest Broadway musical "Louisiana Purchase" in 1930.  Later she played the lead role of Julie in the first major revival of Kern and Hammerstein's "Show Boat," directed by Oscar Hammerstein himself. Her career was dotted by appearances on radio, in movies and the big playhouse productions on television where statuesque strength and delicate voice combined keep her busy. She was a classic Hollywood beauty that belied sly comic timing, which she used in comedies such as "Abbott and Costello's Keep 'Em Flying." And somewhere along the line, she changed her name to Carol Bruce.

Bruce was not the first choice to play Mama Carlson. That was Sylvia Sidney, who had made a career of playing "tough dames," from gangster's molls in the 1930's and 40's to the grouchy afterlife administrator in "Beetlejuice." But after having Ms. Sidney in the pilot, scaring Arthur and the rest of the staff, Hugh Wilson decided to take a different approach to Mama when the show had a soft relaunch at episode nine. After being off the air for a couple of weeks, and in a new time slot, WKRP returned with a clip show (yes, after only eight episodes!) re-introducing the characters with "Mama's Review" of the station. But now Mama would be very different. She would not be shrill and mean - she would cold and imperious. She would not be a small hag - she would be statuesque and superior.

It is not surprising that the station member Mama Carlson most closely relates to is Jennifer. They are both strong, smart, beautiful who have used people's underestimations of them to their advantages. Jennifer is in many ways the guiding-force "mother" of the station and that Arthur relies on her so heavily because she is the compassionate mother figure he always yearned for. Mama has always spoken to Jennifer as an equal (followed closely by Bailey) and it would be easy to imagine that they both socialize in the same high brow Cincinnati circles. But she must also recognize Jennifer's compassionate side because it is to Jennifer that Lilian (she's not really "Mama" at this point anymore) discusses her past.

Wait! Why does she do that? Let's go back to the fundamental conflict of this episode. The heat is off in the Flemm Building. The Sales Manager has lost all feeling in his lower extremities! The staff is doing everything in their power to keep warm and Johnny's solution is to drink "brandy" on the air. This is a particularly strong beverage because it gets Jennifer drunk before the credits even run. We see one strong, controlled woman start to act silly and flirty after a few sips. Why not another one?

The drinking on the air subplot is just a distraction. The entire purpose of this episode is to give the audience a background on Lilian. How did she wind up as head of a business conglomerate like Carlson Enterprises? And, most importantly, what does she truly value. Most sit-coms, especially in the early 80's wouldn't risk an entire episode filling in the backstory of just a recurring character. Many don't bother doing this much for a main character.

She starts off laughing about how she "hasn't lost her touch" in scaring someone like Johnny just by looking at him. But what she really wants is a good old-fashioned gossip session with one of the girls, and Jennifer is the closest thing she's going to get to that. We just saw in the last episode where the General Manager was likely having an affair with his secretary. We don't know it until the final scene that Lillian has come to the station because she has the past on her mind, and with the help of the brandy, she gets sentimental about her late husband, her past as a singer and the price of her success. Carol Bruce delivers what might be her finest WKRP performance. It's is funny and poignant all at once.

If, as I suggest, the purpose is to give us some of Lillian's background, then the climax is her touching rendition of "Someone to Watch Over Me." She tells Johnny that she wants to hear it, but want she really wants is to perform it. Is she telling the staff that she is the one watching over them? Or does she miss having someone, like her husband, to watch over her? Or is she reliving a spotlight moment from her past, on a day when the past is on her mind? Either way, the producers were smart using the Bruce's talents in this way.

Moving away from Mama, the rest of the staff gives us some funny, panicky scenes. It has often been a struggle for the writers to explain why the night time DJ is hanging out at the station during the day. So for Johnny to call in Venus in a panic only to tell him to "Go home and get some sleep" actually highlighted that dilemma.

I don't know what is in that drink, but the flirtiness continues with Mama, who has her eyes on a certain cowboy. Gary Sandy is at his best when Andy is flustered and nothing gets him flustered faster than being hit on by a strong woman. Her touching of his knee knocks him off kilter for the rest of the episode. It takes a strong, forceful man to turn that flirting back on Mama Carlson.

Enter Les Nesman. He sees this as his opportunity to talk to her about getting walls. But Mama is drunk enough and strong enough to do what everyone else has been too polite to do... she laughs in his face! And calls him "ingenius" while she does it!

