S4E14 - "Changes" w/Tom Dreesen - WKRP-Cast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everybody, This is very sandy, and thank you very
much for listening to the wuk Rpcast.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
So just sit right down, relax, open your ears real wide, and.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
Say weather today in the greater Cincinnati area. Are you awake?

Speaker 4 (00:16):
Wait now?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
But the Senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could
not explain his nudity.

Speaker 5 (00:24):
Same what Dear God, She's gonna kill us all.

Speaker 6 (00:27):
Welcome to the WKRP Cast. My name is Alan Stairs.

Speaker 7 (00:31):
And I'm Donna Stair. This is the fourth and final
season of our week by week, episode by episode.

Speaker 6 (00:37):
Rewatch join us for this final season as we're getting
into the music, the.

Speaker 7 (00:42):
Trivia, and the fun of WKRP.

Speaker 6 (00:45):
So, fellow babies, stay tuned and stay cool. It's time
for the WKRP Cast.

Speaker 7 (00:50):
I'm a WKRP Simpson.

Speaker 6 (00:57):
Welcome back to another WKRP cast. We've got a lot
of self reflection going on this week. What is our episode, Donna.

Speaker 7 (01:06):
We're talking about changes. The air date was February third,
nineteen eighty two. Written by PJ. Tarakv as Peter Tarakvi,
executive story consultant Lisa Levin, directed by Will McKenzie. Herb
decides it's time for a change in his wardrobe, and
he enlists Jennifer to help him. Meanwhile, Venus is worried

(01:29):
about being black enough as he prepares for an interview
with Black Life magazine.

Speaker 6 (01:35):
If you're checking air dates on IMDb, this is another
one that changed based on the work of Michael Hernandez,
the accountant of Rock. He's been scanning local TV listings
to get the real story about what ran when. According
to Michael's research, this episode Changes actually aired on February
third of nineteen eighty two. It was originally listed as

(01:57):
airing last Wednesday on ja January twenty seventh. This change
may have been due to a news preemption. On January
twenty seventh, CBS ran a special news report called a
Conversation with the President. It ran in the eight o'clock hour.
In case you're keeping score, WKRP gets destroyed this week

(02:18):
in the timeslot. Real People Over on NBC wins the
hour hands down, greatest American Hero on ABC take seconds,
and WKRP is a very distant third.

Speaker 7 (02:39):
The title of this one is a single word. Changes
is a perfect title for this episode all on its own,
but as we've seen with so many WKRP titles We're
betting there's outside inspiration. This might be a nod to
the nineteen seventy two David Bowie classic of the same names, Face.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
The Strange to changees the One of the Richer Man.

Speaker 7 (03:07):
Although the original release of the single only peaked at
number sixty six on the US Hot one hundred, it
has become one of Bowie's signature tunes. It's appeared on
eight Bowie compilation albums and in numerous soundtracks. The enduring
power of this song to speak to alienated teens cannot

(03:27):
be understated. It was used as the epigraph to John
Hughes's nineteen eighty five movie The Breakfast Club. He quotes
the phrase, and this.

Speaker 4 (03:36):
Children that jused it on the sday try to change
their worlds our and beyond. To your consultation, you see
quite aware what they're gone through.

Speaker 7 (03:52):
Changes was ranked at number two hundred on the twenty
twenty one revised list of Rolling Stone Magazine's fire Greatest
Songs of All Time.

Speaker 6 (04:03):
We've got a special guest with us for this one,
Fellow Babies. That handsome young devil playing the reporter from
Black Life magazine is none other than comedian Tom d Resent.
Tom has a special tie to Tim Reid. They were
comedy partners for more than six years. Known as Tim
and Tom, they were the world's first interracial comedy team.

(04:24):
Tom was kind enough to talk to us about the
episode and his good friend mister Tim Reid. One of
our first questions was, Hey, do you think you could
get Tim to join us.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
I don't know what it is, alan, but he's not
interested in doing podcasts. He gets off and he said
he turned down three today. I don't know. He just
does it. It's not interested.

Speaker 6 (04:46):
So Tim didn't show, but Tom was great. We had
an extended discussion about everything from the early days with
Tim to why it's so hard to get the info
right on a Wikipedia page. We will be including several
of Tom's comments throughout today's show.

Speaker 7 (05:03):
Tom first met Tim when they were both members of
the jac's in the Chicago area. Tom was selling insurance,
Tim was working for DuPont in marketing. In nineteen sixty eight,
Tom wanted to create an anti drug program to take
into schools. He wound up partnering with Tim. The two
created a model program which was used the world over

(05:26):
by the JCS. The kids loved the pair. They were
funny and relatable. Neither Tim nor Tom had showbiz aspirations,
but wow, they were funny, so funny. After one performance,
a student noticed.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
One day a little eighth grade girl walking on the
classroom said Tim and I, you guys are so funny.
You are to become a comedy team. From an eighth
grade girl. Her name is Vicky Sirrupka. We've been known
it to this date.

Speaker 6 (05:52):
In nineteen sixty nine, the duo graduated from eighth grade
to adult audiences. It wasn't easy. Tim and were spreading
their message of comedy and racial harmony. During the late
nineteen sixties, race relations in the US were tense, to
say the least, anywhere.

Speaker 3 (06:10):
There was racial tension. We went there, high schools, colleges.
We didn't preach. We just tried to make people laugh.
We did thirteen prisons in one year. We did the
county jail in Chicago three times. Anywhere there was racial tension,
that's where we went. And again we didn't preach. We're
just trying to make them laugh. I can't tell you.

(06:30):
At that time, everywhere in America they said, you know,
we need more discourse among the races. We need more,
we need better race relations or Tim and Tom. Tim
Reid and Tom Recon were having a discourse America wasn't
having on stage. We were having race relations. If you're
going to have good race relations, you got to have

(06:50):
race relations. And that's what WKRP was obviously about and
so many episodes, But Tim and I were doing that
years before that. On stage.

Speaker 6 (07:00):
Tom said they did hit on racial issues as a
part of their act, but they weren't a one trick pony.

Speaker 3 (07:05):
Our act wasn't all about race. It was about so
many different things. But it didn't have to be because one
guy was black and one guy was white and no
one had ever done that in show business before.

Speaker 6 (07:15):
There were a lot of hills to climb, in some
very difficult performance situations, but in the end, Tom said
it was truly worth it.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
This day what I feel most grateful about. I can't
tell you how many times after one of our shows
that a young black kid would come up to us
and say to Tim, you know, I got a white
friend that I'd like to reach out to, but if
I do, the brothers are going to wear me out.
But after watching you and Tom today, I'm going to
reach out to my white friend. Then a white kid
would come up and say, you aren't got a black

(07:44):
friend that I really like. But if I do the
white guys, if I reach out to them, the white
guys are gonna call me names. But after watching you
and Tim today, I'm going to reach out to my
black friend.

Speaker 6 (07:55):
Even though Tim and Tom would stop performing as an
act in nineteen seventy before, Tom says he still feels
the impact of their partnership today.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
We're like brothers. I love Tim the death. He's everything
I have, Everything I own, everything that I become in
my life is because I met Tim. Tim will tell
you the same thing. It totally changed the course of
our life. I had no thought of ever being in
show business. It was the furthest thing from my mind.

(08:26):
And Tim the same way. We were salesmen. I worked
for an insurance company and Tim for EI do the
I do, pont recruiting, amount of college in the Chicago
and everything that I have, all my teams have come through,
all my preson had entered. But it's because I met
Tim read.

Speaker 7 (08:42):
Although Tim loved doing bits and even did some stand
up as a solo act in the mid seventies. Tom
says he could tell where Tim was heading even when
they were doing the act.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Far more of an actor than as a stand up
you know, he had. Tim was always in our comedy routines.
Tim was a great actor, you know, he's a good actor.
And both of us were, you know, doing acting in
certain sketches that we did and then sometimes just being ourselves,
you know, but it was more pursuing the acting career.
At that time.

Speaker 7 (09:12):
Tom knew he was destined to be a stand up comic.
He even said he feels it's why he was put
on earth. Tim not so much.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
We were both on our own track. But we always
stayed in touch, and we were never mad at one
another or never like any comedy team. When we were together,
we had our differences, and we'd have creative differences, and
we'd have arguments, you know sometimes and many a couple
of in the book, real heated argument, one night, creative argument.

Speaker 8 (09:38):
Never.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
It was never about breaks. It was about the etiptey.
But when he got Tim and time, I mean we
would when he got w Krap, you know, I knew
that this was another break for him.

Speaker 7 (09:49):
And if you want to know all about this groundbreaking
comedy team. Make sure to read the excellent book authored
by both Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen with Ron Appaport,
called Tim and Tom An American Comedy in Black and White.
We'll have more from Tom when we get to his scenes,
but now let's get into the episode.

Speaker 6 (10:11):
We begin this episode with a Bob Gerding exterior shot
of the Cincinnati Inquirer aka the Flim Building. We hear
Johnny's theme music playing as the camera zooms in to
the fourteenth floor. We first heard Johnny's morning jingle when
Rex Earhart played it while filling in during the episode Rumors.

(10:33):
The music transitions to Magnolia by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
We cut to a shot looking into the studio hallway.
From outside the window, Bailey and Less are looking out.
Bailey is in one of her contemplative moods.

Speaker 9 (10:47):
It's funny looking at all these people. Have you ever
wondered what makes someone.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
What they are?

Speaker 6 (10:54):
Johnny comes out of the studio. He walks up behind
Bailey looking over her shoulder. Nothing catch is his interest,
so he continues on without a word. It looks like
he's headed for more coffee.

Speaker 5 (11:05):
If you ever wondered why Russian women look like men.

Speaker 6 (11:07):
Bailey tells him she really hadn't noticed. Less not surprisingly
has a fury.

Speaker 5 (11:12):
They kidnapped men from all over the world, take them
to Moscow and turn them into Russian women.

Speaker 6 (11:20):
And again with the sex change operations. Bailey is smiling.

Speaker 5 (11:24):
Do you that's what I think happened to Jimmy Hoffer?
Why now he's probably a grandmother in the Ukraine.

Speaker 10 (11:38):
And now a special look at this episode's bandage placement
for the five time Buckeye News Hawk Award winner less
Ness Men. This is the less Nessman bandage Report. Now
here's Donna Stair with her report about less Ness Men.

Speaker 7 (11:53):
Just above right Temple.

Speaker 10 (11:55):
This has been a look at the bandage placement boys
Silver sal and Copper Kabo Award winning journalist less Nessmn.

