WKRP in Cincinnati
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982) was an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson. It premiered September 18, 1978 on CBS and featured Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Gordon Jump, Loni Anderson, Tim Reid, Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders, and Frank Bonner. WKRP in Cincinnati was videotaped before a live studio audience at Goldenwest Videotape Division.
As was typical of most MTM productions, the humor came more from running gags based on the known predilections and quirks of each character, rather than from outlandish plots or racy situations. The characters also developed somewhat over the course of the series.
The series won a Humanitas Prize and received 10 Emmy Award nominations (including three for Outstanding Comedy Series). It also won an Emmy Award for Videotape Editing in season 3 (by Andy Ackerman, who would go on to direct Seinfeld).
The original WKRP aired for four seasons and 90 episodes through September 20, 1982. Jump, Sanders, and Bonner reprised their supporting roles in a spinoff/sequel series, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran from 1991 to 1993 in syndication.
Contents |
[edit] Premise
The series was based upon show creator Hugh Wilson's memories of working in advertising as a client of Atlanta, Georgia, classic AOR radio station 94.1 WQXI-FM, now known as pop station Star94.
New programming director Andy Travis tries to turn around struggling radio station WKRP, despite the well-meaning efforts of the mostly-incompetent staff, including:
- the bumbling, though kind-hearted station manager, Arthur Carlson
- Herb Tarlek, the oily sales manager
- Les Nessman, the clueless, overly-earnest news director
- super receptionist Jennifer Marlowe
- enthusiastic, initially shy junior employee Bailey Quarters
- spaced-out veteran disk jockey Johnny Caravella, who adopts the on-air persona of the manic, usually outrageous "Dr. Johnny Fever"
To help bolster ratings, Travis hires a new disk jockey:
- the more mellow Gordon Sims ("Venus Flytrap")
Lurking in the background and making an occasional appearance is the station's owner (and Carlson's mother), ruthless business tycoon Mrs. Carlson.
[edit] Episodes
In the pilot episode, Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) comes to the station as the new programming director, hired to improve the dismal ratings of the beautiful music station, run by weak-willed Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump). Travis abruptly changes the programming format to rock music, but WKRP's ratings fail to improve significantly in the Cincinnati market, mostly because of his unwillingness to fire the existing personnel when he takes over; their idiosyncrasies are more to blame for the station's fortunes than its format.
One of WKRP in Cincinnati's best-known and most-loved episodes ("Turkeys Away") is a comic account of a disastrous, real-life promotional event. It was named by TV Guide as one of the greatest episodes in television history. Other episodes were inspired by real contemporary events, such as the infamous Who concert in Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum on December 3, 1979.
[edit] Characters
- Andy Travis (Gary Sandy). For the most part, program director Andy Travis serves as the straight man for the eccentric staff of the station he has been hired to run. Before coming to WKRP, he had an unblemished record of turning around failing radio stations, but meets his match in his wacky staff members, of whom he becomes distressingly fond. In one episode, he confides that he had no friends at the other stations where he worked. Gary Sandy often wore sweatshirts from universities all over the United States (sent to him by fans) as part of his character's persona. The show's opening theme song is about Andy and his decision to settle down in Cincinnati, a connection that is confirmed in the episode "The Creation of Venus" where Andy quotes from the theme song's lyrics in talking about his past ("I got kinda tired of packing and unpacking; town to town, up and down the dial").
- Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), occasionally called the "Big Guy", is the general manager, in his mid-fifties, whose main qualification for the job is that his tycoon mother is the owner. His bumbling, indecisive management was one of the main reasons the station was unprofitable, although he is a decent man and something of a father figure to his employees. Carlson's mother confronts Travis about changing the station to a rock and roll format, but relents when her son uncharacteristically finds the courage to stand up to her. Inspired by WKRP's new format he decides to attend his first ever rock concert, the infamous 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati (where 11 fans died in a human stampede). Before becoming general manager, he was the sales manager back in the 50's, under Mr. Armour. Arthur married his college sweetheart, Carmen, after he saw her at a college social and begged her to go out with him. They have two children, a son, little Arthur (who would grow up to work at the station in The New WKRP in Cincinnati) and a daughter who was born during the original run of the series. He concludes the "Turkeys Away" episode by protesting his innocence. "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
- Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) is a burnt-out veteran disk jockey whose real name is Johnny Caravella. He was also known as Johnny Duke, Johnny Style, Johnny Sunshine, and during the series run, Heavy Early and Rip Tide (in the two-part episode "The Rise and Fall of Rip Tide"). Cynical, neurotic and almost always hung-over, he is usually in one sort of trouble or another. For instance, he was fired from a major station in Los Angeles when he inadvertently said "booger" on the air. In the first season, he gets rehired by that same station only to get fired again, this time for saying "jive-ass". In one episode, he tells his (supposedly few) listeners to dump their garbage at city hall, and goes into shock when the trash heap turns out to be huge. He loses his voice and withdraws before finally finding the strength to confront his larger-than-imagined audience and tells them to stop dumping garbage at city hall...and to take it to the mayor's house instead. Jerry Springer was the mayor of Cincinnati at the time this episode aired. Lured by money, Johnny signed on to host a disco-oriented TV dance show called "Gotta Dance." He resolved his resulting guilt and embarrassment by creating a TV alter-ego named Rip Tide, a sequined phoney that Johnny bad mouths on the WKRP airwaves. Johnny was married twice and has a daughter Laurie with his first wife, Paula. Johnny demonstrated his freakish tolerance for alcohol in an on-air sobriety test administered by an Ohio State Trooper. Johnny's reflexes improved as he consumed more and more alcohol, thus enraging the trooper.
- Les Nessman (Richard Sanders), the fastidious, bow-tied news reporter, approaches his job with absurd seriousness, despite being almost totally incompetent. (Dr. Johnny Fever once introduced his newscast by saying, "And now, more news, and Les Nessman.") Les is forever trying to win the fictitious Ohio radio news industry trophy, the "Buckeye Newshawk Award", though he has already won it in previous years, along with "the covetted Silver Sow Award" (for his excellence in farm reporting, especially hog news). Before approaching his desk, one has to "knock" on the nonexistent door, attached to imaginary walls marked on the floor with yellow tape, of the fantasy office he feels he deserves; those who don't, face his ineffectual wrath. The person who respects this the most is Mr. Carlson, who always clicks the heels of his shoes together to make a knocking sound. Les always has a bandage somewhere on his body (a running gag begun when Sanders showed up for the filming of the pilot episode wearing one after bumping his head). Les occasionally has to read the sports news, a subject about which he knows little; reading a piece about golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez, he mispronounces the name as "Chy Chy Rod-ri-gweeze". In the series premiere, Les reveals that he has been doing traffic reports while thumping his chest so it sounds like he's in a helicopter. Another running gag on the show involves his mother, who lives in Dayton and who keeps getting smaller with each passing year. She shows up in the second-to-last episode, when Les is considering trying to break into network television by applying at CBS News in New York City. Everyone thinks at first that it is Les in drag (in fact, Richard Sanders dressed in drag to play Mother Nessman, though the closing credits list Mother Nessman as Herself). Les owns a dog, Phil, who doesn't like him and who terrifies him. He drives a motor scooter to work and is best friends with Herb Tarlek. Les becomes involved with three different women during the series. Darlene is a somewhat obsessive, controlling fan, who eventually goes too far when she rips up his "walls" at the station. He asks Jennifer to an awards ceremony (much to Herb's dismay). Finally, there is an escort from the "I'll Take Romance" dating service (a shady client of Herb's).
- Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson) is Mr. Carlson's georgeous, blonde secretary and the WKRP receptionist. She is the station's highest-paid employee. Despite her image, she is informed, wise, and able to handle practically any situation with aplomb, no matter how absurd. Although very aware of her sex appeal, with various wealthy, powerful men at her beck and call, she is friendly and good-hearted with the station staff. Her apartment's doorbell chime, instead of the standard "ding dong", plays the opening bars of "Fly Me to the Moon" in dignified tones. One time, Carlson tries vainly to lift the spirits of his staff, saying, "Nobody's perfect! I'm not perfect... You're not perfect... Jennifer maybe." Jennifer hails from Rockthrow, West Virginia , and during one memorable Christmas episode, she calls home to talk to her "Momma" in a Virginia accent and is almost caught by Mr. Carlson. Jennifer dates several rich men. Her most talked-about relationship is the one she has with the eighty-year-old Colonel (played by Pat O'Brien), who subsequently passes away, leaving Jennifer as the executrix of his will, much to the chagrin of his family. Continually pestered by Herb to date him, Jennifer finally calls his bluff. After their "date", they gain new respect for each other and Herb stops pursuing Jennifer afterwards. In the episode where the staff is contacted about joining a union, Jennifer says she already belongs to the Union of Blonde Receptionists, a group that only has twelve members, whose minimum salary would shock the staff. Although they do not date or flirt on the show, there is an apparent bond of friendship between Jennifer and Andy. (According to Anderson's autobiography, she and Gary Sandy dated during part of the show's run.)
- Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner), the boorish, tasteless advertising account executive, wears loud plaid suits, with his belt matching his shoes (which he thinks convey the message "Trust me — sign my deal!"). He can't land the big accounts, usually succeeding only in selling commercials for trivial products such as "Red Wigglers — the Cadillac of worms!" (Available at finer worm stores everywhere). Another sponsor is a funeral parlor called "Ferryman's" - a reference to Greek mythology about the river Styx and the ferryman Charon - for which the radio station staff sing a cheery-sounding jingle with the lyrics, "There ain't no way to deny it / One day, you're gonna 'buy it'!" But the account gets pulled when Mr. Carlson feels the song is in bad taste (although Ferryman himself loves it); it is subsequently used on a better account that Herb acquires afterwards. Although married to Lucille (Edie McClurg), he persistently pursues Jennifer, who shows absolutely no interest in him. Herb is shown as buffoonish in most episodes, but he does show real depth as a person in the episode "Out to Lunch", in which he confronts his alcoholism, which is costing him his job. In another episode, Andy has to fill in for Herb, and discovers that it's extremely difficult to sell ads on the low-rated radio station -- and that Herb's loud suits and obnoxious demeanor actually do inspire confidence in the desperate, low-rent operators who can only afford to advertise on WKRP. As well, in one well-remembered episode appropriately titled "Real Families" (set up as a full half-hour episode of a fictional reality series of the same name), the Tarlek family is shown at home. Rather than see his family hurt further by the show's hosts (including former Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall) ridiculing their eccentricities, Herb throws the camera crew out of his home, handing his son's beloved "security doll" back to him in the process. Herb goes in for heart surgery during the series run and always calls Mr. Carlson "Big Guy". One memorable episode, "Hotel Oceanview", has Herb unwittingly making out in a hotel room with an old college buddy named Nick Sinclair, who had a sex change operation and became Nikki. In an early first season episode ("Les On A Ledge"), Johnny Fever tells Herb that Jennifer was the result of the most successful sex change operation anyone had ever seen, in an attempt to get Herb to quit bothering her.
- Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid), the soulful, funky evening DJ, runs his show with a smooth-talking persona and mood lighting in the studio. Everytime someone comes in during his show, they always turn on the lights, forcing Venus to adjust his eyes to compensate (a running gag). His full name, Gordon Sims, is almost never used and he maintains an aura of mystery, which turns out to be a cover for the fact that he is wanted for desertion from the US Army. He was also a schoolteacher in his native New Orleans for many years before getting into radio; his teaching abilities are featured in one noted episode, "Venus and The Atom", in which he explains the structure of an atom to the wayward teenaged son of the station's cleaning lady. In the series premiere, he arrives decked out in full pimp gear and speaking heavy jive, an uncharacteristic display which is explained in a flashback in the episode "The Creation of Venus" as a suggestion of Andy's. Venus is offered a job at rival radio station WREQ, but when he finds out they want him just because of his African-American looks, he turns the job down. In the episode "The Creation of Venus", he is referred to sarcastically as "Venus Claptrap" by both Herb and Les when he first begins working at WKRP.
- Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers), the young ingénue of the radio station, is originally in charge of billing and station traffic, but is later given additional duties as an on-air news reporter. She proves much more capable than Les, although she at one point creates a fictional character in one of her reports (a device borrowed from current events); this almost costs the station its broadcast license, though it only becomes an issue when Les jealously plagiarizes it on air. She is the most wholesome member of the WKRP team, and in one episode, she mentions being a member of her college's choir. Beginning with the second season, she becomes linked romantically with Johnny Fever. She is overshadowed by Jennifer, the blonde bombshell; the dynamic between the two has been likened to that between Mary Ann and Ginger on Gilligan's Island. During the first season, Mr. Carlson would always ask someone in the room, after Bailey greets him and then leaves, "Who's she?" The running gag doesn't last for long though. She starts off very shy and insecure, but soon becomes very vocal and one of the most intelligent and well-read of the KRP staff; Johnny once calls her "College Graduate".
- Mrs. Carlson (Sylvia Sidney in the series pilot, Carol Bruce afterward), Mama to her son, is Arthur Carlson's ruthless, domineering mother and the owner of WKRP, as well as a number of other unidentified enterprises. An extremely successful and rich businesswoman, her only regret is that her approach to parenting (the "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" school of child-rearing) backfired; her son ended up indecisive, weak-willed and afraid of her. She initially resists Andy's format changes (in the first episode, "Pilot"), but when her son uncharacteristically stands up to her and threatens to quit if Andy is fired, she agrees to let him to try it. In the final episode of the series, "Finale", it is revealed that she had always intended WKRP to lose money (as a tax writeoff), which explains why she allows the incompetent employees to continue working at the station: it is all part of her plan. When WKRP unexpectedly becomes successful, she considers switching the format again, but backs off when Johnny Fever threatens to tell her son about her motives. She is not a regular character, only appearing in three or four episodes each season. The only one who seems to get the better of her on a regular basis is her sarcastic, insolent butler, Hirsch (Ian Wolfe). Two of her most memorable episodes include "Baby It's Cold Inside", where she visits the station to meet Arthur so they can go and pay their annual respects to her late husband, Hank. In that episode, more is revealed of the backstory of her marriage to Arthur's father, how she got into the radio business and took over from her husband, and the regret she felt from the belief that her taking over the business was the main cause of her husband's passing. It is also reveals how close she really is to her son. Another memorable episode is "Love Exciting and New", where Andy begins seeing Mama Carlson after hours in the hope that he could persuade her to pay for a new transmitter (the old one is blown up in the two-part episode, "An Explosive Affair").
Additionally, there are three DJs at the station who are (with one exception) never seen: Moss Steiger has the graveyard shift after Venus, Rex Erhardt (who is seen in one early episode) hosts a program after Dr. Johnny Fever's morning show, and "Dean the Dream" did afternoon drive.
Series writer Bill Dial occasionally shows up as engineer Bucky Dornster.
[edit] The "real" WKRP
The call letters WKRP are currently assigned to a low-power TV station in Carthage, Tennessee. [1] The call letters are not currently assigned to any AM or FM radio station, and any potential user of those calls would have to receive permission from the TV station owners and the FCC. They were most recently assigned to an AM station in North Vernon, Indiana, about 60 miles from Cincinnati, but the call sign was changed to WNVI in 1997.
