Ep. 84 - Dear Liar

November 16, 2020

Writer: Steve Marshall
Director: Frank Bonner
Original Air Date: March 24, 1982
*** VERY IMPORTANT***


A Prologue before I begin: With this episode, we are now into the final six episodes of the original "WKRP in Cincinnati." Various interviews and sources indicate that the cast and crew were pretty sure, if not certain, this would be the end of the series. As such, it seems to me the team we've come to love and respect who made this show,  knew they wanted to go out on a high mark. There are ideas the writers wanted to get out. There are performances the actors wanted to sink their teeth into. There are character and story arcs the creators wanted to finish.
     I think it helps to understand and break down this and the following episodes with that fact in mind.


There is a LOT going on with this episode. It could easily have been two completely separate episodes - one about plagiarism and the other about integrity. A couple of episodes ago, with "Circumstantial Evidence," I wrote about the feeling that the writers ran out of time to fit in all of their ideas. This episode does not suffer that fate. The fact that all the pieces fit so well together, while still delivering big laughs, is really a credit to Steve Marshall and the whole writing staff.

Also, this is Jan Smithers' best episode, hands down!

Now, after all that gushing, I'm going to tell you that the episode starts off with Les promoting a five part docu-series entitled "Rutabaga - The Vanishing Vegetable!" He has even brought in a rutabaga into the booth with him as a prop to shake in furious indignation, even though he's on the radio and no one can see it.

Of course, Andy doesn't want any part of this. WKRP is a rock station and he wants their news to have real weight in the community. A story... no, pardon me... a FIVE PART DOCU-SERIES about rutabaga does not fit in with those goals (I've written elsewhere about why he would care about the news department of a rock station, so I won't repeat those thoughts here). As Johnny labels it, Les' stories always seem to have a "barnyard aroma" to them and Andy, quite bluntly asks Les why "you never seem to do any PEOPLE stories."  I think there is a whole episode and therapy session to be had discussing why Les feels more comfortable discussing vegetables and pigs than the people in his city.

Andy happens to have a "people piece" he wants him to do: the Northside Children's Clinic, a pet project of Mama Carlson. The Clinic has been running into funding issues lately. Les truly does not care about the problems of sick kids. He sees that kind of heart tugging story as hokey and not worth his time. But the biggest issue for Les is that this docu-series is going to be his entry for this year's Buckeye NewsHawk Award (which as we learned in Ep.9 "Mama's Review," is awarded to "the best news story specifically about, or related to, tap root production in the Tri-State area and some areas of West Virginia"). THAT is his motivation - winning another award. For Les, it's not about community outreach or helping others. It's about the acclaim he can receive. That's important to keep in mind later in the episode.

Les complains to Bailey that Andy is making him do this hospital story and she says she'd be willing to do it. At first, he really does think it's too boring to do, but Bailey's enthusiasm to be able to get a piece on the air gets Les' more sinister side going. He can get Andy off his back with the hospital story, dangle the chance for Bailey to read it on the air to get her to do it, and all the while work on his prized rutabaga story. Oh, and don't forget, Andy is also dangling the idea that if Mama Carlson likes the story, Les could finally get walls for his office. For Les, it's a win-win-win-walls situation.

Inadvertently, Les gives Bailey her motivation in the story. He says if it's good enough, maybe he'd let her do it on the air. So in her mind, it can't be stale "It'll be the best darn story you ever read!" she promises him and she is way more genuine in making that promise than Les is in making his promise to her. But that's just another sign of Bailey's naivete.

We have just gone over all of this, and we aren't even into the main plot of the episode yet! Yikes!!

Bailey goes down to the Northside Children's Clinic and meets their Chief Administrator Edna Perkins. Her office is constantly busy with people running in and out, telephones ringing and Edna arguing on the phone about the prices of laundry service. She is stressed, tired and cynical all while trying to get enough funding to really make a difference in the lives of these sick kids. Into this situation comes fresh-faced Bailey Quarters, who says:

"I would like to find out everything I can about your operation. Then I'll be able to write my story and solve your problem."

Bailey honestly believes that's how journalism works, how the world works; that once she's identified a problem and told it well enough, the problem we be solved. Maybe I'm stressed, tired and cynical myself but it's hard to believe any college graduate who has hung out with Johnny Fever as much as Bailey has would think that identifying a problem itself will cause people to take action to solve a problem. Those are two very different things.

Edna Perkins running the hospital knows this isn't true and that Bailey is in for a stark awakening. But for whatever reason, she takes Bailey on a tour of the six hospital wards

Then we are back at the station, with Bailey looking over the typewriter. We never see the hospital or any kids. But we can tell she has been very effected by what she saw. She is distracted in her own thoughts when Jennifer comes into the bullpen. The two of them go to lunch and Bailey is rambling on about what she saw at the clinic.

So now to follow the story, we need to watch the timeline. Bailey and Jennifer go to lunch at noon, while Les is giving his noon report. During this, he is reading the first of his five-part rutabaga series. Andy is furious! He literally backs Les up against the wall to say this is important to Mama Carlson and he must do the hospital story at 2 o'clock. If he does, he can still do the rutabaga story at 4 o'clock. Les has less than two hours to come up with a story when he hasn't even gone to the hospital! Bailey doesn't get back to the station until 2 o'clock and we know this because Les is already on the air reading the story when she and Jennifer get back (It's always good to go to lunch with Jennifer, because then no one will yell when you take a two hour lunch break).

After his confrontation with Andy, Les doesn't know what to do... until he finds Bailey's story in his typewriter. Her note book is right beside it. It's all there. And we know he doesn't even bother to check it over before he reads it on the air, or he never would have made the "bearing children" gaff.

