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Wikipedia

WKRP in Cincinnati

WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta, including many of the characters.[1] Wilson once told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he selected WKRP as the call sign to stand for C-R-A-P.[2]

WKRP in Cincinnati
GenreSitcom
Created byHugh Wilson
StarringGary Sandy
Gordon Jump
Loni Anderson
Richard Sanders
Tim Reid
Frank Bonner
Jan Smithers
Howard Hesseman
Theme music composerTom Wells
Hugh Wilson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes90 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerHugh Wilson
ProducersRod Daniel
Bill Dial
Blake Hunter
Steven Kampmann
Peter Torokvei
Hugh Wilson
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time24–25 minutes
Production companyMTM Enterprises
Distributor20th Television
Release
Original networkCBS
Audio formatMonaural
Original releaseSeptember 18, 1978 (1978-09-18) –
April 21, 1982 (1982-04-21)
Chronology
Followed byThe New WKRP in Cincinnati
Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers) and Andy Travis (Gary Sandy)
Fever flirts with Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson)

The ensemble cast consists of Gary Sandy (as Andy Travis), Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever), Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson), Loni Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe), Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap), Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters), Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) and Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek).[3]

The series won a Humanitas Prize[4] and received 10 Emmy Award nominations, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series. Andy Ackerman won an Emmy Award for Videotape Editing in Season 3.[5]

WKRP premiered on September 18, 1978, on the CBS television network and aired for four seasons and 90 episodes, ending on April 21, 1982. Starting in the middle of the second season, CBS repeatedly moved the show around its schedule, contributing to lower ratings and its eventual cancellation. When WKRP went into syndication, it became an unexpected success. For the next decade, it was one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication, outperforming many programs that had been more successful in prime time, including all the other MTM Enterprises sitcoms.[6]

Jump, Sanders, and Bonner reprised their roles as regular characters in a sequel series, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran from 1991 to 1993 in syndication. Hesseman, Reid, and Anderson also reprised their roles as guest stars.

Premise

The station's new program director, Andy Travis, tries to turn around struggling radio station WKRP by switching its format from dated easy-listening music to rock and roll, despite the well-meaning efforts of the mostly incompetent staff: bumbling station manager Arthur Carlson, greasy sales manager Herb Tarlek and clueless news director Les Nessman. To help bolster ratings, Travis hires a new disc jockey, New Orleans native Gordon Sims (with the on-air persona of Venus Flytrap) and allows spaced-out former major-market DJ Dr. Johnny Fever, already doing mornings in the easy-listening format, to be himself on-air. Rounding out the cast are "bombshell" receptionist Jennifer Marlowe and junior employee Bailey Quarters. Ruthless business tycoon Lillian Carlson appears irregularly as the station's owner and the mother of Arthur Carlson.

Characters

Main ensemble

  • Andy Travis (Gary Sandy). For the most part, vice president[7] and 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 reluctantly fond. The show's opening theme song is about Andy and his decision to settle down in Cincinnati. In the Season 4 episode "The Creation of Venus," Andy echoes the opening-theme lyrics in talking about his past ("Got kinda tired of packing and unpacking, town to town, up and down the dial"). Andy usually wears very tight jeans, something to which Jennifer Marlowe alludes, much to Andy's surprise, in the Season 2 episode "Most Improved Station".
  • Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), occasionally called "Big Guy", is the middle-aged general manager, whose main qualification for the job is that his mother, a business tycoon, is the station's owner. Mama Carlson adopted strict methods in raising him in the mistaken belief that it would make him strong. Instead, it made him weak, and his bumbling, indecisive management style is one of the main reasons the station is unprofitable. Despite this, he is a principled, kind, decent and sometimes surprisingly wise man. He has far more interest in his hobbies (fishing, playing with various toys) than he does in the radio station, often hiding in his office from people who want to see him on business.
  • Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) (real name John R. Caravella) is a veteran disc jockey who comes to WKRP after being fired from a major Los Angeles station when he said "booger" on the air. In the Season 4 episode "Three Days of the Condo", always-broke Johnny surprisingly receives a $24,000 out-of-court settlement from that station for wrongful dismissal. Cynical and neurotic, and an occasional insomniac who consumes large amounts of coffee, Johnny is usually in trouble. He adopts the "Fever" on-air name as a quick improvisation in the pilot episode upon being told by Travis to abruptly change the format of his morning show, but he has used other monikers on the air at other stations, mostly to conform to whatever station format he found himself working with.
  • Les Nessman (Richard Sanders), the fastidious, bow-tied news reporter, who is a "mama's boy" of a man, approaches his job with absurdly earnest seriousness, despite being almost totally incompetent (a fact to which he is oblivious). He and salesman Herb Tarlek refer to themselves and Mr. Carlson as "the suits", compared to "the dungarees" (Andy and Johnny). As a running gag, Les wears a bandage in a different spot each episode, presumably due to attacks from his unseen monstrous dog Phil; the gag was inspired by Sanders bumping his head on a studio light and needing a bandage while making the pilot. Other gags are his fixation on agricultural news ("the hog report"), and putting masking tape on the floor around his desk, which he insists his co-workers treat as the walls of his "office". He is staunchly patriotic and politically conservative, with the discovery that his biological father was a card-carrying Communist making him deeply conflicted. Venus Flytrap ribs him with wordplay by describing WKRP on the air as having "more music and Les Nessman."
  • Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson) is the station's receptionist and highest-paid employee. Contrary to a common assumption that she is merely "eye candy" for the station, Jennifer is informed, wise, connected, and able to handle practically any situation, no matter how absurd, with aplomb. She herself sees her main job responsibility as deflecting any business calls (in person or over the telephone) for Mr. Carlson. Although very aware of her sex appeal, with various wealthy, powerful older men at her beck and call, she is friendly and good-hearted with the station staff. She is very strict about the limits of her job duties: she does not type letters (though she is in fact an expert typist), and neither makes coffee nor brings any to the office staff.
  • Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner) is the boorish, tasteless, and vain sales manager at WKRP, who is sometimes referred to as "Little Guy" to Mr. Carlson's "Big Guy". He often wears loud plaid suits, with his belt matching his white shoes. He is unable to land the big accounts, but is effective in selling air time for products such as "Red Wigglers – the Cadillac of worms!" Although a married man with children, he persistently pursues Jennifer, who has absolutely no interest in him. While Herb is portrayed as buffoonish most of the time, he occasionally shows a sympathetic side. One of Herb's catch phrases is "no problemo", another is "okay fine". Herb is based on radio executive Clarke Brown.[8][9] Bert Parks appears in one episode as Tarlek's father, Herb Sr. The elder Tarlek is very much like his son.
  • Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid), the soulful, funky evening DJ, runs his show with a smooth-talking persona and mood lighting in the studio. His real name, Gordon Sims, is almost never used, and he maintains an aura of mystery. In an early episode, it is revealed that he is a Vietnam War deserter wanted by the US Army. In later episodes, his backstory is elaborated upon and it is revealed that after deserting, he spent several years as a high school teacher in New Orleans while working part-time as a radio personality. In spite of the fact that he is a nighttime DJ and Johnny Fever works the early morning shift, the two are often seen together and become good friends as the series progresses, with Venus taking the job in the first place in part due to his admiration for Johnny as a DJ.
  • Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers), the young ingénue of the radio station, is originally in charge of billing and station traffic. However, having graduated from journalism school with some training in editing, and intent on becoming a broadcast executive, she is later given additional duties as an on-air news reporter, in which she proves more capable than Les Nessman. As the series progresses, she overcomes her shyness and develops self-confidence. Beginning with the second season two-part episode "For Love or Money", she occasionally becomes linked romantically with Johnny Fever. The dynamic between Jennifer and Bailey has been likened to that between Ginger and Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island. Jan Smithers was one of two WKRP cast members who was the first choice for the role she played, Gordon Jump being the other.[3] Creator Hugh Wilson said that despite Smithers' lack of experience (she had never acted in a situation comedy before), she was perfect for the character of Bailey as he had conceived her: "Other actresses read better for the part," Wilson recalled, "but they were playing shy. Jan was shy."[3]

