WKRP in Cincinnati
Updated: 12/11/2025, 10:47:18 AM Wikipedia source
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional AM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson. It was based upon his experiences observing at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta. Many of the characters were based on people at that station. Wilson once told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he selected WKRP as the call sign to stand for C-R-A-P. The ensemble cast consists of Gary Sandy (as Andy Travis), Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever), Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson), Loni Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe), Tim Reid (Venus Flytrap), Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters), Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) and Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek). The series won a Humanitas Prize and received 10 Emmy Award nominations, including three for Outstanding Comedy Series. Andy Ackerman won an Emmy Award for Videotape Editing in Season 3. WKRP premiered on September 18, 1978, on the CBS television network and aired for four seasons and 90 episodes, ending on April 21, 1982. Starting in the middle of the second season, CBS repeatedly moved the show around its schedule, contributing to lower ratings and its eventual cancellation. When WKRP went into syndication, it became an unexpected success. For the next decade, it was one of the most popular sitcoms in syndication, outperforming many programs that had been more successful in prime time, including all the other MTM Enterprises sitcoms. Jump, Sanders, and Bonner reprised their roles as regular characters in a sequel series, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, which ran from 1991 to 1993 in syndication. Hesseman, Reid, and Anderson also reprised their roles as guest stars.
Infobox
Tables
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 22 | September 18, 1978 | June 4, 1979 | |
| 2 | 24 | September 17, 1979 | March 31, 1980 | |
| 3 | 22 | November 1, 1980 | April 12, 1981 | |
| 4 | 22 | October 7, 1981 | April 21, 1982 | |
| Special | 1980 | |||
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
| 1979 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film | Loni Anderson | Nominated | |
| 1980 | Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy | Nominated | |||
| 1981 | Nominated | ||||
| 1981 | Humanitas Prize | 30 Minute Network or Syndicated Television | Hugh Wilson (for "God Talks to Johnny") | Nominated | |
| 1982 | Hugh Wilson (for "Venus and the Man") | Won | |||
| 1980 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Comedy Series | Hugh Wilson and Rod Daniel | Nominated | |
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series | Howard Hesseman | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series | Loni Anderson | Nominated | |||
| 1981 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Hugh Wilson, Rod Daniel, Blake Hunter, Steven Kampmann, and PJ Torokvei | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series | Howard Hesseman | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series | Loni Anderson | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series | Rod Daniel (for "Venus and the Man") | Nominated | |||
| Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series | Andy Ackerman (for "Bah, Humbug") | Won | |||
| 1982 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Hugh Wilson, Blake Hunter, PJ Torokvei, Dan Guntzelman, and Steve Marshall | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Video Tape Editing for a Series | Andy Ackerman (for "Fire") | Nominated | |||
| 2005 | TV Land Awards | Classic TV Broadcaster of the Year | Tim Reid | Nominated | |
| 2006 | Broadcaster of the Year | Howard Hesseman | Nominated | ||
| 2008 | Broadcaster(s) of the Year | Richard Sanders | Nominated |
References
- NPR; December 6, 2014; “WKRP in Perpetuity” by Michaelangelo Matos; retrieved June 3, 2023.https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2014/12/06/367971595/wkrp-in-perpetuity
- The Classic TV History Bloghttp://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/turkeys-away-an-oral-history/
- The Cincinnati Enquirerhttps://www.cincinnati.com/story/tvandmediablog/2014/05/29/wkrp-in-cincinnati-howard-hesseman-loni-anderson-tim-reid-loni-anderson/9714383/
- America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnatihttps://books.google.com/books?id=x-esBmJWj3sC&q=%22bailey+quarters%22
- "Humanitas Prize (1981)"https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000337/1981/1/
- Television Academyhttps://www.emmys.com/shows/wkrp-cincinnati
- Los Angeles Timeshttps://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-01-tv-2603-story.html
- Season 1, episode 17, "A Commercial Break".
- Radio Inkhttps://web.archive.org/web/20090119082255/http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=133094&pt=archive
- Radio Monitorhttps://web.archive.org/web/20090107224234/http://www.allbusiness.com/services/motion-pictures/4486620-1.html
- Kassel 1993, pp. 75–76.