Speaker 7 (12:04):
The song we're hearing on the air is called Magnolias
This Way.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
Nay.

Speaker 7 (12:21):
It was a track on Tom Petty's second album, You're
Gonna Get It. This was the nineteen seventy eight follow
up to The heartbreakers nineteen seventy six self titled debut.
There were two singles off get It, I Need to
Know and Listen to Her heart would peak at forty
one and fifty nine on the Hot one hundred. Magnolia

(12:42):
was never released as a single. Petty's next album, nineteen
seventy nine's Damn the Torpedoes, would be the band's breakthrough.
It included Don't Do Me Like That and Refugee.

Speaker 6 (12:55):
Less really seems to be preoccupied with the fate of
Teamster's labor leader Jimmy Hoffa. He's mentioned Haffa before. Jimmy
Hoffa was last seen at a restaurant outside of Detroit
in the summer of nineteen seventy five. For our take
on the Jimmy Hoffa story, check our podcast covering the
Union episode.

Speaker 7 (13:18):
Andy walks up behind Bailey Unless looking over Bailey's shoulder,
he startles them.

Speaker 11 (13:23):
You look at that.

Speaker 7 (13:25):
Bailey and Less both jump.

Speaker 9 (13:27):
There's a man in the building over there on the
sixty four who's exercising the nude Again.

Speaker 7 (13:31):
Andy clears his throat and then asks seen Venus now.

Speaker 11 (13:38):
Just around.

Speaker 7 (13:39):
Less tells Andy he thinks Venus is in the bullpen
arguing with herb Andy walks away as Bailey ads.

Speaker 9 (13:46):
Or else he's in Russia being turned into a bellerino.

Speaker 7 (13:50):
Andy looks at Bailey and Less he's not quite sure
what they're talking about.

Speaker 6 (13:54):
I'll check the bullpenpers Andy pauses before going into the bullpen,
and we get a look at the wall behind him.
It's time for a hallway poster watch yay.

Speaker 7 (14:06):
First off, if you look through the doorway at the
end of the hall, you can see an oversized poster
for Neil Young's nineteen eighty one album Reactor. This was
Canadian rocker Young's eleventh studio album and his fourth with
US band Crazy Horse. Young and Crazy Horse had most
recently collaborated on the nineteen seventy nine album Live Rust.

(14:29):
Reactor is only eight tracks and runs about thirty nine minutes.
There were no hits and no chart action. It's only
rated at two out of five stars on AllMusic. The
most notable thing about Reactor it marks Neil's first use
of the Cinclavier digital synthesizer. He would use it extensively

(14:50):
on trans the next year.

Speaker 6 (14:52):
To the left of Andy is a poster for the
nineteen eighty one Emmy Lou Harris album Cimarron. This was
a collection of out takes from recording sessions that didn't
quite fit into any of Harris's other albums. Emmylou is
a country performer, and this album would yield three country hits.
She had scored a minor pop hit on her last

(15:14):
album with a version of Mister Sandman. This poster may
have wound up here on WKRP because this album will
go to number forty six on the US Billboard Top
two hundred album chart.

Speaker 7 (15:26):
To Andy's right, the man holding the violin is Jean
Luc Ponti. This is a promo for his nineteen eighty
album Civilized Evil. Ponty is a French jazz fusion violinist.
We heard the cut Happy Robot off this album during
a Venus talk bit in I Am Woman. It will
only go to number seventy three on the Billboard album chart,

(15:47):
but like most of Ponty's titles, it will dominate the
jazz charts. This one peaks at number three on the
Billboard Jazz Chart.

Speaker 6 (15:58):
Andy enters the bullpen from the studio hallway door to
find Venus sitting at the DJ's desk. He's in a
heated conversation with HERB, who's gesturing wildly and would you
get a look at herb. It's an oldie, but a goodie,
but it's time Herb Darli Nation Alert.

Speaker 7 (16:19):
Herb is wearing a jacket that we've seen before. It
is a plaid jacket with blue, red, yellow, and green lines.
A white dress shirt with a maroon tie with white dots.
The pants are new.

Speaker 6 (16:31):
They are weird.

Speaker 7 (16:33):
They are a white polyester with light brown designs that
look like hieroglyphics all over them. He's wearing his white
belt and white shoes.

Speaker 6 (16:43):
It's the mister potato head look. Just grab pieces out
of the closet and throw them on.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
I'm nuts. So we're talking about a style, a look,
a statement.

Speaker 6 (16:55):
Herb is motioning to his outfit as he says this.
They seem to be arguing about Herb's clothes. Venus chuckles, Okay,
what is that outfit supposed to be saying? Savins is
trying to get Venus' attention, but Herb tells Andy to
hang on a minute.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
What is it saying.

Speaker 11 (17:09):
I'll tell you what it's saying. It's saying, trust me,
sign my deal.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
I know what I'm doing.

Speaker 6 (17:17):
Herb is running his hands down the coat as he talks.
Andy tries again to get Venus' attention.

Speaker 12 (17:25):
Testamentutally, you won't know what it's saying to me, do
not adjust your set.

Speaker 6 (17:30):
Andy's still trying to talk to Venus, but these guys
are fired up.

Speaker 5 (17:34):
Excuse me, can not adjust your set?

Speaker 2 (17:37):
Well, I thought you black guys knew how to dress.

Speaker 8 (17:39):
We do.

Speaker 7 (17:40):
Andy finally gets a word in Aws.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
You're talking about clothes.

Speaker 7 (17:43):
Herb tells Andy they are discussing looks.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
I wait a while you argued about clothes.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
Style is important.

Speaker 6 (17:49):
Andrew close Herb.

Speaker 3 (17:50):
You are what you wear.

Speaker 11 (17:52):
You are darn right.

Speaker 7 (17:53):
Herb leaves through the door leading to the studio hallway.
Venus turns to Andy.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
Why don't you make him dress better?

Speaker 11 (18:01):
Okay, why don't you lean him? You're a pirate outfit.

Speaker 7 (18:04):
Venus looks at Andy with a serious expression, ramus.

Speaker 3 (18:07):
I dressed like that because I'm in show business.

Speaker 11 (18:08):
I got a public to consider.

Speaker 7 (18:09):
Andy walks around to the other side of Venus.

Speaker 6 (18:12):
Come back, correct me up that you are what you wear?
You are?

Speaker 3 (18:17):
You are so.

Speaker 6 (18:18):
Andy begins searching his pockets.

Speaker 11 (18:21):
He's got a call from your public, probably the name
of Rick jessperson wants to interview you for Black Life magazine.
Wants to talk to you while you're on the are.
I told him, come tonight.

Speaker 6 (18:33):
He comes up with a message that he hands to Venus.
Venus is reluctant. Andy tells him the station needs some ink.
Venus wants to know what the guy is gonna ask him.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (18:43):
He said he wants to do a piece on black DJs.
Venus looks a little concerned about this.

Speaker 11 (18:47):
What do you mean? What do you mean? What do
I mean? I think he means DJ's we're black.

Speaker 6 (18:51):
Venus studies the paper. He's still looking bothered.

Speaker 3 (18:55):
Like Life Magazine is pretty militant aty, who I haven't
talked to?

Speaker 11 (18:58):
Her?

Speaker 6 (19:00):
Tells Andy, no, it'll be an inspiration of black kids everywhere.
Andy patts Venus on the back.

Speaker 7 (19:05):
Herb comes back into the bullpen just as Andy mentions
Venus being an inspiration. Herb asks how Andy says Venus
is going to be interviewed for the press.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
Uh oh, look out for those reporters.

Speaker 11 (19:18):
They'll tear you to pieces.

Speaker 7 (19:19):
Herbs had a seat at his desk. He begins playing
with his pencils.

Speaker 2 (19:24):
They already have their minds made up, you know, I mean,
then they just come right in here and go put
the hatchet right in your back.

Speaker 7 (19:31):
Herb reminds them of the interview he gave last year
they killed.

Speaker 6 (19:35):
Herb for some reason, is taping pencils together as they talk.
He's got three of them in a bunch, and he's
wrapping them with Scotch tape. Venus tells Herb he's not
trying to hide anything.

Speaker 2 (19:49):
I wasn't trying to hide anything.

Speaker 11 (19:51):
Come on, Herbert, you were trying to pick tend you
were something you're not human.

Speaker 6 (19:56):
Her shoots a look at both Andy and Venus.

Speaker 2 (19:58):
In a larger sense, aren't we all trying to pretend
to be something that we're not?

Speaker 6 (20:02):
Whoa Herb is casually throwing out some heavy life philosophy.
He starts writing with those three pencils he has taped together.
It appears to be some kind of an office art project,
and in.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
Fact, isn't that what it is? It makes us human.

Speaker 6 (20:18):
Venus is a little stunned at Herb's insight. He asked
where he got that speech?

Speaker 11 (20:22):
Read it on a T shirt?

Speaker 6 (20:25):
And is Venus and Andy marvel at Herb's literary prowess.
We head into our theme WUKRG censin.

Speaker 7 (20:37):
We come back from commercial in an entirely new set
for this scene. This is our first time in the
WKRP Record Library. Since it's a record library, we've got posters.
It's time for our first ever record library poster.

Speaker 6 (20:53):
Watch on the door to the library. To the far
left of the shot is a poster or the Rolling
Stone American Tour to support tattoo you. This poster is
very stylized and entirely drawn. Five of the Stone's lips
logos are flying into the frame from the right, zipping past.
A caricature of the Statue of Liberty across the top

(21:16):
is nineteen eighty one and at the bottom it says
the Rolling Stones American Tour presented by Jouval. You can
find this poster on eBay for about twenty bucks, or
you could go to collectible site Cherish chair Ish. They're
offering this poster for six hundred and twenty four dollars,

(21:40):
and that's after a fifteen percent discount off the regular
seven hundred and thirty five dollars price tag.

Speaker 7 (21:48):
They must have the very special posters.

Speaker 6 (21:51):
That's the first one or I don't know it. I
thought maybe it's signed, you know, there might be autographs
on it or something, but nope, it's just a regular
old poster. It is framed, but still it's close to
seven hundred bucks.

Speaker 7 (22:02):
Checking a few random wall decorations. On the wall between
the shelves is the Pretender's poster. We've seen this one
in the studio, in the studio hallway, and now in
the record library. On the end of the shelf is
the John Lennon portrait. Like what we've seen in the studio.
A small clip of the Blues Brothers picture from the
soundtrack album is also visible on the end of the

(22:25):
other shelf. Down low under the Blues Brothers is a
headshot of Stevie Wonder. Jeff beck is still carrying his guitar,
this time across the back wall. There's a strip above
Jeff to the left of the shelves that says Sad Cafe.
This is a reference to a song title from the
Eagles album The Long Run.