Other characters

  • Lillian Carlson (Sylvia Sidney in the series pilot, Carol Bruce afterward) is Arthur Carlson's ruthless, domineering mother – often referred to as Mother Carlson (with Arthur calling her Mama) – and the owner of WKRP. 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 as her son ended up indecisive, weak-willed, and afraid of her. As a display of her cutthroat attitude, she has a painting hanging above her fireplace in her living room of two pairs of dangling legs of people just hanged. In the series' final episode, it is revealed she had always intended WKRP to lose money (for the tax write-off), which explains why she allows the incompetent employees to continue working at the station. The only one who is regularly able to get the better of her is her sarcastic butler, Hirsch.
  • Carmen Carlson (Allyn Ann McLerie) is Mr. Carlson's sweet-natured wife. The two met in college, he being her chosen date to a "bring a loser" dance at the sorority she was pledging, something he was unaware of until their twenty-five-year college reunion as they never did go to the dance and she never did pledge that sorority. Though happily married, they are so anxious to avoid hurting each other's feelings that they rarely tell each other what they really think. They have a son, Arthur Carlson, Jr. (Sparky Marcus appearing in one episode), whom they've sent off to military school. During the second season Carmen has a surprise pregnancy and during the third season gives birth to a daughter, Melanie.
  • Hirsch (Ian Wolfe) is Mother Carlson's "houseboy." He is well into his eighties, but is energetic and seems unfazed by any new circumstances. Hirsch regularly expresses his dislike for his employer in otherwise charming and polite exchanges. His coffee is terrible, unless there is a guest, in which case he prepares it with care.
  • Lucille Tarlek (Edie McClurg) is Herb's devoted nasal-voiced wife, who, deep down, knows that he chases after Jennifer. Lucille is perhaps the one woman who does see Herb's charms. Herb and Lucille have an adolescent son and daughter, Herb III and Bunny (N.P. Schoch and Stacy Heather Tolkin, one and two appearances respectively).
  • Three other DJs at the station are mentioned, but (with one exception) never seen. Moss Steiger has the graveyard shift after Venus and is mentioned as having attempted suicide at least twice; he eventually dies in The New WKRP in Cincinnati. Rex Erhardt (who was seen in the fourth-season episode "Rumors", and played by Sam Anderson) hosts a program after Dr. Johnny Fever's morning show; and Dean the Dream has the afternoon drive slot. Another DJ, Doug Winter (Philip Charles MacKenzie), is hired and fired in the same episode ("Johnny Comes Back").
  • Frank Bartman (Max Wright) is a cynical but practical attorney retained by the station in the fourth season.
  • Series writer Bill Dial infrequently appears as Buckey Dornster, WKRP's station engineer.
  • Longtime actor William Woodson (though not credited) served as the announcer of the series (imploring the audience to stay tuned for the tag scene, in the episodes that had one) and did various voice-over roles during the run, including the pre-recorded announcer of the intro/outro to Les's newscasts, and the narrator of the trial results in the first-season episode "Hold Up".

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
122September 18, 1978June 4, 1979
224September 17, 1979March 31, 1980
322November 1, 1980April 12, 1981
422October 7, 1981April 21, 1982
Special1980

Timeslots and success

WKRP in Cincinnati debuted in 1978 in CBS's Monday 8 p.m. timeslot, competing against ABC's Welcome Back, Kotter and NBC's top-20 show Little House on the Prairie. Initially receiving poor ratings, WKRP was put on hiatus after only eight episodes, even though they included some of the most famous of the series, including "Turkeys Away." But owing to good reviews and positive fan reaction, especially from disc jockeys, who immediately hailed it as the first show that realistically portrayed the radio business, CBS brought WKRP back without any cast changes.

WKRP was given a new timeslot, one of the best on the network, following M*A*S*H. This allowed creator Hugh Wilson to move away from the farcical radio-based stories that CBS wanted and to start telling stories that, while not necessarily dramatic, were more low-key and character-based. To allow the ensemble cast to mingle more, the set was expanded. A previously unseen communal office area ("the bullpen") was added to accommodate scenes with the entire cast.

Partway through the second season, the show was moved back to its original earlier time. CBS executives wanted to free up the prized post-M*A*S*H slot for House Calls (with former M*A*S*H star Wayne Rogers). They also felt that the rock and roll music and the sex appeal of Loni Anderson were better-suited to the earlier slot, which was mostly aimed at young people. The mid-season timeslot change did not affect the show's success; WKRP finished at No. 22 in the ratings for its second year. For the next two seasons, the writers and producers often fought with CBS over the show's content in the so-called family hour.

Starting with the second season, CBS moved WKRP around repeatedly, and the show lost nearly 2.5 million viewers on average for each of four timeslot changes in the 1979–80 season.[10]

After the fourth season, the network declined to renew the show. The final first-run episode of WKRP aired on April 21, 1982, and ranked No. 7 in the weekly Nielsen ratings, though the series had already been canceled.