As Bailey promised, it's the best darn story he's ever read. It's shows personality and emotion. Bailey really took in all the patients she saw at the hospital. We only hear the last minute or so of the story, but even with Les' typically wacky reading, it's an emotional story, wrapped up with a simple flower picture handed to her by Bobby, a 10-year old boy unable to speak. His spirit of generosity is stronger than his disability. It's a beautiful capper to the story Les presents.

Bailey is furious at Les for reading her story and tells Jennifer, who assumes this is another instance of Bailey not standing up for herself. She tells Bailey to go back, confront Les and tell Andy what he did. But Bailey doesn't want to do that. Jennifer insists but Bailey wants this all to go away, and that's when she confesses... The story is a fake. There is no flower picture... and no Bobby.

Jennifer's first thought is the station could loose its license over this, and I don't really see that being the problem. I can't imagine the FCC shutting down a station that already threw live turkeys from helicopter for a fake flower drawing. But it does raise the dramatic tension as we go to commercial.

We come back to a scene that was cut from syndication! (Thank you Shout Factory) Les presents Mr. Carlson with 3 estimates from contractors to build his walls. Carlson tells him he's getting a $25 / week raise that he doesn't seem to care about. Mama wanted him to get a raise because of how good the story is. Carlson suggested walls might be a good idea for Les... padded walls.

This scene usually opens at the point when Jennifer walks in to say the Cincinnati Enquirer called. They want to run the story, verbatim, in tomorrow's Features section. Jennifer, knowing the story is fake, suggests maybe they shouldn't because maybe it's exploiting the boy. But Andy sees this as a huge opportunity for WKRP to make an impact in the community.

Les might be more excited about getting a story into print than he is about getting walls! Remember, his motivation through all of this is acclaim and a published story is even more impressive than a Buckeye NewsHawk Award. Bailey congratulates him sarcastically, and shamed, Les offers to share the byline with Bailey. He apologizes later in private for stealing the story, promising he'll never do it again. But he SOOOO wants to be in the paper. He's even is willing to but the flower picture from Bailey... for Ten Dollars! And that's when the truth comes out.

Nothing good can happen to WKRP without it coming with a moral quandary. Andy and Mr. Carlson both have there heads in their hands as they hear the news. Les stands with them as if he has the moral high ground. Once he forces Bailey to confess what she's done, Les proclaims  "The journalistic integrity of my news department has been compromised!"

That leads to the best joke in the episode. In trying to defend Bailey against Les' attack Andy tells Les "I want you to go to your desk, get out your dictionary and look up the word "Plagiarism." Of course, in the heat of the argument, Les says "Alright!" and leaves the office to do just that. The capper is when he returns after the audience has forgotten about him to literally read the definition of plagiarism straight from the dictionary, and that it is "something plagiarized".

Finally Andy and Bailey are alone to really discuss what happened. As Edna had thought, Bailey wasn't ready for how many children she saw or how serious their injuries and illnesses were. "I couldn't pick out just one and I couldn't begin to describe them all so I just put them all into... Bobby."

Bailey is ready to fall on her sword. The journalistic integrity argument is one she can't get over. But Andy is successful with a crazy station like WKRP because he doesn't see the world in such blacks and whites.  "This is the station that's employed Herb Tarlek for the last 16 years," he tells her. "Don't talk to me about integrity." As is his job, Andy is going to make everything all right.

But then he has a little throw away line that, I think, might have really been an interesting idea if the show had gone on another season. Andy warns Bailey "You ever do that again, you'll be the best looking reporter on the unemployment line." And she coyly looks back at him and smiles. "Best looking?"

Andy nods and smiles as Bailey leaves. 

I'm going off on a tangent here, but wouldn't Bailey and Andy make a more logical couple than Bailey and Johnny? Could there be love triangle in the station? Which side would Venus support? It's all speculation now but, I'm just saying, their kids would have great hair!

The newspaper still wanted to run the article, because they realized what everyone else should have realized: it's not about the flower picture! It's about a children's hospital in the middle of their city that is facing a funding crisis. That's why Mama Carlson wanted a story about it in the first place. The feature ran  entirely under Bailey's name, with prologue stating the character of Bobby was a composite of the children she met that day.

At that moment Edna comes in to thank Bailey with 87 flower pictures for Bailey, saying the story brought in "over six thou in new donations this morning" which is just fantastic late '70's slang. Nobody says "Thou" for one thousand anymore and maybe we should. 

Jan Smithers gets to do a little of everything we've ever seen her do in this one episode: she the optimistic do-gooder saving the Flimm building; she is the angry fighter telling Les and Herb to shut up; she's the caregiver getting a Russian to Cleveland. Smithers does it all here and does it all naturally. I believe it is her best performance

Roy

Other Notes: Edna is played by Barbara Cason, who appeared on dozens of TV shows including "Trapper John, MD" "All in the Family" and played Garry Shandling's mother on "It's Garry Shandling's Show,"

The entire "integrity" angle is a reflection of the story of Washington Post report Janet Cooke, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1981 for "Jimmy's World" about an 8-year old Heroin addict. She is the only person to have had to return a Pulitzer, once it was discovered the story had been fabricated, along with many of her credentials.. She was fired and never went back to journalism again

Ep. 83 - Fire

July 2, 2020

Writer: Dan Guntzelman
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: March 17, 1982


Since starting this blog, I have learned there is a small but passionate subsection of the WKRP in Cincinnati fan base who are obsessed with the layout of the office. Where do the halls lead? Where is Andy's office in relation to Mr. Carlson's office. For them, this episode is a treasure-trove of information. For the rest of us, not so much.

