Episode Report Card Couch Baron: A- | 1034 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT A Turkey Lurkey Christmas To You, Jerky
By Couch Baron | Season 4 | Episode 2 | Aired on 2010.08.01
Roger is in fact reclining on the chaise lounge in his office when his secretary buzzes with the news that Lee Garner Jr. is on the phone. When we see the man in question, he's getting a manicure on his right hand as he holds the phone with his left, and everyone has their own ideas about grooming but I wonder if he'd do this in front of his father. But this isn't the gayest thing he'll do in this episode by a long shot, so let's set the stage: He's in town, and when Roger offhandedly mentions the Christmas party (an error he probably wouldn't make sober), Lee wastes no time in saying he'll be there. In a panic, Roger calls Pryce into his office and says they've got to scale up the Christmas party by a factor of lots, causing Pryce to put his head in his hands and then gasbag about expenses adding up; Roger in return tells "Olivier" that Lucky Strike is their business, and "if Lee Garner Jr. wants three wise men flown in from Jerusalem, he gets it!" Personally, I think three wise men would know not to go anywhere near Lee Garner Jr., but it's true the Santa thing hasn't happened yet.
Roger barks for Joan, and when she appears, Pryce tells her there's been a "small adjustment" to the scale of the party. Hilariously, Joan sardonically over-enunciates, "Lower or higher?" As if lower wouldn't mean they'd have to roll drunks on the Bowery for their bottles of Thunderbird. After Pryce breaks the news about Garner, Roger tells her they have to change the rating of the party "from convalescent home to Roman orgy," and Joan's all over it; they're going to need to appear to have more employees, so she's going to allow everyone escorts; also, there will be "New York food, deli and Chinese, and some kind of gift for Mr. Garner." Pryce has already left in a huff at this point, so Roger's free to flirt, saying she's off limits, and Joan replies, "I don't think he's the one that needs to be reminded." When she's right, she's right. Roger keeps flirting with her (he's taken the opportunity to resume drinking, by the way) until Joan, fairly unimpressed, leaves, but not without giving him an old-school sashay away to admire. It probably looks even better to him, with two of her to watch.