When WKRP executive producer and show creator Hugh Wilson worked for an advertising agency in Atlanta, Georgia, he dealt frequently with radio station WQXI (then a pop music station) which served as inspiration for the series, station, and several characters. Longtime Atlanta residents recognize the infamous "Turkeys Away" incident. Due to a disk jockey's blunder, live turkeys were dropped from an airborne helicopter into moving traffic on Georgia Interstate 85 North. The turkeys all died. Another real-life disastrous promotion, by WQXI general manager Jerry Blum, placed ducks on a hot plate to make them look like they were dancing, and was incorporated into the "Real Families" episode.
There is a radio station WKRC in Cincinnati. Except for almost identical call letters and being CBS affiliates, there is no known connection between the two entities. In the 1990s, WKRC broadcasted at 1530 AM, current home of WCKY radio, with Jerry Springer's radio talk show. Coincidentally, Springer was the mayor of Cincinnati during the original show's run, although alluded to, never appeared in an episode.
Cincinnati also has a very popular rock/pop station called WKRQ (aka Q102) which was on the air during the show. As it is one letter away from WKRP in the alphabet, there has been speculation that it was the source of the name.
In the 1980s, a radio station in Salt Lake City identified itself on-air as "WKRP in Salt Lake City, The Oldies Network".
The character of Arthur Carlson was based on an actual person, as was Dr. Johnny Fever's. The real Arthur Carlson owned a group of radio stations in Central Pennsylvania under the name Susquehanna Radio. Based in York, Pa., it was one of the first radio "chains" to emerge in the late '60s and early '70s. Carlson also was a past president of the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). Fever was based on an afternoon drive DJ at one of Carlson's stations who was working under the name "Kevin McKeever". WCBG (now dark) was a 5,000-watt powerhouse in south-central Pennsylvania.
The character of Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) often refers to his mother living in Dayton, Ohio. Gary Sandy and Gordon Jump, the actors who played Andy Travis and Arthur Carlson, respectively, are Dayton natives.
[edit] WKRP's tower
The transmission tower seen at the beginning of WKRP in Cincinnati actually belonged to Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT; it was located at 2222 Chickasaw St. in Cincinnati. [2]
[edit] Musical themes
WKRP had two musical themes, one opening the show and one closing it.
The opening theme was composed by Tom Wells, with lyrics by series creator Hugh Wilson, and performed by Steve Carlisle.
The closing theme was a hard rock number composed and performed by Jim Ellis, an Atlanta musician who was recording some of the incidental music for the show. The lyrics are incomprehensible, and people have constantly argued over what they are. In fact, the song has no lyrics, just nonsense words and gibberish.
The story behind the closing theme, according to accounts from people who attended the recording sessions, was that Ellis didn't yet have lyrics for the closing theme, so he sang nonsense words to give an idea of what the it would sound like. Instead of adding real lyrics to the song, creator Hugh Wilson decided it would be funny to do a song with lyrics that were deliberate gibberish, as a satire on the incomprehensibility of many rock lyrics. Also, since CBS always had an announcer talking over the closing credits, Wilson knew that no one would actually hear the closing theme lyrics anyway.
[edit] Music licensing
WKRP has not been made available on DVD because of the expense of procuring music licensing. The show was one of the earliest to extensively use contemporary music, and music licensing deals at the time of WKRP's original production did not include syndication and other publishing rights. Rights were much cheaper to obtain at the time, as the show was videotaped and not filmed. This fact was evident in all prints of the show issued since the early 1990s, which included its brief late-1990s run on Nick at Nite.
20th Century Fox, which now owns the MTM library, was reluctant to release WKRP on DVD because of the music issues. The studio fears that fans of the show would reject the DVDs if the edited versions were used. As suggested by sales of the first-season DVD sets of Roseanne and The Cosby Show, viewers prefer the original, uncut episodes over the edited versions seen in syndication. This claim is contrary to the fact that many television series, both current and classic, have DVD releases with at least some of the original music replaced with sound-alike generic music.