As anyone who has had too much brandy knows, once the giddiness subsides, reality steps in. Jennifer pops two asprins dry and Arthur comes to collect his mother. They were to meet to go visit his father's grave; the grave of the man she still loves. They leave arm in arm to the strains of Gershwin. So raise a glass to this episode...

"To Pale Grey."

Roy

Other Notes: I cannot find any references to a real Hoffman's Department Store in Dallas in 1980. Can anyone help?

Ep. 52 - Bah, Humbug

August 23, 2017

Writers: Lissa Levin
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: December 20, 1980

"This isn't going to be one of those Charles Dickens "Christmas Carol" things, is it?"
"Uh-huh."
"Oh boy!

There are 80 episodes of "WKRP in Cincinnati" which when shown once a day, five days a week, makes for an tidy 16 weeks of programming. However, when going into syndication, the hour long episode "Filthy Pictures" gets split up into two shows. That makes for 81 episodes, which is just cumbersome to program. So most stations dropped one particular episode and would only play it once a year, or roughly once every three programming rotations. This is that odd episode and for some fans, the box set may be the first time they have ever seen it.

It's not hard to see why "Bah, Humbug" became the "lost episode." First and most obviously, it is a Christmas themed show. But there are other Christmas themed WKRPs, so why this one? Because it's so weird, that's why. Here are all the ways it's weird.

The story is told as a dream sequence (and not as a drug-fueled fantasy if Johnny is to be believed). It follows the plot of Dickens' "Christmas Carol" in which three ghosts haunt Mr. Carlson to show him the error of his greedy ways. After the opening credit sequence, Jennifer peeks into his office to see Mr. Carlson asleep at his desk, so we know it's all a dream.

A dream is not part of reality which might explain Mr. Carlson's behaviour. For a show that prides itself on, in fact was an innovator of character continuity, at the beginning of the episode, Mr. Carlson comes off as a greedy jerk, not the befuddled father figure we have come to know and love. It's almost as if he has reverted to the Carlson of the pilot episode. The Carlson we know would love to get the team together to hand out bonuses. This Carlson is sneaky and deceitful.

This episode, hands down, utilizes the most special effects the show ever has, beating out the exploding window from "Tornando." Because of this, the set seems "off." The lighting isn't right; there are strange shadows even in the "awake" scenes. Even Carlson himself remarks upon his return from the past "I'm alone. And in bad lighting again."

But mostly, the audience seems out of sync with what is on our scenes. My best guess is that some of the scenes were filmed in front of a studio audience, as usual, but that the special effects, such has Carlson speaking with his deceased "Marley-like" grandfather (both played by Gordon Jump) just couldn't be filmed live. Some audience "sweetening" was needed and it is noticeable.

Something else that makes this episode stand out is how self-referential it is. The characters, especially Carlson himself, talk openly about how they are in a telling of "Christmas Carol." Carlson mocks "The Ghost of Christmas Present" for not being too good with his magic. "The Ghost of Christmas Past" goes on and on in his defense of "poor, misunderstood Johnny." It's almost as if the cast and crew are getting to put on a community theatre production of "Christmas Carol" rather than a network sit-com.

We start with an audience "Oooooo!" when Arthur is confronted with the ghost of his grandfather, warning that he will be visited by three ghosts that night. The effect of Jump conversing with himself is pretty well done, especially for 1980 television. But this ghost doesn't speak like either a ghost or like Arthur's grandfather would have. He speaks like Arthur using terms like "suckers" and buster" giving a very modern (for 1980) and irreverent twist to the telling.

Jennifer visits as the beautiful, white clad Ghost of Christmas Past and brings Arthur back to December 24, 1954 - 26 years before. This scene is a Christmas present for the audience in the form of a heaping helping of fan service. See squeaky-voiced Artie Carlson land his first big account as WKRP sales manager, sitting at the same desk Herb sits at now. See the staff of WKRP from a quarter century ago, including GM Mr. Armour who may be having an affair with sweet old Mrs. Butterworth, the receptionist. But mostly, see scrappy young office boy Les Nesman with a full head of hair be named a "full blown" cub reporter. And, touchingly, receive his first bow tie.

This scene sweetly emphazies how important WKRP is to Arthur. It is where he has spent his entire adult life and it's a place he is going to remain long after all these kids in their dungarees leave Cincinnati.

