My quote for today:
“Why, why, why should women strive to be poor imitations of the sons of Adam? Women were placed here on this earth to remind man of his nobler self through the arts: poetry, song, dance, and needlework.”
–from the woman who’s alter ego is referred to as a “hyphenated woman,” Whitley Gilbert

Sexline: The Tale of Freddie the Prude?

I looked around for information on Freddie, and I couldn’t find anything that supported my view, so I’m just going out on a limb with this one.Freddie, to me, is more of the antithesis to Whitley. Both are prudes, but while Whitley is the bitchy-as-hell prude that eventually gets a hangup on Jullian, Byron (question if she ever really loved him here) and Dwayne, Freddie is the clumsy-and-naive-as-hell prude that gets hangups on Dwayne and Shazza and Ron.

Very early in season two, Freddie tries to stake out Dwayne. However, she is not active in pursuing this lofty goal, and fears that Whitley may have taken him away (already? What a prophet!) in “Dream Lover.” When she gets drunk in “I’ve Got the Muse in Me,” Freddie’s still in love with Dwayne (“From the first moment I saw you [Dwayne] I said ‘I love him, I want him, I need him.’ Oh, at last, my heart is light”), but by the time of “No Means No,” she was out of it.

Why did Freddie lust after Dwayne? Maybe it was because Cree Summer and Kadeem Hardison were dating at time. Maybe their relationship inspired the Star Trek ripoff they called the future in (finally got this on tape!) “For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls.” That’s the scene when the “Free Spirit” of the Future, Jaleesa, kicks Whitley in her proverbial balls again by showing Whitley a married Freddie and Dwayne celebrating Christmas with the majority of the regular cast and some extras with bad Freddie(!) wigs and patented Dwayne Wayne flip-up shade attachments to their glasses (as well as normal people in Star Trek outfits). Whitley was told she’d be married to a bunch of losers, divorce most of the bastards, and she’d live the rest of her life as a size 16 loner with bonbons, soap operas and poodles before dying. There, only Kim, Jaleesa, Dwayne, and the poodles would be at her funeral.

Anyway, Freddie awowed in “It Happened One Night” that she would never have sex (“I am never having sex. Not before I’m married, not after I’m married”). To paraphrase Hamlet in Hamlet, “Get Freddie to a nunnery!”

Freddie dated some people (one of the twins on a third-season double date; that’s where she and Kim say “Two, two, two duds in one!,” Livingston and Ernest in “The Power of the Pen,” god knows) but became romantically involved with Shazza in the fifth season. Midway through the sixth season she dates Ron (behind and not behind Kim’s back), elevating her with Whitley for “Most Despised Female Character–ADW.”

And this is where the fun begins. According to TVTome.com, the site says that “Freddie apparently loses her virginity to Ron during the storm” in “In the Eye of the Storm.” I concur. I thought there was a quote during the sixth season (once again, I cannot pinpoint the quote. “Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch,” maybe?) that said explicitly about their first time, and I assumed that they did it for the first time in the sixth season. Here’s the quotes after Ron and Freddie kiss in the radio station from “Storm:”

Freddie: The hurricane has moved on!
Ron: (dejectedly) Great. We’re rescued.
Freddie: Ron, what did we just do?
Ron: I don’t know…but it was kinda nice.
Freddie: Ron, this is just between you and me, right?
Ron: Red, I won’t tell a soul.

Some sexual hinting, but you never know, right?

In the end, Freddie stays with Ron, despite the fact that sometimes she wonders (like many people upset that Freddie went to law school, for Chrissakes!) how she ended up with Ron.

Off the Sexline: Whitley and Denzel

A Different World: That’s the Trouble With You All – TV Tome

I’m guessing this is where I should start with this timeline. Around the time that Julian is dating Witless, she mentions something about liking Denzel Washington prior to a date. (This episode is NOT “21 Candles,” but it’s either this one or “A World Apart,” and I doubt it’s the latter) What kills me is that I can’t remember the episode exactly. THEN, in “21 Candles,” Whitley has a dinner date with the picture of Denzel Washington.

Other notable Denzel Washington moments:
“Baby, I’m a Star”–Denzel, his wang, and his performance in a movie figure in a strange subplot in this episode dealing with sexism. Off and on in the first part of the episode, Whitley and Dwayne are arguing about sexism in real life, the workplace, etc. Dwayne even threatens to take Whitley (as Alice in The Honeymooners “to the moon,” even showing her a (playful?) fist. They mention how Whitley would probally drool at the sight of Denzel’s wang in Ricochet.