Production

WKRP was videotaped in Hollywood before a live studio audience at KTLA's Goldenwest Videotape Division, later moving to the CBS Studio Center lot in Studio City.[11]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
1979 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Loni Anderson Nominated [12]
1980 Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy Nominated
1981 Nominated
1981 Humanitas Prize 30 Minute Network or Syndicated Television Hugh Wilson (for "God Talks to Johnny") Nominated [13]
1982 Hugh Wilson (for "Venus and the Man") Won
1980 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Comedy Series Hugh Wilson and Rod Daniel Nominated [14]
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Howard Hesseman Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Loni Anderson Nominated
1981 Outstanding Comedy Series Hugh Wilson, Rod Daniel, Blake Hunter, Steven Kampmann, and PJ Torokvei Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Howard Hesseman Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Loni Anderson Nominated
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Rod Daniel (for "Venus and the Man") Nominated
Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series Andy Ackerman (for "Bah, Humbug") Won
1982 Outstanding Comedy Series Hugh Wilson, Blake Hunter, PJ Torokvei, Dan Guntzelman, and Steve Marshall Nominated
Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series Andy Ackerman (for "Fire") Nominated
2005 TV Land Awards Classic TV Broadcaster of the Year Tim Reid Nominated
2006 Broadcaster of the Year Howard Hesseman Nominated
2008 Broadcaster(s) of the Year Richard Sanders Nominated

Fact vs. fiction

"Real" WKRP people

While Andy Travis received his name and some personality elements from a cousin of creator Hugh Wilson,[15] he was based primarily on innovative program director Mikel Herrington,[16] who also was the inspiration for the character Jeff Dugan in the 1978 film FM, written by Ezra Sacks, who had worked at KMET.[17][18] Dr. Johnny Fever was based on a DJ named "Skinny" Bobby Harper at WQXI/790 in Atlanta, Georgia in 1968. WKRP writer Bill Dial worked with Harper at WQXI, which is considered Dial's inspiration for the show.[19] Coincidentally, Harper had previously worked at Cincinnati AM Top 40 powerhouse WSAI in 1964, before moving to 11 other stations, including seven in Atlanta.[19] In 1997, Bobby Harper told WSB's Condace Pressley, "He went on record as pointing out which ones, including myself, that he based the characters on. [That recognition] was a nice little thing. You know? That was nice. I appreciated that."[19] The Carlsons were a pastiche of Jerry Blum, WQXI's longtime general manager. Mrs. Carlson inherited Blum's brashness while Arthur borrowed his nickname "Big Guy," sense of style, and some of his unorthodox promotions (including the turkey drop).[20]

Transmission tower

Although the show aired on CBS, the self-supporting transmission tower seen at the beginning of WKRP in Cincinnati actually belongs to Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT.[21]

Studios and offices

In the show, WKRP's offices and studios are in the Osgood R. Flimm Building, an art deco office building. When mentioned, the exact floor varies: in Season 1's episode "Les on a Ledge", WKRP is on the 9th floor, but in Season 4's episode "Fire", it is on the 14th; the entranceway door is shown as 1412. The building shown during the show's opening credits is actually the Cincinnati Enquirer Building at 617 Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati.[22]

Real stations with similar branding

Cincinnati has two radio stations with call letters similar to WKRP. WKRC, an AM station that had a "middle of the road" music format when the series debuted, did not object to its use of WKRP, saying that it was the best publicity that they had ever had, and it was free;[23] it currently brands itself as "55KRC".[24] WKRQ is an FM station with a similar "contemporary hit radio" format; its primary branding is "Q102."[25]

Other stations have adopted similar branding in reference to the series. In 1986, a Salt Lake City FM station (now KUMT) changed its calls letters to KRPN, and branded itself as WKRP, using the similarity of the spoken letter "N" to the word "in" for a sound-alike station identification: "W KRPN Salt Lake City".[26][27][28] In 2008, Cincinnati television station WBQC-LD promoted its conversion to digital broadcasting by rebranding itself "WKRP-TV".[29] In 2015, a low-power FM station in Raleigh, North Carolina began broadcasting as WKRP-LP.[30]

Music

Musical themes

WKRP had two musical themes, one opening and the other closing the show.

The opening theme, a soft rock/pop number called "WKRP in Cincinnati Main Theme," was composed by Tom Wells, with lyrics by series creator Hugh Wilson, and was performed by Steve Carlisle.[31][32][33] An urban legend circulated at the time that Richard Sanders (who had comparable vocal characteristics to those of Carlisle) had recorded the song. Wilson stated in the commentary for the first season's DVD set that this was not true. Sanders would later "sing" the lyrics in a promo spot on VH1 for The New WKRP in Cincinnati that parodied the U2 song "Numb."

The closing theme was a different song with more of a hard rock sound performed by Atlanta musician Jim Ellis, played over scenes from the episodes followed by a still photo of the Cincinnati skyline.[34][35] Ellis recorded the song as a demonstration for Wilson, and as he had not yet written lyrics for it, Ellis mumbled nonsense words. Wilson chose to use the demo version because he found the gibberish lyrics funny and a satire on the unintelligible lyrics of many rock songs. Wilson also knew that the lyrics would not be heard clearly in any event, as a CBS announcer always talked over the closing credits of the network's shows.[36]

A longer version of the original theme song was released in 1979 on a 45-rpm vinyl single on the MCA Records label. It peaked at 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1981[37] and at 29 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1982.[38]

Music licensing

The show's use of Blondie's "Heart of Glass" was widely credited with helping the song become a major U.S. hit, and the band's record label Chrysalis Records presented the producers with a gold record award for the song's album Parallel Lines. The gold record can be seen hanging on the wall in the "bullpen" set in many episodes.

The songs were often tied into episode plots, and some pieces of music were even used as running gags. For example, the doorbell at Jennifer's penthouse apartment played "Fly Me to the Moon" (which was later replaced by "Beautiful Dreamer" for copyright reasons).

Wilson has commented that WKRP was videotaped rather than filmed because at the time, music-licensing fees were lower for videotaped programs, a loophole that was intended to accommodate variety shows.[39][40] Music licensing deals that were cut at the time of production covered only a limited number of years,[41] but when the show entered syndication shortly after its 1982 cancellation, most of the original music remained intact because the licensing deals were still active.[42] After the licenses had expired, later syndicated versions of the show did not feature the music as first broadcast, with stock production music inserted in place of the original songs to avoid paying additional royalties. In some cases (such as during scenes with dialogue over background music), some of the characters' lines were dubbed by soundalike actors, a practice evident in all prints of the show issued since the early 1990s, including those used for its late-1990s run on Nick at Nite.[41][42]

The expense of procuring licenses for the original music delayed release of a DVD set for years.[43] When a Season 1 set was finally released, much of the music was again replaced and the soundalike vocal dubs were present. Some scenes were shortened or cut entirely,[44] but some deleted scenes that had not been included in the original broadcast were added.[citation needed]

Home media

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season of WKRP on DVD in region 1 in 2007, with a number of music replacements. Sales of the set were poor, and Fox released no further seasons.

