History Series / WKRPInCincinnati

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: After a photographer uses a legal loophole to obtain nude photos of Jennifer, the various ways to get them back fail until Baily and Johnny team up, to pretend to be buyers for the photos.
-->"Ginger, I ''despise'' you. I always have, and I ''always will''."
-->"Wolfgang does not speak for the entire cartel!"
** In another episode the whole station teams up to fool an auditor who wanted to standardize the station with other bland formats.
-->"But this is minor alongside the ''racial unrest'' that exists between the disc jockeys!"

The year is 1978. Hotshot program director Andy Travis (played by Gary Sandy) arrives for his first day of work at WKRP, a small Cincinnati radio station whose "soothing sounds for senior citizens" format (''aka'' [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beautiful_music Beautiful Music]], a Muzak-esque concept actually popular at the time) has "catapulted" it to a permanent position at the very bottom of the UsefulNotes/{{ratings}}. After encountering the requisite cast of oddballs working at the station, Andy immediately -- as in mid-song -- throws out the old format and replaces it with Top 40 music, then hires an oddball or two of his own to add to the mix.

** The station itself applies. Corporate owned stations with automatic programming were quickly becoming the norm even in those days, but Andy sticks to his guns in allowing the DJ's play their own music following a playlist (that Johnny largely ignores as mentioned above).

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Carlson's "brilliant" promotional idea of giving everyone in Cincinnati a turkey for Thanksgiving... by dropping them from a helicopter. Because, yep, he really did think they could fly. Provoking possibly the most famous subsequent case of RealityEnsues in media history.

* TheDitz: Jennifer is one of the most famous TV subversions. (Although, she does a [[HilarityEnsues brilliant job of playing the ditz]] when everyone is called upon to play their opposite selves in "The Consultant".

---> "We have all kinds of chairs! There's one over there, and one over there, and one over...no, that's a clock."

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: In the commentary of the Season One DVD, Loni Anderson says that Carol Bruce (Mama Carlson) was actually very sweet and kind.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** Literally, albeit indirectly. The station's official mascot is a [=KaRP=] fish, however the call letters can also spell [=KRaP=], as the ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' parody pointed out.
** The writers weren't allowed to say directly that Johnny uses marijuana, so they found many ways to imply this without incurring the wrath of the network censors. In one episode, Mr. Carlson brings some visitors into the booth and surreptitiously waves his hand to clear away any smoke that might be surrounding Johnny.
** At the Christmas party in "Bah, Humbug", no one eats the homemade brownies that Johnny brings...except for Mr Carlson. Later the brownies are implied to cause The Big Guy's YetAnotherChristmasCarol adventure.
-->'''Carlson''': Why can't I wake up?? Scrooge got to wake up [between ghosts]!
-->'''Grandpa Carlson (as Marley)''': Scrooge didn't eat one of Fever's brownies.
** Though it was later implied in the episode that the brownies were clean:
--> '''Carlson''': You know, if it hadn't been for one of Johnny Fever's brownies, I wouldn't be in this dream now, anyway!
--> '''Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come!Johnny''': Oh, lighten up, AC! There was nothing wrong with those brownies! Just because it was Johnny, everyone jumps to the wrong conclusions. Poor Johnny. Always trying to do the right thing. Always misunderstood. [[OverlyLongGag Johnny was the kind of guy that always,--]]
--> '''Carlson''': Look, can we just go?
--> '''GOCYTC!Johnny''': ...always -- Sure.

** Which also might qualify as GettingCrapPastTheRadar.

** If you lived in Cincinnat during the show's original run, you couldn't help but notice that Les' absurdly pompous intro to his news show sounded an awful lot like the one to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Schottelkotte real-world Cincinnati TV newsman Al Shottlekotte's]] evening broadcast. Les also used an almost word-for-word imitation of Al Shottlekotte's SigningOffCatchPhrase: "So until tomorrow, may it all be good news to you."

A classic 1978–82 WorkCom on Creator/{{CBS}} that was originally an underdog property of MTM Productions, only to have the syndicated reruns [[VindicatedByReruns catapult it to recognition as one of the greatest TV sitcoms of all time]].

Brilliantly written and acted, as adult as was possible on network television at the time, and able to shift from wacky to satirical to outright surreal without losing a step, it was in all respects way ahead of its era -- and was the first series on JumpTheShark.com to ever be voted "Never Jumped". The episode referenced by the page quote was, in fact, once voted the single greatest episode of any show, in any genre, in the ''history of television'' by the readers of ''Magazine/TVGuide''.

In addition, often lauded by RealLife radio station employees as being a [[ShownTheirWork devastatingly accurate]] depiction of the industry, thanks to series creator and executive producer [[WriteWhatYouKnow Hugh Wilson's experience]] with the same. Several of the more outrageous onscreen moments are actually the most realistic. As such, this show has been the general public impression of the commercial radio business for generations.

