Talk:WKRP in Cincinnati

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Contents 1 Source of all letters 2 Sane? 3 Music licensing and syndication 4 Arthur Carlson 5 Hugh Wilson 6 Other characters 7 Episode Guide 8 Recent Ranking B 9 Song wording 10 Character list

The NBC show newsradio was loosely based on WKRP, perhaps that should be mentioned 66.75.49.213 11:04, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

---

Gordon Jump had a career before and after WKRP, becoming that famed publicity icon the Maytag Repairman.

Frank Bonner appeared in a two sitcoms afterwards portraying a detective and a catholic priest.

Jan Smithers, Richard Sanders and Gary Sandy have may have left national broadcast TV, but being 3 out of 8 cast members, which is a minority of the cast.

---

The format of WKRP before Andy arrived was music like "You're Having My Baby", which is definately not a piece of classical music as is commonly understood- User:Kchishol1970

• Ick. That would be under the heading of "soft adult contemporary." Mercifully, most soft AC stations nowadays wouldn't touch that, uh, song with the proverbial ten-foot pole. Too much halfway decent music that falls under the format to include a 1970s clunker. - Lucky 6.9 05:26, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC)

The song in question is sung by a choir like The Mormon Tabernacle (though the choir in question does not use that name) and is in a classical music style with the male voices hilariously adding the line "right now" at a given moment. MarnetteD | Talk 13:20, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

--- One of the reasons the quality of the writing was so high was that many of those involved had been involved in radio. For example, Turkeys Away was based on actual event in the 70's, where some flightless birds (not turkeys, but I don't remember what) were thrown from a high tower (?) to promote an FM radio station.

Also, Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever) had been an actual FM rock n' roll DJ.

--- There has never been any independent confirmation of a radio promotion that consisted of turkeys being dropped from any height (I've seen rumors that a Dallas station threw turkeys off the back of a truck in the late 60's). The only known "real" radio promotion that made it into a WKRP script (though not shown) was "The Dancing Ducks" promotion, in which ducklings were made to dance by placing them on a large skillet and heating it with sterno. This was done by an AM station in Atlanta during the early 1970's and got several staff members disciplined.

• According to a November 14, 1996 article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, "Radio honors real-life 'WKRP' manager", Jerry Blum "leased an 18-wheeler, bought hundreds of live gobblers and lured listeners to a suburban shopping center for the Turkey Toss." - Cdk 18:47, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

This article was nominated for deletion on September 22. The result of the discussion was Speedy Keep.

[edit] Source of all letters

I couldn't put this in the article, since it would amount to what Wikipedian refer to as "original research" but I always though that KRP may have come from krap or crap radio. Any possibility of exporing this? -WCFrancis 18:19, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

The call letters could be based on Cincinnati's WKRQ. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 06:44, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

The call letters came from which is only speculation: "We Keep Records Playing". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.43.172.50 (talk) 16:37, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sane?

Sandy's Travis was a sitcom mainstay, the 1 sane person surrounded by lunatics. Cf Judd Hirsch in "Taxi" & the "black WKRP" of the '90s (not "Newsradio", I don't think; costar Ron Glass as "the fifth Top"). Trekphiler 19:39, 16 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Music licensing and syndication

The article mentioned something to the effect that the original music was not licensed for syndication. This is partially true in the case of Nick at Nite, but I distinctly remember watching this in syndication (mid-1980s) and hearing the original songs as intended (e.g. The Eagle's "The Long Run" when Johnny's daughter shows up; "Tiny Dancer" with the Russian defector etc.) But I'm not sure how to clarify this because I don't know when the licensing changed. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 05:22, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

I have been waiting for them to ever release this on DVD in the original form. More bothersome even than any change in any music on Nick at Nite was the fact that they cut from the original broadcast show for additional commercial time. I remember seeing it in syndication having the original text of all the show intact. This is commonly done with old TV shows and movies, they did not have as many commercials back then. Some stations (one in Chicago) went to the length of speeding up the speed of the video - noticed comparing an old Get Smart recording to their version at the time. It was better than cutting from the show. Waiting for REAL DVD's kidsheaven 04:55, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Baby, if you ever wondered, wondered whatever became of the DVD...it's coming! Clarityfiend 00:04, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