"Fire" is like a combination of two earlier episodes: Ep. 12 "Tornado" and Ep. 37 "Put Up or Shut Up." In "Tornado," we see how each member of the staff respond in an emergency (spoiler: Herb is a coward), giving each cast member a couple of minutes to show their reaction to the same events. In "Put Up or Shut Up," Jennifer finally goes on a date with Herb. In the course of that episode, the two of them share secrets and become vulnerable with each other, resulting in them having a deeper friendship. Both of these things happen in this episode, but not as well as those original episodes.

Everyone is going home on a Friday night. Andy going to the Bahamas with a stewardess for weekend of snorkelling (I guess he doesn't need the  "I'll Take Romance Computerized Dating Service" anymore!) that he's desperate for people to ask him about, but he's trying to come off as coy and humble. This comes off as if Andy is writing a letter to Penthouse magazine.

In a real nod to history, Bailey needs to deposit her paycheque as soon as possible so the other cheques she has written in the past couple of weeks won't bounce. Kids, cheques were these things people would write out to other people (usually in cursive) as an instruction for a bank to give some of your money to the person/company receiving the cheque. You would even receive a cheque as your payment from work! All this was before direct deposits or interact payments.

There's even a concrete reason for Johnny to be in the building this late at night - he read his clock wrong and is 12 1/2 hours early. Usually he or Venus just... happen to be there. Venus is there to begin his shift. And Mr. Carlson is just going home.

Suddenly there is the smell of smoke and a bunch of fire trucks are surrounding the building. Johnny says he doesn't know what's happening because, as he was coming through the lobby "everything was... kinda foggy." The Flemm Building is on fire!!

Well not the whole building, just an office on the fifth floor. But someone down there has opened a fire door, blocking the stairwells with smoke, and the elevator has broken down... with Jennifer and Herb trapped inside!

This sounds like the beginning of Herb's Penthouse letter. At first he's thrilled to be trapped with Jennifer. But then they are told there is a fire in the building and Herb starts to panic! He becomes claustrophobic and starts taking off his clothes. Jennifer tries to remain calm and be the adult in the room, but she is scared too.

Back up on the ninth floor, the gang is panicking. The fire warden for the floor is... Mr. Carlson. He wanted to wear the firefighters' hat. So that really means Andy is in charge. After speaking with the fire chief, he takes Venus' Security Hose (there's a phrase!) and looks for a volunteer to lower down onto the elevator car. The suddenly energized Dr. Fever decides to "leap into the jaws of danger" for reasons probably best described as "the writers wanted to lower Johnny down an elevator shaft."

Just as an aside, this is the episode that proves to me that, if WKRP were in the real world, Les would have been the most successful radio personality to have survived the 80's. A right-wing conspiracy theorist who can take a small event (like an office fire) and sensationalize it into a headline grabbing delirium (a towering inferno!). We are seeing the beginnings of a conservative talk radio host like Rush Limbaugh or Morton Downey jr.  emerging from Cincinnati's "News Beacon."

Back down in the elevator, Herb says he knows why this is happening: "God wants me out of the way and He's burning down a whole building to do it. He's been working on this all my life. The heart trouble? I've had it. Drinking problem? That's me. Real Estate? I bought a home in the only neighbourhood in the whole world where the property values have gone down. My best friend is Les. Lucille thinks sex is a reward."

Both to calm him down and because she really is frightened, Jennifer asks Herb to put his arm around her. Then she tells him a secret: she didn't have any big weekend plans; she was just going to go home...alone... and read a trashy romance novel! I think we the audience are suppose to be much more shocked by this revelation. Herb is! But I think we are too familiar with the troupe of the beautiful, lonely woman to be very surprised.  Herb's confession is that he tells every man he meets that he and Jennifer are together on the side. I always assumed he was doing that already.

These are Herb's and Jennifer's big revelations to each other, and as far as revelations go, they've each had more personal conversations in other episodes.

Then Johnny sticks his head through the top of the elevator car. He's learned he could just climb the emergency ladder down to them. Strangely emboldened by his success and hero's welcome, Johnny turns his attention to the control panel on which he somehow electrocutes himself. like a cartoon character, to bring the elevator back up to the gang.

Everyone is relieved and excitedly telling each other about their part in the story. The fire chief calls to let them know it's now safe to leave. But there's a bit of a let down after the adrenaline rush of the fire and everyone just sort of awkwardly leaves for the evening as they originally planned to.

Except for Herb. He takes the stairs

Awkward might be the best description of this episode. It's not wacky enough to be really funny. It's not vulnerable enough to be very touching. Much like the Friday night depicted, something happens and then it ends.

Roy

Other Notes: Is Hugh Wilson the voice of the Fire Chief? There is no credit given, but it sort of sounds like him. Does anyone know? "The Towering Inferno" is a movie from 1974 that the writers and audience would have been very familiar with. It stars... everybody and was the highest grossing film of the year. It is about a burning skyscraper that is a little taller than the Flemm Building... 135 stories tall!

Ep. 82 - Circumstantial Evidence

May 22, 2020

Writer: Tim Reid and Peter Torokvei
Director: Frank Bonner
Original Air Date: February 24, 1982
*** VERY IMPORTANT***

I have no evidence to back this up, but here's what I think happened while making this episode: writers Tim Reid and Peter Torokvei wanted to write a script that focused on Big Ideas, like racial inequality in the justice system and the power of faith in times of crisis. They also wanted it to be really funny, with a set piece for all of the cast members to be on a witness stand and a clever opening in which Reid would be the receiver of romantic advances, rather than his usual persuer role. There were a lot of ideas to be touched on but when the script came back, it was about 10-15 minutes too long. So someone, whether the producers or the network or the writers themselves decided that the parts to leave in were the comedy bits and give short shrift to the Big Ideas.

This makes the ending seemed rushed; maybe even a little confusing.

The opening is simple and a play on a long running joke: Venus has snuck a woman up to the station late at night during his shift. He has even pre-recorded the show to spend more intimate time with the lovely Jessica Langtree. She gives Venus a diamond earring. "This is a gift?" he asks, and she says what turns out to be her most honest line in the episode "You're not too perceptive. I like that in a man."