“Honeymoon in LA, Part I”–Who can forget this quote from Whitley after Dwayne tells her to wait outside Melrose Court at six:
“If Denzel don’t pick me up first.”
Dwayne: “Denzel, Denzel, Denzel.”
Whitley: “Or Eddie [Murphy] or Wesley [Snipes]…”

“To Whit, With Love”–Marla Gibbs, playing the principal at Whitley’s school, says (as she’s sweeping up Whitley’s classroom):
Well child, I had a date to go dancing with Denzel Washington, but I decided to cancel and do the night sweeping with this broom.

August 22, 1998–Jasmine Guy marries Terrence Duckette and more than likely the dream ended here. You never know, though…

Also:
I posted some things earlier about Jasmine Guy’s worship with Denzel. I forgot a very crucial Denzel element shown on ADW–the Denzel picture in Whitley’s apartment in the fifth season! It’s near her door to the Height Hall lobby. You can see it in episodes like “Liza Who-Little” and “Special Delivery”–Whitley even kisses the picture after Ron uses Denzel’s name as a psudeonym to lure the stripper Amber Waves for an interview (after she admitted to stripping for Byron, and Byron, the asshole that he is, never told Whitley. And still Whitley pressed on with the wedding. What balls!).

Yes, I haven’t been faithful.

But I have some ideas coming up: an incorrect item on TVTome.com about the episode featured in the article that I have taken the excerpt below from, the sexline of Freddie, just when Freddie first had sex (also debated on TVTome.com), and Jasmine Guy’s (former?) love of Denzel Washington, which figures into a lot of storylines for ADW. Here’s a preview:

“I’m an impish, devilish creature…Jasmine Guy herself had decided that Denzel Washington was her role model, the image of a gorgeous, successful Black man. And [Adriana Trigiani] wrote that episode where [her birthday] was not being celebrated ["21 Candles"]. [Guy, as Whitley] just got her bottle of champange and took [Denzel's] picture and pinned it on her pillow and was going ‘Denzel! Denzel!’
Well, [Denzel's] really a good friend of mine and he doesn’t live far from the studio, so I called his wife [Pauletta Washington]. First, I was calling to make sure we could get the pictures we needed. And then, I said, ‘Honey, is Denzel home?’ He was home. I said, ‘Den, you’ve gotta come over here [to the studio] to see what we’re doing to you. You gotta come.’ So he came over and Jasmine’s in there singing ‘Denzel, rock my world, rock my world.’ I didn’t tell anyone except Susan [Fales]. [Dawnn Lewis, as Jaleesa] was supposed to tap [Guy] on the shoulder. Well, honey, she was doing her thing. Denzel walked in the door and the audience went crazy. [Guy] didn’t see him and thought she was giving the most brilliant performance, yelling ‘Denzel! Denzel!’ And then she turned around and he was there. She turned into a screaming Mimi. She lost her mind. It was like she saw a ghost, [how frightened Guy was]. She ran off the set. It was the funniest thing. We stopped the show.
–Debbie Allen

Modified (severely) from the article “Behind the Scenes of A Different World” by Aldore Collier. Article from the December 1991 issue of Ebony. Reprinted without permission and proud, but hey, at least I’m not hawking it for some Black magazine as my own.

Some things from “Baby, It’s Cold Outside…” again

1) Freddie says at the end of the Montel Williams segment, “That’s pitiful. Did you see our sister? (how could you see Whitley? She was on the phone, Freddie-la!)”
2) While drinking her rum & Coke, Freddie knocks the umbrella out of her drink before telling Whitley to tell her woes to Freddie and Kim.

Bunny: The Official Symbol of Whitley Gilbert

I don’t think that there is a lot of conversation one can make about the purple stuffed bunny that Whitley has in her possession. It’s said on the show that the bunny was a Christmas gift given to Whitley by Dwayne one Christmas, but I’ve been looking at episode guides, and I don’t think there’s actually any episode that Dwayne actually gives the bunny to Whitley.Maybe the “Bunny-is-a-Christmas-present” statement is actually an ass-covering statement that makes the presence of the bunny legit. The bunny (not seen in all fifth and sixth season episodes, and not earlier than the fifth season) is actually a symbol of Whitley, who is first called Bunny in “Time Keeps on Slippin’” in one of Dwayne’s fantasy sequences he has while applying to grad school (“I took one look at my Bunny with her big brown eyes, and I knew it was over!”)