In 2014, Shout! Factory acquired rights to the series for DVD release.[45] Shout! had planned to include all of the copyrighted music that originally aired on the show,[46] and obtained the rights to include what they called "the vast majority of the music", but explained, "In a few cases, it was simply impossible to get the rights."[47] Most of the dialogue dubs done for the 1990s syndication airings were removed, and the original dialogue restored.[48][49][50] This release presented the second-season episode "Filthy Pictures" and the third-season episode "Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide" in their original hour-long formats instead of the syndicated two-part versions, bringing the episode count from 90 episodes to 88 episodes.[51]

References

  1. ^ Bowie, Stephen (November 21, 2012). "Turkeys Away: An Oral History". The Classic TV History Blog. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  2. ^ Kiesewetter, John (May 29, 2014). "'WKRP' reunion will be live streamed June 4". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Kassel, Michael B. (1993). America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnati. Bowling Green State University Popular Press. ISBN 978-0-8797-2584-6. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  4. ^ "Humanitas Prize (1981)". IMDb. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  5. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati". Television Academy. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  6. ^ King, Susan (September 1, 1991). "Retro: 'WKRP' in Los Angeles". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  7. ^ Season 1, episode 17, "A Commercial Break".
  8. ^ . Radio Ink. January 19, 2009. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  9. ^ Teitelman, Bram (January 7, 2009). . Radio Monitor. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009 – via AllBusiness.com.
  10. ^ Kassel 1993, pp. 75–76.
  11. ^ Evanier, Mark (January 13, 2006). "WKRP in Cincinnati". Old TV Tickets.
  12. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati – Golden Globes". HFPA. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "Past Winners & Nominees". Humanitas Prize. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  14. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  15. ^ Kassel, Michael B. (June 15, 1993). America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnati. Popular Press. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-8797-2584-6.
  16. ^ "Lifelines: Deaths". Billboard. December 6, 1997. p. 64.
  17. ^ Learmonth, Michael (June 4, 1998). "Kingdom KOME". Metroactive. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  18. ^ Barrett, Don (ed.). "~Los Angeles Radio People, Where Are They Now?". Laradio.com. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  19. ^ a b c "Radio Broadcasting History: Radio People by Name: H". 440 International, Inc. 2008. pp. entry for Skinny Bobby Harper. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  20. ^ Ho, Rodney (February 16, 2019). "Former WQXI GM Jerry Blum, inspiration for Art Carlson on 'WKRP in Cincinnati,' has passed". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  21. ^ Fybush, Scott (January 30, 2003). "Looking for "WKRP": Cincinnati, Part II". NorthEast Radio Watch.
  22. ^ "WKRP's back on the air". The Cincinnati Enquirer. July 4, 1999. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  23. ^ Hugh Wilson interview on WINA, Charlottesville, Virginia.
  24. ^ "Contact Us". 55KRC. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  25. ^ "Contact". Q102 101.9 WKRQ-FM. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  26. ^ "Broadcast History – Salt Lake City Radio". oldradio.com. March 14, 2006. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  27. ^ Arave, Lynn (February 10, 1989). "AM Radio. When Was The Last Time You". Deseret News. Salt Lake City. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  28. ^ "Utah Radio and TV Station Photos from the John in Arizona Collection". John in Arizona. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  29. ^ Kiesewetter, John (November 28, 2008). . The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Block began plotting the change two years ago, tied to TV stations' transition nationwide from analog to digital broadcasting scheduled for Feb. 17. Although low-power stations aren't required by law to switch to digital next year, Block made the investment so viewers here with digital TV converter boxes could continue to see his stations next year.
  30. ^ "Raleigh's WKRP". Oak City Media. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  31. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati Trivia". IMDb. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  32. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati theme by Steve Carlisle". Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  33. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati". Archer2000.tripod.com. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  34. ^ Ellis, Jim. . Jim Ellis Music. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2020. Of course there were no lyrics and I was just sort of scatting gibberish. Well Hugh [Wilson] and Tom [Wells] thought that was funny and that it made a joke about the general unintelligibility of rock lyrics.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  35. ^ Heitz, David (November 12, 2008). "'WKRP in Cincinnati' lyrics just 'gibberish'". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  36. ^ Heitz, David. "'WKRP in Cincinnati' lyrics just 'gibberish'". The Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  37. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  38. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 41.
  39. ^ Salas, Randy A. (April 23, 2007). . TV Shows on DVD. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  40. ^ Salas, Randy A. (April 22, 2007). . Minneapolis Star-Tribune. p. 4F. Archived from the original on April 22, 2007. Also published by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on May 5, 2007 as "WKRP in Cincinnati on DVD: The song doesn't remain the same."
  41. ^ a b Levine, Justin (April 13, 2007). "WKRP in Cincinnati – Requiem for a Masterpiece". Against Monopoly. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  42. ^ a b Weinman, Jaime J. . Archived from the original on August 4, 2003.
  43. ^ "The weird legal reason many of your favorite shows aren't on DVD". Vox. March 26, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  44. ^ Lacey, Gord (March 31, 2007). "WKRP in Cincinnati DVD news: List of 'WKRP' music changes". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013.
  45. ^ . TVShowsOnDVD.com. August 5, 2014. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  46. ^ "Next 'WKRP' DVDs will include original rock music". The Cincinnati Enquirer. June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  47. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati Music Update". Shout! Factory. September 15, 2014. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  48. ^ Terry, Josh (September 16, 2014). "WKRP in Cincinnati to be reissued with most of its original soundtrack". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  49. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati Community". TV.com. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  50. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series Review (See Posts No. 218 & 356 for Info) | Blu-ray Movie Discussion, Expert Reviews & News". Hometheaterforum.com. November 22, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  51. ^ "WKRP in Cincinnati – The Complete Series DVD Review". sitcomsonline.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.

