Betty Roberts was a fictional character on the AMC original comedy series Remember WENN. [1] The character was created and written by Rupert Holmes,[2] and played by actress Amanda Naughton.
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Betty, born "Elizabeth" according to the episode, "The First Mrs. Bloom," is supposed to be from Elkhart, Indiana, where, in the episode "The Importance of Being Betty," she claims the most exciting thing was receiving The New Yorker magazine.
In 1939, she is employed as the writer for a small radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she also unofficially serves as everyone's go-to girl. She is intelligent, competent, wholesome, and kind. In the episode entitled, "You've met Your Match," one of the character's love interests, Scott Sherwood, describes her as "the girl next door."
In the first episode of Remember WENN, [3] Betty arrives at fictional 1940s Pittsburgh radio station WENN. Having won a contest, she has been offered an unpaid writing internship at the station, but shortly after her arrival, the station faces crisis when its sole writer fails to write the daily scripts due to his intoxication. Following Betty resolving the problem, she is hired as chief (and only) writer of the station's daily shows and soap operas.
Throughout the first season, [4] being the writer for WENN remains Betty's official job. However, as she learns the ropes of radio, she also unofficially serves as the trusted assistant administrator to the station manager, Victor Comstock. At the end of the ninth episode, "Hilary Booth, Registered Nurse," Victor announces that he will be taking a broadcasting assignment in London, leaving Betty as the acting station manager of WENN, until, in the eleventh episode, "Capital Idea," Scott Sherwood arrives with a letter from Victor, which introduces Scott as the new station manager.
In the final three episodes of the season, Betty adjusts to working with Scott, who is attempting to pull the station from the brink of bankruptcy. By the season finale, "World of Tomorrow," Betty is coming to appreciate that Scott is concerned about the good of the station and its staff. During the episode, as another attempt to raise funds for the station, Scott arranges for WENN to broadcast at the World's Fair. Especially once Jeff Singer, the station's lead actor, announces that he is temporarily leaving to broadcast with Victor in London, Betty struggles to organize the World Fair broadcast. Feeling that the quickly pulled together programme is lackluster, she is pleased when Scott helps to complete the broadcast by looping through one of Jeff and Victor's broadcasts from London. In the final scene of the episode, the staff of WENN listen as Jeff and Victor broadcast during one of the first Blitz bombings of London. The season ends, when the BBC transmission is abruptly lost, leaving the staff fearful for the lives of their colleagues.
The first episode of the season, "Radio Silence," shows Betty very upset by the death of Victor Comstock. The other characters express their general concern for her wellbeing and they also refer to her usually good writing having seriously declined in quality. Throughout the episode Betty appears tired and disturbed, and she insists on having a minute of silence for Victor every hour. When Scott accidentally interrupts one of the hourly minutes of silence, Betty has a fit. Scott apologizes, but when he realizes that Betty has taken the station off the air rather than allow Victor's minute of silence to be spoiled, he attempts to talk her out of her grief. While Scott is still speaking to Betty, the injured Jeff returns to WENN, and seeing him seems to cause Betty to begin to return to her former self. At the end of the episode, Scott and Betty have another conversation in which he asks if she is alright. She assures him that she is fine, and she also tells him that she knows he has been secretly making sure that she gets home safely since she has been leaving the station in the small morning hours since hearing of Victor's death.
Throughout the rest of the second season Betty continues to act as the writer and an unofficial administrator of WENN. Most of the episodes revolve around a formula of Scott coming up with a crazy idea to keep the station up and running and Betty either making the idea work or getting Scott to abandon it.
As Scott and Betty continue to work as a team, they also develop a personal relationship. In the sixth episode, "Christmas in the Airwaves," Scott surprises Betty by arranging for her to get home to her folks for Christmas. Although no airline goes to her hometown, Scott convinces the crop-dusting company which is one of the station's sponsors to fly her home, and gets her a return-trip ticket as a gift from him. By the ninth episode, "Close Quarters," Scott and Betty have grown closer, with the two sharing a dance and Betty even giving Scott a kiss on the cheek. Throughout the season, Scott makes it plain that he has feelings toward Betty, and the eleventh episode, "The First Mrs. Bloom," features him both asking her on a date and jestingly proposing to marry her on WENN's wedding show.
