WKRP in Cincinnati

"WKRP" redirects here. For other uses, see WKRP (disambiguation).
WKRP in Cincinnati

series title card
Genre Sitcom
Created by Hugh Wilson
Starring Gary Sandy
Gordon Jump
Loni Anderson
Richard Sanders
Frank Bonner
Jan Smithers
Tim Reid
Howard Hesseman
Theme music composer Tom Wells
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 90 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Hugh Wilson
Producer(s) Rod Daniel
Bill Dial
Blake Hunter
Steven Kampmann
Peter Torokvei
Hugh Wilson
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 24–25 minutes
Production company(s) MTM Enterprises
Distributor Jim Victory Television (1982-1987)
MTM Television Distribution (1987-1997)
20th Television (1997-Present)
Release
Original network CBS
Audio format Monaural
Original release September 18, 1978 (1978-09-18) – April 21, 1982 (1982-04-21)
Chronology
Followed by The New WKRP in Cincinnati
Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers) and Andy Travis (Gary Sandy)
Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) and Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) in the studio
Johnny Fever unsuccessfully flirts with Jennifer Marlowe (Loni Anderson)

WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom that featured 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 (AM) in Atlanta. Many of the characters and even some of the stories (including season 1 episode 7, "Turkeys Away") are based on people and events at WQXI.[1]

The ensemble cast consists of Gary Sandy, Howard Hesseman, Gordon Jump, Loni Anderson, Tim Reid, Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders and Frank Bonner.[2]

Like many other 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, since the show has a realistic setting. 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. Andy Ackerman won an Emmy Award for Videotape Editing in season 3.

WKRP premiered September 18, 1978 on the CBS television network, and aired for four seasons and 88 episodes through April 21, 1982. During the third and fourth seasons, 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, despite not reaching the desired number of 100 episodes for daily stripping.[3] (90 half-hour episodes were available for syndication, due to two of the first-run 88 episodes being an hour long.) For the next decade, it was one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication, outperforming many programs which had been more successful in prime time, including all the other MTM Enterprises sitcoms.

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

Premise

The station's new program director Andy Travis tries to turn around struggling full-service 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. Rounding out the cast are super receptionist Jennifer Marlowe, enthusiastic junior employee Bailey Quarters, and spaced-out veteran disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever. To help bolster ratings, Travis hires a new disc jockey from New Orleans, Venus Flytrap. Lurking in the background and making an occasional appearance is ruthless business tycoon Mrs. Carlson, the station's owner and the mother of Arthur Carlson.

Characters

Main ensemble

Other characters

Episodes

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 decided to bring 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 farcical radio-based stories, which is what CBS mostly wanted at the beginning, and start telling stories that, while not necessarily serious, 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 at that time was thought of as mostly aimed at young people. The mid-season timeslot change didn't affect the show's success; WKRP finished at #22 in the ratings for its second year. For the next two seasons, however, the writers and producers often had to fight CBS over what kind of content was appropriate for a show in the so-called family hour.

During the third and fourth seasons, CBS moved WKRP around repeatedly, so much so that cast and crew members claimed that even they didn't know when the show aired. When the show became a hit in syndication, some cast members joked that the reason for its success was that viewers finally knew where to find it on the schedule.[3]

After the fourth season, the network decided not to renew the show. The final first-run episode of WKRP aired on April 21, 1982, and ranked #7 in the weekly Nielsen ratings for all series, specials and sporting events. The episode ended on a cliffhanger, because when it was produced, cast and crew had expected the series to be renewed. Prior to the broadcast, however, the series had already been cancelled.

Production

WKRP was videotaped in Hollywood before a live studio audience at Goldenwest Videotape Division, later moving to the CBS Studio Center.[6]

Fact vs. fiction

"Real" WKRP people

While Andy Travis received his name and some personality elements from a cousin of creator Hugh Wilson,[7] he was based primarily on innovative program director Mikel Herrington,[8] who also was the inspiration for the character Jeff Dugan in the 1978 film FM, written by Ezra Sacks who had worked at KMET.[9] Dr. Johnny Fever was based on a DJ named "Skinny" Bobby Harper at WQXI/790 in Atlanta, Georgia (in 1968).[10] WKRP writer Bill Dial worked with Harper at WQXI, which is considered Dial's inspiration for the show.[10] Coincidentally, Harper had previously worked at Cincinnati AM Top 40 powerhouse WSAI in 1964, before moving to 11 other stations, including seven in Atlanta.[10] 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." [10]

Transmission tower

The transmission tower seen at the beginning of WKRP in Cincinnati actually belonged to Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT.[11] The tower has since been dismantled.

