Hal's Job

yardgames

Retired Administrator
In a recent thread, Remoss asked why we refer to the family as "Wilkerson" against Linwood Boomer's wishes. He pointed out some of the other mysteries in the show, including the fact that we have no idea where Hal works or what he does.

That's not to say we've never been given hints. We know that he's gone through three jobs: One before teh show began (in Ida Loses a Leg, we found out one of teh reasons Francis was sent to live with Ida was because Hal was between jobs), one from seasons 1 to 5, until he was accused of whatever it was he was accused of in Reese Joins the Army, and finally, whatever he does in season six.

We've certainly been given certain clues; for example, in Garage Sale, Hal loved his radio. Could his original job have been in media? We know the middle-most job had something to do with the corporate world, in which Hal worked in an office. We know virtually nothing about the last job.

What other clues can you guys think of, or what do you think Hal might have done in one of his three jobs?
 

Emrysgirl

New member
I have no idea. Sounds like IT. Maybe he just has some low level job. I just remember that guy saying something like "And I'm gonna become the head of systems management and..." and Hal saying "But, I'm in systems management."
 
W

we_dye

Guest
It could be regarded that Hal’s main job; the primary source of income for his family is intentionally unknown, and quite possibly irrelevant.

In contemporary society, we tend to be defined by what we do for a living. As collective individuals we are tend to be measured by what we o on a daily basis, the salaries we earn and the types of cars we are driving.

Hal seems to be the antithesis of such ideology. Working what seems to be a mundane job he does not enjoy, he truly is characterised by his home life and his eager, yet earnest personality.

A lot of “successful” people may earn large sums of money, but can often be ‘time poor’ and have limited time for what is truly important in their lives – family and friends. Hal helps us to realise what is really important, and to him, his job is nothing more than a means of earning money to pay the bills etc. At the end of a working day, Hal is able to successfully separate himself from his job and therefore values the time he spends with his wife and children.

From teaching Malcolm how to skate to a romantic dinner with Lois to watching little Dewey growing up – these are what really matter in life and you cannot put a price on any of these moments. By being there every time, Hal is an excellent father and husband. A real family mam.
 

MaricaInTheMiddle

New member
In Company Picnic pt.1 we can see that Hal is working in an office and next, at the picnic the head of Hal talk with him and say something like:"you are a good manager"...
and in the park there are a lot of cartels...
but i don't know what it could be his work...
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
It could be regarded that Hal’s main job; the primary source of income for his family is intentionally unknown, and quite possibly irrelevant.

In contemporary society, we tend to be defined by what we do for a living. As collective individuals we are tend to be measured by what we o on a daily basis, the salaries we earn and the types of cars we are driving.

Hal seems to be the antithesis of such ideology. Working what seems to be a mundane job he does not enjoy, he truly is characterised by his home life and his eager, yet earnest personality.

A lot of “successful” people may earn large sums of money, but can often be ‘time poor’ and have limited time for what is truly important in their lives – family and friends. Hal helps us to realise what is really important, and to him, his job is nothing more than a means of earning money to pay the bills etc. At the end of a working day, Hal is able to successfully separate himself from his job and therefore values the time he spends with his wife and children.

From teaching Malcolm how to skate to a romantic dinner with Lois to watching little Dewey growing up – these are what really matter in life and you cannot put a price on any of these moments. By being there every time, Hal is an excellent father and husband. A real family mam.
I couldn't have said it better myself. It's all very true.
 

Jaret

New member
In regard to the first post, the stereo from garage sale was a random thing he had when he was in college, or so he says to Dewey.
 

orlyon

New member
In the episode called Poker in season 3 Hal becomes upset when stevies dad and his professional friends seem to treat him differently because he isnt a professional. So i guess while Hal is white collar, it is at the lower end of the scale. I doubt this would inculde any complicated IT work.
 

ddbb

New member
He works as an accountant/ for an accountant for at least part of the time, I can't think of what episode it is that hints at that, also he is forced to open a christmas tree stand when he was let off early for christmas because of a lawsuit which would fit working as/ for an accountant.

we have to remember that he has a collage degree and is never really not smart, just kind of quirky. An example of this is that he builds a killer robot in an episode and shows good amount of intellagence in multiple episodes. As for his love of radios and music, he operated a pirate radio station in collage (also according to the christmas sale episode).

Sarry for the misspellings and the fact I don't know the episode titles
 
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