“WKRP in Cincinnati” is the most under-rated show in the history of the universe of the world. Every Thanksgiving, I see the same “party line” parroted by pop culture eggheads about this program… 1) the “Turkeys Away” episode is the funniest installment ever, and 2) the show was otherwise a huge flop and has never been on DVD because of music rights issues. Read on, and prepare to have your minds blown. We are through the looking-glass here, people.
“WKRP” was created by former Atlanta ad man, Hugh Wilson. He cut his TV teeth on various shows for MTM Productions, the company co-owned by (and named for) Mary Tyler Moore. To that point, it had most notably produced her classic, self-titled sitcom, as well as “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Rhoda,” “Lou Grant” and “The White Shadow.” Wilson’s idea for a zany show about zany DJs in a non-zany city was greenlit and joined the CBS schedule Monday nights at 8 on September 18, 1978. The show’s theme song laid out the original premise: lifelong radio programmer Andy Travis (played by wholesome Ohioan Gary Sandy) lands in Cincinnati at a sleepy, low-rated elevator music station and immediately changes the format to rock and roll. He’s the lone island of sanity, surrounded by a stoned DJ, a goofy newsman and various zanier zanies (zany was “in” in 1978). This first clutch of eight episodes included the original airing of “Turkeys Away,” which was trounced in the ratings by “Little House On the Prairie” (ironically, an episode that featured Mrs. Oleson’s cousin starting a town newspaper… when was the last time print beat out radio?!).
By early November, the show was “on hiatus.” But MTM had enough clout that the network allowed some fine-tuning, then a re-launch on January 15, 1979. The new time slot was an hour later, airing right after “MASH,” then in its eighth season and already a huge hit and a TV classic. Changes included less focus on Andy and more of the ensemble cast. To that end, a bullpen set was added for more staff interaction (essentially desks for everyone when they weren’t in the lobby or on the air). Ratings jumped, and the season finale, “Fish Story,” turned out to be the highest-rated episode of the series. (The broad slapstick in the episode embarrassed its writer, High Wilson, and he changed the credit to “Raoul Plager.”)
For season 2, the show’s production moved from KTLA to plusher digs at the CBS Radford studio. Loni Anderson and Howard Hesseman became the show’s breakout stars, as evidenced by many of the show's promos.
Hesseman, aided by his improv background (he had been a member of The Committee comedy troupe), played ‘KRP morning man Johnny Fever. The actor was sent out on promotional appearances, often on actual morning radio shows (which Hesseman remembers as occasionally torturous). He even hosted “Saturday Night Live,” then at the peak of its ratings and popularity, and one sketch parodied clueless morning DJs, with Hesseman playing off of Harry Shearer. (The clip isn’t online, but is on the SNL season 5 DVD set… it was also re-written to provide a memorable cameo for Shearer in “Wayne’s World 2.”)
With the show drawing stellar ratings and popular acclaim, CBS did the only logical thing… they moved the show from its comfy, post-“MASH” slot (9:30) back to its original slot, at 8 p.m. Ratings dipped at first, before dipping some more – the competition was “Little House on the Prairie” along with the #3 show on TV, “That’s Incredible!”
“WKRP” ended season two as the 22nd-most-watched show on television, an average that would have no-doubt been higher if not for the mid-season time change. The show that took the Monday night slot was hospital sitcom “House Calls,” intended as Wayne Rogers’ comeback vehicle after he left “MASH” in 1975. Despite high ratings (higher than “WKRP”), "House Calls" was cancelled after three seasons due to squabbles between producers and co-star Lynn Redgrave over her on-set breastfeeding. Rad.
Back to WKRP, season two picked up Emmy nods for Anderson, Hesseman, and Outstanding Comedy Series. Season three began with a move to Saturday nights. Seriously. A decade earlier, this was the slot that propelled “All In the Family” to the top of the ratings. Not this time. “WKRP” and its companions (“Barbara Mandrell,” “Breaking Away” and even the Dukes of Hazzard-spinoff “Enos”) all died in the ratings. This season featured some of the show’s most inventive episodes.
“Real Families” followed Herb around reality TV-style (parodying the show “Real People”).
“Clean Up Radio Everywhere” parodied Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority. (Richard Paul, the actor playing Dr. Bob Halyers in the episode, would actually play Falwell himself 15 years later in “The People vs. Larry Flynt”).
“The Airplane Show” had many scenes filmed outdoors, in Cincinnati.
“Jennifer Moves” was produced as a two-act play.
“Nothing To Fear” took on gun control, “Out to Lunch” took on alcoholism and “Ask Jennifer” dealt with domestic violence.
And “Venus and the Man” featured this famous scene with Venus Fly Trap explaining the atom.
In 1981, this episode won WKRP’s only Emmy, for tape editor Andy Ackerman. (He would later direct and produce “Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Seinfeld,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”). For season three, Anderson, Hesseman and the show itself were again nominated for Emmys. Director Rod Daniel also got a nod. He was one of the show’s most prolific directors. Linda Day, Asaad Kelada, Will Mackenzie and Michael Zinberg also helmed many episodes, but “WKRP” never had a permanent director (as multi-camera shows often did). Call me superstitious, but that seems to jynx the ratings of any great show (“The Odd Couple,” “NewsRadio” and the later seasons of “Taxi”).
The show's fourth season concluded the middling-ratings, time-slot-jumping, Emmy-nominated run, and had an increased presence behind-the-scenes for writing partners/producers Steven Kampmann and Peter Torokvei (later credited as PJ after gender reassignment, she sadly died of liver failure in 2013). The show ended its run with an episode that came in #7 in the ratings, but by then the cancellation had been announced, most of the actors had moved on, and the show was finally dead... until a brief, strange 1991-93 revival.
On a side note, Kampmann would land on his feet a few months later and move in front of the camera, playing Kirk Devane in MTM's hit "Newhart," which was videotaped (at least in its first season) on the same soundstage as WKRP.
As a bonus, here's a 1981 mini-episode of WKRP, written and commissioned by the U.S. Government to sell bonds. Weird. "Cheers" did one of these a few years later.
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