And now, a brief history of the bunny, to the best of my knowledge.

Feb. 20, 1992. “Kiss You Back.” Whitley has Dwayne come over to her apartment for a talk (and some sex. And some breakfast). She gives Dwayne the items she no longer wants, but she almost forgets Bunny, sitting in a chair near her dining table. Dwayne is upset that Whitley does not want to keep Bunny; Whitley replies, “It’s kinda hard to look at Bunny anymore.”

Analysis: Whitley is saying that it’s hard to look at herself after the broken engagement and relationship. She probably thinks that despite Dwayne’s “affair” with Lisa, the teacher from Avery (a direct cause of the dissolved engagement), she is also to blame for their breakup, as Dwayne mentions (especially in “Kiss You Back” and the first “Save”) that Whitley was a bit too demanding prior to their engagement party.

October 22, 1992. “Really Gross Anatomy.” The subplot of what actually is about Kim’s fears of cutting open a cadaver as well as a directorial opportunity for Jasmine Guy, Whitley leaves to go to a gallery opening in New York. She wants to take Bunny with her; Dwayne wants Bunny to stay in their apartment because he thinks that Whitley will be stupid enough to take the stuffed animal everywhere she goes. Whitley never actually fights Dwayne for Bunny and leaves without it (hey, I don’t think Bunny was ever given a sexual orientation. I keep thinking that it was Mr. Bunny for some strange reason…) Once Whitley is gone, Dwayne tosses aside Bunny and cherishes his freedom. But soon, Dwayne takes Bunny with him everywhere he goes, including a trip to the Pit where Mr. Gaines and Colonel Taylor notice Bunny sticking out of his bookbag. When she returns from New York and tosses aside a few items (including a Playboy!), she finds Dwayne on the couch asleep with Bunny in his arms. Whitley hugs Dwayne and Bunny, saying “I’m back, Pookie.” Dwayne wakes up, and much to Whitley’s delight, he says, “Baby, go make me a sandwich.”

Analysis: It’s blantantly obvious that Bunny represents Whitley; in this case, Bunny represents Dwayne’s longing for Whitley. The scene with Dwayne, Bunny, and Whitley on the couch signifies the return of Whitley in Dwayne’s life; Dwayne secretly wishes for Whitley to come back to him (for sex. And for food), and his wish is answered. As for the Playboy? Maybe Dwayne needed to jerk off. Then again, a symbol of Playboy is the bunny, and the Playboy could also represent Dwayne wanting to have sex with Whitley again.

Nov. 5, 1992. Once again, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” I think this episode (as well as that horrid “War and Peace”) is the precursor to Guy’s new book–see the Publishers Weekly review here to see what I mean. (If you really think hard about it, isn’t the line “You are a strong, educated, cultured woman” peddling Guy’s beliefs as opposed to Freddie’s?)

Anyway, after the ya’ll-know-that-would-turn-me-off-in-my-bedroom scene where Whitley and Dwayne lipsync Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald’s “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” the camera zooms in to Whitley’s motto pillow, “You can never be too rich or too thin,” and Bunny. And unlike Bunny, the motto pillow is seen in seasons 1-3 and 5-6 (the motto is only visible in the latter seasons).

Analysis: Bunny (in this case) as well as the motto pillow represent what Whitley lost in her search for carnal pleasure (and justice for Kim): herself. As she so eloquently tells Dwayne,

Well, I kinda lost Whitley for a while–but I found her again.

As I have said earlier, this pleases Dwayne because he wants a partner to sleep with (preferably Whitley).

“Light Egyptian:” The Chronicles

After [Lena Horne] failed her first screen test because she looked like a white girl trying to play blackface, the directors tried making her up with a shade called “Light Egyptian” to make her look darker. The whole procedure embarrassed and hurt her deeply.–from http://condor.depaul.edu/~mwilson/multicult/whois.htmlI first heard about the pancake base known as “Light Egyptian” from “A Rock, a River, a Lena.” Whitley mentions the base as she’s trying to get Horne to appreciate their similarities in light skin tone:

“You know that makeup they [the makeup people] invented for you, that Light Egyptian? I wear that. And I-I-I feel you, you know. You know what I mean?”