--> '''GOCYTC!Johnny": ...always -- Sure.

* BadassPreacher: The Reverend Little Ed Pembrook, the WKRP's Sunday morning evangelist, is a 300-pound former pro wrestler who intimidates everyone at the station.

** One episode has a minor terrorist group, Black Monday, make a bomb threat and its mentioned that their previous bomb threat was real and knocked a TV station out the air. So the station is Johnny and Venus are sent to broadcast from the transmitter in the countryside while the building is evacuated and searched by the bomb squad. Then Les does a news update about Black Monday and mentions that there previous bombing didn't blow up the station ''but the transmitter building.'' Cue to everyone frantically trying to call Johnny and Venus out at the transmitter before its too late.

* {{Adorkable}}: Les.

* ReReleaseSoundtrack: Because of the expiration of all the license agreements regarding music, a significant number of songs (keep in mind this is a television show about a radio station) had to be cut for the original DVD release. The poor fan reception affected its sales, causing Fox to halt its DVD releases past the first season. The syndicated version also replaces a fair amount of its music. In 2014, Creator/ShoutFactory released the show on DVD in a complete series set. They cleared most of the music and used special new technology to replace background songs they couldn't clear (the show's raw soundtrack tapes are long gone).

* MultipleEndings: Season One episode ''The Contest Nobody Could Win'' had two endings made, changing the last few scenes. The primary difference was whether or not Johnny shows up at the climax and stops the con artist. If he does, he returns the money and asks for his $7.50 back. If he doesn't, the last scene reveals that he was docked $5000 to pay Don Pesola and has made a commercial to try and raise money from listeners.

** Subverted in "To Err Is Human" when Johnny rehearses Bailey in a ZanyScheme to steal some embarrassing ads featuring Venus, a plan that turns out not to be necessary when Andy solves the problem by calling the advertising client and explaining what happened.

** An hour long ClipShow special ''The WKRP 50th Anniversary Special'' aired the week before the revival series started. It featured a reporter interviewing Mr. Carlson about the station on its 50th (in-universe) anniversary.

* DarkSecret: In "Everyday Families," once Herb and his family start letting their guards down as the show's hosts are trying to dig up dirt on them, it's clear that all is not always happy in the Tarlek family. In the end, Tarlek kicks them out ... only for them to accept a(n apparently large) cash bonus for appearing live on the show and putting on their "one big happy family" faces.

** The DJ in "Johnny Comes Back" is taking payola to support his cocaine habit. Played with in the same episode, when to avoid complications Johnny tells Carlson the packet of white stuff is 'foot powder'. The Big Guy promptly tries it out... cue hilariously panicked stomping when he finds out the truth.

* EmbarrassingSlide: In one episode some of the staff make a pitch to land an important new advertising account. As part of this, Andy fires up the slide show: "...I have no idea where that pornographic slide came from."

** Subverted in what proved to be [[GrandFinale the series finale]], where Johnny confronts Mrs. Carlson about her betraying her son's success with WKRP over that tax break when she decides to switch to an "All-News" format. She relents and allows The Big Guy to keep the station as is.

** One episode has Andy lamenting that he ''hasn't'' actually turned the station around, but in the end realizing that in order to really do it, he would have had to fire Les, Herb, and Carlson, and he wouldn't want to work there without them. (Not to mention that firing Carlson is not possible considering he is officially Andy's boss, and the owner's son.)

* FreudianExcuse: Herb's father is the same sleazy, womanizing, bad-dressing con man he is. Herb, who worships his father, acts the way he does to live up to his dad's "impossible standard of excellence".

* GeekyAnalogy: Inverted, Venus teaches a streetwise teenager about the structure of the atom using gang references.

** At the Christmas Party no one eats the homemade brownies that Johnny brings...except for Mr Carlson. Later the brownies are implied to cause The Big Guy's YetAnotherChristmasCarol adventure.

* GoshDangItToHeck: In one episode, a group of senior citizens who liked the station's original format barge in to protest, shouting "Heck no, we won't go!"

** Happens to Venus in "Fish Story" where the disc jockeys take a RealLife on-the-air drinking test to show the effects of drunk driving -- but not to Johnny, whose years of substance abuse have made him [[ImmuneToDrugs immune to alcohol]].

* TheLastDJ: Johnny, who refuses to use the hit-heavy playlists Andy gives him, preferring his own instincts. It ends up paying off as by the end of the series Johnny is the #1 Morning DJ in the city.