Speaker 6 (22:52):
Under this Sad Cafe strip is a promo banner for
the second studio album from US jazz bassist John Francis
Anthony Jocko Pastorius.

Speaker 1 (23:03):
Wow, what a name.

Speaker 6 (23:04):
Yeah, that's quite a name, but he shortened it all
down to just Jocko, called Word of Mouth. It was
released in July of nineteen eighty one. While Jocko was
still a member of the Weather Report. No hits or
chart action for this one, but it does have a
kind of interesting story. The first fifty thousand copies of
this album were issued without credits for any of the

(23:25):
musicians due to a contract lawsuit with Warner Brothers. CBS
told Pastorius they would not be listing some of the
names of the lesser known musicians who had played on
the album. The Storius defiantly said, if they don't get listed,
nobody gets listed. Pastorius got his way initially, but CBS
quietly added the names back on later copies. If you've

(23:49):
got one of those first fifty thousand without any of
the names on it, it is a minor collectible.

Speaker 7 (23:58):
The song So White and So Funky by Tom Scott
with vocals by Doctor John is playing over the monitor.
We see Johnny and Venus organizing albums in the record
library as they talk.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
You know what bugs me about her? Is this a test?

Speaker 2 (24:18):
Sometimes he says stuff that seems like it makes sense,
and then I realizes herb the saying.

Speaker 7 (24:23):
Johnny tells Venus he's heard he's about to become famous.

Speaker 12 (24:26):
Yeah, and inspired black kids all of them are Oh
why just black kids, because white kids don't want to
grow up.

Speaker 3 (24:35):
To the black DJs.

Speaker 11 (24:38):
I did.

Speaker 6 (24:39):
We've met both saxophonist Tom Scott and doctor John in
previous episodes. The cut We're hearing So White and So
Funky comes from Tom Scott's nineteen eighty one album Apple Juice.
We also heard the instrumental cut Getting Up from this
album in the episode Rumors. This song was written by
Tom Scott and Rob Preston. Now Scott is a sax player,

(25:02):
not a singer. Since this one had lyrics, got brought
in session monster Doctor John to add the vocals. One
man old man on a read as a man.

Speaker 5 (25:16):
Of white.

Speaker 6 (25:28):
Doctor John, whose real name is Malcolm John Rebenack Junior,
appeared as a session performer on more than a thousand
outside projects throughout his career.

Speaker 7 (25:38):
Bailey comes into the record library looking for Venus. She
tells him the writer from Black Life magazine called to
say he would be there at four pm. Bailey turns
to leave and then turns back to ask them a question.

Speaker 9 (25:51):
Have you guys noticed how you can't tell what color
somebody is on the phone.

Speaker 7 (25:55):
Venus says, I guess that's right.

Speaker 9 (25:58):
Stereotype thinking I mean, when I heard Black Life, I
was expecting, say, Mama, you tell the dude, I'll be here.

Speaker 5 (26:05):
Oh, but he didn't.

Speaker 3 (26:09):
He sounded just like you.

Speaker 9 (26:13):
See you later.

Speaker 7 (26:15):
Bailey nods her head towards Venus as she says this.
Venus is looking at Bailey with a strange grin on
his face. He's chuckling quietly. Bailey says she'll see them later.

Speaker 6 (26:26):
And leaves Jan with the dialects not very good, though
not great. She's trying.

Speaker 7 (26:33):
She sounded like a Southern bell trying to be tough.

Speaker 6 (26:36):
That's what she said. Oh and hey. As Bailey heads
out the record library door, we get another poster on
the far wall out in the hallway. This is the
very cool cover to The King's album Amazon Beach. This
was the second album from the Toronto based rock quartet
led by singer Dave Diamond. If you know the Kings,

(26:57):
you probably know them for one thing. The Minor nighte
teen eighty hit Switching to Glide.

Speaker 8 (27:06):
From Tuesday like Cattle in the Kid Jack.

Speaker 6 (27:14):
Begin Glyde was a track from their first album. There
would be no chart action from Amazon Beach. The cool
cover art for this one came about because the band

(27:35):
had heard about the production of a possible animated feature
film from fantasy magazine Heavy Metal. The Kings were hoping
to be chosen for the soundtrack, although they didn't provide
any tracks for the eventual film. They were inspired by
the superhero comics motif for their cover.

Speaker 7 (27:54):
Venus turns to Johnny, you.

Speaker 3 (27:56):
Should mean it sounded just like me. I'm black, I
can say folk.

Speaker 7 (28:01):
Johnny comes out from behind a record shelf, so he
conceive Venus. He slips into a heavy, affected accent.

Speaker 11 (28:08):
That's right, Kingfish. You is who does.

Speaker 5 (28:12):
But the problem is you solved neutral?

Speaker 11 (28:16):
You mean white?

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Well man, I've heard you say upside your head stuff
like that.

Speaker 3 (28:21):
Don't worry.

Speaker 11 (28:22):
You can pass for black.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
I don't want to pass but black. I want to
be black. What the hell am I saying?

Speaker 7 (28:29):
Venus confesses to Johnny. He doesn't want to do the interview.

Speaker 6 (28:34):
Johnny referenced Kingfish. Kingfish was a character on the radio
show and later TV show Amos and Andy. To even
consider the idea of Amos and Andy in the twenty
first century is beyond cringeworthy. At the time of its
debut in nineteen twenty eight, it was considered can't miss Comedy.

(28:54):
The show was created by white actors Freeman Gosden and
Charles Carrell for Chicago radiosation WMAQ. Both men were from
North Carolina, where they were familiar with menstrurel shows and
menstrual traditions. The characters of Amos and Andy, voiced by
Gosden and Correll, were African American farm hands from Atlanta
who moved to Chicago to make a better life for themselves.

(29:18):
When the show went nationwide, the setting would be moved
from Chicago to New York's Harlem District.

Speaker 13 (29:24):
And and will you please come on, wait a minute, Amos,
what's going on you?

Speaker 3 (29:29):
It's the Amos and Andy Shall.

Speaker 7 (29:35):
Gosdin and Correll voiced the main characters and dozens of
minor characters as broad overly affected black stereotypes. Amos was
naive but honest. Andy was a gullible dreamer. The two
joined the Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge, headed by
perpetual schemer George Kingfish Stevens.

Speaker 13 (30:00):
This whole Kingfish in a nutshell. There's the Messiah is in.
I can't get the shirts back in time. Yeah, see
what you mean though, Brotherand but how does this recern me, well,
I want you to help me, Kingfish, because I know
you was like a heel when it comes to squirming
out of things like this.

Speaker 5 (30:15):
Well, thank you.

Speaker 13 (30:16):
An Yeah, I've done some high class wiggling in my day.

Speaker 7 (30:20):
Kingfish's catchphrase holy mackerel quickly entered the American lexicon. Backlash
to the show began with protests from black leaders as
early as nineteen thirty. This didn't slow its popularity a bit.
The serial was aired nightly from nineteen twenty eight through
nineteen forty three. It was so popular it would regularly

(30:44):
garner a more than fifty percent share of all radios
in the country. It was the first syndicated radio show
and could be heard coast to coast on NBC starting
in nineteen thirty.

Speaker 11 (30:56):
This is the National Broadcasting.

Speaker 7 (30:58):
Company an estimated forty million we're tuning in to each
night's fifteen minute program.

Speaker 6 (31:09):
There was a nineteen thirty movie called Check and Double Check,
starring Gosden and Correll in blackface. The title was a
reference to a regular phrase used on the show. Audiences
didn't know the radio performers were white. When the movie
came out, The public was surprised to see these white
men in Blackface. The movie was a huge failure, but

(31:31):
the radio show and an eventual TV show starring black
actors would continue until nineteen sixty. Although the overt racism
and Amos and Andy is embarrassing to look back on,
this series is credited with creating the structure and tone
for future working man comedies, including The Honeymooners, All in

(31:52):
the Family, and Sandford and Son.

Speaker 7 (31:54):
Johnny asks why he doesn't want to do the interview,
Venus says, reporters come with preconceived.

Speaker 3 (32:00):
And before you know, they put a hatchet in your back.

Speaker 7 (32:02):
Johnny looks at Venus.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
Who told you that guy?

Speaker 7 (32:11):
Johnny keeps looking at Venus.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
Just a guy I know, besize, Man, I've been up
here with you white folks so long I forgot what
Black America is all about.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
All I know is what I see on the Jeffersons.
That guy's gonna know that he's gonna nail me.

Speaker 12 (32:26):
Are you saying that Jefferson's is not an accurate portrait
of black art.

Speaker 7 (32:31):
Venus tells Johnny to go ahead and joke, but he's
the guy who'll get the hatchet in the back.

Speaker 6 (32:36):
Venus mentioned the Jeffersons. The Jeffersons was the most successful
spinoff from All in the Family. George and Louise Weezy
Jefferson had been neighbors to the Bunkers before George's chain
of dry cleaners took off. He and the whole family
were able to move out of Queen's to sixty third
Street in Manhattan. The story of their move was presented

(32:58):
on and All in the Family episode. The first episode
of The Jeffersons then premiered the following week.

Speaker 8 (33:04):
We haven't moving on now, Dude, do it?

Speaker 6 (33:21):
Bunny got Sherman Hemsley played George, Isabelle Sandford was Wheezy.
The series ran for a total of eleven seasons and
racked up two hundred and fifty three episodes.

Speaker 7 (33:36):
Bunny Johnny tells Venus to relax.

Speaker 12 (33:44):
Talk a lot of jive, run the Dozens on again,
and don't mention your Slim Whitman collection.

Speaker 7 (33:49):
Venus makes a shocked sound. I love it, so he
tells Johnny he doesn't have any Slim Whitman records. Johnny
tells him to just relax and WHOA hold on a
minute here, we have to unpack some stuff from Johnny's
Last talk Bits.

Speaker 6 (34:07):
First Off, Who's Slim Whitman? Otis Dewey Slim Whitman was
an American country music singer, songwriter, yodler, and guitarist. He
had a high, breathy voice, a Kroner's style, and he
punctuated many of his songs with yodeling breaks. Whitman started
touring in nineteen forty five and recording in nineteen forty eight.