However, a recent TVShowsonDVD.com report has stated that a DVD release of WKRP in Cincinnati Season 1 is slated for April 2007 [3]. While the DVD set will include the original music that the current syndicated version lacked, there will be some musical substitutions, but Fox has tried hard to keep the music within the spirit of the original song used in the scenes where music must be replaced. Unlike the recent syndicated run, which used a limited number of generic rock music to replace the original music, Fox has hired a music coordinator to replace the music they were unable to get rights to with appropriate sound-alike numbers.
[edit] Memorable Episodes
- "Turkeys Away" aired October 30, 1978. This is almost certainly the series' most famous episode. Feeling marginalized at WKRP, Mr. Carlson announces a special, top-secret Thanksgiving day promotion of his design. The promotion is a free turkey giveaway at a local supermarket. From a hovering helicopter, Mr. Carlson drops 20 live turkeys, as Les reports the ensuing tragedy in a live remote broadcast (a parody of Herbert Morrison's live reporting of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster). "The turkeys are hitting the pavement like bags of wet cement!"
- "I Do, I Do... For Now" aired April 23, 1979. Country Music artist Hoyt Axton guest stars as an amateur musician from Jennifer's hometown. He arrives expecting her to keep a childhood promise to marry him. Jennifer dodges by pretending she is already married to Johnny. In the end, her friend merely wanted help promoting a country music song he wrote (Axton's 1979 hit, Della and the Dealer). The episode closes with Axton and the cast recording the song, which continues to play in lieu of the show's regular closing theme.
- "Fish Story" aired May 28, 1979. To keep up with rival WPIG, Mr. Carlson unveils his latest promotional idea: the WKRP Carp, a station mascot. At a promotional event, the WPIG Pig mascot insults Les. A brawl ensues between the WPIG Pig, Herb (in the Carp costume), Les, and Baily. Les and Herb are arrested for disorderly conduct, while Baily is arrested for "hanging out in the Men's Room." Meanwhile, on the air, a state trooper administers a test to demonstrate the effects of alcohol upon "average drivers" Johnny and Venus. Despite his consumption, Johnny aces the test and denies intoxication... until he sees a giant pig vandalizing the WKRP lobby. The episode was written by creator Hugh Wilson, but he was so embarrassed by it that he insisted on substituting a pseudonym for the writing credit ("Raoul Plager").
- "Real Families" aired November 15, 1980, shot without a studio audience or laugh track. The Tarlek family appears on a reality show entitled "Real Families", which profiles their personal lives at home. However, the show's obnoxious hosts (game show host Peter Marshall and Daphne Maxwell, then-future wife of Tim), dig deeper and deeper into the Tarlek's lives, eventually embarrassing the family. In early scenes, the hosts inquire why Herb's son plays with dolls, and follow the family as they drive to church. However, in the latter scene, Herb is obviously trying to lose the camera crews, eventually stopping in front of a synagogue. Herb finally gives them a piece of his mind, and throws him out of his house. After slamming the door, he then opens the door again, to hand his son a doll. This episode is memorable to some because it seems decades before its time, with the current crop of reality shows exposing personal details of their subjects. However, this episode is more likely a parody of the "special interest" shows that became popular in the late-70s and early-80s, such as Real People. Also memorable about the episode is how everyone at the station describes Herb as a "hard worker, loyal husband, and an all-around fine person". The "turkey drop" is also mentioned as a criticism of Herb's "hard work", as is the "dancing ducks" promotion.
[edit] Trivia
- In 1988 radio station WCSX in Detroit, Michigan mimicked the "Turkeys Away" episode by hosting a "Turkey Drop" in Hines Park in Livonia, Michigan. Richard Sanders was the emcee of this Thanksgiving promotion in which paper turkeys were dropped from a helicopter to participants in an open field. The turkeys had coupons that were redeemed for prizes.
[edit] External links
- WKRP in Cincinnati at the Internet Movie Database
- WKRP in Cincinnati at TV.com
- Summary and episode guide from TV Guide
