TV Draft Round 8 – Pick 3 – Max Selects – WKRP In Cincinnatti

***I have a bonus below the videos…an interview I did with a real DJ…Keith Allen (who is in our draft) about WKRP.***

I was 11 when this show aired. It was one of the shows from the late 70s that I wouldn’t miss.

This show was not like the Mary Tyler Moore Show, Bob Newhart, or All In The Family. Those are great shows…some of the best ever sitcoms…but they were aimed more at adults while this one I always felt was largely aimed at teenagers. The show aired from 1978 to 1982. Rock and Roll on a sitcom was not common at that time at all. It was the hippest show on television in primetime.

WKRP in Cincinnati” was produced by MTM – the studio Mary Tyler Moore and Grant Tinker built that produces shows such as The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Phyllis, The White Shadow, Rhoda, and many others.

The episode I remember the most having an effect on me was about the horrible event in 1979 when eleven people were killed at a Who concert in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Park. The show handled the tragic situation very well.

42 years ago, 'WKRP in Cincinnati' made its debut

The plot…to make it short was about a Program Director (Andy Travis) who had a perfect record in turning bad radio stations around joins the staff at WKRP. The station is at the bottom of the ratings and he wants to change the format to Rock from Laurence Welk type music which is met with trepidation from the oddball staff. Actual radio DJs were excited because they loved that the show portrayed sides of the industry you never see. They were such big fans that they would send in bumper stickers, posters, and other items that were used to decorate the walls in the TV radio station studio. Howard Hesseman who played Dr. Johnny Fever was a DJ in the 60s in San Francisco.

The show would feature new rock music as well as old. Blondie gave the show one of their gold records in appreciation because the show played “Heart of Glass” and helped to make it number 1.

When you watch the reruns…they don’t look as clear as some of the other shows of the era. Unlike Cheers, The Bob Newhart Show, Mary Tyler Moore, or M*A*S*H… WKRP was shot on videotape instead of film. That’s why WKRP reruns are murky, instead of the pristine clarity of filmed shows

The show also caught radio before it started the change. The change was giant companies buying radio stations and having them pre-program shows without local flavor. It was beginning during the show’s run. Slowly but surely the radio would be taken over by monopolies and we would lose some of the attachments we had to local DJ’s… MTV came and made the divide wider. 

Close to 10 years after WKRP in Cincinnati had left the air, The New WKRP in Cincinnati premiered in 1991. Rejoining the cast was Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson), Richard Sanders (Les Nessman), Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever), and Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek). Both Tim Reid and Loni Anderson made guest appearances but Jan Smithers and Gary Sandy decided to skip it.

Before I end I must mention an iconic episode that is always remembered. The Turkeys Away episode. Forty live turkeys were dropped from a helicopter onto an unsuspecting Cincinnati shopping mall below. In what was supposed to be a Thanksgiving giveaway promotion, the station’s manager… Arthur “Big Guy” Carlson….decided to drop live turkeys from a helicopter.

At the end, Mr. Carlson says the phrase that elevates the episode to a classic. “As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly”

How close was WKRP to real stations? See below the videos…

The extended theme song by Steve Carlisle Wkrp In Cincinnati peaked at #65 on the Billboard 100 in 1979.

The Cast

Jan Smithers – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Bailey Quarters – Jan Smithers – A shy soft-spoken lady in charge of billing and station traffic soon worked herself up to an on-air personality and other duties. She and Jennifer on the show were a bit like Mary Ann and Ginger on Gilligans Island…my pick is Miss Quarters any day of the week!

WKRP In Cincinnati: Andy Travis -- Leadership Lessons

Andy Travis – Gary Sandy –Andy comes to the station as the new Program Director to turn the station around and finds the station’s employees…are like from the Island of Misfit Toys. He finds their strengths and tries to make it work. His character was based on real-life Program Director Mikel Herrington.

WKRP in Cincinnati - Johnny Fever Speaks His Mind on the Air - YouTube

Dr. Johnny Fever – Howard Hesseman – Fun Fact…David Cassidy was offered this role but turned it down.  The role ultimately went to Howard Hesseman, but only after he was invited to read for Herb Tarlek’s character and flatly refused to read anything but Johnny.

Johnny had been around for a while and was fired off a Los Angeles radio station for saying booger on air. He was probably my favorite character…next to Bailey…on the show when I first watched. Dr. Johnny Fever was based on real DJ “Skinny” Bobby Harper.

WKRP in Cincinnati: Cincinnati Tech – T-Shirts On Screen

Venus Flytrap – Tim Reid – Venus was the night DJ and was one of the smoothest DJ’s ever…Venus wears 70’s type flashy clothes and in the series eventually becomes Assistant Program Director. Venus was the coolest character on the show.