External links

  • WKRP in Cincinnati at IMDb

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WKRP redirects here For other uses see WKRP disambiguation WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati Ohio The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta including many of the characters 1 Wilson once told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he selected WKRP as the call sign to stand for C R A P 2 WKRP in CincinnatiGenreSitcomCreated byHugh WilsonStarringGary SandyGordon JumpLoni AndersonRichard SandersTim ReidFrank BonnerJan SmithersHoward HessemanTheme music composerTom Wells Hugh WilsonCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal languageEnglishNo of seasons4No of episodes90 list of episodes ProductionExecutive producerHugh WilsonProducersRod DanielBill DialBlake HunterSteven KampmannPeter TorokveiHugh WilsonCamera setupMulti cameraRunning time24 25 minutesProduction companyMTM EnterprisesDistributor20th TelevisionReleaseOriginal networkCBSAudio formatMonauralOriginal releaseSeptember 18 1978 1978 09 18 April 21 1982 1982 04 21 ChronologyFollowed byThe New WKRP in CincinnatiBailey Quarters Jan Smithers and Andy Travis Gary Sandy Les Nessman Richard Sanders and Dr Johnny Fever Howard Hesseman in the studio Fever flirts with Jennifer Marlowe Loni Anderson The ensemble cast consists of Gary Sandy as Andy Travis Howard Hesseman Dr Johnny Fever Gordon Jump Arthur Carlson Loni Anderson Jennifer Marlowe Tim Reid Venus Flytrap Jan Smithers Bailey Quarters Richard Sanders Les Nessman and Frank Bonner Herb Tarlek 3 The series won a Humanitas Prize 4 and received 10 Emmy Award nominations including three for Outstanding Comedy Series Andy Ackerman won an Emmy Award for Videotape Editing in Season 3 5 WKRP premiered on September 18 1978 on the CBS television network and aired for four seasons and 90 episodes ending on April 21 1982 Starting in the middle of the second season CBS repeatedly moved the show around its schedule contributing to lower ratings and its eventual cancellation When WKRP went into syndication it became an unexpected success For the next decade it was one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication outperforming many programs that had been more successful in prime time including all the other MTM Enterprises sitcoms 6 Jump Sanders and Bonner reprised their roles as regular characters in a sequel series The New WKRP in Cincinnati which ran from 1991 to 1993 in syndication Hesseman Reid and Anderson also reprised their roles as guest stars Contents 1 Premise 2 Characters 2 1 Main ensemble 2 2 Other characters 3 Episodes 4 Timeslots and success 5 Production 6 Awards and nominations 7 Fact vs fiction 7 1 Real WKRP people 7 2 Transmission tower 7 3 Studios and offices 7 4 Real stations with similar branding 8 Music 8 1 Musical themes 8 2 Music licensing 9 Home media 10 References 11 External linksPremise EditThe station s new program director Andy Travis tries to turn around struggling radio station WKRP by switching its format from dated easy listening music to rock and roll despite the well meaning efforts of the mostly incompetent staff bumbling station manager Arthur Carlson greasy sales manager Herb Tarlek and clueless news director Les Nessman To help bolster ratings Travis hires a new disc jockey New Orleans native Gordon Sims with the on air persona of Venus Flytrap and allows spaced out former major market DJ Dr Johnny Fever already doing mornings in the easy listening format to be himself on air Rounding out the cast are bombshell receptionist Jennifer Marlowe and junior employee Bailey Quarters Ruthless business tycoon Lillian Carlson appears irregularly as the station s owner and the mother of Arthur Carlson Characters EditMain ensemble Edit Andy Travis Gary Sandy For the most part vice president 7 and 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 reluctantly fond The show s opening theme song is about Andy and his decision to settle down in Cincinnati In the Season 4 episode The Creation of Venus Andy echoes the opening theme lyrics in talking about his past Got kinda tired of packing and unpacking town to town up and down the dial Andy usually wears very tight jeans something to which Jennifer Marlowe alludes much to Andy s surprise in the Season 2 episode Most Improved Station Arthur Carlson Gordon Jump occasionally called Big Guy is the middle aged general manager whose main qualification for the job is that his mother a business tycoon is the station s owner Mama Carlson adopted strict methods in raising him in the mistaken belief that it would make him strong Instead it made him weak and his bumbling indecisive management style is one of the main reasons the station is unprofitable Despite this he is a principled kind decent and sometimes surprisingly wise man He has far more interest in his hobbies fishing playing with various toys than he does in the radio station often hiding in his office from people who want to see him on business Dr Johnny Fever Howard Hesseman real name John R Caravella is a veteran disc jockey who comes to WKRP after being fired from a major Los Angeles station when he said booger on the air In the Season 4 episode Three Days of the Condo always broke Johnny surprisingly receives a 24 000 out of court settlement from that station for wrongful dismissal Cynical and neurotic and an occasional insomniac who consumes large amounts of coffee Johnny is usually in trouble He adopts the Fever on air name as a quick improvisation in the pilot episode upon being told by Travis to abruptly change the format of his morning show but he has used other monikers on the air at other stations mostly to conform to whatever station format he found himself working with Les Nessman Richard Sanders the fastidious bow tied news reporter who is a mama s boy of a man approaches his job with absurdly earnest seriousness despite being almost totally incompetent a fact to which he is oblivious He and salesman Herb Tarlek refer to themselves and Mr Carlson as the suits compared to the dungarees Andy and Johnny As a running gag Les wears a bandage in a different spot each episode presumably due to attacks from his unseen monstrous dog Phil the gag was inspired by Sanders bumping his head on a studio light and needing a bandage while making the pilot Other gags are his fixation on agricultural news the hog report and putting masking tape on the floor around his desk which he insists his co workers treat as the walls of his office He is staunchly patriotic and politically conservative with the discovery that his biological father was a card carrying Communist making him deeply conflicted Venus Flytrap ribs him with wordplay by describing WKRP on the air as having more music and Les Nessman Jennifer Marlowe Loni Anderson is the station s receptionist and highest paid employee Contrary to a common assumption that she is merely eye candy for the station Jennifer is informed wise connected and able to handle practically any situation no matter how absurd with aplomb She herself sees her main job responsibility as deflecting any business calls in person or over the telephone for Mr Carlson Although very aware of her sex appeal with various wealthy powerful older men at her beck and call she is friendly and good hearted with the station staff She is very strict about the limits of her job duties she does not type letters though she is in fact an expert typist and neither makes coffee nor brings any to the office staff Herb Tarlek Frank Bonner is the boorish tasteless and vain sales manager at WKRP who is sometimes referred to as Little Guy to Mr