Over UNC fall break (I believe–I don’t think I read anything over winter break, sadly) I read about Horne and “Light Egyptian” in Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography, by Donald Bogle (the man I can credit for my trying to start a website, long before this blog, last summer, because I read certain passages in his Primetime Blues), how Horne scorned Light Egyptian (created, ironically, by Max Factor, and I have used his brand-name eye shadow) because it made her skin darker and how the makeup was used by White actresses (such as Horne’s good friend Ava Gardner, a NC native) to make them appear as if they were Mulatto or Black.

Which reminds me, on another note, about someone on the Jump the Shark page being upset about a comment made in the same episode about Ava Gardner “stealing” Horne’s role (of Julie) in Show Boat (the 1951 revival of a movie already been revived…that’s a different story, and I’m not even sure how to present it):

“…but I got the part because I was White. I figured, if Ava Gardner [played Julie in Show Boat] then, then I can play her now.”–Student: I believe the girl who played Iesha (Chante Frierson)

The audience agrees with this statement (the audience watching this Whitley-enforced student homage to Lena Horne as well as the studio audience); even Whitley nods her head in agreement (but then again, she’s played by anti-racism Jasmine Guy).

This brings me back to the Light Egyptian comment that Whitley makes earlier to Horne. Glenn Berenbeim, who wrote “A Rock…” presents Whitley as this destructive Lena Horne know-it-all that eventually has no clue what Lena likes (ie Lena, despite the fact that she’s from Brooklyn, likes soul food instead of wine and watercress sandwiches). Whitley may be slightly successful in crushing Mr. Gaines’ spirits (the focal point of the episode, but Whitley thwarts the plans of others as well), but Whitley sounds like a fool herself. I even wonder why Horne was not upset about either of the offensive remarks posted above as she read the script–certainly some of these things would offend her (and yet recently, Janet Jackson’s bare breast at the Super Bowl Halftime Show shocked the hell out of Horne. From me, you’ll get no comment.)

Because if Whitley knew about Light Egyptian, wouldn’t she know that it was a pancake base instead of, say, an over-the-counter blush? Better yet, wouldn’t she either hold her tongue about Light Egyptian because of its racial implications or celebrate Horne’s resistance to wearing the makeup?

Or if Whitley knew so much about Horne, then why would she be wearing Light Egyptian, because certainly Whitley would appear to be more dark-skinned if she used it? Is Whitley subconsciously admitting that she is White?

I’m not saying that Jasmine Guy is white; I know better. (Her mother is white; her father is black.) But to me, that might be what Whitley’s comments to Horne imply. I honestly don’t believe the latter, because it would take forever to apply Light Egyptian to more than the face, neck, and arms, not to mention a lot of time and money to obtain and apply the makeup. The former statement, to me, accurately sums up the Light Egyptian statement as well as the Ava Gardener statement.

In my opinion, Berenbeim, probably influenced by Horne appearing on the recently-ended Cosby Show, wanted to create an episode centered around the many achievements of Lena Horne. In writing the episode, however, he never used enough research to make the episode sound remotely intelligent. For that, he is somewhat forgiven–a goal in the latter episodes of ADW was to make the episodes have morals (which, to me, killed the entertainment value of the show, making it somewhat of a soap opera. See season five). Eventually Berenbeim would write on that wholesome show we all know and love (or loathe), Touched by an Angel.

But next time, Glenn, focus on the writing and leave the mangled research and the morals at home, okay?

Edited From Denton: Reasons Why I Feel the “Save the Best for Lasts” Don’t Work

One–the work of Yvette Lee
Two–the work of the infamous Susan Fales (despite what TVTome.com tells you), daughter of the late Josephine Premice (this is a really cool article written by Fales about her mother, but still…), niece of Diahann Carroll

Why was it “edited from Denton?” See this! I originally compared it to this movie, but I named the original essay after this movie, the spinoff.