Super 70s Sports on Twitter: "Herb Tarlek was so far ahead of his time that his legal address was “The Vanguard of Fashion.” https://t.co/a4vKnVUH6b" / Twitter

Herb Tarlek –  Frank Bonner – Herb was a salesman and dressed very tacky and loud. He hits on Jennifer at every opportunity, despite being married… but gets turned down constantly.

Loni Anderson as Jennifer Marlowe in WKRP in Cincinnati 1978 to 1982 (AIC) : r/Celebhub

Jennifer Marlowe – Loni Anderson – She was Ginger to Bailey’s Mary Ann. Mr. Carlson’s receptionist…she was the highest-paid employee at the station even though refusing to do most things that receptionists are required to do. She was very intelligent though and Anderson demanded that before taking the role.

T.V. Boss Hall of Fame - Arthur P. Carlson — Dan Saraceni

Arthur Carlson –  Gordon Jump – The lovable but ineffective station manager who is the son of the station’s owner. He never wanted to know what was going on…, but when he tries to be hands-on…it leads to disastrous results (see Turkey’s Away episode)

Les Nessman - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia

Les Nessman – Richard Sanders – The incompetent News Director…Les was obsessed with the region’s hog farming industry…constantly mispronounced names… ignored obvious news stories for Hog Reports…but he would win the Silver Sow Award and The Buckeye Newshawk Award. He also had an invisible office with invisible walls that the station could not afford to build.

I interviewed a DJ…and he is Keith Allen who is in the TV Draft. I asked him

  1. WKRP, what about it is realistic and what is not?

    LOL – DJ’s and other radio people get asked this a lot! I guess it depends on who you ask. Here are my thoughts –

    Are there sales people like Herb?  Yes.  Are they as annoying?  Yes!

    Are all news people like Les?  No, but there are plenty other folks in the biz like him.

    Do all stations have a sexy secretary/receptionist?  Some of the stations I worked at did.

    Are all General Managers like Mr. Carlson?  No, some are actually quite bright and know their stuff.

    Do DJ’s usually give their program directors (like Andy) a headache?  Yes.  Very much so!

    Do Programmers and General Managers often not see eye to eye on what’s going on with the station?  Many times this is true.

    Can you get fired for saying “booger” on the air?  I don’t think so.  We spent an entire morning talking about how those green raisins look like boogers and we weren’t fired.

    Do many DJ’s have big egos like Venus and weird idiosyncrasies like Johnny?  Yes, and you know it almost immediately when you meet them.

    In many ways, WKRP is very realistic and while radio people probably find the show funnier than the average viewer, we also find one thing particularly annoying – the DJ’s don’t wear headphones in the studio.  When a DJ turns on the microphone, the speakers in the studio shut off so there is no feedback.  The DJ can hear the music and his/her voice in the headphones, so they know when to stop talking.  These guys never seem to have headphones on and it has always bothered me.

    They also seem to have the uncanny ability to throw a record on the turntable and have the song cued up immediately.  I never had to spin vinyl until I moved to the west side of the state.  I can tell you, you have to put the needle on the start of the groove, play it through a small cue speaker and wait for the song to start.  You then stop it and turn the record back a ¼ turn, so that when you hit start, it plays at the right speed and doesn’t wind up to it.  Carts are a whole lot easier, but almost all the music on WKRP is on vinyl.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

39 thoughts on “TV Draft Round 8 – Pick 3 – Max Selects – WKRP In Cincinnatti”

  1. If this show didn’t make the draft, I was going to lodge a protest. 😉 Just kidding, but I was pretty sure it would be someone’s pick, as it should. I don’t know that I have a favorite episode, but liked just about every one I watched…except the turkeys episode. I am in the minority, because I can’t stand that episode. I’m literally the only person I know who doesn’t think it’s funny. Bailey was one of my favorite characters too, but honestly, they all were my favorites. It would be hard to narrow them down to just one fave. I do remember the episode about the Who concert tragedy. That was an important one, the substance of which may be lost on people not of that generation, or who have never been in one of those concert crowd pushes. Your writeup contained several facts I didn’t know. Keith’s mention of the missing headphones was enlightening for me. I never would have known. It seems like it would have been easy to include the headphone detail for accuracy, so I don’t understand why they omitted it.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. The Who episode really hit me hard as a kid. They asked the city if they could do it…and it had to be approved before they showed it…and the city really liked the respect they showed.