It is a good choice to make Venus the jovial, if not quite magical Ghost of Christmas Present. He is a natural Master of Ceremonies.  Carlson gets to see what his employees really think of him. I'm not sure who is playing the Bob Cratcrit role here though. Is it Herb, who calls himself Carlson's "number one Yes Man," just to be screwed out of a Christmas bonus again? (Does this mean his snaggletoothed daughter will have to live out her days in a convent?) Or is it Andy, who has to be the one to break the bad news to the staff and explain the bonuses aren't coming? For all the times Carlson and Andy have spent together, does Andy really think of him as "Cheap. A skinflint. A tightwad."?

What Carlson really sees is the camaraderie of the staff, excluding himself. They are the ones organizing their own Christmas party and bringing their own potluck treats. Johnny brings brownies that, for some reason, nobody wants to try. Bailey brings her Grandmother's cookies, even if they taste terrible. But Bailey also lies so she will work the Christmas Day shift and Les can visit with his Mother in Dayton.

All of this is enough for Carlson to agree to give out the bonuses, even out of his own pocket. But just as in the original story, these visits aren't to just earn a one time donation. As Carlson is told by the Ghost of Christmas Future "This trip is for you to understand the true spirit of giving. It's to teach you Good Will Among Men. Peace on Earth. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and so on.

No other cast member could ever be the sombre, Reaper-like Ghost of Christmas Future than Johnny Fever. Clad in black with red-rimmed eyes, he's always been only a couple of cups of coffee away from death at the best of times. But it is a chilling glimpse into the future of WKRP and radio itself that pays off here. If Christmas past was 26 years ago, we can assume Christmas Future is 26 years ahead, which takes us to the dystopian year of... 2006! While others were Bringing Sexy Back, Herb Tarlek is alone in a THX1137 - inspired futuristic radio office, free to read actual girlie magazines at his desk because no one else is around. The station is fully automated (gasp!). Only the least effective employee has survived (gasp again!).

In an act of fan service like the Past gives us, the Future tells us what will become of our beloved 'KRP family, and each of the answers feels like it could possible happen - except for Les. Bailey runs a TV station in Chicago. Andy breeds guard dogs in New Mexico. Venus owns a clothing line called "Upwardly Mobile." Jennifer married and bought an island of the coast of Sardinia (which itself is off the coast of Italy). Christmas Past says that Les Nesman has become the Republican Whip of the U.S. Senate, but I think it would have to be another ten years or so before the Republican party would give someone like Les that kind of authority. Fever "just sort of... disappeared. There were rumours, of course..." also seems to be right on the money for his character.

Of course, true to Dickens' story, Arthur wakes up from his dream and is giddy about being generous to the staff. The ending of the show is the only time we don't hear the rockin' "knock 'em all dead, uh-huh" outro music, but instead we watch the staff enjoying their Christmas party together. They are all laughing and dancing together, and mixing outside of their usual office cliques until finally, Arthur Carlson throws kisses us all.

God Bless Us, Every One!

Roy

Other Notes: This is the one episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" that won an Emmy. Andy Ackerman won for "Outstanding Videotape Editing for a Series." He would later win Emmys for "Cheers" and be nominated for "Seinfeld."  The Republican Whip of the U.S. Senate in 2006 was William Frist. Don Diamond, who played Past news director Don Bassett on this episode, had one other WKRP espisode... in the other Christmas episode "Jennifer's Home for Christmas!

Ep. 51 - A Mile in My Shoes

August 2, 2017

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

Ep. 50 - Hotel Oceanview

July 21, 2017

Writers: Steven Kampmann
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: November 29, 1980

***Very Important***
^^^FAMOUSLY FUNNY^^^

This might be the most perfect episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati" ever written.

That's not to say the best, or the funniest, but this is the episode that has been the most perfectly constructed. All of the jokes and storylines weave seamlessly into each other. The rhythm and pacing are tight and deliberate. The characters stay very true to themselves. This episode refuses to blink from the ridiculousness of the situations it has put our three lead characters in. And all of that is summed up in the title of the episode, which no one at home would ever see.

Usually, WKRP episode titles are very bland. Last week's episode about Carlson's baby was called "The Baby." The episode before that set in the fictional show was titled "Real Families." This one could have been called "The Business Trip" or "The Dayton Poisoner." But the actual title is a reference to one early joke, that a hotel in VERY landlocked Dayton would be name "Hotel Oceanview" is ridiculous, emphasises that the focus of this episode is the ridiculous.