To Venus' confusion, Jessica walks out in the middle of their date. He doesn't know what happened until two police officer come to the station. Jessica has been arrested and named Venus as her accomplice in a string of jewellery store robberies. Johnny, in disguise visits Venus in holding and explains the situation, to both him and us. Jessica was stopped with the stolen jewellery and Venus is suspected because he is the one who snuck her past the building's security guards.

That's a lot just in the first few minutes of the show.

Frank Bonner gives us some nice direction by using the very funny sight of Johnny in a fake beard, in the visitors' room of the jail as a vehicle to deliver a lot of exposition to the audience. The "dancing vs. boxing" routine provides a good shorthand as to how far out of his element Venus is in jail.

Oh, and by the way... Venus is right. Jennifer should absolutely be the person to get him a lawyer, not Mr. Carlson. But that would have ended the show in three minutes.

Max Wright returns as WKRP's Mama-provided lawyer, Mr. Bartman, and he goes through a painfully drawn out explanation on the definition of circumstantial evidence. But he begins this speech by saying "The law is set up by, and for, our society as a whole." I'm sure he, and any other lawyer of his generation was taught that very phrase on Day One of law school. But look who he's saying that to... a room full of white people. This is not a coincidence. This is a message the writers are trying to get across to the audience. Unfortunately, it is even more strongly felt by today's audience. There is no point, from the moment Venus gets handcuffed in his own workplace to here, that we believe he is not in danger from the system. Not just at it's mercy, but really threatened by what is about to happen to him.

What is about to happen is only a preliminary hearing to determine if the state has enough evidence to proceed with a trial. We're not even at the trial stage yet, but the feeling of danger against Venus is real.

Bartman wants the whole WKRP staff to act as character witnesses at the hearing (except for Les, unless things go bad, which of course means we are going to see Les on the stand) and this is just a blatant excuse to get everyone on the witness stand. In a real hearing, only Andy has anything relevant to say about the night in question.

In the courtroom, we learn Venus has been charged with five counts of burglary, one count of possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit a felony and pandering. That's quite a bit. Venus is in even more danger.

The lawyer (as well as the officer who handcuffed Venus) is black and that is not an accident. This lawyer is part of the system that is attacking Venus; it is not the lawyer himself who is attacking. He's doing his job to the best of his abilities and as we will soon see, he's doing a pretty good job.

The first witness called is Miss Langtree and even both Carlson and Herb say they like her on sight. This is another commentary - if these two white men didn't personally know Venus, they would have pre-judged Langtree as someone they liked before she had even said a word! She claims that she was a "victim of love" who would do whatever Venus told her to do. Venus makes himself look reckless by jumping up and yelling that she's lying. But this causes the whole courtroom, including his own lawyer, to look unfavourably at Venus.

"I'm not going to sit here and let her lie!" Venus tells his lawyer. "You have to. This is a court of law!"

As predicted, the staff's testimony only goes to wreck Venus' credibility. Carlson admits the composite police sketch does look like Venus. Bailey is condesending to the judge and goes off on a tangent about killing baby seals (?!?) Johnny is asked if he himself has ever been arrested and we cut to Jennifer before we ever get his answer.

The most damning testimony comes from Venus' best friend Andy, verifying Venus had used the prerecorded tape of his show for an hour (maybe? maybe more?) and that he couldn't confirm where Venus was during that time. Andy feels terrible about it.

Back on the stand, we get a couple of callbacks to past episodes. Herb tells the story from ep. 66  "Nothing to Fear but..." of when Venus pulled a gun on Andy.  Then Les (who was only being called upon if they were going for a mistrial) repeats the store from ep. 44 "Filthy Pictures pt 2" of the gang breaking into the photographer's studio.

Finally, Venus takes the stand. He makes a good point that the composite picture is of a black man with a beard. But then he starts to bury himself. He claims the worst thing he ever did was worked on Nixon's campaign because "a good-looking girl asked him to."

The judge rules there is enough evidence, circumstantial as it may be, to proceed to grand jury. Bail is set at $200,000.

The rest of the episode runs only about four minutes and is interrupted by a commercial break. This is where, I feel, all the big ideas get jammed in together. I remember watching this episode in syndication as a teenager and not understanding what was happening. It's all too rushed.

Venus is led to the elevator by one of the arresting officers. Venus once again pleads his innocence, but the cop isn't buying it. "I've never seen an innocent man go in. It just don't work that way, my friend." Next, Venus is mumbling to himself and the cop asks "What are you doing? Some sort of Muslim thing?" "Praying to my God" answers Venus.

Stop right there! There's a lot in that exchange. First go Google InnocenceProject.org about "it just don't work that way." Second, I understand that in 1982, the American public at large didn't know as much about Muslim culture as they do today, but even back then wouldn't "some sort of Muslim thing?" come off as offensive? It sounds as dismissive as "some sort of plantation voodoo thing that gets paint off a frog." Third, although we know Venus is a spiritual man, as is Tim Reid himself, answering with "praying to my God" seems very "other" as if his God is superior to whatever God the cop might be worshipping.

Back to the scene. The elevator doors open and Venus, lead by his police officer and Jessica Langtree, lead by her officer get on board. Just as the doors start to close, a third officer calls for them to hold it. He brings on a third person, who stands next to the still praying Venus. The cop looks at both of them, then over to Langtree who is clearly flustered, then back to the two men. They are identical. And what has this new bearded black man been arrested for? Jewellery store heist. The audience gasps and we go to commercial.