      There are a lot of episodes I like. It wasn’t treated as well as some of the other MTM shows probably because of the rock and roll image it had. I wish it was filmed instead of videotape but they cut costs.

      Liked by 2 people

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      2. I didn’t know that The Who episode needed approval from the city – it was a great episode- I wonder if it played a part in changing general admission at concerts. Around this time I saw a bumper sticker that was in very bad taste. It said – I would run over you to see The Who.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. The producers were really thoughtful about what the city thought and they ended up getting their blessing on it. They handled it well. Yea I read where that did change the general admission…
        Yea I have dark humor but that is bad.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Sorry for the long delay in response. I was out at dream class at 12:30, went over to the facilitator’s house afterwards, then headed out to my mom’s. Got back about an hour ago. It’s a busy week, but in a good way.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Oh cool! I love the smell of fresh cut grass.
        It’s been raining so much here I…cross out “I” and insert Bailey will have to cut the grass lol

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Excellent show and writeup! Glad someone got to it. I loved the show and watched it all the time (not so the remake, which I watched once and said ‘nah- it’s not the same’) . Like you, I was getting to the age where I really noticed young women (noticed little else but I guess!) and was smitten with Bailey… actually remember wondering if there was something wrong with me because everyone else was hot for Jennifer. You point out, it was funny but could deal with some harsh realities too , and do it maturely – the Who concert, tornadoes hitting the city, draft dodgers etc. You know, I noticed real DJs always have on headphones but never knew exactly why! Now I do. By the way, I once asked David marsden in Ontario if he saw himself as a latter-day Johnny Fever, and he didn’t like the comparison. But some of the stories he told about ’70s radio sure sounded reminiscent of WKRP.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Thanks Dave… They did handle all of the senisitve subjects well. I forgot about the draft dodger episode…there were quite a few. I wish they were filmed and not videotaped. I always wondered why it wasn’t as clear as the other shows.

      Hell I would think it would be an honor to be compared to him lol… No nothing wrong with you except good taste! lol. I’m a Mary Ann and Bailey Quarters kind of guy!

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. once in awhile we see an old-ish TV show on my brother-in-laws big HD TV and it’s neat to look up close and see the actual grain in the film they used and all the tonal detail.
        I’m like you, team Bailey (hey… someone has a kid named Bailey, don’t they?LOL) , my brother was always a fan of the more Jennifer-style ladies.
        I know its been written about before, but what’s the latest on the music from the show on re-issues? I know for some time, they couldn’t license the real music again and inserted basically elevator music which was really jarring to see and hear.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I think they are on the DVDs but they can’t all be broadcast now….oh the reason for the Videotape is because that was a cheaper way to present the music….it was a loophole….

        Liked by 1 person

      3. bizarre, but could be. I did see a couple on TV maybe two years back and they both had the dubbed in elevator music, which just seemed wrong!

        Liked by 1 person

  6. I was wondering when this would show up. In the funny clips video, I caught one scene where the music wasn’t the original piece. That segment must have come from the DVD collection, when all of the copyrighted music was removed. Four years worth of music…can you imagine the cost of each song’s price to be put into the DVDs?

    Yeah…Andy Travis…*sigh* He was gorgeous.

    Excellent write-up. Sorry for dropping out but, I’ve been in a battle…blog issues & health issues.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Yea I didn’t have it orginally but I dropped a couple of mine and picked two other things…thats alright…I’ll get you back lol.

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  8. I liked the show, and also the little things in the script, like Johnny being Fever now, Dr Sunshine in ’67… whatever is /was hip at the time. (As an aside, there was a cool DJ down here around the Summer of Love era, a little later; Name of Glen Roach. True story.

    Liked by 1 person

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  10. A classic! It is forever referenced by radio DJ’s everywhere. The headphone thing will forever bother me about the show, but there is so much other great stuff I tend to over look it.

    When we were doing the “all request” thing at my first station, we recorded every caller. You very rarely put people on the air live. You recorded it and played it back. One of my regular listeners would always say “booger” when I answered the phone or tried to sneak it into conversation to “see if you really can get in trouble for saying it on the radio.”

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Yea it would not have taken that much from them to wear them.
      LOL that is funny about your caller!

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  11. This was one of my favorite shows when I was younger which I watched mainly in syndicated reruns. This write-up captures my memories of the show well and the interview with a DJ is a great addition. Oh, and I am always Team Bailey.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. I never watched this show when it first aired, as I honestly didn’t watch much TV in the late 70s and early 80s due to being so busy with college and working. But I later watched lot of the episodes when it went into syndication, and loved it. Nice write-up Max.

    Liked by 1 person

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  13. Pingback: TV Draft UPDATE – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

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