the reasons, in no particular order

1. Susan Fales (as writer)
Susan Fales (now Fales-Hill) was one of the people that was present when Anne Beatts (“Square Pegs,” and if she were still producing by this point in the series, Dwayne and Whitley would have never gotten married–or this would be Whitley or Dwayne’s worst nightmare) was producing the first season of ADW. Somehow she survived the Debbie Allen Reformation (see #2). She eventually would executive produce the series and bring her mother, the late Josephine Premice, and aunt, Diahann Carroll, as Whitley’s boss in “How Great Thou Art” as well as Whitley and Dwayne’s eccentric landlord in the sixth season and Whitley’s mother Marion, respectavley.. Some of her writing with interactions between Whitley and Marion can possibly be traced to real life–see “For She’s Only a Bird in a Guilded Cage,” and her book Always Wear Joy : My Mother Bold and Beautiful. However, in my opinion, some of Fales’ scripts were a little too over the top. Consider the fifth season opener that she wrote, “We’ve Only Just Begun” (how ominous!). In that episode alone, Fales marries Colonel Taylor (IMO, the dullest character on ADW ever–that includes Maggie and Denise) and Jaleesa, despite the lack of sexual tension created around these characters, and resolves the dillemma surrounding Whitley’s job in NYC and Dwayne’s engagement created by Glenn Berenbeim in “To Be Continued” as well as Whitley’s refraining from making love to Dwayne in Fales’ own “If I Should Die Before I Wake:”

Whitley: Dwayne, now that we’re both awake, how ‘bout we go back in there and take a little nap? (And we all know what Whitley means by nap, don’t we?)

Whitley again: Of course you can come by and see me at E.H. Wright Industries. I have my own office. (Whitley still has a job–but wasn’t it in NYC?)

Whitley yet again: Dwayne, I don’t know what I’d do without you all summer in New York. (Wait–how’d he get up to NYC if he didn’t take a bus?)

Dwayne: Whitley, are you sure you’re glad you came back?
Last time for Whitley here, I promise: Of course I am! Saying yes to you at the airport was the best thing I’ve ever done in my whole life. (Whitley accepted Dwayne’s propsal and decided to stay in Virginia instead.)
Dwayne: Uh-uh, uh-uh. Missing your plane and spending that extra night with me was the best thing you ever did in your life. (Like Dwayne said, but they did it sometime after the final scene of “To Be Continued” but before “We’ve Only Just Begun.” Somehow Whitley or Dwayne paid enough for him to at least go to NYC. Where he lived during that time–with Whitley or with his parents in Brooklyn–it is not known. By the way, here’s the hint that Whitley and Dwayne first did it at his place, from “Interior Descration/Sofa So Good:”
Dwayne:[after Whitley tags Dwayne's loveseat to be scrapped]…Baby, what are you doing?
Whitley: A public service.
Dwayne: Whitley, this [ugly as hell leopard-print] couch is very special to me, okay? [It's of] Sentimental value.
Whitley: [Is that] Your first piece for the Salvation Army?
Dwayne: In case you forgot, it was the first time that we…[grinds around Whitley]
Of course, Ron may testify to a different account of Whitley and Dwayne’s first time, but ask Ron–don’t ask me.)

Fales does this again in “Save the Best for Last, Part II:”

Dwayne: [Whitley,] Will you [marry Byron, Whitley's senator fiancee]?…Whitley, I love you and if you’ll have me–I want you to be my wife.

Dwayne: Will you have me, Dwayne, as your lawfully wedded husband, from this day forth, to have and to hold, in richer, for poorer, baby please, please!

Honestly, if this happened in real life, Dwayne would be locked up in a psychiatric ward, longing for Whitley forever and ever. (I mean, this show prides itself in being realistic, right?) Of course, in the Insta-Solution way of ADW, Whitley agrees to Dwayne’s vows; the two are married, and when did these two buy their marriage licence?

Of course I could be overreacting. I mean, this is a *cough* realistic *cough* sitcom. But I still have my reasons. And I know all of Harvard is after me (Fales-Hill is an alumna there).

2. The Debbie Allen Reformation
Very simple concept.
Despite being ranked #2 in the Nielsen during its first season (1987-88), NBC thought this show was doing poorly (most critics panned ADW). Out went Betts, Marisa Tomei, Marie-Alise Recasner (Millicent, known as Millie), and most of the first season’s extras. In comes Cree Summer, Charnele Brown, Glynn Turman, Debbie Allen, and the image of an HBCU (meaning more black extras). The series would never be #2 during its run ever again. This leads me in bewilderment when I see magazine titles like this one from Entertainment Weekly, April 13, 1991:

Brave New ‘World:’ Jasmine Guy and costars turn once-struggling “A Different World” into one of TV’s hottest comedies.