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's on the 14th, the entranceway door is shown as 1412. Other businesses mentioned in the Flimm building include a restaurant on the 1st floor, a podiatrist on the 3rd, a wholesale jeweler on the 4th, and a dance studio on the 15th. The building shown during the show's opening credits is actually the Cincinnati Enquirer Building at 617 Vine Street in downtown Cincinnati.[12]

A real WKRP radio station

Having successfully lobbied the FCC for the famed call sign (unlike WBQC-LD, mentioned below), on November 30, 2015 a low power FM radio station in Raleigh, North Carolina, WKRP-LP (FM) signed on the air as the first FM station to use the WKRP call sign.

A recent WKRP Cincinnati TV station

In 2008, an unrelated independent television station in Cincinnati, WBQC-LD, took advantage of local nostalgia for the sitcom, promoting its conversion to digital broadcasting by rebranding as "WKRP-TV Cincinnati".[13]

Music

Musical themes

WKRP had two musical themes, one opening and the other closing the show. The opening theme, called "WKRP In Cincinnati Main Theme," was composed by Tom Wells, with lyrics by series creator Hugh Wilson, and was performed by Steve Carlisle.[14][15][16] An urban legend circulated at the time that Richard Sanders (who had comparable vocal characteristics to Carlisle) had recorded the song. Wilson stated in the commentary for the first season's DVD set that this was simply not true. (Sanders would later "sing" the lyrics in a promo spot on VH1 for The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which parodied the U2 song, "Numb.")

A full-length 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 and at 29 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 1982. The lyrics refer to the life of character Andy Travis.

The closing theme, "WKRP In Cincinnati End Credits," was a hard rock number composed and performed by Jim Ellis, an Atlanta musician who recorded some of the incidental music for the show. According to people who attended the recording sessions, Ellis didn't yet have lyrics for the closing theme, so he improvised a semi-comprehensible story about a bartender to give an idea of how the finished theme would sound. Wilson decided to use the words anyway, since he felt that it would be funny to use lyrics that were deliberate gibberish, as a satire on the incomprehensibility of many rock songs.[17] Because CBS always had an announcer talking over the closing credits, Wilson knew that no one would hear the closing theme lyrics. In one pop-cultural nod to the closing theme, a character performs the song in the film Ready to Rumble. The closing theme is also played at the end of the syndicated morning radio show The John Boy and Billy Big Show.

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 album Parallel Lines, on which the song appeared. This gold record can be seen hanging on the wall in the "bullpen" where Les, Herb, and Bailey worked in many of the episodes in the second, third, and fourth seasons.

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

Music licensing deals cut at the time of production were for a limited number of years.[18] Hugh Wilson commented that WKRP was videotaped instead of filmed because when the show was originally produced, a loophole in music licensing deals reduced fees for using songs in videotaped programs. The loophole was intended to accommodate variety shows.[19][20] When the show initially went in syndication shortly after its 1982 cancellation, the original music remained intact because the licensing deals were still active at the time.[21] Once the licenses expired, later syndicated versions of the show did not feature the music as first broadcast, but rather generic "sound-alikes" by studio musicians to avoid paying additional royalties. In some cases (when the music was playing in the background of a dialogue scene), some of the characters' lines had to be redubbed by sound-alike actors. This was evident in all prints of the show issued since the early 1990s, which included its late-1990s run on Nick at Nite.[18][21]

The expense of procuring licenses for the original music in the series delayed any release of a DVD set for years.[22] When it finally was released, much of the music was replaced by generic substitutes. Some scenes were shortened or cut entirely, and voiceovers were used to avoid using unlicensed musical content.[23] However, some scenes that were originally edited out for television (and therefore never seen before) were added back into the episodes to give viewers the back story which further explained a later scene.