(34:30):
He was discovered and managed by Colonel Tom Parker, nine
years before Parker would meet Elvis. Whitman had a string
of top ten country hits in the US throughout the
fifties and sixties. Never more than minorly popular in America,
Whitman would become a legend in the UK. In nineteen
fifty five, he hit the number one spot on the

(34:51):
UK Pop charts with the theme to the operetta Rose Marie.
It would stay at number one for eleven weeks.

Speaker 8 (35:02):
All the please that ever, DoD.

Speaker 6 (35:12):
W Ely Donna is getting another bud light. She usually
goes here about four of them.

Speaker 7 (35:32):
Whitman would not become a household name in the United
States until nineteen seventy nine. That year, he produced a
TV commercial to support his greatest hits compilation called All
My Best. It would go on to sell one point
five million units and become the second best selling TV
album in history. In nineteen eighty, Whitman returned to TV

(35:56):
pitching his album Just for You. In that commer, they
made this stunning claim.

Speaker 13 (36:02):
This international recording star had the number one record in
England for more weeks than any singer in history, even
Elvis ever leadal old.

Speaker 8 (36:13):
Movie.

Speaker 7 (36:14):
Although many viewers dismissed these claims as hype, the proof
was listed right there in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Whitman's amazing eleven week record would stand for thirty six years.
Brian Adams finally beat him in nineteen ninety one.

Speaker 6 (36:31):
Wetman went back to the TV well again in the
late eighties, but he would never experience the incredible success
of his nineteen seventy nine and nineteen eighty TV titles.
He even got a first ever spot on The Tonight
Show in nineteen eighty entirely on the basis of his
TV commercials. Wetman continued to tour into the early two thousands.

(36:55):
His last studio album was Twilight on the Trail from
twenty ten. Wetman, who was originally from Tampa, Florida, would
die at his home in Orange Park, Florida, in twenty
thirteen at the age of ninety.

Speaker 7 (37:10):
So he was eighty seven when he did.

Speaker 6 (37:13):
Did his last album, Yea. He did not tour on
that one. I don't blame him.

Speaker 7 (37:19):
Johnny also mentioned running the Dozens on the interviewer. If
Venus is worried about being black, Johnny's right, The Dozens
is about as black as it gets. It's a game
found almost exclusively in African American communities. The Dozens was
first identified by name in print in nineteen thirty nine

(37:40):
by Yale social theorist John Dollard. He described the game
and its importance among African American men. The Dozens is
played by two people, usually men, who insult each other.
They keep insulting back and forth until one feels bested
and gives up. The Dozens is played exclusively for an audience.

(38:05):
The audience's role is to egg on the two participants,
pushing them to greater degrees of insult.

Speaker 6 (38:12):
The Dozens is where your mom is so fat or
your so dumb insults come from. The Dozens normally does
not touch on sexual issues. When it does, those rounds
are called the dirty Dozens. Sociologist Harry Lefever and journalist
John Leland studied and wrote about the Dozens. They claim

(38:32):
the Dozens is played almost exclusively by African Americans because
other ethnic groups don't get it. Others will take the
remarks seriously or become offended. Dozens players never get mad.
The end of a dozen session usually involves handshakes and hugs.
There are no hard feelings after being put into the dozens.

Speaker 7 (38:55):
Social researchers say verbal skill and wit are valued as
highly as physical strength in the African American community. The
Dozens is like a workout. Playing builds mental acuity and
word proficiency. Dozens players have to think fast, on their
feet and in a pressure situation in front of an audience.

(39:16):
Being witty and able to drop a devastating insult can
be what separates the men from the boys. It's no
wonder many of the most popular rap artists were skilled
dozens players when they were younger.

Speaker 6 (39:30):
Also, stand up comics Kevin Hart and Chris Rock both
known to be really really devastating dozens players. Yeah, those
guys will kill you suddenly. We hear Art's voice, Venus,
could I say something? Venus and Johnny are looking around
the room trying to figure out where Carlson's voice is
coming from. Venus asks where he is. Art comes walking

(39:52):
out from a dark corner of the room.

Speaker 7 (39:54):
And whoa, it's a poster overload. As Carlson steps from
behind the furthest of records, we get a new angle
on the record library. We can now see the right wall.
There's Ringo Stars October of nineteen eighty one solo album
Stop and Smell the Roses. Under Ringo is former BANDMATEE

(40:14):
John Lennon with an oversized promo cover for Double Fantasy.
And there's the German synth pop outfit craft Work Again.

Speaker 6 (40:24):
Art apologizes, saying he overheard their conversation.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
Sounds to me like you're worrying too much about color
and forgetting the most important thing, which is indeed that
you're a fine person with an interesting job.

Speaker 3 (40:37):
Right John, It's not that interesting, I.

Speaker 6 (40:39):
Say Venus, thanks carl Sin and Art starts towards the
door to leave, but Johnny stops him.

Speaker 11 (40:45):
I asked just what you.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Were doing in the record library, honey for old guy
Lombardo Records and smoking dope.

Speaker 6 (40:54):
Arson walked out the door, leaving Johnny and Venus looking
stunned and sniffing the.

Speaker 7 (41:00):
Mister Carlson mentioned. Guy Lombardo. Guy was a Canadian American
bandleader born in London, Ontario, in nineteen oh two. Guy
Lombardo and his Royal Canadians will forever hold a place
in the zeitgeist for their annual performance of Allangzine on
New Year's Eve. To this day, Guy's recording of the

(41:37):
tune is the first song played in New York's Times
Square after the ball drops on New Year's Eve. Guy
passed away in November of nineteen seventy seven at the
age of seventy five. Interesting Guy Lombardo trivia. In addition
to being a bandleader and violinist, Guy was also a

(41:58):
hydroplane racer.

Speaker 6 (42:00):
We cut to the lobby where Herb is talking to Jennifer.
He's standing in front of her with his arms open wide.
We jump right into the middle of their conversation.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
That's ridiculous, sure it is, but you have to eat,
so let's eat together.

Speaker 14 (42:14):
If we were together, I don't think I could eat.

Speaker 6 (42:16):
Heart walks into the lobby and Herb hurries over to him, big.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
Guy, I can explain everything, explain what nothing?

Speaker 6 (42:25):
Man talk about a guilty conscience.

Speaker 7 (42:27):
The only time mister Carlson ever wants to see him,
he's usually in.

Speaker 6 (42:30):
Trouble's wrong, Yeah, Carlson as Herb if he has a
client coming in this afternoon, he tells Carlson Run and
Son Emporiums is coming in at four. Jennifer asked, what's
running Sun.

Speaker 7 (42:41):
Mister Carlson tells her it is a fascinating new idea
from California.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
No, everyone's into this health thing, you know, running and
looking tanned. Well, this place has treadmills, so you can
run on them inside tanning booze Brother and Son.

Speaker 7 (42:57):
Herb tells Jennifer it's going to be all over the city.
Mister Carlson tells Herb not to blow this one.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
The guy.

Speaker 11 (43:04):
You know you can trust me.

Speaker 7 (43:05):
Oh and by the way, right about here we get
a full length look at Herb. Those pants are insane.

Speaker 6 (43:13):
Who would buy those? Herb man? So Herb's running Sun
ideas sounded familiar. Comedy writers in the eighties like to
combine tanning with some other activity. As soon as we
heard this one, it reminded us of another tanning sitcom storyline.
In a November nineteen eighty six episode of Cheers, Norm

(43:36):
invests in a hot new business called tann and wah No,
then it's a combined tanning studio and laundromat. Put your
clothes in for a cycle and hop on the tanning bed.
Throw in some treadmills for the dryer, and we've got
a winner.

Speaker 7 (43:51):
And Andy enters the lobby. He asks mister Carlson if
he wanted to see him.

Speaker 1 (44:04):
Yes, as a matter of fact, I did. I want
you to impress upon Herb how important it is that
he signed new clients.

Speaker 7 (44:09):
Andy turns and looks at Herb, who is standing behind him.
Andy asked mister Carlson why he doesn't tell Herb himself.

Speaker 1 (44:16):
Oh, well, I can do that now because Herb's here.
But he wasn't here when I send for you. I
was going to tell you to tell him that I left,
And of course when I got back, Herb was here,
and I couldn't tell him though, because you said that
you send for me, and I answered you and said,
there you go.

Speaker 11 (44:31):
So now one, well, I.

Speaker 7 (44:33):
Don't know, oh man, that was confusing a.

Speaker 6 (44:36):
Glimpse inside Earth's head can be a little scary.

Speaker 7 (44:39):
Venus comes into the lobby and asks what's going on.

Speaker 11 (44:42):
Bobbist Carlson was just explaining nuclear physics to us.

Speaker 7 (44:45):
Andy asked Venus if he wants to go to lunch,
but Venus tells him he can't. He's got to get
ready for the interview.

Speaker 11 (44:52):
What's what's to get ready?

Speaker 6 (44:53):
Andy asked Carlson if he would like to get some lunch.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
Well, I can't, I'm having lunch with my minister.

Speaker 6 (44:58):
Andy looks at Jennifer.

Speaker 11 (45:00):
No, I can't afford you, and I can't afford to
be seen with Herbs, So.

Speaker 6 (45:03):
I guess I'll stay it out, and he heads to
the bullpen. Herbs slowly walks up behind Jennifer. She has
returned to reading a rather large book with a big
you on the cover.

Speaker 7 (45:17):
What Jennifer's reading is Ulysses by Irish writer James Joyce.
Originally published as a serial over the course of two
and a half years, it was first published in its
entirety in Paris in February of nineteen twenty two, on
Joyce's fortieth birthday. This novel is considered the most important

(45:39):
work of modernist literature in one of the greatest literary
works in history.

Speaker 6 (45:44):
Ulysses chronicles the appointments and encounters of an itinerant in
Dublin named Leopold Bloom. The reader follows Bloom over the
course of an ordinary day June sixteenth of nineteen oh four.
The novel uses puns, parodieslu usions, and rich characterization. The
book has attracted controversy, scrutiny, and diehard loyalty since its release.

(46:10):
Joyce fans the world over, possibly including Jennifer Marlowe, still
celebrate June sixteenth each year as Bloom Day.

Speaker 7 (46:19):
As Jennifer gets back into her book, you can see
Herb silently rehearsing what he's going to say Jennifer, Jennifer jumps,
how long have you been behind me?

Speaker 2 (46:29):
All my life? Are you familiar with the term mercy lunch?

Speaker 7 (46:38):
Jennifer slowly turns to look at Herb.