(To see the actual cover for this, go to fameforever.com, click on “Series” with the “+” mouse, make sure your pop-up software is off, click “Dancers,” then “Jasmine Guy,” then scroll the bio down. It’s the only magazine cover there. I promise you’ll see it.)

By the time this Entertainment Weekly came out, ADW was ranked #4 in the Nielsen ratings. The next season (the engagment/wedding/fifth season), ADW slipped to #17.

3. The very emotional performances of Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison
I mean, look at her face during the ceremony. It looks like this! Guy provides no key to Whitley’s pain; all the viewer sees is Guy’s dynamic eyes. From watching Guy (ie as she talks to her mother about Dwayne’s visit in “Save the Best for Last, Part I,” as she appears to be wed to Byron, etc al), certain people may not notice that Whitley is hurting inside, and if she is, she’s doing a good job concealing this from the characters as well as the audience. There are some hints, however: Lee has Whitley visably upset as Dwayne leaves the garden at the end of part I; Fales writes in a part where Whitley has a stomach ache prior to commercial break in part II, and we’re supposed to assume that she might have regrets towards marrying Byron and not Dwayne. However, to me, these hints are not enough to clue me into how much Whitley really wants Dwayne and somehow, through marrying Byron, feels helpless towards being able to get him back for good. Part of the problems lie in the scripts: Yvette Lee’s script for the first part of “Save the Best for Last ” shows the frustration surrounding Dwayne and Whitley, but Whitley’s mainly a perfectionist in this episode (like she was prior to her and Dwayne’s engagement party), hoping this one-week planned wedding goes through; Fales never shows why Whitley still cares about Dwayne (and vice versa). Part II, however, harps on and on with its references on a surprise ending. This may be confusing to viewers (like me!–when I first started watching ADW regularly, of course) who may have never seen Whitley tease poor Dwayne in the third season (and try to steal him away from Kinu in the fourth, which Whitley succeeds in). Lee’s episode uses the sexual encounter Dwayne and Whitley had in “Kiss You Back,” also written by Lee, as an excuse for them still having feelings for each other (as if the two could not have a meaningless sex encounter, even in the woman’s point of view). But even in those scenes where Whitley’s supposed to care for Dwayne, she shows no trepidation towards marrying Byron (which we all know she had, despite Marion’s objections). Whitley’s decision to marry Dwayne (and the sight of those Dwaynes before she makes that decision) makes Whitley seem as if she was scared to love Dwayne (as opposed to honestly loving Dwayne and being afraid to love him). On the other hand, the writers do show that Dwayne would walk through hell to get Whitley back, but his over-the-top performance and dialouge (see #1) makes him less sincere and more like an…asshole.

As a sincere apology…

I owe it to the people to say something about ADW, and I have on reserve some of my favorite Whitley quotes. They’re not in order (from my least to most favorite), but there’s eight of them. And none of them are from Whitley’s more serious moments (aka when Whitley becomes a forum for Debbie Allen, the writers, and/or Jasmine Guy) or from the “Save the Best for Lasts.” You know, like “You taught me how to love,” “Shouldn’t what?” (all over those Oxygen promos featuring the wedding), or “I do!”

(defending herself at the dorm meeting with Stevie, Walter, and Dwayne) Every individual has a tragic flaw. Mine is the ability to sleep through anything. If it hadn’t been for Mr. Sandman weaving his magical spells, I would not be here tonight, my reputation being tossed around like a blouse at a bargain basement sale. I am no floozy! You can ask the Kappas, the Alphas, the Sigmas and the Omegas! I can only say to you—my judges—let she who is without sin cast me before the Dean—like a stone.–from “Those Who Can’t, Tutor”

(to the protestors) What happened to my right to free speech? You’re all gon’ die! (As Dwayne covers her mouth, Whitley bites his finger.)

I bet it’s the Dean (Hughes), and she’s gonna have everybody’s be-hind! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Oh, no. There has to be one sane voice in this misguided mob, and I’m gonna stay here and talk to each and every one of you myself. The only way to change the system is to work within the system and Dean Hughes would be very happy to know that I am here. You need somebody to save you from the… (drowned out by chants of “Whitley, go home!” by the protestors; she later sings) I don’t care! I don’t care! I’m not going-la-la-la-la-la-la-la…–all from “Radio Free Hillman”

(to Dwayne) Everything’s gone! They left me nothing but these wire hangers! I hate wire hangers! No more wire hangers!