However, in the second season finale, "Magic," Betty finds herself thinking of memories of Victor. The episode culminates with Betty, Scott, and Hilary Booth, the station's leading lady, being held at gunpoint. They manage to turn the tables on the gunman, and once they are safe, most of the WENN staff go to the police station to give statements about the crime. With the station empty, Betty notices a light on in the manager's office. Going to investigate, she finds Victor standing in the office. The season ends with him greeting her, and Betty fainting into his arms.
The third season opens with Betty finding herself asleep on a couch in the station's green room. As she wakes up, she thinks that she only dreamed Victor's return from the dead, but as she is getting up, Victor enters the room. Betty finally becomes convinced of his existence by his retelling her a geographical fact he had once told her in the past. Betty spends the remainder of the episode fulfilling Victor's request to hide him from the rest of the staff. When Betty and Victor finally have a chance to speak privately, Victor reveals that no one must know that he is alive because he is working as a double agent for the government. At the end of the episode, Victor leaves the station. As he departs, he gives Betty a key to the box which holds the name of his contact, reveals that he does not know Scott Sherwood, and finally, without explanation, kisses her goodbye.
In the third episode of the season, "Who's Scott Sherwood?," following Scott being fired as station manager because he was embezzling funds in order to build a memorial for Victor, Betty confronts Scott about not knowing Victor. He initially convinces her that she is wrong in her assessment of him. Although he has her fooled, feeling badly, he instantaneously confesses the truth that he only once met Victor. Betty slaps him, and after a short conversation, Scott goes to leave. However, thinking that he will never see her again, Scott turns back, kissing Betty. Rather than appearing angry, Betty appears confused, and the episode ends with a close up of her face. Scott returns in the next episode, "The New Actor," as an actor for the station. Throughout the remainder of the season, Scott attempts to recover Betty's better opinion of him, while she remains untrusting and somewhat contemptuous of him.
Also during this season, Betty often serves as the acting station manager since the official station manager, Rollie Pruitt is usually away from the station. It is during this season that it is even more greatly emphasized how much Betty does for WENN. This is particularly highlighted in the sixth episode, "The Importance of Being Betty."
As the season draws nearer to its end, the audience is increasingly reminded of the potential love triangle between Betty, Scott, and Victor. The eleventh episode, "From the Pen of Gertrude Reece," features a fantasy spoof of Casablanca (film). During the fantasy story within this episode, Betty must choose between Victor and Scott. The episode ends with three alternate endings, none of which show Betty making a choice.
In the season finale, "Happy Homecomings," Betty becomes worried that Victor has been killed, so she uses the key he gave her to open the box containing the name of his contact. In the box is the name 'Rollie Pruitt.' Receiving a mystery phone call, Betty creates a fictitious story to clear everyone else from the station. Victor returns to the empty station, and Betty brings him to see Pruitt, thinking that he is Victor's contact. Instead, it is revealed that Pruitt replaced the name which was actually in the box with his own. It turns out that Pruitt is working for the Nazis and Victor has been brainwashed to kill. Pruitt thinks that Victor is supposed to kill Betty, but Victor is actually supposed to kill whoever says a code greeting, which Pruitt has just delivered. Victor pulls a gun on Pruitt, and in an attempt to save his own life, Pruitt pulls a gun on Betty. At this point, Scott, having just deciphered that WENN is being used by Nazi supporters to broadcast coded messages, enters the room mumbling the code greeting. Victor turns his gun on Scott, who is astonished to see that Victor is alive. Betty says Scott's name, seeming horrified that his life is at risk. Scott replies by telling Betty he loves her. Betty responds by herself delivering the code greeting, which will cause Victor to turn the gun on her. The season ends with the audience hearing a gunshot.