Speaker 6 (46:41):
There's a quick cut to an overhead shot in a restaurant.
We've got a plant in the foreground and lattice surrounding
a private looking table. This setup has kind of the
same look as the dinner scene between these two in Daydreams.
It also looks a little like the dinner set up
in Jennifer and the will a very cool Dolly crane

(47:02):
move down to where Herb is sitting at the table
with Jennifer. A waiter is just clearing plates. Herb has
a crazy, wild grin on his face.

Speaker 5 (47:11):
I can't believe you're really here.

Speaker 6 (47:13):
Jennifer tells Herb to calm down.

Speaker 5 (47:16):
Everybody has seen me eating with you.

Speaker 6 (47:18):
Herb is smiling and waving at people. He's giving them
finger guns as he winks.

Speaker 11 (47:24):
I mean, I come here all the time. I know
these people. I know these people.

Speaker 7 (47:27):
Herb can't sit still. He's bouncing in his chair and
waving his arms around. Jennifer tells her to be careful,
just as he knocks a glass of wine into his lap.
Herb is silent for a second, with a stunned look
on his face.

Speaker 5 (47:42):
He problem.

Speaker 7 (47:45):
He then slowly lowers his napkin into his lap and
starts to dab at the spilled wine. They're both silent.
Frank Bonner's face is hilarious as he applies pressure to
his wine's oaked crotch. We also get a cut to
Jennifer's great look of horror mixed with disgust.

Speaker 5 (48:07):
Is my best outfit though.

Speaker 3 (48:11):
It is.

Speaker 6 (48:13):
Frank is so funny. It's his best out fats napkin
down below the edge of the table, and because he's
pushing down and his look on his faces, that's a riot.
So her best, Jennifer, if he can ask her something,
she tells him.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
Okay, I know this is gonna sound kind of weird too,
but lately I've been thinking that well, that people have
been laughing at me.

Speaker 6 (48:41):
Jennifer is stunned, but listening intently.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
I think they find my clothes a little funny.

Speaker 6 (48:49):
Herb tells Jennifer. He spends a lot of money on clothes.
That's a shock. And he tries to make a statement,
what do you think. The waiter brings the check to
the table. Tarmac your check, Herb corrects him. The waiter
tells Jennifer it's really been nice having her here.

Speaker 1 (49:08):
The guys in the the guys in the kitchen say hi,
Hi back.

Speaker 6 (49:14):
Herb has opened his wallet and an accordion of credit
cards comes spilling out, reaching to the floor. Herb hands
the check along with a card to the waiter and
tells him to keep it moving.

Speaker 7 (49:27):
Oh my stomach, I get all sick to my stomach,
thinking of his credit card debt.

Speaker 6 (49:32):
The credit card debt. He's sitting there with credit card
debt and a wet crotch. It's bad all the way around.

Speaker 7 (49:38):
The waiter is being played by Jim Hardy. We checked
into Jim and got confused. If you follow the link
from this episode to the guy named Jim Hardy on IMDb,
he's got a total of three acting credits, this one
on WKRP in nineteen eighty two, then a couple of
B movies in nineteen ninety four and nineteen ninety five.

(49:59):
This seems odd, so we did a bit more searching.
Turns out there's also a guy listed on IMDb under
the name James Hardy, same spelling of the last name,
and working during the same years. On the alternate names line,
it said this James would also go by the name
Jim Hardy. Could this be the same guy?

Speaker 6 (50:21):
James Hardy had twenty six acting credits starting with the
nineteen seventy nine Quincy m appearance. He hit all the usuals,
and a lot of his guest starring roles were on
MTM shows. James Hardy was listed as a guest star
on a nineteen eighty two episode of New Heart, which
happened to be available on YouTube. We checked it out,

(50:43):
and yep, James and Jim are the same guy. He's
got longer hair and a full beard and mustache in
the New Heart episode, but he's definitely the same guy.
So if you combined the bios of both James and
Jim Hardy, you've got a total of twenty nine acting
credits over the course of twenty six years.

Speaker 7 (51:03):
The waiter leaves, Jennifer leans toward her You know what.

Speaker 5 (51:06):
You need, sure I do, but you keep turning me down.

Speaker 7 (51:12):
Jennifer tells Herb he needs a new image, a whole
new look.

Speaker 14 (51:17):
Not that you need a new look so much, but
a change is always exciting, don't you think? And I
think I am the person to give you a new image.

Speaker 7 (51:28):
Herb gets this vacant look in his eyes.

Speaker 11 (51:30):
I've waited for this.

Speaker 6 (51:34):
The waiter has returned. Jennifer tells Herb she's talking about
his wardrobe. She knows it Taylor near here.

Speaker 14 (51:41):
I'm going to redo you, just like I readed the lobby.
You're gonna look great.

Speaker 3 (51:46):
What are you saying?

Speaker 6 (51:47):
Herb has signed the check and he hands it back
to the waiter, who leaves. Herb looks at Jennifer with
his brows furrowed.

Speaker 11 (51:53):
As long as I don't look like a room, they.

Speaker 6 (51:56):
Stand to leave. Herb hurries over to Jennifer's side. He
has a big, excited grin on his face.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
I want everybody to see with you walking out on
my arm like this.

Speaker 11 (52:09):
This is my prodest.

Speaker 6 (52:10):
Moment, maybe to walk through the restaurant, Herb's head held high.
The camera cuts to a wide shot and we see
a huge red stain right in the middle of Herb's
karach where he spilled that wine earlier.

Speaker 7 (52:30):
And Jennifer has her arm hooked in his and her
head is down down and trying not to look to anybody.

Speaker 6 (52:36):
Almost put her hand up in front of her face.

Speaker 7 (52:38):
The reveal of Herb's stain relied on a little editing trick.
If you think about how it was revealed to the
live audience, you realize they'd have seen it several seconds
earlier than we did. As soon as Herbs stood, the
studio audience would have seen and most likely reacted to,
the huge stain on his pants. Instead, the reaction held

(53:01):
off until the cut to the wide shot, when the
home viewer is allowed to see the stain. That's when
the audience reaction can be heard.

Speaker 6 (53:09):
Since we know w Kerp tapes twice on Friday, once
with the studio audience and once to an empty theater,
this is an easy edit. What we saw was the
no audience take. Herb was able to stand in silence
without a big audience reaction during the close up. Then
the sound from the reveal to the live audience was

(53:30):
dubbed in when they cut to the wide shot. As
Herb and Jennifer leave the restaurant, the scene fades to
a commercial break.

Speaker 3 (53:37):
Mister Tarmac your check.

Speaker 7 (53:39):
We come back from commercial break in the bullpen, Jennifer
opens the main door with a flourish lady.

Speaker 14 (53:45):
And gentlemen, I would like to present my latest creation,
introducing the new h. R.

Speaker 7 (53:51):
Tarlick Junior.

Speaker 6 (53:52):
Herb walks in and I believe it's time Herb darlic
sharp dressed man.

Speaker 7 (54:02):
Herb is wearing a stylish and conservative three piece charcoal
gray suit with a white dress shirt and a dark
blue pocket square. The outfit is completed with a maroon
and gray tie and shiny black dress shoes. He has
a gold watch chain hanging from his vest pocket. Herb
looks good. Herb shoots his cuffs and rocks back and

(54:26):
forth nervously. He's smiling at Johnny and Bailey.

Speaker 11 (54:29):
Really good, Jennifer's very lifelike.

Speaker 7 (54:35):
Herb turns to Bailey and asks what she thinks. She
instantly becomes a smitten Southern bell.

Speaker 10 (54:41):
My, my, my, I can hardly breathe.

Speaker 9 (54:44):
Why, mister tarlet, have you been lunching at the cloth?

Speaker 3 (54:48):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (54:48):
You are not to make a poor girl just swoon
right away.

Speaker 7 (54:52):
Herb giggles, liking this attention.

Speaker 6 (54:54):
Jan with more dialect work, do look rather good? Polo
Venus strides into the bullpen. He appears to have gotten
ready for this interview.

Speaker 3 (55:10):
What's happening.

Speaker 7 (55:13):
Now, Let's take a look at Venus's viban threads. Venus
is wearing skin tight gold lemet pants tucked into black
knee high pirate boots, a muscleman style leotard, and a
cream colored vest with fringe all around the bottom and

(55:35):
off of the sleeves. Their short sleeves. There's a large
parrot on the left side of the vest. The head
of the parrot is on his shoulder and the tail
reaching down to the fringe. There are two i ends
of peacock feathers hanging from the front two pieces of fringe.
He has a lace looking armband on his upper left

(55:55):
arm with two feathers hanging down. He has a gold
chain around his neck, a gold bracelet on one wrist,
and a gold watch on the other.

Speaker 6 (56:07):
Almost possibly beyond vibin these are some serious threads. The
audience has a huge response to Venus's entrance. Jennifer is
looking up and down, which brings us to the line
of the episode, are you Earth, Wind or Fire?

Speaker 7 (56:31):
Venus takes the comment in stride.

Speaker 3 (56:34):
I'm fire, maybe because women seek the heat.

Speaker 7 (56:36):
Venus walks over by Johnny.

Speaker 11 (56:37):
It's interesting, that's a cultural myth.

Speaker 12 (56:39):
You're not denying because that one's true.

Speaker 7 (56:43):
Herb points at Venus.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
Didn't I see you on Let's Make a Deal?

Speaker 6 (56:48):
Her reference though wild and wacky daytime game show Let's
Make a Deal where all the contestants dress in crazy costumes.
We did a pretty extensive background on Lma d in
our Doctor Fever and Mister Tide podcast episode. Make sure
to check it out.

Speaker 7 (57:04):
Jennifer's comment about Venus's outfit was referencing one of the
most successful and influential Afro pop bands ever assembled. Earth
Wind and Fire was formed in Los Angeles in nineteen
sixty nine by Chicago born musician, vocalist, and visionary Maurice White.
By nineteen seventy two, the lineup had changed and Maurice's brother,

(57:28):
Verdeen was brought in on percussion. The name came from
Maurice's astrological sign Sagittarius is surrounded by earth, wind and
fire elements, but not the fourth element Water.

Speaker 6 (57:42):
EWF, as they're sometimes known, had a killer horn section
and incredible stage show. They are considered one of the
most successful bands in history, selling more than ninety million albums.
They scored thirty hot one hundred hits between nineteen seventy
two and nineteen eighty three. Seven of those were top ten,

(58:03):
including the number one smash Shining Star. Although Maurice passed
away in twenty sixteen, Verdean and vocalist Philip Bailey continue

(58:24):
to lead the group. They perform and tour as Earth
Wind and Fire to this day.