• As mentioned here, I have read reviews by users on web-sites of how much music is changed, found the disclaimer of "Some of the original musical content has been edited for this DVD release." So far what I watched seems slightly different. Some mention is made of cutting, and/or re-recording voices that sound similar or content to match new music? One comment I read was "why can advertisers use some of the same music and FOX not be able to afford to use it for the DVD release." Some advertisers I have seen use now up to Frank Sinatra in advertising for a local family owned grocery chain of five or less stores - they actually re-did several of his songs into the Muzak piped into the store, with customized wording. Though I do see after an artist dies that owners to the rights are more willing to sell to anyone. Worst is where they take part of an old movie and re-dub wording to advertise a product. That is OK and affordable, but the actual use is not? Music rights are strange I.E. the lawyer who bought the music rights to public domain "It's a Wonderfull Life" to gain personal control to the movie rights - can't show it minus music.... Too often the performers who deserve credit are not the one's ever receiving much of the said rights money...Kidsheaven 21:33, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

All 90 Uncut Episodes (4 seasons)are available for purchase at www.tvboxset.com <---- This is not meant to be an ad, I'm just a fan that wants to help other fans. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.82.78.78 (talk • contribs) 01:09, 22 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Arthur Carlson

This paragraph makes it sound like Arthur Carlson was a real person who owned radio stations:

Gordon Jump's character was based on an actual person, as was Dr. Johnny Fever's. Arthur Carlson owned a group of radio stations in Central Pennsylvania under the name Susquehanna Radio. Based in York, Pa., it was one of the first radio "chains" to emerge in the late '60s and early '70s. Carlson also was a past president of the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB). Fever was based on an afternoon drive DJ at one of Carlson's stations who was working under the name "Kevin McKeever". WCBG (now dark) was a 5,000-watt powerhouse in southcentral Pennsylvania. --68.100.8.70 03:37, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes, he really is. See the RAB website [1] for a pic. AUTiger ʃ ^talk/_work 03:54, 5 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Hugh Wilson

Wilson worked for an advertising firm in Atlanta. He NEVER worked at any radio station.

[edit] Other characters

I distinctly remember seeing an engineer (Bucky?) in at least two episodes, one involving the softball game, and the other where Johnny does the remote show. He should be mentioned. Jimcripps 03:49, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Episode Guide

One anonymous editor has been adding elements of an Episode Guide in large chunks to this article during the last few days. Another anonymous editor, noting it is incomplete, deleted the whole thing. I've restored those deletions because I don't think deleting all that is appropriate without discussion, especially in the midst of its apparently being posted.

On the otherhand, it does seem to be a bit much for the middle of an article like this. Would it be more appropriate as a separate article? Is it appropriate in wikipedia at all? What is the usual process of dealing with detailed episode descriptions of television series?

Pzavon 00:54, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

From what I've seen, series with few episodes (Woops!, Quark (TV series)) have episode guides as part of the main article. But series with several seasons (Moonlighting, Gilligan's Island) have episode guides as a separate article. I don't know how many seasons would make the difference between including in the article or not, but I'd suggest three seasons. (Star Trek: The Original Series) But WKRP in Cincinnati lasted longer than that, so as long as it gets three or four seasons listed, move them to a separate article. Val42 20:24, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Recent Ranking B

I would agree that for this main page the character detail is too much. Each has a link to their own page, so there is duplication that is not needed on the main WKRP page. Need a short summary of each for the main page, and retain the links to the character pages for those interested in further info. That would be my advice, and this is one of my all time favorite shows, so I am talking as a person who finds this of more interest than an average person looking at the page. kidsheaven 21:47, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

I've shortened the character sections. See what you think. Joyous! | Talk 03:29, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

You beat me to it by a whisker. Other than a few minor details, everything you did matches my would-be changes. Clarityfiend 04:03, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Song wording

Is it "Baby, if you ever wondered..." or "Baby, if you've ever wondered..."? The title of a 2nd season episode answers this question. Clarityfiend 06:06, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

I don't know who it was who determined that the closing credits were/are just gibberish, but I want to thank him/her. Now I don't have to beat my brains out anymore trying to figure out what he's "saying"!!!FlaviaR (talk) 09:15, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Character list

The characters are listed and described before the beginning of the actual character list. Is this really necessary? D. J. Cartwright 01:20, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

It's a much shorter summary of the characters, and the Premise section would be reduced to two sentences otherwise. But it doesn't have to be in the same point form. Clarityfiend 15:09, 8 August 2007 (UTC)