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I’m surprised, Shaun, that you didn’t bash the Religious Right with a reference to John Lennon and the episode about the R-Rightie on the teevee series “WKRP in Hollyville.”
Mr. Carlson reluctantly meets a nice, well-dressed gentleman in the lobby, Dr. Bob Halyers of the group, Clean Up Radio Broadcasting (CURB). He has a list of songs considered obscene by his group, which he asks Mr. Carlson to stop playing. Carlson agrees, but soon Halyers returns with a new list and more songs. Andy sees it as nothing more than censorship.
Mr. Carlson goes to Halyer’s office to discuss the situation and to find what would happen if WKRP didn’t follow CURB’s mandate. He reads him the lyrics to John Lennon’s “Imagine” and asks Halyer’s opinion. Halyer deems it to be obscene – in his words, “If there is no Heaven, then no religion.” Eventually the station stops following CURB’s recommendations and Halyers and his fellow members start pressuring WKRP’s clients. Little by little, they stop advertising on WKRP, including Harvey Green, the owner of Red Wigglers, who sees Carlson in person to find out what is going on.
Carlson ends his relationship with CURB, but not before giving Halyer a very insightful warning. “..watch out for those broadcasters who cave into your…’pressure’. Principles not gonna mean a thing to them. All they’ll be doing is saving their swimming pools. Oh, they’ll be the first ones to come and sit at your table, but I think the good ones are going to be the ones that are going to take a loss and put up a fight.” When Halyer replies that he’ll just have to learn love his enemies, Carlson replies, “I hope so, because I don’t think you’ll be able to trust your friends.” Andy tells Mr. Carlson that if worse comes to worst, he’ll sick Les on CURB. Arthur ponders Andy’s statement and muses to himself, “Boy, that could signal the end of organized religion as we know it.”
Thanks for the reminder, Shaun. It was a truly, deeply traumatic moment in time for many of us. To this day, I still tear up.
And, of course, Imagine…
I’m surprised, Shaun, that you didn’t bash the Religious Right with a reference to John Lennon and the episode about the R-Rightie on the teevee series “WKRP in Hollyville.”
“Clean Up Radio Everywhere”
Mr. Carlson reluctantly meets a nice, well-dressed gentleman in the lobby, Dr. Bob Halyers of the group, Clean Up Radio Broadcasting (CURB). He has a list of songs considered obscene by his group, which he asks Mr. Carlson to stop playing. Carlson agrees, but soon Halyers returns with a new list and more songs. Andy sees it as nothing more than censorship.
Mr. Carlson goes to Halyer’s office to discuss the situation and to find what would happen if WKRP didn’t follow CURB’s mandate. He reads him the lyrics to John Lennon’s “Imagine” and asks Halyer’s opinion. Halyer deems it to be obscene – in his words, “If there is no Heaven, then no religion.” Eventually the station stops following CURB’s recommendations and Halyers and his fellow members start pressuring WKRP’s clients. Little by little, they stop advertising on WKRP, including Harvey Green, the owner of Red Wigglers, who sees Carlson in person to find out what is going on.
Carlson ends his relationship with CURB, but not before giving Halyer a very insightful warning. “..watch out for those broadcasters who cave into your…’pressure’. Principles not gonna mean a thing to them. All they’ll be doing is saving their swimming pools. Oh, they’ll be the first ones to come and sit at your table, but I think the good ones are going to be the ones that are going to take a loss and put up a fight.” When Halyer replies that he’ll just have to learn love his enemies, Carlson replies, “I hope so, because I don’t think you’ll be able to trust your friends.” Andy tells Mr. Carlson that if worse comes to worst, he’ll sick Les on CURB. Arthur ponders Andy’s statement and muses to himself, “Boy, that could signal the end of organized religion as we know it.”