Speaker 7 (58:29):
And one of my favorite songs is an Earth Wind
and Fire.

Speaker 6 (58:32):
Song, September. You're a big fan of that one.

Speaker 7 (58:35):
I love that one.

Speaker 8 (58:43):
Do you remember was changing?

Speaker 7 (58:57):
Venus looks at herb and does a low with threads.

Speaker 9 (59:01):
Huh.

Speaker 7 (59:01):
Herb looks very proud, you like Venus tells Herb, Yeah,
he likes.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
The look Jennifer dressed me.

Speaker 6 (59:07):
She's good.

Speaker 7 (59:09):
Herb tells Venus he and Jennifer had lunch together.

Speaker 3 (59:12):
Man, you are working out.

Speaker 7 (59:14):
Herb tells Venus there are several things he still needs
to work on.

Speaker 2 (59:18):
You know, minor things like a new personality. But I'm
coming along, right, Jennifer, right? Oh, And before I leave
to visit a new client, I I want you to
know that Reaganomics is working. It's a supply side economics,
not trickled down, and we wouldn't dream of taking all

(59:39):
the money out of social programs and giving it to
big business.

Speaker 7 (59:43):
Just minor things.

Speaker 6 (59:44):
Personality.

Speaker 7 (59:46):
Herb looks at Jennifer and asks, how's.

Speaker 3 (59:48):
That a little too good?

Speaker 7 (59:49):
Herb and Jennifer leave the bullpin.

Speaker 6 (59:53):
Venus heads for the door to the studio hallway.

Speaker 3 (59:56):
I don't care how militant this interview is going to be.

Speaker 9 (59:58):
I'm going to come out looking.

Speaker 3 (59:59):
Good in your RootSuit from Monsanto?

Speaker 7 (01:00:03):
What did Johnny say? Root suit? Root Suit is most
likely a reference to the Roots miniseries. Johnny also said
the root suit was by Monsanto. Today you probably know
Monsanto as the agrimonster Chemical Corporation based in the Saint
Louis area. They are the one hundred and ninety ninth

(01:00:23):
largest company in the world.

Speaker 6 (01:00:25):
Today's Monsanto is known for AG products like round up
and genetically modified corn and beans. This AG only version
of Monsanto has only been around since about two thousand.
Prior to that, Monsanto was a general chemical company and
they were into everything. Monsanto, among other things, manufactured DDT,

(01:00:48):
developed styrene, created astro turf, and for a while owned
Monsanto Textiles, where they made clothing from synthetic fibers.

Speaker 3 (01:00:59):
In your RootSuit, from Munsanto, we.

Speaker 7 (01:01:02):
Transition to the lobby where mister Carlson is at Jennifer's desk.
Andy is back by the file drawers reading the Wall
Street Journal. Mister Carlson is quietly singing to himself and
tapping his pencil on a coffee cup. Jennifer and herb
enter the lobby. Jennifer has her arm hooked through herbs
as she clears her throat to get mister Carlson's and

(01:01:24):
Andy's attention.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
Gentlemen, Good afternoon, too.

Speaker 7 (01:01:27):
Andy looks over at Herb.

Speaker 11 (01:01:29):
Hey, Herb, who are you trying to fool?

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
I am going to fool the whole world, Travis, watch me.

Speaker 7 (01:01:37):
Herb goes over to one of the chairs and sits.
You know, Andy could have been a little bit nicer.
I think that was China. Who are you trying to fool?

Speaker 6 (01:01:46):
It is Herb. Come on, you see him every single
day in those horrible suits, and suddenly now he looks
like a GQ model. Jennifer walks over to Carlson and
asks if there were any calls for her.

Speaker 3 (01:01:56):
Oh, just President Reagan, Ronnie.

Speaker 7 (01:01:58):
I wonder what he wanted.

Speaker 6 (01:02:03):
All right till Jennifer, he was just kidding. He looks
a little bit alarmed.

Speaker 11 (01:02:08):
You don't know the president, of course, not.

Speaker 6 (01:02:12):
Jennifer reassuringly pats Art's arm.

Speaker 7 (01:02:15):
A man has entered the lobby from the main entrance,
and Jennifer asks if she can help. The man leans
on her desk and looks her right in the eyes.
He's got one of the most hilarious opening lines ever.

Speaker 11 (01:02:27):
I'm ted Jeffery's five five five for two to call me.
I mean it.

Speaker 6 (01:02:33):
I love him from word one.

Speaker 7 (01:02:36):
Jennifer stands a worried look on her face. Ted says
he's looking for Herb tarlic Herb jumps up his arm
outstretched to shake Ted's hand.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
Hello, Ted, how finally nice to meet you face to face.

Speaker 5 (01:02:51):
Damn sporting of you to drop by like this.

Speaker 7 (01:02:52):
This version of Herb is just too weird sporting. We
know this is way out of character, but Ted doesn't.
He thinks herbs like this all the time. Jennifer may
have gone too far with the makeover.

Speaker 6 (01:03:06):
Ted has not taken his eyes off Jennifer since he
entered the lobby. He continues to stare at Jennifer of
a place he got here. Herbergrees and ushers him into
Art's office.

Speaker 11 (01:03:19):
Can I get you.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
A refreshment of some sort tea?

Speaker 5 (01:03:21):
Perhaps?

Speaker 11 (01:03:22):
Are you American?

Speaker 6 (01:03:25):
Are you American? Herb juckles at this. Art smiles as
he begins to follow them into his own office. The
doors slams right in Art's phase, where.

Speaker 7 (01:03:37):
Ted Jeffries is being played by Art Matrano. Art was
born Harpo Mesistrano in Brooklyn in nineteen thirty six. His
dad shortened the family's last name later. Art got his
first acting gigs in nineteen sixty. He's a memorable character
actor who notched one hundred and twenty IMDb credits over

(01:03:58):
a forty year career. Art showed up on a lot
of police hours in the seventies. Art could do comedy,
but he was great in parts of both hard nosed
cops and sleazy criminals. He appeared in guest shots on.

Speaker 6 (01:04:12):
Barretta, Starsky and Hudge.

Speaker 7 (01:04:14):
Streets of San Francisco.

Speaker 6 (01:04:16):
Ironsize, Police Story, and many more.

Speaker 7 (01:04:19):
Art was Captain Mauser in the Police Academy movies. He
appeared in the movie They Shoot Horses, Don't They along
with the woman who plays Carmen, Carlson, Alan and McCleary.

Speaker 6 (01:04:30):
Art suffered a tragic accident in nineteen eighty nine. He
fell off a ladder while working on the house, and
he broke his neck in six places. He was initially
a quadriplegic, but he did regain some use of his limbs. Later,
he would walk with great difficulty and use a wheelchair
for the rest of his life. Art wrote a one

(01:04:51):
man show called The Accidental Comedy based on his experience.
Proceeds from those performances raised more than three one hundred
thousand dollars for wheelchairs and crutches to be given to
spinal cord injury patients. Art died in September of twenty
twenty one at his home in Aventura, Florida, just two

(01:05:13):
weeks before his eighty fifth birthday.

Speaker 11 (01:05:15):
Are you American?

Speaker 7 (01:05:17):
We go to the studio and find Less behind the
mic while Venus is working with albums.

Speaker 5 (01:05:22):
And finally, this reporter joins the world press and congratulating
the royal couple on the upcoming birth of their child.
We'll be watching the dates very careful.

Speaker 7 (01:05:36):
Less Signs often tosses the mic up over his head
where Venus is ready to catch him.

Speaker 3 (01:05:42):
Thanks Less, welcome people and stay with me.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
Will I take you home with little help from mister
Bob Marley, He'll always be Rits.

Speaker 7 (01:05:51):
The song real situation begins playing over the air.

Speaker 6 (01:05:55):
And that tossing the mic thing not very professional and
that would make a whole lot of noise on the
air if he really did that. Less his news story
is referencing the upcoming birth of Prince William, the firstborn
son of Charles and Diana. William is in the direct
line of ascendency to the throne behind his father. Lesi's
comment about watching the dates references the very quick pregnancy

(01:06:19):
of Diana. William was born a mere ten months and
twenty one days after the royal wedding, so no scandal,
but it was a quick turnaround from altar to cradle.
A fun fact about William, he was the first Royal
child to ever be born in a hospital. It's a
tradition he and Kate have continued with their own kids.

Speaker 7 (01:06:40):
Venus is playing Real Situation, a cut from Bob Marley's
twelfth and final studio album, Uprising. Marley would die the
following year. The single you may know from this one
is could You Be Loved? The album peaks at number

(01:07:13):
forty five on the US Billboard Album Chart. It is
of course a hit internationally. Uprising peaks at number three
on the Swedish album's.

Speaker 8 (01:07:22):
Chart first Day curd.

Speaker 7 (01:07:25):
Firs, and it's number one in New Zealand.

Speaker 6 (01:07:29):
Venus looks a little annoyed that Less is still in
the studio. Take off Less, let's ask him why. Venus
says he's expecting a guy from a black magazine.

Speaker 5 (01:07:39):
I don't want you around, explaining the black experience to it.

Speaker 6 (01:07:43):
This tells Venus he has always let him chat with
his black friends before.

Speaker 5 (01:07:48):
I enjoy it notice I didn't say Negro.

Speaker 6 (01:07:53):
Remember how well things went on Venus and the man.

Speaker 5 (01:07:56):
Scratch an almand brother and you have black.

Speaker 6 (01:08:00):
Venus begs Less to please leave. He tells Less he's
a little nervous about this interview.

Speaker 3 (01:08:06):
Black Life Magazine is really hard hitting. I mean they're
into being black, I mean into it. Understand what I'm saying.

Speaker 5 (01:08:12):
No, I don't, Venus, but I can see you're upset,
So I'll do what you say and leave.

Speaker 6 (01:08:17):
Venus. Thanks, Less looking relieve.

Speaker 5 (01:08:19):
It's always a pleasure to help a friend, especially a
black friend.

Speaker 6 (01:08:26):
Scraps a cart like he's gonna throw it at Less.

Speaker 5 (01:08:29):
We'll be watching the dates very careful.

Speaker 7 (01:08:32):
Andy usher's a white gentleman into the studio. Is this
our reporter from Black Life Magazine? Hold on a minute,
it's our guest, Tom Dreason. We wanted to know everything
about how this role came about and how Tom got it.
Although it seems like it could have been this part
was not written specifically for Tom who.