Well, we still have each other…But I want my clothes.–from “Don’t Count Your Chickens Before They’re Axed”

(after taking the collar off of the puppy, she tells Dwayne) Oh, Pookie, it’s (the collar is) beautiful!–from “White Christmas” (when she was sadly known as “Whitey”)

(to Dwayne) Okay, so what if I did (plan my birthday party)? I deserve it. I’ve been to hell and back this year. I spent my honeymoon in the LA riots, I’ve been livin’ with your thrift shop furniture, I lost my job, I went to unemployment for the very first time in my enire life, I’ve been teachin’ those little monsters (her students) and flippin’ flapjacks–you bet your badiddy I planned this party! Now, I got my hair done and I got my new dress on and I want my party! I want my shrimp!–from “Happy Birthday to Moi”

Whitley, Kim, Pregnancy, and Contraceptives in “It Happened One Night” and “When One Door Closes…”

“…If you think about it right now…there’s a little life inside of [my womb]. And I don’t know who it is, but I love this person.”
Whitley Gilbert (to Ronald Johnson)

Several episodes ago, when Whitley started teaching at Joseph E. Johnson [some type of] School in “To Whit, With Love,” Whitley would probably curse the day that God made her female or able to concieve if she was pregnant prior to when she said this quote in “When One Door Opens, Part Two.” Several years ago, at Hillman, she may have decided to have an abortion.

Why the sudden change in opinion? For one, Whitley may have had a sudden change of heart in having children (which scares me, because she wants children and yet she hates the students she teaches. Maybe if she had “girls, and they’d all be like [Whitley],*” and if she could mold them into her own deranged, expensive item-loving-yet-nice self, she’d like them). For another, different people wrote these two episodes. “It Happened One Night,” based on real life incidents occuring to Debbie Allen (who directed this episode), was written by Susan Fales (who is forever involved with ADW) and Margie Peters, and “When One Door Closes…” was written by Karen Kennedy (part one, which I will heavily rely on) and (ironically) Susan Fales (part two). Another thing is when the episodes were first aired: “Happened” first aired in January 1989, the “Doors” in May 1993 (more or less, because the show was cancelled after “Mind Your Own Buisness,” which aired in January 1993). It can simply be the unintentional things that writers fail to remember about ADW (which is very common–see related posts about “Baby, It’s Cold Outside). But what seperates these two episodes the most is the portrayal of best friends Whitley Gilbert (-Wayne) and Kimberly Reese: they swich roles when the threat of pregnancy comes their way.

Avenging Angels, Blind Optimism and Other Mythic-like Portrayals In “It Happened One Night”