Jennifer, can you please give the audience some quick exposition as to what our main characters will be up to in this episode?

"You're driving to Dayton, where you'll be staying at the luxurious Hotel Oceanview, and you'll meet with Vicky Von Vicky at 7 pm. Because the Vicky Von Vicky jeans account could make the station a lot of money."

So Mr. Carlson, Andy and Herb drive Herb's Chrysler Cordoba, with rich Corinthian leather, an hour north to Dayton, home of Les' mother and the Dayton Poisoner. Dayton in 1980 had about 200,000 people in it, making it about half the size of Cincinnati.  There will be many jokes at the expense of Dayton being dangerous and "nasty after dark" when in reality, this should have been a small town meeting for these three men. It's never really explained why a designer as popular and "major" as Vicky Von Vicky would want to meet in a hotel in Dayton, especially if she is already centred there. Just the allure of the Hotel Oceanview, I suppose.

I'm now going to return to a running theme of this blog: that Andy Travis is not good at his job. He is the Program Director of WKRP, so why should he be at a sales meeting? In reality, those should be two separate departments under the General Manager's control. Even if he is attending because you want to present a show of strength, Herb is correct in saying that, as Sales Manager, he should be delivering the presentation. The reason to bring Andy is because you don't trust that Herb is not going to screw it up. So who screws up the presentation? The guy who loads pornographic and vacation slides onto his own projector, that's who!

The episode really comes to life when Mickey the bartender shows up. He is played by veteran character actor Larry Hankin (as of this writing, he has 172 IMDB.com acting credits) and immediately pushes a cadence of speaking onto the characters that turns the script into poetry. Is "poetry" too much praise for a sit-com script? There is plenty of evidence. Mickey knows Nikki who works for Vicky Von Vicky and where to buy a bulb? At Ricky's. When Mickey tells Arthur the Poisoner writes in verse, he says he's been staying awake "tossing and turning, thinking and churning."

Yet the best piece of poetry in the script in a joke that is only funny because of the rhythm at which it is delivered.
     "You're sleazy."
     "I'm smart."
     "I'm ready."
     "Let's go!"
On it's own, that's not funny. But delivered in a perfect staccato by three different actors, the rhythm delivers one of the biggest laughs of the night!

Something else we see for the only time ever on the show is Herb cheating on Lucille! He doesn't end up going all the way through with it, but he was obviously intending to! We can tell that Herb is as surprised his "oozing charm" has worked this well as Andy and Arthur are. He asks Nikki St. Clair "Are you kidding?" and when she answers "No I'm not!" his shocked expression to the other guys looks pretty genuine. Even Herb can't believe that he is finally going to close a deal through sex!

But it doesn't come naturally to him. Looking up at Herb dancing, Nikki asks "Nervous, Tiger?" He quickly answers "No, married." But Nikki is very aggressive and Herb is soon doing what none of us in the audience ever thought, or wanted, to see.

But in the world of Eighties sit-com's, no immoral deed goes unpunished, and we get the biggest punishment for a man who earlier in the episode didn't want to drink a fruity drink because the bartender said it was just for ladies. We have discussed before the gay panic that spreads over most comedies from the late 70's/ early 80's, WKRP in Cincinnati included. It goes back to "Les on a Ledge" in only the third episode. So transsexual panic? In 1980, that's just an immediate punchline.

Nikki was originally "Nick Sinclair, class of '64," male high school football classmate of Herb and Herb's previously jacked up sense of manhood now crumples and dies. Bonner rolls though Herb's emotions of shame, fear and regret slowly and hilariously as he physically rolls into the fetal position. Even though Nikki makes a sound argument why he shouldn't feel this way, Herb is too gripped by his panic to hear any of it. Or maybe it's the huge laugh from the audience that keeps him from hearing it. I'd like to think they are laughing more at Herb's comeuppance than at Nikki's revelation.

Speaking of revelations, in another room, Arthur has no fear of fruity drinks. What he does have is a growing fear of Mickey the bartender and his strange fascination with the Dayton Poisoner. To give Arthur his due, Mickey is acting very suspiciously: the intense, first-name repeating conversation about the Dayton Poisoner, Mickey's seeming insulted that Arthur might not like his Bamboozle, heck, he even brings out a tape of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor! (It's not just WKRP, readers. I also can remember Fantasia!) But the part part that breaks from Three's Company style misunderstand to pure inference of danger is Mickey just pulling out a pre-made drink called the Mickey Special "Get it? Mickey special." I'd be crying like Arthur too!