Speaker 3 (01:08:54):
Wilson wrote that episode, and he said that they said
in a moment that he wrote it up. So we
got to find a white guy who's working for an
all black magazine and he comes to interview being the
sly chap you know who. Of course, my character is
the only white guy in an all black situation. His
character is a black guy in a white STITUATIONE. So

(01:09:14):
without a doubt they said, Tom said, if he's available,
you know, they was immediate Tim, Tim recommended.

Speaker 7 (01:09:21):
We were hoping it was Tim who called Tom to
tell him about the part. But this is showbiz. The
managers and money people have to be involved in everything.

Speaker 3 (01:09:31):
They went through my manager, but you know, because again
white who's passed away. They went through and said we
want Tom to do you know, they want to negotiate.
He did that to negotiate money. But they told my
manager that Tim how they recommended me for the goal
you know that, and for me to do a scene again,
to do anything with Tim again. You know, I love

(01:09:51):
with Timber and we had so much fun.

Speaker 7 (01:09:54):
With Tom reported feeling the same sense of welcoming on
set We've heard from so many guest stars.

Speaker 3 (01:10:01):
They welcomed me would be like with Openheims. It was
so nice to meet the table reason and by the way,
I was already.

Speaker 6 (01:10:07):
A fan of the show, even with the warm welcome
and the great part. Tom worried about getting a little
too familiar on Tim's turf.

Speaker 3 (01:10:16):
When we first got together, I mean, it was like
a little apprehension because this was his show. You know,
this was his show, and I wanted to compliment that
as much as possible. But once we started talking together
and running lines, it just boom, it came, and I
knew how the charter I felt. I knew how the
character should be. I thought the writing was excellent.

Speaker 6 (01:10:36):
Tom would go on to do several TV and movie roles,
but prior to this appearance, Tom's only other role as
an actor had been a guest shot on a series
in nineteen seventy six. Tom had been doing a lot
of stand up in the late seventies and early eighties.
Since the show was shooting in front of a live audience,
we asked if it was weird for him not addressing

(01:10:56):
the audience.

Speaker 3 (01:10:57):
It always does in any time I've done you know,
motion pictures, and I've done you know, I was in Spaceballs,
and I did different things in movies throughout my career.
I'm a stand up comedian first last and always. That's
who I am, That's who I want to be, That's
what I enjoyed to be. I really believe this is
what I put on this planet for. I love making
people laugh. But anytime you do shows and the fourth

(01:11:20):
wall is there, it always is different.

Speaker 7 (01:11:22):
Venus is queuing up the next record, his back to them.

Speaker 3 (01:11:26):
Rick, this is Venus, Hey, bro, what's happening.

Speaker 7 (01:11:30):
Venus stands up his hand out to shake Ricks. He
doesn't even see Rick's face until he's in the middle
of his greeting.

Speaker 3 (01:11:37):
Hey, blood, what it is.

Speaker 7 (01:11:39):
Venus looks over at Andy.

Speaker 6 (01:11:41):
Confused, that's Rick jessperson.

Speaker 7 (01:11:44):
Venus looks back to Rick.

Speaker 11 (01:11:46):
Not black, No, I work for a black magazine. You do,
Uh huh.

Speaker 6 (01:11:51):
Good observation there, Vian.

Speaker 7 (01:11:52):
I just love the the back and forth between the
Tom and Tim and this whole Yeah, this whole scene.

Speaker 6 (01:11:58):
You just get the sense of how comfortable they are
with each other.

Speaker 7 (01:12:01):
Yeah, and they work so well together.

Speaker 6 (01:12:03):
And he excuses himself, telling them to have a good interview.
Rick tells Venus he's really been looking forward to this.
Vena says he has too. They launch into a hilarious
back and forth that could only happen between two guys
who worked together for years.

Speaker 11 (01:12:19):
Tell you, though, you kind of threw me there. I'm sorry.
I didn't know you be white. I thought this was
a black station. It's a white station.

Speaker 3 (01:12:26):
I'm white.

Speaker 11 (01:12:27):
My magazine's black. I'm black. Were an equal opportunity employer.

Speaker 12 (01:12:31):
Same here. We're pretty militant about it too, me too.
Well good, let's talk, Bob, what how about race? I
don't think that much about it me. Neither have a seat,
thank you.

Speaker 6 (01:12:46):
They both slowly sit, keeping their eyes on each other.
Venus sits in the DJ chair and Rick has a
seat on the stool.

Speaker 3 (01:12:55):
I mean, you notice we both sat down at the
same time like that. No one directed that. We just
you know, but we had worked together six years on
the road, almost six years on the road, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:13:04):
In mister Carlson's office, Herb is talking to Ted as
Ted slouches on the couch studying his fingernails.

Speaker 2 (01:13:11):
You know, I think one of the great follies of
advertising is this trend toward tastelessness.

Speaker 7 (01:13:20):
Now, hold on a minute. Didn't Herb just tell us
something entirely different in pills?

Speaker 2 (01:13:27):
How many times I told you the more tasteless commercials are,
the better they work.

Speaker 7 (01:13:32):
Herb has a small breath spray bottle in his hand,
He brings it up to spray into his mouth, but
the hole is kind of facing off to the far side.
It's the Craig t Nelson gag from out to lunch.
The spray goes out into the air beside his face.

Speaker 6 (01:13:48):
As Herb is struggling to project his new image. Ted,
it turns out, is pretty proud of his sleezy roots.

Speaker 3 (01:13:56):
Do you realize that the last business I was in
was made illegal?

Speaker 6 (01:14:01):
That's pretty bad. You're right on the edge of it
becoming illegal. We get a great look at Ted's polyester
suit here. It's a light gray with darker gray spots
all over it, and I mean all over it, both
coat and pants. He's wearing a shades of purple dress shirt. Underneath,
he's got brown socks and what look to be brown hushpuppies.

Speaker 11 (01:14:24):
I'm a sliine bucket. I'm tasteless.

Speaker 7 (01:14:26):
I like it.

Speaker 6 (01:14:30):
Ted knows who he is. Herbs staring into space, not
quite knowing what to say or do.

Speaker 11 (01:14:36):
Hello.

Speaker 6 (01:14:36):
Ted waves his hand. He's trying to get Herb's attention.

Speaker 11 (01:14:39):
I'm tasetless.

Speaker 5 (01:14:39):
I like it.

Speaker 7 (01:14:41):
Back in the studio, Venus tells Rick to excuse him.
He'll be done in a second. As the song ends,
he turns to talk into the mic.

Speaker 6 (01:14:50):
All right, we're.

Speaker 3 (01:14:51):
Headed into the evening.

Speaker 12 (01:14:52):
It's thirty five degrees, my children, night's gonna be kind
of slippery, so drive carefully.

Speaker 5 (01:14:56):
It's a WKRP with Venus.

Speaker 3 (01:15:00):
Love Is on the Rise, brought to you by the
Pride of Atlanta. Mis to Peebo Bryson.

Speaker 6 (01:15:08):
His real name is Robert Peepo Bryson. Instead of Bob,
he goes by Peebow. This cut comes from his seventh
studio album called I Am Love. Bryson was born in Greenville,
South Carolina, in nineteen fifty one, but as Venus said,
he's lived most of his adult life in Atlanta. The
hit from this album was a cut called Let the

(01:15:30):
Feeling Flow. It would miss the top forty, peaking at
number forty two on the US Hot one hundred. Love
Is on the Rise was not released as a single.
Bryson has made a name for himself in the music
industry with his soulful ballads and love song duets with
female performers. Bryson had a heart attack in twenty nineteen.

(01:15:51):
He has since made a full recovery, and if you're interested,
you can pick up tickets right now for the seventy
one year Olds twenty twenty two tour.

Speaker 7 (01:16:02):
Venus turns to Rick and asks him to go on
with what he was saying.

Speaker 12 (01:16:05):
I was saying, I'm the only person of another color
at the magazine.

Speaker 11 (01:16:09):
Do you have any idea what it's like to be
that much.

Speaker 3 (01:16:12):
In the minority?

Speaker 7 (01:16:13):
Venus knows exactly. He shoots a look at Rick.

Speaker 9 (01:16:17):
Must be rough.

Speaker 7 (01:16:19):
Rick tells Venus they are still fairly small in the market,
somewhere in the middle. Hmmm, like WKRP maybe.

Speaker 6 (01:16:27):
Rick tells Venus. The place is really screwed up, but
still a nice place to work.

Speaker 11 (01:16:32):
We're run by this great, kind hearted guy. Well his mother.

Speaker 3 (01:16:36):
Actually owns a thing, but we're all loyal to him.
For me, it's it's kind of weird though, everybody being
one color and me being another. He gets in the
way sometimes, I'm bed.

Speaker 6 (01:16:50):
Goes on to tell Venus there a couple are really
good looking girls at the magazine.

Speaker 3 (01:16:54):
Whenever I'm around them, I feel like I always have
to be careful, you know.

Speaker 7 (01:16:58):
Popod Rick continues telling Venus he's gotten to know and
love these people, and.

Speaker 12 (01:17:05):
I realize it, and I know this is a cliche,
but I realize that people are people, and you are
who you are, and you link yourself to people you
love no matter what you.

Speaker 11 (01:17:12):
Are or what they are.

Speaker 7 (01:17:13):
This could practically be a line out of their book,
Tim and Tom Rick waves his hand saying enough about him.
He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a
small tape recorder.

Speaker 3 (01:17:25):
Let's talk about you.

Speaker 7 (01:17:27):
Rick sets the recorder on the counter next to the turntable.
Venus begins talking, practically repeating Rick's speech right back to him.

Speaker 12 (01:17:36):
Well, uh, we're still a pretty small market somewhere in
the middle places, pretty.

Speaker 11 (01:17:43):
Screwed up, but it's a nice place to work.

Speaker 7 (01:17:45):
We're still privately on but we're run by a great,
kind hearted guy.

Speaker 3 (01:17:50):
Uh huh, you have a right away for a Slim
Whitman album.

Speaker 6 (01:17:55):
So back on the lobby. The door to Carlson's office
opens and Ted walks out, followed by a herb. Ted's hot.

Speaker 8 (01:18:02):
Why don't you sip your tea in and sell your
time to Gucci or somebody.

Speaker 2 (01:18:06):
Ted, baby, just wait a minute now out deep down inside,
I'm just like you, worse even get too fancy for me.

Speaker 5 (01:18:13):
You don't understand the needs of a guy like me.
I need to talk to a salesman who talk my language.

Speaker 6 (01:18:18):
Verb follows Ted as he walks to the door.

Speaker 5 (01:18:21):
No, no, no, no, you don't understand. It's just the clothes.