Despite being based on a real-life experience, most of regular student-characters seem to take on mythic proportions once Kim thinks she’s pregnant in “Happened.” This would lead the show down the dark path of extreme biased moralism (that killed shows like Good Times, Family Matters, and others), but the dramatic effect it has on this episode (with a subplot about Whitley’s Mercedes being wrecked by Freddie, who is unable to fix her car correctly) works, engaging the viewer into the turmoil caused by Kim’s missed period.
Kim represents Everywoman (as she usually does when Whitley and Freddie are more off the wall in other episodes). Unlike the Everywoman seen in the “Doors,” “A Rock, a River, a Lena,” or “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” Kim is not repremanding others for their foolish actions. Kim is caught up in a situtation that the people she would councel in later episodes would get in. Kim misses a period for “three weeks and four days” because of stress, which any woman could experience. However, the “stress” that caused the missed period is not explained. (Could it be a combination of the situations seen in “High Anxiety” as well as dating Robert? We’ll never know for sure.) Because of her missed period and her uncertainties of having safe sex (no one in the show never really asks if Kim and/or Robert had safe sex; they just assumed they never had sex with a condom or another contraceptive), Kim assumes that she is pregnant, which is where her troubles begin and where the mythic-like figures spring up.
Whitley takes the position that Kim would take in later episodes, counselling Kim as she deals with this crisis that threatens Kim’s hopeful future as a doctor as well as her family’s expectations of her. Whitley also uses Kim’s pain to suffer like Kim despite the fact that Whitley doesn’t need to do this with Kim. Some examples of this include when Whitley asks for tea when she finds out that Kim has to wait until Student Health opens the next day to find out the results of Kim’s pregnancy test and when Whitley thinks Kim is pregnant at the end of the episode, insisting that Kim call her “Auntie Whitley.” Whitley could simply be a bitch and not give a damn about Kim’s problems, but in this episode, some earlier episodes, and later episodes, she treats Kim like the sister she never had (or could have had, according to “Reconcilable Differences,” the first episode of ADW). In fact, when one woman thinks that the other is pregnant in these two episodes, the first woman refers to herself as an aunt, despite the fact that Kim and Whitley are not related by blood.
Whitley is also what I’d like to call an “avenging angel:” much like the ghost-figure I mentioned in “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” she is Kim’s defender when Robert finally presents her point of view to Kim and the others (Freddie, Dwayne and Jaleesa). Sometimes her avenging angel goes to the point when she offends another, such as when Whitley offers Kim money and Kim thinks Whitley wants her to have an abortion, and when Whitley tells Jaleesa that Jaleesa “wouldn’t have (an abortion)” if Jaleesa was ever pregnant (Jaleesa’s reponse that she was pregnant stuns Whitley and the others).
Whitley also retains her characteristics as a pure pessimist. She easily shoots down Freddie’s suggestions, citing Freddie’s lack of experience with Kim’s problem and immaturity for the reasons that Freddie’s logic is flawed.
Whitley’s avenging angel is reasonable, as opposed to Dwayne, Robert’s defender. Dwayne does a terrible job defending Robert. He either affirms what Robert has already said or wants to change the subject because he’s uncomfortable (Dwayne insisting he can’t takes care of his plants [and one of them is a cactus], the “Howdy Doody” comment) for comic effect. Ironically, he eventually wants children when he starts dating Whitley. Dwayne is not completely ineffective; it is he that takes Robert by Gilbert Hall to talk to Kim (which may be his only redeeming quality in this episode).
Freddie, the person with the slightest idea about what is happening, is the pure optimist in this episode. She suggests that the women of Gilbert Hall be “time share mommies” and declares that she would “never (have) sex. Not before (she was) married, not after (she was) I’m married,” a vow she breaks in the sixth season. (Post on this later.) However, her ideas are shot down by the ever pessimistic Whitley.

“Date Packs:” The Mentioning of Condoms in “Happened,” as Well as a Brief History of the Condom in ADW

This episode, like many other episodes, skirts the issue of the condom completely. As I mentioned earlier, the viewer never really gets an idea that Kim and Robert have unsafe sex (although some might be lead to think so). I mean, Kim could be in the same situation, and Robert could have been wearing a condom, but the condom could have ripped during sex! Kim would have been in the same situation, and it wouldn’t really be her and Robert’s fault. There’s also a possibility that Kim and Robert could have gotten pregnant, and they could have been using another contraceptive as well as a condom. However, Fales and Peters jump to some unfounded conclusion without a logical backstory for it, probably because of fear of the censors.
The episode also leaves the viewer in the dark about “date packs.” I’m assuming that “date pack” means condom, but it could mean a condom, some Hershey’s kisses, and a few positions hand-picked from Cosmo. The history of condoms of ADW is handled in the same manner. In later episodes “Time Keeps On Slippin’” and “If I Should Die Before I Wake” (the latter a, in Jump the Shark terms, “Very Special” episode about AIDS featuring Tisha Campbell [-Martin]), the usage of condoms are mentioned, but the actual condom is not shown. Ron and Jaleesa, who mention the usuage of condoms to a camera and Whitley in their repspective episodes, keep the condoms in his wallet and her purse. The characters never actually discuss the proper way to wear a male condom. (Also not found is the possibility of using a female condom, but the female condom was approved in the US until 1993, when the show ended.) The audience never actually sees the condom, once again, due to fear of the censors. The ironic thing is ADW prides itself on dealing with controversial topics back when the show was still in primetime. Until recently, a person would either ask a medical person, buy a condom upfront from a store (or buy one in a bathroom for 75 cents), or look at the cover of Ooooooohhh…On the TLC Tip (1992) to find out what a condom is.

Part Two above.
*From “In the Eye of the Storm.”