Carlson s Big Guy He often wears loud plaid suits with his belt matching his white shoes He is unable to land the big accounts but is effective in selling air time for products such as Red Wigglers the Cadillac of worms Although a married man with children he persistently pursues Jennifer who has absolutely no interest in him While Herb is portrayed as buffoonish most of the time he occasionally shows a sympathetic side One of Herb s catch phrases is no problemo another is okay fine Herb is based on radio executive Clarke Brown 8 9 Bert Parks appears in one episode as Tarlek s father Herb Sr The elder Tarlek is very much like his son Venus Flytrap Tim Reid the soulful funky evening DJ runs his show with a smooth talking persona and mood lighting in the studio His real name Gordon Sims is almost never used and he maintains an aura of mystery In an early episode it is revealed that he is a Vietnam War deserter wanted by the US Army In later episodes his backstory is elaborated upon and it is revealed that after deserting he spent several years as a high school teacher in New Orleans while working part time as a radio personality In spite of the fact that he is a nighttime DJ and Johnny Fever works the early morning shift the two are often seen together and become good friends as the series progresses with Venus taking the job in the first place in part due to his admiration for Johnny as a DJ Bailey Quarters Jan Smithers the young ingenue of the radio station is originally in charge of billing and station traffic However having graduated from journalism school with some training in editing and intent on becoming a broadcast executive she is later given additional duties as an on air news reporter in which she proves more capable than Les Nessman As the series progresses she overcomes her shyness and develops self confidence Beginning with the second season two part episode For Love or Money she occasionally becomes linked romantically with Johnny Fever The dynamic between Jennifer and Bailey has been likened to that between Ginger and Mary Ann on Gilligan s Island Jan Smithers was one of two WKRP cast members who was the first choice for the role she played Gordon Jump being the other 3 Creator Hugh Wilson said that despite Smithers lack of experience she had never acted in a situation comedy before she was perfect for the character of Bailey as he had conceived her Other actresses read better for the part Wilson recalled but they were playing shy Jan was shy 3 Other characters Edit Lillian Carlson Sylvia Sidney in the series pilot Carol Bruce afterward is Arthur Carlson s ruthless domineering mother often referred to as Mother Carlson with Arthur calling her Mama and the owner of WKRP 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 as her son ended up indecisive weak willed and afraid of her As a display of her cutthroat attitude she has a painting hanging above her fireplace in her living room of two pairs of dangling legs of people just hanged In the series final episode it is revealed she had always intended WKRP to lose money for the tax write off which explains why she allows the incompetent employees to continue working at the station The only one who is regularly able to get the better of her is her sarcastic butler Hirsch Carmen Carlson Allyn Ann McLerie is Mr Carlson s sweet natured wife The two met in college he being her chosen date to a bring a loser dance at the sorority she was pledging something he was unaware of until their twenty five year college reunion as they never did go to the dance and she never did pledge that sorority Though happily married they are so anxious to avoid hurting each other s feelings that they rarely tell each other what they really think They have a son Arthur Carlson Jr Sparky Marcus appearing in one episode whom they ve sent off to military school During the second season Carmen has a surprise pregnancy and during the third season gives birth to a daughter Melanie Hirsch Ian Wolfe is Mother Carlson s houseboy He is well into his eighties but is energetic and seems unfazed by any new circumstances Hirsch regularly expresses his dislike for his employer in otherwise charming and polite exchanges His coffee is terrible unless there is a guest in which case he prepares it with care Lucille Tarlek Edie McClurg is Herb s devoted nasal voiced wife who deep down knows that he chases after Jennifer Lucille is perhaps the one woman who does see Herb s charms Herb and Lucille have an adolescent son and daughter Herb III and Bunny N P Schoch and Stacy Heather Tolkin one and two appearances respectively Three other DJs at the station are mentioned but with one exception never seen Moss Steiger has the graveyard shift after Venus and is mentioned as having attempted suicide at least twice he eventually dies in The New WKRP in Cincinnati Rex Erhardt who was seen in the fourth season episode Rumors and played by Sam Anderson hosts a program after Dr Johnny Fever s morning show and Dean the Dream has the afternoon drive slot Another DJ Doug Winter Philip Charles MacKenzie is hired and fired in the same episode Johnny Comes Back Frank Bartman Max Wright is a cynical but practical attorney retained by the station in the fourth season Series writer Bill Dial infrequently appears as Buckey Dornster WKRP s station engineer Longtime actor William Woodson though not credited served as the announcer of the series imploring the audience to stay tuned for the tag scene in the episodes that had one and did various voice over roles during the run including the pre recorded announcer of the intro outro to Les s newscasts and the narrator of the trial results in the first season episode Hold Up Episodes EditMain article List of WKRP in Cincinnati episodes SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedFirst airedLast aired122September 18 1978June 4 1979224September 17 1979March 31 1980322November 1 1980April 12 1981422October 7 1981April 21 1982Special1980Timeslots and success EditWKRP in Cincinnati debuted in 1978 in CBS s Monday 8 p m timeslot competing against ABC s Welcome Back Kotter and NBC s top 20 show Little House on the Prairie Initially receiving poor ratings WKRP was put on hiatus after only eight episodes even though they included some of the most famous of the series including Turkeys Away But owing to good reviews and positive fan reaction especially from disc jockeys who immediately hailed it as the first show that realistically portrayed the radio business CBS brought WKRP back without any cast changes WKRP was given a new timeslot one of the best on the network following M A S H This allowed creator Hugh Wilson to move away from the farcical radio based stories that CBS wanted and to start telling stories that while not necessarily dramatic were more low key and character based To allow the ensemble cast to mingle more the set was expanded A previously unseen communal office area the bullpen was added to accommodate scenes with the entire cast Partway through the second season the show was moved back to its original earlier time CBS executives wanted to free up the prized post M A S H slot for House Calls with former M A S H star Wayne Rogers They also felt that the rock and roll music and the sex appeal of Loni Anderson were better suited to the earlier slot which was mostly aimed at young people The mid season timeslot change did not affect the show s success WKRP finished at No 22 in the ratings for its second year For the next two seasons the writers and producers often fought with CBS over the show s content in the so called family hour Starting with the second season CBS moved WKRP around