Speaker 2 (01:18:23):
Look, look, look, come back tomorrow and I'll have a
suit on that will make air sick.

Speaker 6 (01:18:28):
I mean, man, such a tough choice for lining of
the episode this time around. A suit that will make
you air sick was a really strong contender.

Speaker 7 (01:18:38):
Ted looks over at Jennifer, who is continuing to read.

Speaker 3 (01:18:41):
Now he's talking down to me.

Speaker 11 (01:18:43):
What do you think I'm stupid?

Speaker 1 (01:18:45):
What's with you Harvid Times with your little crocodiles on
your shirts.

Speaker 11 (01:18:48):
I don't need you.

Speaker 7 (01:18:50):
Ted looks over at Jennifer with a great callback.

Speaker 11 (01:18:54):
I need you five.

Speaker 7 (01:18:58):
Ted walks out the door and he's gone. I wanted
more Ted.

Speaker 6 (01:19:03):
Oh, Ted was great.

Speaker 7 (01:19:04):
I liked him. Mister Carlson asks Herb if he can
have his office back now, and Herb tells.

Speaker 11 (01:19:09):
Him yes, I think you look nicer.

Speaker 3 (01:19:12):
Thank you.

Speaker 7 (01:19:12):
Mister Carlson goes into his office and Herb walks over
to Jennifer's desk.

Speaker 11 (01:19:17):
Well what now?

Speaker 7 (01:19:19):
Jennifer tells him to call other advertising agencies. They like
people who dress like that. Herb laughs at this idea.

Speaker 5 (01:19:26):
They already know me, show them the new you.

Speaker 2 (01:19:29):
Let me put another way.

Speaker 11 (01:19:31):
They already loathe me.

Speaker 6 (01:19:36):
They don't just know me, they loathe me. Herb so
ted was railing at people who wear crocodiles on their shirts.
He's talking about the lacaste crocodile, which was mistakenly identified
as the ISOD crocodile in the nineteen seventies and eighties.
Isod was a British clothing brand going back to nineteen

(01:19:57):
thirty eight. In the early fifties, they paired a shirt maker,
La Coast and their crocodile logo. The shirts bearing the
logo in the late seventies and early eighties were actually
branded Isod Lacoste, but that was quickly shortened to ISOD
In the American market. The shirts bearing the distinctive crocodile
became a staple of the Preppe wardrobe in the early eighties.

(01:20:20):
Isod La Coste Polo shirts with the crocodile were even
listed in the nineteen eighty publication The Official Preppy Handbook
as a must have item.

Speaker 7 (01:20:31):
And did you have a crocodile shirt.

Speaker 6 (01:20:33):
I think I had a couple of them, and I
also had a polo shirt with the guy on the
horse the little same thing in the breast pocket area.

Speaker 7 (01:20:41):
I distinctly remember you wearing a member's only jacket. We're dating.

Speaker 6 (01:20:45):
I had a silver waistlength member's only jacket. I was
very proud of that thing.

Speaker 7 (01:20:50):
What a preppy guy. Oh yeah, Jennifer gets a sickly
look on her face. She knows she's in over her
head on this one.

Speaker 3 (01:20:57):
Man.

Speaker 9 (01:20:57):
Her are right and I am wrong.

Speaker 7 (01:21:05):
Yeah, yeah, And I want you to remember this moment
because it's never going to happen again. Jennifer tells Herb
he is right because he knows his client's territory better
than she does. She tells him he knows how to
present himself.

Speaker 14 (01:21:23):
I am wrong because I don't know the kind of
people you associate with, and probably never will.

Speaker 7 (01:21:28):
Jennifer knocks on her wood desk after saying this.

Speaker 14 (01:21:34):
Now, I want you to go down to the garage,
look at all the cars.

Speaker 10 (01:21:39):
Pick out the seat covers you like best, and wear
them home.

Speaker 7 (01:21:41):
Herb thanks Jennifer. He heads to the bullpen door just
as Venus and Rick enter the lobby.

Speaker 6 (01:21:49):
A callback to Venus's reference to a Volkswagen without seat cover.
Somewhere Rick is talking and they.

Speaker 11 (01:21:55):
All say you're a pretty nice guy. What they don't
say is for a white guy, you know what I mean?

Speaker 6 (01:22:00):
Yeah. Venus nods his head. It's like he's listening to
his own internal monologue.

Speaker 11 (01:22:04):
One last time.

Speaker 3 (01:22:06):
Don't you feel silly?

Speaker 11 (01:22:07):
Dressed like that?

Speaker 6 (01:22:09):
Venus looks down at his fringed suit what Johnny had
called the root suit, and just a.

Speaker 3 (01:22:14):
Little all the hipdoo's down at the magazine dress like that.

Speaker 6 (01:22:18):
Guy points at Herb in his good looking gray suit.
Herb's big smile suddenly turns into kind of a concern
confused look. Rick exits. Tom told us when you leave
the lobby through the main doors, you don't really go anywhere.
Performers have to wait in the wings after exiting. Now
remember this because we're going to get back to it

(01:22:40):
in just a minute.

Speaker 7 (01:22:41):
Venus walks over by Herb. Herb asks how the interview went.
Venus says it was okay.

Speaker 3 (01:22:46):
Talked about himself mostly he's got an identity crisis.

Speaker 11 (01:22:49):
Yeah, same here, me too.

Speaker 3 (01:22:53):
I wonder if Slim Whitman has anything to do with this.

Speaker 7 (01:22:56):
Venus goes through the door to the bullpen as HERB
walks over to Jennifer, what about you?

Speaker 2 (01:23:02):
Did you ever have an identity crisis?

Speaker 7 (01:23:04):
Jennifer tells her she doesn't think so.

Speaker 14 (01:23:07):
Although sometimes, just for a second, I think I'm perhaps
mentally unbalanced.

Speaker 6 (01:23:14):
Jennifer is sitting on her desk. She's leaning towards HERB
as she's talking.

Speaker 9 (01:23:19):
Because all I think about Amen.

Speaker 6 (01:23:22):
Jennifer gets her face really close to herbs.

Speaker 9 (01:23:26):
Any man, as long as he's well dressed, and I
just want.

Speaker 3 (01:23:31):
To, you know.

Speaker 6 (01:23:36):
Jennifer grabs herb shirt collar and pulls his face even closer.
Herb's nodding his head in these quick, short nods.

Speaker 3 (01:23:44):
Be with him.

Speaker 6 (01:23:45):
Jennifer then let's go a HERB shirt and her attitude
suddenly changes, but.

Speaker 3 (01:23:49):
Then it goes away.

Speaker 9 (01:23:50):
It always does.

Speaker 6 (01:23:55):
Jennifer sits back down at her desk and picks up Ulysses.
She's almost done with it. Herbs catching his breath. This
really affected him. He looks like he might pass out
as he's gulping breath in big swallows. He finally straightens up.

Speaker 3 (01:24:10):
Knock on Woods.

Speaker 6 (01:24:13):
Knocks on Jennifer's desk A couple of times and then
heads out the main doors. Now, remember Tom had a
couple of minutes back there before Frank finished his part
of the scene. You can't leave Tom alone like that.

Speaker 3 (01:24:27):
I leave first, I leave, and I actually locked his door. Well,
then I had to stay there till the scene ended,
as he had Frank. But I had a scene with Lonnie,
real funny scene. And then he excited. Now every time
in Prsal when he had exit, I would be doing
something stupid, so he can't down my hand. Now he

(01:24:54):
got he was anticipating, what is this idiot going to
be doing? So okay, So the last time I I
guess I can. The last time I pretended what he can,
I had my hand up against all. I pretended I
was peeing up against the wall. When he came while
I was staging, he went, oh my god.

Speaker 7 (01:25:11):
You know, Tom said, the chance to do a scene
with Tim on TV was like a dream.

Speaker 3 (01:25:19):
Do another scene with him, you know, after all those
years that was it was so so much, so great
to be with him again. And every time we get together.
You know, he lives in Virginia, I live in California,
and we get together. First thing, we hug, Hey, man,
how you doing Hey, brother, I love you, you know, uh,
and I do. He's like a brother to me.

Speaker 7 (01:25:38):
They'd never had that chance as Tim and Tom. They'd
done talk shows, but not a real TV show where
they got to perform together. It wasn't exactly what they'd wanted,
but for Tom it was still pretty great.

Speaker 3 (01:25:50):
After I saw it. I mean a team he shows
because I just it was. The thing was we always
dreamed that we would be this TV some day together.
You know, we did some TV, but nothing like that
in it were psychic. Yeah, it happens.

Speaker 6 (01:26:07):
Huge. Thank you to mister Tom Drason for taking the
time to talk to us about his experiences on WKRP
and his friendship with Tim Reid. We talked to Tom
for more than an hour. He was loaded with great
stories about Tim and Tom and his early days as
a stand up. Be watching the podcast feed. We will

(01:26:28):
be posting Tom's entire interview at the end of the series.
That is going to do it for changes of fun
episode a lot of fun with Tim and the Tim
and Tom connection just made it perfect. So, Donna, what
is up for next week?

Speaker 7 (01:26:46):
Next week we'll be discussing I'll take romance. Herb sets
less up with a blind date through his latest client.
It's a dating service called I'll Take Romance. Less enjoys
the date but doesn't realize I'll Take Romance is actually
a Front four.

Speaker 6 (01:27:02):
Prostitution that's going to do it. For this episode of
the WKRP Cast. If you'd like to watch along with us,
make sure to check our show notes. You can find
us on social media. Follow our Facebook page at Wkrpcast.
We're up over thirty one hundred followers on the Facebook page.
For more WKRP fund, become a patron, go to patreon

(01:27:27):
dot com. Slash Wkrpcast from behind the scenes, fun, full
interviews and more.

Speaker 7 (01:27:33):
Got a question, comment or correction Let us know about it.
Write us Wkrpcast at gmail dot com.

Speaker 6 (01:27:41):
And remember to please rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Thanks for listening.

Speaker 5 (01:27:47):
Bye, now, may the good news be yours.

Speaker 6 (01:27:57):
The WKRP Cast is not indorsed by MTM Enterprises, Shout Factory,
or CBS. This podcast is intended for entertainment and informational
purposes only WKRP and Cincinnati. The WKRP logo and all names, pictures,
and audio of WKRP and Cincinnati characters are registered trademarks
of MTM, CBS Shout Factory or their respective copyright holders.

Speaker 5 (01:28:27):
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S4E14 - "Changes" w/Tom Dreesen

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}S4E14 - "Changes" w/Tom Dreesen