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When a Cincinnati radio station switches from sedate music to top-40 rock 'n' roll, its staff of oddball characters is forced to switch gears quickly. New programming director Andy Travis brings in a new DJ named Venus Flytrap to work with the station's burned-out veteran, Dr. Johnny Fever. Neurotic newsman Les Nessman, eager beaver Bailey Quarters, sleazy salesman Herb Tarlek, blonde bombshell Jennifer Marlowe, who serves as the station's ultra-capable receptionist, and station manager Arthur Carlson, whose domineering mother owns WKRP, round out the eccentric bunch.
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Cast & crew
Episodes
4 seasons · 90 episodesSeason 122 ep. · 1978–1979
Episode 1: Pilot (1)
Sep 18, 1978 · 25 min
Andy tries to convince WKRP's owner that rock and roll will cure the station's ailing ratings.
Episode 2: Pilot (2)
Sep 25, 1978 · 25 min
Andy faces a fiscal crisis: Carlson won't finance a breaking-in period for the new format.
Episode 3: Les On a Ledge
Oct 2, 1978 · 25 min
Les is barred from locker-room interviews when his manhood is questioned.
Episode 4: Hoodlum Rock
Oct 9, 1978 · 25 min
Andy books a rock band whose members attack their audiences.
Episode 5: Hold-Up
Oct 16, 1978 · 25 min
A broadcast from a stereo shop is disrupted by a holdup.
Episode 6: Bailey's Show
Oct 23, 1978 · 25 min
Bailey's show brings out the weirdest people in town.
Episode 7: Turkeys Away
Oct 30, 1978 · 25 min
Carlson thinks up a wacko Thanksgiving promotional gimmick.
Episode 8: Love Returns
Nov 6, 1978 · 25 min
Andy may have to leave WKRP when he rekindles his love for a touring rock star.
Episode 9: Mama's Review
Jan 15, 1979 · 25 min
In flashbacks, Andy and Carlson update WKRP's owner Mrs. Carlson on recent station happenings.
Episode 10: A Date With Jennifer
Jan 22, 1979 · 25 min
Les invites Jennifer to a banquet, then suspects she only accepted out of pity.
Episode 11: The Contest Nobody Could Win
Jan 29, 1979 · 25 min
Johnny accidentally offers listeners $5000 instead of $50 as a contest prize.
Episode 12: Tornado
Feb 5, 1979 · 25 min
A tornado strikes while Japanese businessmen are touring the station.
Episode 13: Goodbye, Johnny
Feb 19, 1979 · 25 min
Johnny is offered a job in California, so the staff devises a scheme to keep him in Cincinnati.
Episode 14: Johnny Comes Back
Feb 26, 1979 · 25 min
Johnny comes back to WKRP expecting to get his job back. Instead, he is assigned to the predawn show.
Episode 15: Never Leave Me, Lucille
Mar 5, 1979 · 25 min
Temporarily separated from his wife, Herb envisions a fanciful bachelorhood.
Episode 16: I Want to Keep My Baby
Mar 12, 1979 · 25 min
Johnny refuses to relinquish an abandoned baby left at WKRP until he can contact the mother.
Episode 17: A Commercial Break
Mar 26, 1979 · 25 min
Andy has doubts about an upbeat ad campaign for a mortician.
Episode 18: Who is Gordon Sims?
Apr 2, 1979 · 25 min
Venus refuses to pose for an ad because he's wanted by the law.
Episode 19: I Do, I Do... For Now
Apr 23, 1979 · 25 min
Jennifer tries to discourage a beau by revealing she's married--to Johnny Fever.
Episode 20: Young Master Carlson
Apr 30, 1979 · 25 min
Momma Carlson insists her grandson be allowed to roam around the station after he's booted out of military school.
Episode 21: Fish Story
May 28, 1979 · 25 min
Andy tells a journalist that WKRP is just a "run-of-the-mill" station, even though a staffer is running around in a "carp" suit.
Episode 22: Preacher
Jun 4, 1979 · 25 min
A wrestler turned preacher uses his radio sermon to sell merchandise.
Season 224 ep. · 1979–1980
Episode 1: For Love or Money (1)
Sep 17, 1979 · 25 min
Johnny forgets about his date with Bailey when he gets a call from Buffy, his old girlfriend from California. He borrows Jennifer's apartment to impress Buffy; however, that plan ends when she tells him she's suing him for palimony.
Episode 2: For Love or Money (2)
Sep 24, 1979 · 25 min
Johnny calls his friends over to Jennifer's apartment to help him deal with Buffy and her threat of a lawsuit. Buffy arrives and, after having a drink with Johnny, tells him that she put poison in his drink.
Episode 3: Baseball
Oct 15, 1979 · 25 min
The staff plays against the team from rival station WPIG in a softball game.
Episode 4: Bad Risk
Oct 22, 1979 · 25 min
Herb starts selling insurance as a sideline, and sells a comprehensive policy to Les, who promptly has an accident.
Episode 5: Jennifer Falls in Love
Oct 22, 1979 · 25 min
For the first time in her life, Jennifer is in love, with a penniless but handsome repairman who turns out to be even more of a gold digger than she is. Meanwhile, Les tries to get a raise, and Johnny becomes convinced that he's the man Jennifer is in love with.
Episode 6: Carlson for President
Nov 5, 1979 · 25 min
Mr. Carlson runs for Cincinnati City Council. When Bailey discovers a potentially damaging piece of information about the front-runner in the election, Mr. Carlson considers using that information in a televised debate.
Episode 7: Mike Fright
Nov 12, 1979 · 25 min
During a citywide garbage strike, Johnny jokingly suggests that his listeners dump their garbage on the steps of City Hall. The joke is on him, and the station, when hundreds of listeners take him seriously. Johnny becomes aware of his power and develops a serious case of mike fright.
Episode 8: The Patter of Little Feet
Nov 26, 1979 · 25 min
Mr. Carlson's wife Carmen announces that she is pregnant. Mr. Carlson is overjoyed, and certain that Carmen feels the same way. However, Mama Carlson points out the potential dangers of middle-aged pregnancy and recommends an abortion.
Episode 9: Baby, If You've Ever Wondered
Dec 3, 1979 · 25 min
The new ratings book arrives, and WKRP has climbed from 16th to 14th place in the Cincinnati market. Everyone is happy about the gain except Andy, who knows that the station has not improved enough, in part because of his own unwillingness to fire incompetent employees like Herb and Les.
Episode 10: Bailey's Big Break
Dec 10, 1979 · 25 min
When WKRP needs an assistant news reporter, Bailey applies for the job and gets it. Les, who doesn't want to work with anyone, least of all a woman, tries to keep Bailey from going on the air.
Episode 11: Jennifer's Home for Christmas
Dec 17, 1979 · 25 min
Jennifer tells her friends that she has nothing special planned for Christmas, and that she doesn't have a tree this year. Everyone begins to suspect that she might be alone for the holidays.
Episode 12: Sparky
Dec 24, 1979 · 25 min
Mr. Carlson hires legendary baseball manager Sparky Anderson as the host of a new sports interview show. But when the show proves a complete disaster, it falls to Mr. Carlson to fire his hero.
Episode 13: God Talks to Johnny
Dec 31, 1979 · 25 min
When Johnny thinks he's heard God's voice talking to him, everyone, including Johnny, thinks he's going insane.
Episode 14: A Family Affair
Jan 7, 1980 · 25 min
Andy's sister Carol visits Cincinnati, and Andy sets up a date for her and Johnny. But Carol winds up going out with Venus instead, and Andy becomes instinctively angry about it.