repeatedly and the show lost nearly 2 5 million viewers on average for each of four timeslot changes in the 1979 80 season 10 After the fourth season the network declined to renew the show The final first run episode of WKRP aired on April 21 1982 and ranked No 7 in the weekly Nielsen ratings though the series had already been canceled Production EditWKRP was videotaped in Hollywood before a live studio audience at KTLA s Goldenwest Videotape Division later moving to the CBS Studio Center lot in Studio City 11 Awards and nominations EditYear Award Category Work Result Ref 1979 Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress Series Miniseries or Television Film Loni Anderson Nominated 12 1980 Best Actress in a Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated1981 Nominated1981 Humanitas Prize 30 Minute Network or Syndicated Television Hugh Wilson for God Talks to Johnny Nominated 13 1982 Hugh Wilson for Venus and the Man Won1980 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Comedy Series Hugh Wilson and Rod Daniel Nominated 14 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Howard Hesseman NominatedOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Loni Anderson Nominated1981 Outstanding Comedy Series Hugh Wilson Rod Daniel Blake Hunter Steven Kampmann and PJ Torokvei NominatedOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Howard Hesseman NominatedOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series Loni Anderson NominatedOutstanding Directing for a Comedy Series Rod Daniel for Venus and the Man NominatedOutstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series Andy Ackerman for Bah Humbug Won1982 Outstanding Comedy Series Hugh Wilson Blake Hunter PJ Torokvei Dan Guntzelman and Steve Marshall NominatedOutstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series Andy Ackerman for Fire Nominated2005 TV Land Awards Classic TV Broadcaster of the Year Tim Reid Nominated2006 Broadcaster of the Year Howard Hesseman Nominated2008 Broadcaster s of the Year Richard Sanders NominatedFact vs fiction Edit Real WKRP people Edit While Andy Travis received his name and some personality elements from a cousin of creator Hugh Wilson 15 he was based primarily on innovative program director Mikel Herrington 16 who also was the inspiration for the character Jeff Dugan in the 1978 film FM written by Ezra Sacks who had worked at KMET 17 18 Dr Johnny Fever was based on a DJ named Skinny Bobby Harper at WQXI 790 in Atlanta Georgia in 1968 WKRP writer Bill Dial worked with Harper at WQXI which is considered Dial s inspiration for the show 19 Coincidentally Harper had previously worked at Cincinnati AM Top 40 powerhouse WSAI in 1964 before moving to 11 other stations including seven in Atlanta 19 In 1997 Bobby Harper told WSB s Condace Pressley He went on record as pointing out which ones including myself that he based the characters on That recognition was a nice little thing You know That was nice I appreciated that 19 The Carlsons were a pastiche of Jerry Blum WQXI s longtime general manager Mrs Carlson inherited Blum s brashness while Arthur borrowed his nickname Big Guy sense of style and some of his unorthodox promotions including the turkey drop 20 Transmission tower Edit Although the show aired on CBS the self supporting transmission tower seen at the beginning of WKRP in Cincinnati actually belongs to Cincinnati s NBC affiliate WLWT 21 Studios and offices Edit In the show WKRP s offices and studios are in the Osgood R Flimm Building an art deco office building When mentioned the exact floor varies in Season 1 s episode Les on a Ledge WKRP is on the 9th floor but in Season 4 s episode Fire it is on the 14th the entranceway door is shown as 1412 The building shown during the show s opening credits is actually the Cincinnati Enquirer Building at 617 Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati 22 Real stations with similar branding Edit Cincinnati has two radio stations with call letters similar to WKRP WKRC an AM station that had a middle of the road music format when the series debuted did not object to its use of WKRP saying that it was the best publicity that they had ever had and it was free 23 it currently brands itself as 55KRC 24 WKRQ is an FM station with a similar contemporary hit radio format its primary branding is Q102 25 Other stations have adopted similar branding in reference to the series In 1986 a Salt Lake City FM station now KUMT changed its calls letters to KRPN and branded itself as WKRP using the similarity of the spoken letter N to the word in for a sound alike station identification W KRPN Salt Lake City 26 27 28 In 2008 Cincinnati television station WBQC LD promoted its conversion to digital broadcasting by rebranding itself WKRP TV 29 In 2015 a low power FM station in Raleigh North Carolina began broadcasting as WKRP LP 30 Music EditMusical themes Edit WKRP had two musical themes one opening and the other closing the show The opening theme a soft rock pop number called WKRP in Cincinnati Main Theme was composed by Tom Wells with lyrics by series creator Hugh Wilson and was performed by Steve Carlisle 31 32 33 An urban legend circulated at the time that Richard Sanders who had comparable vocal characteristics to those of Carlisle had recorded the song Wilson stated in the commentary for the first season s DVD set that this was not true Sanders would later sing the lyrics in a promo spot on VH1 for The New WKRP in Cincinnati that parodied the U2 song Numb The closing theme was a different song with more of a hard rock sound performed by Atlanta musician Jim Ellis played over scenes from the episodes followed by a still photo of the Cincinnati skyline 34 35 Ellis recorded the song as a demonstration for Wilson and as he had not yet written lyrics for it Ellis mumbled nonsense words Wilson chose to use the demo version because he found the gibberish lyrics funny and a satire on the unintelligible lyrics of many rock songs Wilson also knew that the lyrics would not be heard clearly in any event as a CBS announcer always talked over the closing credits of the network s shows 36 A longer version of the original theme song was released in 1979 on a 45 rpm vinyl single on the MCA Records label It peaked at 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1981 37 and at 29 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1982 38 Music licensing Edit The show s use of Blondie s Heart of Glass was widely credited with helping the song become a major U S hit and the band s record label Chrysalis Records presented the producers with a gold record award for the song s album Parallel Lines The gold record can be seen hanging on the wall in the bullpen set in many episodes The songs were often tied into episode plots and some pieces of music were even used as running gags For example the doorbell at Jennifer s penthouse apartment played Fly Me to the Moon which was later replaced by Beautiful Dreamer for copyright reasons Wilson has commented that WKRP was videotaped rather than filmed because at the time music licensing fees were lower for videotaped programs a loophole that was intended to accommodate variety shows 39 40 Music licensing deals that were cut at the time of production covered only a limited number of years 41 but when the show entered syndication shortly after its 1982 cancellation most of the original music remained intact because the licensing deals were still active 42 After the licenses had expired later syndicated versions of the show did not feature the music as first broadcast with stock production music inserted in place of the original songs