The epilogue is so long, a good chunk of the credit roll through it. Venus is back in the bullpen with Carlson, Andy, Johnny and Les. He explains Langtree was the ringleader of the jewellery heists all along and had tricked the doppelganger the same way she had tricked him. He calls it "a miracle - pure and simple."

I wish this had been a two part episode and if WKRP hadn't been on the verge of cancellation at the time it was recorded, it might have been. There was a lot of humour that could have come out of the Venus-doppelganger idea., or more conspiracy theories from Les about the justice system. I guess I mean to say that the writers chose to go a punchier, more targeted direction like boxing and I would have preferred a little more dancing.

Roy

Other Notes - So many important guest stars! First among them, Daphne Maxwell played Jessica Langtree. She has had a long and successful career, as a regular on "Simon and Simon" and Tim's Reid own "Frank's Place" and most famously as the second Aunt Viv on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." But by that time, her credits read as Daphne Maxwell-Reid and she has been Mrs. Venus Flytrap since 1982. If you were trying to remember where you had seen Venus' arresting officer before, try picturing him with a Russian accent. Michael Pataki played Ivan the Russian defector in ep. 39 "The Americanization of Ivan."

Ep. 81 - I'll Take Romance

April 26, 2020

Writer: Lissa Levin
Director: Asaad Kelada
Original Air Date: February 17, 1982

Sometimes WKRP tackles important socio-political issues through the lens of comedy and sometimes it's a funny show about nerd on a date. This episode is one of the second ones. It seems every season there is an episode about Les with a woman, whether he's wearing a MACO toupee to a date with Jennifer, or inviting a groupie over to his apartment. Somehow we are always supposed to be shocked by this event because Les is just so... Les. But honestly, we've seen more dates for Les than we have for pretty boy workaholic Andy.

More about Andy at the end of this episode.

It is time for the Cincinnati Broadcasters Dinner Dance which strangely Carmen Carlson never seems to be able to attend. Who wouldn't want to hear two hours of guests speaking about radio ad rates? Jennifer remembers each cold and flu Carmen has used to get out of this event with Arthur, but Jennifer is able to reschedule the christening of a ship in order to attend with Mr. Carlson.

Carlson wouldn't have had to ask Jennifer he he had just used's Herb's new client, the "I'll Take Romance" Dating Service, wherein you fill out a questionnaire and a computer finds your perfect match.

Here is a real time capsule of attitudes towards computers in 1982. The very idea that someone would use a computer to find love seems desperate or cold in some way to the staff. The general sense is that it's not a natural or loving way to find someone. Proof of how weird it is comes simply from the fact that they are one of Herb's clients. However in our world, as of 2017, research found 39% of American heterosexual couples had met online.

The entire staff has ideas about how computers work that seem to come from sci-fi movies. Jennifer says Les' date is "programmed to like you." Today, if you are reading this blog, you have a computer. Most of us carry a computer in our pockets that are more powerful anything from 1982. Computers are a safer, more natural way for new couples to interact today than the answer Andy has from his time "I pick [women] up in bars."

The action of the story is that Herb has filled out a questionnaire but put Les's name on it, so he could see who he would get matched up with. With the Broadcaster's Dance coming up, it's a perfect reason for Les to need a date.

But Les is just as frightened of what a computer might match him with as anyone else. "I'm a complicated man," he tells Herb and Johnny. "I need a complicated woman."

While rewatching this episode, I kept thinking why isn't Mr. Carlson inviting Bailey to the dance since she is the one who might be interested and would be able to "network" with other Cincinnati broadcasters. She is friendly with and, respected by Mr. Carlson and she could certainly feel safe with him. So I was pleased to see this very notion being addressed when Andy invites Bailey, using the same logic. But it's really only as a last result because none of the "four women" Andy is currently dating wanted to attend because "the event...is dull as hell." Bailey was really just Andy's last resort, and even SHE turns him  down to go to the movies with Johnny.

So Andy gives his tickets to Les so he has a place to take his computer date.

Les still has his reservations and these are another of those early 80's time capsule issues. He genuinely asks Jennifer "What if she's one of those "feminists"?" with some real distain in his voice. He follows up by asking "Do we still hold chairs out for them?" as if 1) Jennifer isn't one of "them" and 2) women are a whole other species to be mistrusted. Those are questions that would NOT get asked today. Still the show reveals the true connection between Les and Lorraine later when he does hold out her chair and she sincerely thanks him.

But I'm getting ahead of the reveal! The whole staff nonchalantly find themselves in the lobby at the time Les' date is suppose to arrive. Lorraine enters and everyone is stunned that THIS beautiful woman is the computer match.

A couple of notes about Johnny in this episode and how shabbily he treats Bailey. When Herb is trying to convince Les to take out his computer match, Johnny seems eager to step in to take her out. Later when Johnny sees Jennifer in her gown, he stares at her agog IN FRONT OF BAILEY. He does the same when Lorraine herself shows up. In fact, the only thing that causes Johnny to leave is when Bailey reminds him she's paying for the movie. There are a lot of Bailey fans out there who would say Johnny is blind to what he already has.

I'm always surprised about the things Jennifer knows about that I wouldn't expect her to know about. We've seen in previous episodes she knows about kickback schemes and the names of the jailers in the Cincinnati vice tank. It really makes me feel a lot happened between her arriving from Rock Throw, WV and starting work at WKRP. In this episode, she reveals her knowledge of the inner workings of prostitution.

Lorraine reveals her true profession to Jennifer, because she think Jennifer is the full time "escort" for Mr. Carlson. Lorraine is a hooker and "I'll Take Romance" is just a front for prostitution. Knowing this gives us a lot of comedy, as Jennifer is now uncomfortable throughout the date. Should she tell Les, who is obviously having a wonderful night?