Our time in Dayton ends with the arrival of Vicky Von Vicky played by '70's TV stalwart Dr. Joyce Brothers. For those too young to remember, she was the Dr. Drew Pinsky of her time - someone who was brought onto talk shows every time a pseudo-psychological opinion was needed. The fact that she is brought in to just play this jeans executive is one more element of the ridiculous.

Since most of the cast is isn't in Dayton, everybody gets their line in the final scene, as each walks through the lobby. Les giving Bailey advice on her love life is a jarring moment! But the final bit of poetry is in both Carlson and Andy's matching answers when asked how the trip went: "She's not going to sue, if that's what you mean."

Roy

Other Notes: The song Herb plays on the coin operated radio is Herb Alpert's "Rise," and not Notorious B.I.G.'s "Hypnotize" which samples it. A Bamboozle is made with three types of rum, bitters, pineapple juice, grenadine, coconut extract and a slice of mango. Linda Carlson, who played Nikki, was never actually a man.

Ep. 49 - The Baby

July 14, 2017

Writers: Blake Hunter
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: November 22, 1980

For many TV shows, the "new baby" episode is a classic, highlight episode. For "WKRP In Cincinnati,"  it was a palate cleanser between two genre-stretching and bizarre episodes. Leave it to WKRP to take the then-new idea of a father in the delivery room, and put it in a very conventional sit-com formula.

That formula isn't the zany "get her to the hospital" plot television has used since "I Love Lucy." It is the character study of our familiar cast members' reactions to being in a hospital, combined with Arthur Carlson's self-debate about being in the delivery room, combined with regular, old doctor jokes.

Can you remember a time when just wearing a tracksuit could make you look good? Neither do I, but Andy is casually in control as he proudly takes new-Dad-to-be Mr. Carlson to the hospital while wearing his fancy new tracksuit. And it seems to work too, because he immediately earns the attentions of a candy stripper/wannabe Playboy model and isn't seen again until after the baby is born.

Venus is not confidant. He can't stand the smell of hospitals although he comes to support Carlson. He immediately gets lost. Jennifer and Bailey arrive together and the viewer gets the sense that they were out together when summoned to the hospital. Ever the newsman, Les takes it upon himself to document the momentous event. Herb would rather be in bed but shows up because he thinks it will make Mr. Carlson happy.

Then there is Johnny, for whom the birth of Carlson's baby just seems like an excuse to wander around a hospital. There he meets the elderly Peggy Sue, who, if the viewers are still getting senses of things, might believe will never be leaving the hospital. She wants someone to talk to about the larger issues of life and death and she couldn't be luckier than to run into our "not really" Doctor.  It becomes clear that life after life is a topic Johnny has done a lot of thinking about. He discussion of the band in Heaven included musicians you might not associate with Dr. Fever, including Coltrane, Beethoven and... Albert Schweitzer!

If this were a different show, like say "Twin Peaks" or "Lost," I might argue that Fever discussing life after life with the personification of the most famous woman reference by the singer who died "The Day the Music Died" in Buddy Holly might just be a drug-fuelled fantasy, or even evidence that this is really Johnny's own near death experience!! But, it's WKRP, so Venus finds Johnny and shuttles him back to the group.

Looking back now, Arthur Carlson's nervousness about being in the delivery room might seem silly, but they are tied into his concerns about being new parents in their forties. My wife and I were new parents in our forties and I can tell you, many of Arthur's concerns are real. Being "the oldest couple they ever had" in a birthing class can be shocking. The health concerns for a woman in her forties giving birth are real and although everyone involved tries to put the brightest face on them, when those concerns actually arise in a real delivery room, it is very scary and very sobering.

WKRP did a very nice job of not hiding from those real health issues. The detail of a possible Caesarean section is something most "wacky delivery" sit-com episode never even bring up. The far-away stare Gordon Jump delivers when Arthur is being told about Carmen's possible surgery reveals years of love for his wife and a hundred worries. It is a powerful moment.

Powerful moments need to be broken up with... tired doctor jokes. The constant paging of doctors to call everyone except another health care worker is funny due to repetition (they are, in order: call your pool man, call your contractor, call your pilot and call your chiropractor). Watching each characters reactions to the task of following complicated coloured lines throughout the hospital has its charms. The dim witted candy stripper and jokes about the nervous dad are easy marks for these writers.

