46 years ago today, WKRP in Cincinnati debuted on CBS.
— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) September 18, 2024
From episode 1, when DJ John Caravella transformed into Dr. Johnny Fever, and WKRP became a rock and roll station. pic.twitter.com/1RIpjcNNTx
On September 18, 1978, the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati premiered on CBS. I only missed the anniversary by a few hours.
In 1982, I was between marriages and staying with my parents. I didn't know what to do with my life, but I needed a job. Watching TV with the family one night, we laughed at WKRP and my dad said, "You have a deep voice and you know a lot about music; you should work at a radio station." The next day I went to the local station but they didn't have any openings. But they knew of one that did, way up in the mountains. The day after that I went to that station and they hired me, which started me on a 24-year career of "town to town, up and down the dial." I was astonished to learn how accurate WKRP was, from the many managers who only had the job because his parents owned the business to having to interrupt an hour of rock 'n' roll to deliver an agricultural report. Sadly, WKRP ended its last season only a couple of months after that incident.
Loved that show!
ReplyDeleteSomebody took Dr. Johnny Fever's song intros and reconstructed a radio show. It's a three hour show with Dr. Johnny Fever as host!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.awphooey.com/wkrp
Thank you anonymous Internet person, what a great link!
DeleteAnother good Johnny Fever moment was when he left to go to Los Angeles ratio station, but then turned up again at WKRP. When he was asked by Herb if he got fired for saying "booger" again, Johnny replied, "No, you can say that on the air out there now. But you can't say '_______'." (the word was deleted for broadcast, but if you read his lips Johnny says 'jive-ass')
ReplyDelete***-"BB"-
How you got started in radio. Great story.
ReplyDeleteStarting you "town to town, up and down the dial" is another reason to love WKRP. Right up there with I thought turkey could fly and Loni Anderson playing the boys like a piano.
ReplyDeletexoxoxoBruce