** One two-part episode dealing with a bomb threat to the station climaxes with the bomb going off at the station transmitter, where Johnny and Venus had been working from because everyone originally thought it was planted at the main office. By the time they realise otherwise, nobody can get through to the transmitter (because Johnny broke the phone earlier in a fit of frustration) and when the station abruptly goes off the air due to the explosion, the entire main office staff is left standing around somberly, thinking they've just lost two friends. Suddenly Johnny comes running through yelling "You didn't see me!"[[note]]Because he thinks the whole thing was the 'phone cops' coming to get him for breaking the transmitter phone in the first place[[/note]] and diving over and behind the couch, followed much more slowly by a still-completely-stunned Venus.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Dr. Bob Halyers, the preacher who wants to censor radio stations, is Jerry Falwell in all but name.

* ObliviousToLove: In the season 2 opener "For Love Or Money," Johnny is oblivious to Bailey's crush on him. Reversed in the final season episode "Rumors," where Bailey is now the one oblivious to Johnny's feelings for her.
* OhTheHumanity: As turkeys begin falling from the sky in the "Turkeys Away" episode, Les Nessman's mounting horror during his on-the-spot coverage begins to echo the Hindenberg disaster more and more closely, eventually including the famous line.

* ThePrecariousLedge: When Les is MistakenForGay he decides to [[TalkingDownTheSuicide jump off the ledge of the building. Herb climbs out the window to talk him down,]] but meanwhile the station gets an apology call from the person who made the accusation. So Les now wants to live but is too petrified to move. The rest of the gang manage to bring him in, while Herb falls off and gets injured even though he falls into a FiremansSafetyNet (offscreen).

** An episode where Bailey fakes a news story is based on a then-recent scandal involving a ''Washington Post'' reporter who made up a fake child to be the focus of her story. Bailey even mentions the real-life ''Post'' reporter as an example of a similar situation.

'''Steel Hawthorne:''' Yeah, Steel Hawthorn.\\

* SplitPersonality: This happened to Johnny when he's hired to host a local TV show and finds his usual style doesn't mesh with the disco theme of the dance program. Refusing to go on as himself and embarrass his name, he dresses up and calls himself "Rip Tide" so he won't be associated with his DJ persona. When the dance show becomes popular and his Rip Tide self becomes the focus, Rip becomes a second personality which really begins to scare Johnny- especially since Rip is expressing interest in underage girls. Johnny eventually "kills" Rip by going on stage during one episode and insulting the show's audience, getting himself fired as host.

** When Herb sells air-time to a sports supplements store, Johnny and Venus are pegged to do the spots, but when they read the script, they believe the "supplements" are stimulants. Disgusted, they try to sabotage to ads by deliberately doing a bad job, only to backfire when the ads prove incredibly popular.

* TerriblePickUpLines: Johnny, Randy and Les follow Jennifer to a restaurant as she breaks up with a temporary boyfriend. They come over to cheer her up: Johnny and Randy give lame pickup lines. Jennifer asks Les for his; he smoothly sits down, picks up a drink, and says "Hello. I'm very wealthy."

* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: In the Revival, guest star Howard Hesseman as Dr. Johnny Fever from the first series had sold a {{pilot}} based on his time working at the station, but ExecutiveMeddling made him pull out of the project. For example: instead of ThisIsMySide, the Les Nessman character had real walls but a taped-out desk and sat on the floor. Because "it's funnier". After all, [[InherentlyFunnyWords "desk" has a "k" in it]].

--> '''Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come!Johnny''': Oh, lighten up, AC! There was nothing wrong with those brownies! Just beacuse it was Johnny, everyone jumps to the wrong conclusions. Poor Johnny. Always trying to do the right thing. Always misunderstood. [[OverlyLongGag Johnny was the kind of guy that always,--]]

* AlanSmithee: Early in the series, ExecutiveMeddling tried to force Hugh Wilson to take the show in a DenserAndWackier direction, which he didn't really want to do. Still, to appease them, he wrote "Fish Story", but didn't want his name on the episode, so it's credited to Raoul Plager.

* HelloNurse: Uh, Jennifer. She can avert the MaleGaze of pretty much ''any'' male, intentionally or otherwise.

* HotLibrarian: Bailey

* {{Meganekko}}: Bailey.

* SpitefulWill: One episode opens with Jennifer dating Colonel Buchanan, an older man who suddenly dies in the middle of dinner. When she attends his VideoWill reading, he gratuitously insults his relatives while granting her a large sum of money, which she announces will be used for a parade to honor veterans.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: All of the cast qualifies a little, but Les most of all. Not always a good thing, as his eccentricities often get him in trouble.

** Combining this with AbsurdlyYouthfulMother, Carol Bruce (Lillian "Mama" Carlson) was only 13 years older than Gordon Jump, who played her son. They looked practically the same age. Sylvia Sidney, who played Mama Carlson in the pilot, had a more realistic 22 years on Jump.