WKRP in
Cincinatti was on the air for 4 seasons. It starred
Howard Hessman as Johnny Fever, one of the
DJs at WKRP. The show contained an array of interesting characters, including buxom
Loni Anderson as Jennifer
Marlowe the secretary every boy would love to have, Richard Sanders as odd-ball
newsman ("The ones that survived when they hit the ground turned on us. It was almost as if they were ... organized.")
Les Nesman, and
Tim Reid as another DJ named
Venus Flytrap.
In the words of DJ
Johnny "Dr. Fever" Caravella, WKRP in Cincinnati is "rock bottom." Playing music that is twenty years out of date, the station is losing $100,000 a year and foundering in the Cincinnati market. Run by the somewhat
scatter-brained fishing fanatic Arthur Carlson, the station is owned by Carlson's mother, a heartless, domineering woman
who loves money and hates
rock and roll.
Enter
Andy Travis, the new program director, who promises that his proposed rock format will allow the station to break even in the first year and make $800,000 the next. Carlson reluctantly gives Travis a free hand. Although Momma is initially upset, Andy convinces her to give it a try. The one seemingly normal person in this whole mess is Baily, the stations other female cast member. A witty intelectual looking brunette she often played counterpoint to Jenifers voluptious sexiness.
Thus began 4 seasons of decent american
sitcom zannyness.