The best parts of this episode are whenever Arthur and Carmen are together. The two actors create the gentle chemistry of a couple who deeply care about each other, and are happy to have a new adventure together - this time with a little girl who may not grow up to be Patton.

Roy

Other notes - I didn't want to neglect Venus' comment about Andy's jogging: "If I ran home from here, I'd be stopped by the cops seven times." We often think these ideas like "white privilege" are new. Watching something like WKRP shows us they aren't. Actress Darian Mathias never appeared in Playboy. The Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival has been held annually in Wethersfield CT since 1997. He really was a highly regarded organist.

Ep. 48 - Real Families

July 3, 2017

Writer: Peter Torokvei
Director: Rod Daniel
Original Air Date: November 15, 1980

*** Very Important ***

Thanks for reading the "Real Life Blog" in which we examine the banality of everyday living and see if we can make it seem seedy and illicit!

No, wait! Don't stop reading yet! You are actually reading the right blog "WKRP Re-Lived!" in which we look way too deeply into the significance of an early 80's sit-com and see how it relates to today. And wow, does this episode relate to television today!

The episode might be as remembered for its fake-out opening, which made many original viewers change the channel when it didn't look like WKRP was starting up, as it is for its "mockumentary" style (that term didn't even exist at this time. "This is Spinal Tap" wouldn't be released for another four years!). What ought to be remembered is its criticism of the public's hunger for entertainment and scandal and television's decent into feeding it to them.

Two very popular shows at the time of this episode were "Real People" and "That's Incredible!" Both showed filmed clips of regular American's with extraordinary or ridiculous hobbies or talents. I watched both shows with my family as a kid, and I clearly remember on "Real People" a woman who was so patriotic, she wore nothing but red, white and blue. Everything in her home, down to the wallpaper, was festooned with the American flag. But the real reason I remember her is that, whenever she heard "The Star-Spangled Banner," she would stop and stand with her hand on her heart. The producers then filmed her on the side of a busy highway, standing patriotically, as the song played on her car radio. I remember at the time, even as a 10 year old boy, thinking "That's Crazy! She's going to get killed or get somebody else killed. Who does that?" But I also thought "Why is the National Anthem playing on the radio? How did they know that was going to happen? THIS HAS BEEN A SET UP!"

Remember, this is a time before the internet, when eccentric people couldn't easily meet other eccentric people to wallow in their eccentricities. Nobody knew exactly how their neighbours really lived, so there was a pent-up curiosity that these shows catered to.  Also, and this is simply my own experience, people love to be judgy. Talking about how bad "those people" are goes back much further than television.

So "Real Families" combines these two basic wants: seeing how people really live, and then judging them for it. All you need is some dolt willing to go under such scrutiny.

"That's right, Elaine. This is Herb and Lucile Tarlek and their two children."

Let's start with Herb's letter to the show. "I am edified by your broadcast presentation and the direction of same in the entire field of television" ending with "I know the time difference can be a hassle, so call anytime." If this program were real, the producers would have been licking their lips at a chance to get this family on their show! It starts with the most pretentious opening line, using words no "Average Joe" (especially Herb) would really use. It finishes off with the tip-off that this guy is so unsophisticated, he thinks a three-hour time difference would confuse a Hollywood producer. This is a guys with something to hide!

Before we go into that too far, I want to mention the "Real Families" opening, in which the host Phil updates us on last week's guest, Dr. Feltner, who, because of the show's "journalism" was arrested for keeping Demerol in his garage. This piece would have set the audience up for the kind of attack Herb was about to face, but it was cut from syndication. Fortunately, the box set restores it.

So what does it take to start to uncover all of the Tarleks' hidden shames? Just showing up one day early. By arriving on Sunday, the show immediately discovers 1) unattended children answering the door to strangers (with cameras), 2) children watching loud TV on their own, 3) a messy house, 4) a boy playing with dolls and 5) Herb was drinking in bed last night. Lucille is so desperate to appear "normal" she comes up with something she thinks other "normal" families would do on a Sunday morning: go to church.

I don't know if the subsequent car chase was actually filmed in Cincinnati (I don't think it was) because it could really be any suburban neighbourhood, but this is the first time it is dawning on Herb that he won't be able to "outrun" these Hollywood producers. His scheming and hustling might work in the sleazier parts of Cincinnati, but it's not going to be enough against these guys. The chase is actually a hilarious scene, as hosts Phil and Elaine narrate Herb's obviously growing desperation; so much so that he just stops at the first religious looking building he can find (How could Herb, a life-long Cincy resident, to not even know where one church is in his own neighbourhood).