to avoid paying additional royalties In some cases such as during scenes with dialogue over background music some of the characters lines were dubbed by soundalike actors a practice evident in all prints of the show issued since the early 1990s including those used for its late 1990s run on Nick at Nite 41 42 The expense of procuring licenses for the original music delayed release of a DVD set for years 43 When a Season 1 set was finally released much of the music was again replaced and the soundalike vocal dubs were present Some scenes were shortened or cut entirely 44 but some deleted scenes that had not been included in the original broadcast were added citation needed Home media Edit20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season of WKRP on DVD in region 1 in 2007 with a number of music replacements Sales of the set were poor and Fox released no further seasons In 2014 Shout Factory acquired rights to the series for DVD release 45 Shout had planned to include all of the copyrighted music that originally aired on the show 46 and obtained the rights to include what they called the vast majority of the music but explained In a few cases it was simply impossible to get the rights 47 Most of the dialogue dubs done for the 1990s syndication airings were removed and the original dialogue restored 48 49 50 This release presented the second season episode Filthy Pictures and the third season episode Dr Fever and Mr Tide in their original hour long formats instead of the syndicated two part versions bringing the episode count from 90 episodes to 88 episodes 51 References Edit Bowie Stephen November 21 2012 Turkeys Away An Oral History The Classic TV History Blog Retrieved November 26 2016 Kiesewetter John May 29 2014 WKRP reunion will be live streamed June 4 The Cincinnati Enquirer Retrieved June 17 2021 a b c Kassel Michael B 1993 America s Favorite Radio Station WKRP in Cincinnati Bowling Green State University Popular Press ISBN 978 0 8797 2584 6 Retrieved January 26 2010 Humanitas Prize 1981 IMDb Retrieved September 7 2021 WKRP in Cincinnati Television Academy Retrieved September 7 2021 King Susan September 1 1991 Retro WKRP in Los Angeles Los Angeles Times Retrieved April 6 2017 Season 1 episode 17 A Commercial Break Brown To Receive BCFM s Lifetime Achievement Award Radio Ink January 19 2009 Archived from the original on January 19 2009 Retrieved February 5 2022 Teitelman Bram January 7 2009 Radio s Call To Arms Radio Monitor Archived from the original on January 7 2009 via AllBusiness com Kassel 1993 pp 75 76 Evanier Mark January 13 2006 WKRP in Cincinnati Old TV Tickets WKRP in Cincinnati Golden Globes HFPA Retrieved July 5 2021 Past Winners amp Nominees Humanitas Prize Retrieved June 11 2022 WKRP in Cincinnati Emmys com Academy of Television Arts amp Sciences Retrieved July 13 2021 Kassel Michael B June 15 1993 America s Favorite Radio Station WKRP in Cincinnati Popular Press pp 6 7 ISBN 978 0 8797 2584 6 Lifelines Deaths Billboard December 6 1997 p 64 Learmonth Michael June 4 1998 Kingdom KOME Metroactive Retrieved February 5 2022 Barrett Don ed Los Angeles Radio People Where Are They Now Laradio com Retrieved November 26 2016 a b c Radio Broadcasting History Radio People by Name H 440 International Inc 2008 pp entry for Skinny Bobby Harper Retrieved October 3 2008 Ho Rodney February 16 2019 Former WQXI GM Jerry Blum inspiration for Art Carlson on WKRP in Cincinnati has passed The Atlanta Journal Constitution Retrieved February 19 2019 Fybush Scott January 30 2003 Looking for WKRP Cincinnati Part II NorthEast Radio Watch WKRP s back on the air The Cincinnati Enquirer July 4 1999 Retrieved November 26 2016 Hugh Wilson interview on WINA Charlottesville Virginia Contact Us 55KRC Retrieved February 5 2022 Contact Q102 101 9 WKRQ FM Retrieved August 6 2020 Broadcast History Salt Lake City Radio oldradio com March 14 2006 Retrieved August 6 2020 Arave Lynn February 10 1989 AM Radio When Was The Last Time You Deseret News Salt Lake City Retrieved August 6 2020 Utah Radio and TV Station Photos from the John in Arizona Collection John in Arizona Retrieved August 6 2020 Kiesewetter John November 28 2008 Really on air in Cincinnati The Cincinnati Enquirer Archived from the original on December 1 2008 Block began plotting the change two years ago tied to TV stations transition nationwide from analog to digital broadcasting scheduled for Feb 17 Although low power stations aren t required by law to switch to digital next year Block made the investment so viewers here with digital TV converter boxes could continue to see his stations next year Raleigh s WKRP Oak City Media Retrieved August 6 2020 WKRP in Cincinnati Trivia IMDb Retrieved February 15 2011 WKRP in Cincinnati theme by Steve Carlisle Retrieved February 15 2011 WKRP in Cincinnati Archer2000 tripod com Retrieved November 26 2016 Ellis Jim Television Jim Ellis Music Archived from the original on May 19 2008 Retrieved December 10 2020 Of course there were no lyrics and I was just sort of scatting gibberish Well Hugh Wilson and Tom Wells thought that was funny and that it made a joke about the general unintelligibility of rock lyrics a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link Heitz David November 12 2008 WKRP in Cincinnati lyrics just gibberish Quad City Times Davenport Iowa Retrieved December 10 2020 Heitz David WKRP in Cincinnati lyrics just gibberish The Quad City Times Davenport Iowa Retrieved December 29 2020 Joel Whitburn s Top Pop Singles 1955 1990 ISBN 0 89820 089 X Whitburn Joel 1993 Top Adult Contemporary 1961 1993 Record Research p 41 Salas Randy A April 23 2007 WKRP in Cincinnati Exclusive More on the music replacement and comments by Fox Wilson TV Shows on DVD Archived from the original on February 22 2014 Retrieved February 16 2014 Salas Randy A April 22 2007 A different tune for WKRP Minneapolis Star Tribune p 4F Archived from the original on April 22 2007 Also published by the South Florida Sun Sentinel on May 5 2007 as WKRP in Cincinnati on DVD The song doesn t remain the same a b Levine Justin April 13 2007 WKRP in Cincinnati Requiem for a Masterpiece Against Monopoly Retrieved February 16 2014 a b Weinman Jaime J WKRP in Cincinnati Frequently Asked Questions Archived from the original on August 4 2003 The weird legal reason many of your favorite shows aren t on DVD Vox March 26 2015 Retrieved November 26 2016 Lacey Gord March 31 2007 WKRP in Cincinnati DVD news List of WKRP music changes TVShowsOnDVD com Archived from the original on February 5 2013 WKRP in Cincinnati DVD news DVD Plans for WKRP in Cincinnati The Complete Series TVShowsOnDVD com August 5 2014 Archived from the original on June 13 2017 Retrieved November 26 2016 Next WKRP DVDs will include original rock music The Cincinnati Enquirer June 6 2014 Retrieved June 25 2014 WKRP in Cincinnati Music Update Shout Factory September 15 2014 Retrieved November 26 2016 Terry Josh September 16 2014 WKRP in Cincinnati to be reissued with most of its original soundtrack Consequence of Sound Retrieved November 26 2016 WKRP in Cincinnati Community TV com Retrieved November 26 2016 WKRP in Cincinnati The Complete Series Review See Posts No 218 amp 356 for Info Blu ray Movie Discussion Expert Reviews amp News Hometheaterforum com November 22 2016 Retrieved November 26 2016 WKRP in Cincinnati The Complete Series DVD Review sitcomsonline com Retrieved April 6 2019 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to WKRP in Cincinnati WKRP in Cincinnati pearsontv com WKRP in Cincinnati at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w 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