- Old TV Ticketshttps://web.archive.org/web/20070415230310/http://www.oldtvtickets.com/archives1/2006/01/wkrp_in_cincinn.html
- HFPAhttps://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/wkrp-cincinnati
- Humanitas Prizehttps://www.humanitasprize.org/prize-winners
- Emmys.comhttps://www.emmys.com/shows/wkrp-cincinnati
- America's Favorite Radio Station: WKRP in Cincinnatihttps://books.google.com/books?id=x-esBmJWj3sC&q=wilson
- Billboardhttps://books.google.com/books?id=4AkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35
- Metroactivehttp://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/06.04.98/cover/radio2-9822.html
- Laradio.comhttp://www.laradio.com/whereh.htm
- 440 International, Inchttp://www.440int.com/namesh.html
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionhttps://www.ajc.com/blog/radiotvtalk/former-wqxi-jerry-blum-inspiration-for-art-carlson-wkrp-cincinnati-has-passed/j0ujFjkHVozLevE2OlhmtN/
- NorthEast Radio Watchhttp://www.fybush.com/site-030130.html
- The Cincinnati Enquirerhttp://www.enquirer.com/editions/1999/07/04/loc_wkrps_back_on_air.html
- Hugh Wilson interview on WINA, Charlottesville, Virginia.
- 55KRChttps://55krc.iheart.com/contact/
- Q102 101.9 WKRQ-FMhttps://www.wkrq.com/contact/
- oldradio.comhttps://www.oldradio.com/archives/stations/slc-hist.htm
- Deseret Newshttps://www.deseret.com/1989/2/10/18794890/am-radio-when-was-the-last-time-you
- John in Arizonahttps://www.johninarizona.com/utah/utah.html
- The Cincinnati Enquirerhttps://web.archive.org/web/20081201072506/http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081128/ENT/811280363/1035/LIFE
- Oak City Mediahttp://www.oakcitymedia.com/about.html
- "WKRP in Cincinnati Trivia"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077097/trivia?tr0792157
- "WKRP in Cincinnati theme by Steve Carlisle"http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=21830
- Archer2000.tripod.comhttps://web.archive.org/web/20110717101713/http://archer2000.tripod.com/wkrp/wkrp5.html
- Jim Ellis Musichttps://web.archive.org/web/20080519025208/http://www.jimellismusic.com/Jim-Ellis-TV.html
- Quad-City Timeshttps://qctimes.com/news/local/ask-the-times/wkrp-in-cincinnati-lyrics-just-gibberish/article_c72da833-e86b-5802-9fe0-68dc766681c0.html
- The Quad-City Timeshttps://qctimes.com/news/local/ask-the-times/wkrp-in-cincinnati-lyrics-just-gibberish/article_c72da833-e86b-5802-9fe0-68dc766681c0.html
- Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993
- TV Shows on DVDhttps://web.archive.org/web/20140222151753/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/WKRP-Cincinnati/7212
- Minneapolis Star-Tribunehttps://web.archive.org/web/20070422030737/http://www.startribune.com/459/story/1131165.html
- Against Monopolyhttp://www.againstmonopoly.org/index.php?perm=886089000000001005
- ""WKRP in Cincinnati": Frequently Asked Questions"https://web.archive.org/web/20030804141401/http://members.allstream.net/~jacjud/wkrpmusic.html
- Voxhttps://www.vox.com/2014/11/3/7145231/shows-not-on-dvd-music-rights-wonder-years-wkrp
- TVShowsOnDVD.comhttps://archive.today/20130205211644/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7103
- TVShowsOnDVD.comhttps://web.archive.org/web/20170613071655/http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/WKRP-Cincinnati-The-Complete-Series/19780
- The Cincinnati Enquirerhttp://www.cincinnati.com/story/tvandmediablog/2014/06/06/wkrp-in-cincinnati-howard-hesseman-loni-anderson-tim-reid-shout-factory-vietnam-war/10019209/
- Shout! Factoryhttps://www.shoutfactory.com/editorials/wkrp-in-cincinnati-music-update
- Consequence of Soundhttps://consequence.net/2014/09/wkrp-in-cincinnati-to-be-reissued-with-most-of-its-original-soundtrack/
- TV.comhttps://web.archive.org/web/20141006080320/http://www.tv.com/shows/wkrp-in-cincinnati/forums/music-list-58934-252626/
- Hometheaterforum.comhttps://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/threads/wkrp-in-cincinnati-the-complete-series-review-see-posts-218-356-for-info.334984/
- sitcomsonline.comhttp://sitcomsonline.com/wkrpincincinnatithecompleteseriesdvdreview.html