WKRP in Cincinnati
batmon
27,574 Posts
I havent watched this in a long ass minute. And really didnt peep when i was a kid.
Saw an ep about the kids getting crushed at a concert. Good stuff.
Then the next ep had Johnny getting pressured into incorporating their Top 40 playlist, while he was rockin Frankie Lyman and Bo Diddley.
Im wondering if this holds up and if dudes remember if they got inside on radio culture of the late 70s.
And the chick with the glasses has that Julie appeal from Welcome Back Kotter.
Saw an ep about the kids getting crushed at a concert. Good stuff.
Then the next ep had Johnny getting pressured into incorporating their Top 40 playlist, while he was rockin Frankie Lyman and Bo Diddley.
Im wondering if this holds up and if dudes remember if they got inside on radio culture of the late 70s.
And the chick with the glasses has that Julie appeal from Welcome Back Kotter.
Comments
great theme music, especially the "hard rock" outro.
jan smithers > loni anderson
"As God is my witness... I thought turkeys could fly."
That one is classic. I think it is one of the top all time tv classics right there.
Pretty funny and good cast that did go on to other things. Les and his tape walls was pretty funny. I actually work with a guy who dresses like herb tarlec but he's like 28 and thinks he's cool. When I said that no one had any idea who I was talking about or the show. Makes you feel old.
The one where they all pretend to be each other.
The bomb threat.
WPIG mascot.
Andy's hair.
Dr. Johnny Fever = Jeff Skunk Baxter stunt double
Hell... Gary Sandy even looked like a Doobie Brother:
Loni Anderson = nuff said
It was a running gag about how Bailey would always ask Johnny out on a date and he'd blow her off. They tried to mask her sex appeal, but it didn't work; she had the understated, "hot nerd" thing working overtime.
You'd think, but it wasn't. Sure, Johnny Fever snuck in Captain Beefheart and Venus played Bob Marley, but they were supposed to be your standard FM station of the time, playing the Eagles like everybody else.
Don't most shows?
Beyond any doubt.
The bald guy later molested Webster.
Yeah that's what music they were playing on the show, but the posters on the walls were for bands like The Clash, The English Beat, Squeeze and other new wavey type stuff. Especially in the later seasons, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a bit of record label product placement going on behind the scenes...
I was listening to FM rock radio during the run of the show. In 1979-80, most of the album-rock stations were slowly adding the more accessible new-wave acts to the playlist. In that way, the Clash, Squeeze and the English Beat seemed fairly par for the course. WLUP in Chicago did play the Clash and might have spot-played Squeeze, but the only Beat I recall hearing were the US power-pop band with the same name.
Hey Lazarus,
No, actually Mr. Carlson tried to molest Arnold and Dudley on "Different Strokes."
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
The remastered DVD set is around $100. Sheeeeiiiit...
Not to pick an argument Pickwick, but we are about the same age and just have different regional experiences I guess. In NYC, the "rock" stations like WPLJ or WNEW weren't going near any new-wavey stuff. Even when the Clash opened for the Who, they wouldn't play the records on those stations. I heard the Clash more on WBLS (the R&B station programmed by Frankie Crocker). The only remotely new wave act I can remember the rock stations embracing was The Police. NY rock radio was pretty conservative in those days.
I guess you missed WPIX, who was all over this shit. I remember hearing the the B-52s 'Rock Lobster' when it was just an independent 45 a year or so before they had an album, for example. WLIR also. I grew up in the NYC area then and we were hearing those sounds on the radio all the time.
I don't remember WPIX, but WLIR was my gateway into new wave and punk music (along with MTV). I grew in St. Albans, there weren't too many kids trying to find out about that stuff in the early 80's. I used to have to hide my Police and Clash records from my friends or face relentless clowning for being into "white boy shit".
Yeah, you're right. So what happened to Webster on the "very special Webster"? That used to be the code for "edgy" sitcom episodes. I just did a quick search and came up empty.
You're probably right. A friend of mine was a high school student in Dallas, TX during this era, and it was basically arena-rock all the way, as far as the FM stations went.
Chicago's WLUP had a rep for being the big "death to disco" station. (Steve Dahl, the DJ who burned the disco records in the ballpark, was on this station). They played all the AOR faves from this era you would expect, but they also went in hard on Elvis Costello, the Clash, Talking Heads, Graham Parker, Patti Smith, the Police, the Cars and countless power-pop acts. For 1980, this was revolutionary, but those who were old enough to go to clubs knew that this was a mere toe dip in the pool. WLUP also used to sponsor midnight showings of Rock & Roll High School, but the only time you heard the Ramones on the station was during The Dr. Demento Show.
Our equivalent was WXRT, a holdover from the "freeform" days that was a bit more adventurous about punk/new wave, to the point of having an hour-long radio show called The Big Beat, which I think is still on the air, like the station itself.
http://www.soulstrut.com/forums/viewthread/5557/
Yes!!! Jan Smithers was indeed my favorite babe on WKRP compared to Loni Anderson. She had that 'girl next door/hot nerd' thing working big time.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak