|
|
Post by GRWelsh on May 25, 2023 13:20:33 GMT -5
I've been rewatching this series on DVD and I can't believe it started nearly 45 years ago. My sister and I used to watch this after school when it was in syndication in the early/mid 80's... It was one of the few things we agreed on and both loved. It really holds up well over time, and I was thinking about why... The writing is great. The characters start out as over the top caricatures or parodies but soon become fleshed out so they feel like real people. The cast is perfect and they have great comic timing with each other. I also notice the cast skews a bit older... Even Bailey Quarters, who is supposed to be the junior employee, and they talk about her as if she is just out of college, is played by a 29 year old Jan Smithers when the show started. Lonnie Anderson, who plays the sex symbol Jennifer Marlowe, is 33 when the show started. The writers do a good job of getting across some feminist ideas but in humorous ways utilizing Bailey and Jennifer. Gordon Jump at 46 is the heart of the show as Arthur Carlson, the bumbling and incompetent boss who is mostly spineless and afraid of his mother... He should be unlikeable but he is totally likeable. Gary Sandy at 33 playing Andy Travis is more or less the star of the show, or at least the straight man to contrast against all of the zaniness since he is initially our point of view character when being introduced to WKRP. Howard Hesseman, 38, was the break out as DJ "Doctor Johnny Fever" but Richard Sanders 38, as Les Nessman, Frank Bonner 36, as Herb Tarlek, and Tim Reid 34, as Venus Flytrap, were all great to play off against and got their own stories as well.
|
|
foster1941
Warlock
Duke of California, Earl of Los Angeles, Knight Bachelor
Posts: 476
|
Post by foster1941 on Jun 5, 2023 13:18:16 GMT -5
Also used to watch this in syndicated reruns after school. One of my favorite shows as a kid. Always struggled to try and figure out what the words were to the closing-credits song and felt dumb when I finally learned decades later that it had no words, just nonsense syllables.
|
|
|
|
Post by geneweigel on Jun 5, 2023 22:00:29 GMT -5
I watched a lot of stuff fresh because I didn't have time for syndicated stuff except the late shows like STAR TREK, KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, TWILIGHT ZONE, OUTER LIMITS and NIGHT GALLERY. WKRP? I did not watch fresh because of of it competing with WELCOME BACK KOTTER (1975-1979) but I started watching after KOTTER went out in 1979 and then I saw more in syndication as I felt like I missed something. I had a bad upbringing as far as parents controlling the television because of the shenanigans that they were doing to each other before and after the divorce. I literally watched the entire Belushi run of Saturday Night Live starting when I was 6 years old. Talk about corruption!
|
|
|
|
Post by maximus on Jun 21, 2023 15:01:04 GMT -5
Team Bailey is all I have to say
|
|
|
|
Post by GRWelsh on Jul 18, 2023 14:42:46 GMT -5
Bailey was great. I read that the character was based upon the wife of the show's creator, Hugh Wilson, and that Jan Smithers got the job because while other actresses were acting shy, Jan really was shy. I like her character arc from shy and insecure to more assertive and ambitious... A bit of trivia is that although she wasn't involved in the sequel series THE NEW WKRP IN CINCINNATI (1991-1993), it is mentioned that Bailey Quarters became the Mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan. So, she moved up in the world!
Even though a lot of the cast returned for the sequel series -- as regulars or guests -- it never felt the same to me. The absence of Andy Travis and Bailey Quarters was notable since they were the most normal people in the original show they were the ones that the audience most likely identified with the most. They had some of the same writers/producers, but the sequel series never recaptured the magic of the original.
|
|
|
|
Post by geneweigel on Jul 18, 2023 16:44:32 GMT -5
I don't recall that was even a thing. I watched TV in the 80s but the 90s viewing became sketchy lingering on older stuff. CHEERS (1982-1993) I had to watch, took a pic in Cheers in 1985 (lost) and was even watching in bars, when they started that FRASIER show (1993-2004) it did not fill the "Cheers" void so my viewing tapered off a lot for TV in the aftermath even more.
|
|
|
|
Post by maximus on Jul 19, 2023 12:49:14 GMT -5
Bailey was great. I read that the character was based upon the wife of the show's creator, Hugh Wilson, and that Jan Smithers got the job because while other actresses were acting shy, Jan really was shy. I like her character arc from shy and insecure to more assertive and ambitious... A bit of trivia is that although she wasn't involved in the sequel series THE NEW WKRP IN CINCINNATI (1991-1993), it is mentioned that Bailey Quarters became the Mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan. So, she moved up in the world! Even though a lot of the cast returned for the sequel series -- as regulars or guests -- it never felt the same to me. The absence of Andy Travis and Bailey Quarters was notable since they were the most normal people in the original show they were the ones that the audience most likely identified with the most. They had some of the same writers/producers, but the sequel series never recaptured the magic of the original. Yea, Bailey and Andy definitely were the most normal, but I never even knew there was a sequel. The '90s were like my lost decade, working 80+ hours a week running a restaurant left me little free time. |
|