The first episode, "Some Time, Some Station," opens with Betty, Scott, Victor, and Pruitt all still alive, but also still standing at a stalemate showdown. Scott attempts to say the code greeting in order to save Betty's life, but Betty stops him. She tips off Victor to shoot at her, but miss. When he fires the gun, she drops to the floor, causing Scott to throw caution to the wind, and struggle with Victor for his gun. During the struggle, the gun goes off, shooting Pruitt, who faints. Scott takes Pruitt's gun away from him, and going to Betty, realizes that she is unharmed. They tie up Pruitt, realizing that he only has a flesh wound. As Betty begins to tell Scott what is happening regarding Victor, they realize that Victor is dazed, and forgets everything since the time he first left the station. By the end of the episode, Victor regains his memory and the rest of the staff learns he is alive. The episode ends with Victor returning as manager, and Scott looking at Betty looking at Victor.
Throughout the remainder of the season, Betty is often left in charge of WENN since Victor makes frequent trips to Washington DC. Also, throughout the season, the audience is kept guessing if Betty will ultimately love Victor or Scott. As early as the third episode, "You've Met Your Match," Betty seems to be jealous of Scott having a possibly romantic past with station organist, Maple LaMarsh. The following episodes show Scott continuing to flirt with Betty, who is increasingly less rejecting of his advances. Through the fourth season, Betty and Scott are often shown with each other. Victor is seen much less, but it is often stated that he frequently breaks dates with Betty to attend to his work. This is particularly highlighted in the tenth episode, "Past Tense, Future Imperfect."
In the final episode of the series, "All's Noisy on the Pittsburgh Front," the staff of WENN are adjusting to the United States having just entered World War II. Early in the episode, Victor, again leaving for Washington DC, goes to kiss Betty, who pulls away, but does not explain why. After Victor's departure, Betty accidentally overhears Scott arranging a soft military job in London. Thinking Scott is trying to avoid his patriotic duty, Betty is disappointed, but in the final few minutes of the episode, Betty seems to be more upset by the sight of Scott wearing his army uniform. Betty asks him about the phone call she overheard. He explains it was for a friend, but does not tell her that it was for Victor. Scott tells Betty that he signed up the morning after Pearl Harbor, and he intends to win the war for all the Betty Roberts, even though it means doing without the one he cares about for a while. Betty seems touched, and she is surprised to learn that he is leaving in a few minutes because he is being shipped out that night. Their conversation is interrupted by Victor unexpectedly returning, saying that he has been offered two military jobs, one running WENN for the government and the job which Scott set up for Victor in London. Victor suggests that Scott take the job in London, but Scott, not wanting to leave Betty with Victor, suggests that Victor takes the job in London, allowing Scott to take the job running WENN. Betty asks if she has anything to say about the decision, so Victor throws the question to her. Scott agrees that it should be Betty's choice, and the episode ends with Betty looking at Scott, then Victor, then back at Scott. Following this episode, the series was cancelled without a resolution to the cliffhanger being revealed.
Remember WENN Episode 1.01 On The Air; Remember WENN Episode 1.09 Hilary Booth, Registered Nurse; Remember WENN Episode 1.11 Capital Idea; Remember WENN Episode 1.13 World of Tomorrow; Remember WENN Episode 2.01 Radio Silence; Remember WENN Episode 2.06 Christmas in the Airwaves; Remember WENN Episode 2.09 Close Quarters; Remember WENN Episode 2.11 The First Mrs. Bloom; Remember WENN Episode 2.13 Magic; Remember WENN Episode 3.01 In the WENN Small Hours...; Remember WENN Episode 3.03 Who's Scott Sherwood; Remember WENN Episode 3.04 The New Actor; Remember WENN Episode 3.06 The Importance of Being Betty; Remember WENN Episode 3.11 From the Pen of Gertrude Reece; Remember WENN Episode 3.17 Happy Homecomings; Remember WENN Episode 4.01 Some Time, Some Station; Remember WENN Episode 4.03 You've Met Your Match; Remember WENN Episode 4.10 Past Tense, Future Imperfect; Remember WENN Episode 4.13 All's Noisy on the Pittsburgh Front