She tells Herb the next day, who has a fantastic retort when Jennifer asks him if he knows what this means. "It means I wasted a $200 hooker on Nesman"

She confides what's she's learned to Bailey who responds "Maybe Les is the man that will turn this girl around and make her leave that sort of life forever!" Jennifer is shocked by that naivete and asks Bailey what movie she and Johnny saw. "Cinderella!"

Finally, Jennifer pins Les down to tell him. He's been in exuberant spirits believing that he may have finally found his perfect match. But the more Jennifer tries to soft pedal her revelation, the more upset he becomes. He asks Jennifer if she thinks he's not worthy of Lorraine. "I'm trying to tell you Lorraine's not worthy of you."

Next comes the funniest line of this episode, and a classic Nesman-ism:
"Les I'm talking about the oldest profession."
"Lorraine's a farmer?"

Les is shocked and heartbroken. But Jennifer is just as shocked to learn Lorraine has asked Les out on a date herself. She told him she doesn't often meet men who just want to talk. Today, we know we are watching one of the final episodes of the show and there is never any additional talk of Les' love life after this. I think it's kind of a romantic thought that maybe Les and Lorraine stayed together for a while. Maybe Bailey wasn't so far off after all.

But don't forget about Andy! At the end of the revelation scene, Andy drops an envelope into the out mail box. In the epilogue, which is probably a week later, Andy confides to Les that he himself had sent in a questionnaire to "I'll Take Romance," and had ALSO been matched up with Lorraine. He tries to do the noble thing, assuring Les "I would never take your girl, Les."

It's sort of insulting that Andy thinks he COULD take Les's girl. Andy is obviously not the type of guy she's interested in. But this does give Les the chance to sit Andy down and explain the Facts of Life.

Roy

Other Notes - A few episodes ago, when Herb had signed a different client that was just a front for selling over-the-counter uppers, the entire station came together to shut him down. This time, nobody is very concerned about the crime. The visual joke about Mr. Carlson's tuxedo doesn't really work. Is it that just the shoes are too small or the crotch of the pants? It fits too well to be a joke suit. Actress Livia Genise played Lorraine and has had an interesting career. She was in Hollywood for about 10 years, getting small roles in TV and movies.  But she then moved to the Pacific Northwest where she became a regional theatre actor and director even up until today. She founded the Camelot Theatre in Talent, Oregon and is a very respecting acting veteran in the area.

Ep. 80 - Jennifer and Johnny's Charity

March 10, 2020

Writer: Blake Hunter
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: February 3, 1982

America has now gone through one full year of Ronald Reagan as its President, and a year of Reaganomics - deep cuts in Social Services and deep tax cuts for the highest earners. The writers for WKRP have not been shy in taking swipes at Reagan this season. Just in the last episode, Herb gives a practiced speech about Trickle Down Economics which Jennifer calls "a little too good." But this is the first episode that takes this issue straight on and your political views probably shape how successful you think this episode is.

Right from the cold opening, we hear that the problems the Vine Street Mission has with rebuilding their kitchen after a fire swept through it, is the result os "a loss of Federal Funding." So the first half of the episode show that long standing WKRP trope of going from character to character to get their reactions to a situation. This time that situation is charity.

However, this time those reactions are as much a reflection of our characters political views as anything else. On the right side of the political spectrum, Les needed a little convincing, but eventually gives $10. Mr. Carlson offers $10 also, but is tricked by Johnny into donating $160, as is Andy. Carlson is fine spending literally sixteen times as much money on a toy for himself than giving that money to some charity of Johnny's. On the far side of the right is Herb, who says he doesn't believe in charity - that people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps ("like Venus did" which displays a different right wing view). He only decides to donate when Bailey tricks him into admitting he does claim to be charitable when he files his taxes!

Herb does bring up a point that the end of the episode is going to turn on. He thinks that people only give to charity so they can feel better about themselves.

On the left side of the spectrum, Bailey is not only donating, she's organizing the fund raising at the station. There was never a question she would donate. Venus is also willing to give, prepared to give triple of what Johnny is going to give (more in the Other Notes). Johnny gives what he can but he simply doesn't have that much to give. That's why he hangs out at the Mission in the first place - he needs the free meals.

Jennifer is happy to help, but stops when she figures she has already raised the $30,000 the kitchen needs. To the shock of everyone who is donating $10 or a little more, Jennifer is operating at a whole other level, where $30,000 is "a piece of cake." We are already seeing the income divide that would come to define politics and western economies in the 21st century.

Even the most generous of the WKRP staff has to consider how much they can afford to give. Jennifer and her friends operate in a whole other stratosphere. She knows just by throwing a little cocktail party with a couple of the right people, she can get $30,000 on one night. For everyone else on the staff, that's more than a year's salary.

The second half of the episode is the party in Jennifer's apartment. But wait! you say. Didn't Jennifer move into a house across the river last season? Yes, and the writers, in a great move of continuity explain away that small fact by commenting that she moved back when that whole neighbourhood was re-zoned to commercial. Most viewers wouldn't have remembered that, but it is wonderful someone on the writing staff cared (more than they do about the seemingly dozens of jobs Venus has held throughout his life, but I digress). The apartment is a far more opulent set than the house, which makes the later point of the episode more vivid.

What happens at Jennifer's party is little more than a pissing contest between two very rich men trying to one up each other and impress their own wives. Judge Randall offers a piece of land on which to build a new Mission. Mr. Mittenhoff ups him with a $50,000 donation towards the building of the Mission. Then the Judge matches that donation. And just like that, the Mission has three times as much money as they need.

Next, miscommunication rears its comedic head! Johnny, misunderstanding Jennifer from earlier, thinks bringing the people from the Mission to the party will help secure the money. Johnny operates in a world where all the stops need to be pulled out to get the kind of money he's looking for. Jennifer operates in a world where that kind of money is a rounding error. So Johnny brings Sheila, Charlie and Percy from the Mission and the rich people get to meet exactly the sort of people their money is going to. And those people are not impressed.