Let's talk about Edie McClurg! This would be her last appearance on WKRP but she brings a ton of heart to what could be a one-note ditzy character. McClurg was a founding member of the famous improv group, the Groundlings (thanks, IMDB!) so this episode's improvisational format suits her to a tee. Lucille thinking she needs to explain how shopping works is funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Later, when she admits her life hasn't turned out the way she had hoped, she is not shamed the way the hosts wants her to be shamed. Lucille is defiant and proud of the life she and Herb have built. McClurg brings all of that to Lucille and WKRP is forever in her debt.

Another little side note - "WKRP in Cincinnati's" time slot was often up against "Little House on the Praire."  Having Lucille use "Little House" as the example of a wholesome, family show she would let her children watch, in which "every week a house burns down or someone goes blind" contrasts nicely against the "counter-cultural" WKRP. Which would YOU rather have your kids watch?

Here's something only a blog would ever say: Is Herb Tarlek the WKRP MacBeth? (Would that make Lucille Lady MacBeth?) The answer is probably no, except for this: Herb's fatal flaw is his hubris. He thinks he will always be able to con and hustle his way out of every situation. That's what makes it so much fun to watch him fail! With "Real Families," Herb is betting he can hustle a bunch of Hollywood producers, and by extension all of America, into believing he is a really great guy. But the hustle that might work on stereo shops in Cincinnati is not going to work on the bigger scale.

Convincing literally everyone at the station (Andy, Venus, Bailey, Les, Johnny, Mr. Carlson, Jennifer and eventually his own daughter) to repeat the same phrase, and not think the producers wouldn't notice is such a small time move. The ironic thing is that "hard worker, loyal husband and all around fine person" is a good description of Herb: he does work hard at hustling, just not at selling radio airtime, to always be supportive and available for his wife and family. He may not be a Great person, but Herb is a Fine person. Certainly not the sort of person who would torture ducks.

Call it the Karma of the Ducks that Herb practically has to dance on a hot plate himself to explain away his SPCA condemned behaviour, then follow it up with a call back to the "Turkeys Away" episode. The heat is slowly but steadily being turned up on Herb Tarlek, until he finally cracks! And when he does, and he stops hustle and just says the real things that are on his mind, he comes across at his best, protecting and loving his family by just admitting... they're not perfect!

What he says in his blow up is the whole point of the show: "The Truth? You mean, what's real?" Why are those two different questions? Even the title of the show is a falsehood. Nobody would watch a show about REAL families. The need to be crazy, interesting, illicit families to have viewers tune in. "My life is boring!" Most people's lives are boring! There are always more people in the audience than there are on the stage. But somehow people have been lead to believe that boring is not good enough; that they have failed because they are not up on the stage for everyone to applaud. Here is the hubris of Herb: he proclaims this as a revelation; something he figured out. But later, when they are flown out to California to appear on the stage, the host tells him and the audience point blank "almost anybody will do almost anything to get their picture on television." The producers have known this all along.

The same is even truer in a world with 1000 cable channels and unlimited YouTube. Someone can even write a blog about a 35 year old TV show and have people worldwide read it (seriously). But perhaps the most poignant thing Herb says to our times is "Nothing on the tube is Real! Not even the news!"

We tend to look back today to the late 70's and early '80's with nostalgia about the news industry. There were stalwarts of journalism like Walter Kronkite and Knowlton Nash who would only be concerned with bringing us the facts of the world without regard for ratings. It was a time when every major city had multiple newspapers with reporters who dug for the facts rather than repeat press releases. But was that really the case? Maybe we're just more aware of the stagecraft now than we were back then. Maybe Herb's revelation is one the general public is only starting to have now, while the "producers" have known the truth the whole time.

In the end, Herb gave Herb jr. his doll back, because it was more important for his son to be happy than to appear "normal." That's the truth.

Roy

Other Notes - This might already be the longest blog I've written and I didn't even get into the other characters at the station! Especially: Johnny's piece about Herb being Nitchzie, Bailey being the person who couldn't remember her lines, Carlson and Herb being grilled. Next week's family "He's a cuban bandleader and, she says, she's an average, redheaded housewife" is obviously a reference to "I Love Lucy."