DVD releases

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the first season on DVD in Region 1 in April 2007. Due to poor sales, Fox released no further seasons. In May 2014, Shout! Factory acquired rights to the series for DVD release.[24] Shout! Factory planned to include all of the music that aired originally on the show, but was only able to obtain rights for 111 of the original musical artists. Shout! Factory's disclaimer stated, "In a few cases, it was simply impossible to get the rights." Fans of the show compiled lists documenting that the rerelease contained 80% of the series' original music.[25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]

The complete series was available online at shoutfactory.com in September followed by a wide release in October 2014.[33] In March of 2015 Shout! released individual sets for Seasons 1 & 2.[34] Season 3 was released in July 2015[35] and the final season was released in November 2015.[36]

DVD Season Ep # Release date
Season 1 22 March 17, 2015
Season 2 24 March 17, 2015
Season 3 22 July 14, 2015
Season 4 22 November 10, 2015
Complete Series 90 October 28, 2014

References

  1. "Turkeys Away: An Oral History".
  2. 1 2 3 Kassel, Michael B., ''America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnati'' Popular Press (1993) ISBN 0-87972-584-2, ISBN 978-0-87972-584-6. Google Books. June 26, 2003. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  3. 1 2 WKRP in Cincinnati TV.com Show Summary, retrieved 05-21-2013.
  4. "Brown To Receive BCFM's Lifetime Achievement Award".
  5. "Radio's Call To Arms".
  6. Evanier, Mark (January 13, 2006). "WKRP in Cincinnati". Old TV Tickets.
  7. Michael B. Kassel, America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnati (Popular Press, 1993):6–7.
  8. "Deaths", Billboard (December 6, 1997):64.
  9. "Deaths", Billboard (December 6, 1997):64; Michael Learmonth, "Kingdom KOME: Less than two weeks remain until the letters fade away", Metro (June 4–10, 1998), http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.04.98/cover/radio2-9822.html; Don Barrett, "Where Are They Now? Los Angeles Radio People, H", http://www.laradio.com/whereh.htm
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Radio Broadcasting History: Radio People by Name (H)". 440 International, Inc. 2008. pp. entry for Skinny Bobby Harper. Retrieved October 3, 2008.
  11. Fybush, Scott (January 30, 2003). "Looking for "WKRP": Cincinnati, Part II". NorthEast Radio Watch.
  12. WKRP's back on the air, Cincinnati Enquirer, Sunday, July 4, 1999 Accessed June 25, 2011.
  13. Kiesewetter, John (November 28, 2008). "Really on air in Cincinnati". The Cincinnati Enquirer (Cincinnati, Ohio: Gannett Company). Archived from the original on November 28, 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.
  14. Internet Movie Database (IMDB). "WKRP in Cincinnati Trivia". Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  15. Song Facts. "WKRP in Cincinnati theme by Steve Carlisle". Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  16. "About WKRP". Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  17. "Television". Jim Ellis Music.
  18. 1 2 Levine, Justin (April 13, 2007). "WKRP In Cincinnati - Requiem For A Masterpiece". Against Monopoly. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  19. Salas, Randy A. (April 23, 2007). "WKRP in Cincinnati - Exclusive: More on the music replacement and comments by Fox/Wilson". TV Shows on DVD. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  20. 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."
  21. 1 2 Weinman, Jaime J. ""WKRP In Cincinnati": Frequently Asked Questions". Archived from the original on August 4, 2003.
  22. http://www.vox.com/2014/11/3/7145231/shows-not-on-dvd-music-rights-wonder-years-wkrp Why Shows Aren't on DVD
  23. Lacey, Gord (March 31, 2007). "WKRP in Cincinnati DVD news: List of 'WKRP' music changes". TVShowsOnDVD.com.
  24. Baby, If You've Ever Wondered...Whatever Became of the DVDs...
  25. "Next 'WKRP' DVDs will include original rock music". Cincinnati.com. 2014-06-06. Retrieved 2014-06-25.
  26. Coming soon as a 'Complete Series'
  27. original soundtrack gloriously restored
  28. WKRP Music Update
  29. (http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/09/wkrp-in-cincinnati-to-be-reissued-with-most-of-its-original-soundtrack/)
  30. http://www.tv.com/shows/wkrp-in-cincinnati/forums/music-list-58934-252626/
  31. WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete Series Review (See Posts #218 & 356 for Info)
  32. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jWiewI2fp1l9gxrIXXhbWWT1a_L4kvASk4UFYLFl4Hw/edit?usp=sharing&pli=1 WKRP Song List, obtained songs in red
  33. Not One But TWO Release Dates for 'The Complete Series' on DVD!
  34. Package Art for Shout!'s Complete 1st Season' and 'Complete 2nd Season'
  35. Separate Season Set Release for 'The Complete 3rd Season'
  36. DVDs Announced for the Complete 4th and 'Final Season'

External links

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