First of all, they don't want a new Mission built, and certainly not in the suburbs. "There are drunks out there looking for it.You can't move that thing a foot!" Next, they don't need that much money - they just need enough to rebuild the kitchen. They have ideas on how best to spend this money on themselves that are not in line with the fancy ideas of their benefactors.

Oddly, it is Jennifer who is most offended by the attitude of the Mission group. She feels they are being ungrateful to her friends. "I haven't heard a Thank you" she tells Johnny. Johnny feels the rich people are being condescending to his friends. "This is just chequebook charity," he says, thinking her friends just care about the tax deduction and not about the people involved.

It comes down to Sheila, speaking one on one with Mr. Mittenhoff to really get the heart of the situation because, as a former exotic dancer, she knows something about the way the world works (Herb had come to basically the same conclusion earlier in the episode and he is definitely not an exotic dancer, so I'm not sure what that really has to do with anything). She knows rich people like giving money because it's fun! "It's a kick," she says and we saw that plainly earlier at the party. "So see! Everybody gets what they want!"

Except the rest of the WKRP staff, who had no real need to be at this party, and all get shunted off to the kitchen while the real business of the episode is taking place anyway. As they proceed to set fire to her kitchen, Bailey concludes "this is just a very bad week for kitchens in Cincinnati."

Roy

Other Notes - Classic Les Nesman news bulletin as a "Monster Lizzard Ravages the East Coast." Listen to his entire report and notice that no other word would have used the letter B. The song "Come Together" is played during this episode, and it really sounds like the Beatles... but it's not. It's a cover band, which makes me wonder why Shout couldn't have used more cover bands for songs they couldn't clear.

Ep. 79 - Changes

November 11, 2019

Writer: Peter Torokvei
Director: Will MacKenzie
Original Air Date: January 27, 1982

So now we have to talk about Tom Dressen.

In 1982, most audiences would know him as one of Johnny Carson's favourite guest comedians on "The Tonight Show." He made dozens of appearances. He also was Frank Sinatra's opening acting - a job be did for 14 years. But he got his start as one half of the first black/white comedy team in America. The team was called "Tim and Tom" and the Tim was our very own Tim Reid! It was as a comedy team that both of them got into show business. Starting in 1968, the team had cutting-edge comedy about race relations at a time in America when that issue had boiled to the surface. But this caused the pair to never really succeed and, after five years, the two broke up.

Then, almost 10 years later, on one of the most explicitly racial episode of "WKRP in Cincinnati," the pair were back together.

The episode begins with Venus and Herb arguing about fashion and style. It seems like a throwaway conversation, like the one between Bailey and Les earlier, but it's really the premise of the entire episode: The image we present is important. We are judged by that image, whether through fashion or accent - changing it will change what people think about you. But what is real, and what is just the image? And which is really important?  That is definitely not a throwaway idea!

Exploring those ideas through the two most fashion conscience characters is a good idea.

Starting with Herb, his change is played more for laughs. Herb takes Jennifer out for a "Mercy Lunch" to his favourite restaurant. He is so excited that everyone can see him out with her, he spills red wine on his lap. That's enough to humble him and admit to Jennifer that, lately, he feels people have been laughing about his clothes behind his back. Jennifer sees this as her opportunity to "redo [Herb] like I redid the lobby" giving him a whole new image.

Immediately after the commercial break, she introduces the "brand new Herbert R. Tarlek jr." to the bullpen - he is in a grey three-piece suit with pocket watch. Everyone is very impressed - Bailey gets the vapours! Now Herb is ready to sign his new client from Run 'n Sun Tanning.

EXCEPT his new potential client is a guy just like the old Herb. "I'm a slime bucket. I'm tasteless! I like it!" In just the previous episode, Herb told Andy "I keep telling you... tasteless sells!" Now Herb is acting too classy and refined to get new clients! The perfect Jennifer has to admit that... she is wrong. This leads to one of the MANY great quotes that come out of this episode: "I want you to go down to the parking garage, pick out your favourite car seats and wear them home."

Venus's story revolves around an interview he's going to give to Black Life Magazine and Herb advises that the media always comes in with preconceived notions "Remember that TV interview I did last year? They tried to kill me!" which is a wonderful callback to the "Real Families" episode from last season. Venus starts getting into his own head... Is he "black enough" for the readers of Black Life magazine?

Going through the album library with Johnny, Venus even says "I don't want to pass for black. I want to BE black!" then realizes what he's said. "What the hell am I saying?" Then, in the most incongruent moment in the history of WKRP in Cincinnati, Mr. Carlson steps out of the shadows to give Venus some good advice: "You're worrying too much about colour and forgetting the most important thing... That you're a fine person with an interesting job." I leave it to you to determine why Carlson would have been in the shadows in the first place.

Immediately after the new Herb comes into the bullpen, here comes the "old" Venus. We haven't seen him in one of these disco club outfits in a while and Jennifer delivers the line most commonly remembered when TV fans describe the character Venus Fly Trap: "Are you Earth, Wind or Fire?" He has boned up on "being black" and is ready for whatever this reporter is going to do.

Enter the aforementioned Tom Dressen as Rick Jesperson, the only white employee of Black Life magazine. What follows is something only a five year partnership can bring together. The initial dead-pan conversation between Rick and Venus is wonderful! If you watch it on the box set, replay this minute a couple of times. There is no breaking up, no variance in the tone. It's great!

Maybe even greater is Rick confessions to Venus. This is WKRP writing at it's sharpest. "I'm the only person of another colour at the magazine. Do you have any idea what it's like to be THAT MUCH in the minority?" These are things Venus would never have said out loud, not even to his closest friends like Andy or Johnny. They have faced larger racial tensions in the past (Venus dating Andy's sister comes to mind) but it's the everyday occurrences Rick brings up that Venus would have to deal with alone. "I have to be careful around the girls (at the magazine)," Rick says. "I mean, I even feel funny putting my hand on their shoulder!"

To bring the comedy of their mutual situation to light, Rick describes a working environment so much like WKRP, Venus steals it word for word for the interview "We're still small in the market... somewhere around the middle. It's run by a great, kind-hearted guy... we're all loyal to him. Well, actually his mother owns the place."

Rick Jesperson responses back to Herb's earlier idea that everyone is pretending to be something they are not in his summation: "It's a cliche, but people are people... you link yourself to people you love no matter what you are or what they are."

That's what Herb should read on a T-shirt.

Roy

Other Notes - Wanna feel old? Les congratulates "the Royal Couple" (that would be Charles and Diana) on their forthcoming first baby (that would be William). Think how much has happened to the royal family since that joke! Jan Smithers does two accents in this episode: first as a jive talkin' black dude and the second as a southern belle

Ep. 78 - Pills

October 14, 2019

Writer: Steve Marshall
Director: Asaad Kelada
Original Air Date: January 20, 1982

What we love about "WKRP in Cincinnati" is that it would tackle subjects no one else ever thought to tackle. I have never seen, or even heard of, another sit-com that discusses selling over-the-counter Speed.

I also can't recall a show that tackles festival seating or radio censorship either. The writers on this show go places other writers just never seem to THINK of. There are a bunch of shows that have shown the dangers of TAKING Speed, from the "The Love Boat" to "Mad Men" but this is a unique angle. However, the point that absolutely, 100%, with a sledge hammer, that Steve Marshall wants to get across is... IT'S ALL LEGAL.  Andy says it. The Lawyer says it. Wickerman says it several times. Just because WKRP is taking a unique look at something doesn't mean they can't also be heavy handed about it.

The episode begins with a very long cold opening in which 1) Johnny rails against the idea of a taped DJ (which we never hear about again) 2) Herb and Johnny negotiate a performance fee for performing 3 60 second commercials 3) Herb introduces Johnny to Dave Wickerman (and we see he's a Herb kinda guy) 4) Johnny and Wickerman begin recording the spots cold, without even a one-time run through (also with no producer or engineer) 5) Johnny realizes the "hidden meaning" in the copy and 5) Johnny quits the sessions and calls Herb a snake. That's a lot for four minutes of a 22 minute show before the opening credits.

Certainly as a kid watching this show in syndication I didn't pick up on all the hidden messages in the commercial copy, and I don't think most of America would have picked up on it in 1982. That's why it's so important to have Johnny and Les (??) explaining it to Andy. If they were explaining it to Herb, it would just be the cool kids telling the out-of-touch square about something. If Les wasn't a big part of what is two solid minutes of exposition, there would be no laughs. Because we always have to remember this is a sit-com. Finally, if Johnny doesn't explicitly say "What does studying for finals have to do with losing weight?" I think some in the audience might still think Johnny is acting paranoid. We've seen him be paranoid lots of times (Phone Cops, anybody?), so we need to see that Andy has been convinced and is taking him seriously.

It is very sly that this is an episode in which we see Mr. Carlson worrying about his weight, as they take on a weight loss clinic. It presents lots of opportunities for one liners and the physical comedy of Gordon Jump on a tiny trampoline. Also, I can't count the number of times I have used the joke about "on you, donuts seem to tun into hair."

Now to the crux of the conflict: Herb has signed a contract with Wickerman's Weight Loss Clinic to run two weeks of ads, but the WKRP staff realizes this is just a front to sell counterfeit amphetamines "or turkeys, as we call them on the street." The staff wants out of the contract but Wickerman won't let them. He needs to advertise. So what should WKRP do?

Well, don't do what the station did and listen to Johnny Fever! Listen to your lawyer!! Because Johnny forgot the whole reason Wickerman wanted to advertise in the first place... to bring attention to his store. If the DJs had just read the boring warning line the lawyer had provided before playing his dull, average commercials, nothing much would have happened. But once Johnny got "that vigilante justice look" in his eyes, they couldn't let that happen. But by calling their advertiser a different name every time it's played, and messing with the tape itself, it made Wickerman the most popular advertiser on the station! How did they NOT know that would be the result? Even Herb knew that would happen! "I've been telling you... tasteless sells!"

Speaking of Herb, in this episode he finally gets to do what he's wanted to do since the Pilot episode... "Herb is going on the air!"

It's always a mixture of heartbreaking and hysterical when Herb actually expresses his true feelings, rather than just put on the guise of a slick salesman. When he learns about a kid passing out in his gym class after taking Wickerman's "diet pills," he tells Andy "I've GOT to do the right thing!" He wants to personally tell the audience that he is pulling the ads and that he shouldn't have sold them in the first place. In a strange moment of self-awareness, he says "I'm tired of being the only person around here without a shred of human decency." which is probably going a little too far.

The epilogue tells us that, in part because of WKRP, Wickerman's Weight Loss Clinic has been picketed and his landlord has revoked his lease. But, he's just moving his business to another part of town... "All Perfectly Legal."

Roy

Other Notes - Guest Stars Galore! Dave Wickerman is played by Robert Ridgley, who spent most of his career as a voice-over actor but is probably most famous as The Colonel in "Boogie Nights," where he plays "in the opinion of this announcer, and is in no means a provable fact... a real scum bucket." Max Wright played the father, Willie, on the TV classic "ALF." Please don't sleep on the scene in which Mr. Carlson is telling Bailey and Jennifer how to dispose of each and every other member of the staff one by one, ending with "Jeez, it a pleasure doing business with women!" It might be the most liberated thing he ever says on the show.