Episode 15: Herb's Dad
Jan 14, 1980 · 25 min
Herb's father, a lifelong salesman who shares Herb's taste in clothes, runs away from the Shady Hills Rest Home and visits the station.
Episode 16: Put Up or Shut Up
Jan 21, 1980 · 25 min
Bailey convinces Jennifer to accept a date with Herb in the hope that he'll get scared and back down.
Episode 17: The Americanization of Ivan
Jan 28, 1980 · 25 min
Bailey and Les attend a press conference given by a group of visiting Russian hog experts. One of the Russians falls for Bailey and asks her to help him defect to the United States.
Episode 18: Les' Groupie
Feb 4, 1980 · 25 min
Les goes out on a date with a female fan, who proceeds to move into his apartment and take over his life.
Episode 19: In Concert
Feb 11, 1980 · 25 min
At a concert by the Who in Cincinnati on December 3, 1979, eleven kids were trampled to death when the crowd rushed to get seats. The first part of this episode takes place before that concert; the second act takes place the day after, and presents the characters' reactions to the tragedy.
Episode 20: The Doctor's Daughter
Feb 18, 1980 · 25 min
Johnny's daughter shows up and moves in, and Johnny has to decide whether to express his disapproval of the shiftless boyfriend she's brought along.
Episode 21: Filthy Pictures (1)
Mar 3, 1980 · 25 min
Mr. Carlson convinces Jennifer and Andy to pose in bathing suits for a ""Surf's Up in Cincinnati"" poster. After the photo session, the photographer secretly takes nude photos of Jennifer while she's changing.
Episode 22: Filthy Pictures (2)
Mar 3, 1980 · 25 min
Mr. Carlson convinces Jennifer and Andy to pose in bathing suits for a ""Surf's Up in Cincinnati"" poster. After the photo session, the photographer secretly takes nude photos of Jennifer while she's changing.
Episode 23: Venus Rising
Mar 10, 1980 · 25 min
Venus is offered a job as program director of WREQ radio, but is disillusioned when he discovers how the station is run and why they want to hire him. Meanwhile, Herb circulates a rumor that he, too, has received a job offer.
Episode 24: Most Improved Station
Mar 31, 1980 · 25 min
Everyone starts bickering after the station loses a broadcasting award.
Season 322 ep. · 1980–1981
Episode 1: The Airplane Show
Nov 1, 1980 · 25 min
Trying to compete with WPIG's traffic helicopter, Les starts doing traffic reports from a World War I biplane piloted by a crazy war veteran.
Episode 2: Jennifer Moves
Nov 8, 1980 · 25 min
The staff helps Jennifer move into her new $125,000 house in the quiet suburb of Landersville. But she soon finds out that life in Landersville isn't as pleasant as she thought it would be.
Episode 3: Real Families
Nov 15, 1980 · 25 min
When Herb's family is featured in the show ""Real Families"", he is sure that they can serve as an example of a clean living family. Unfortunately, the image Herb wants to convey is different from the reality shown on screen.
Episode 4: The Baby
Nov 22, 1980 · 25 min
Mr. Carlson's wife goes into labor and the WKRP staffers all visit the hospital to be there when she gives birth.
Episode 5: Hotel Oceanview
Nov 29, 1980 · 25 min
Andy, Mr. Carlson and Herb visit Dayton to try and land the advertising account for Vicky Von Vickey jeans. While Mr. Carlson worries about the notorious Dayton poisoner, Herb romances an old high school acquaintance and Andy has trouble with his slide projector.
Episode 6: A Mile in My Shoes
Dec 6, 1980 · 25 min
When Herb is called for jury duty, Andy takes over as sales manager and soon discovers just how tough it is trying to sell advertising time or collect from deadbeat clients. Meanwhile, Venus becomes acting program director and has to deal with Les's plan to disguise himself as a black man so that he can do a series of reports based on the book Black Like Me.
Episode 7: Bah, Humbug
Dec 20, 1980 · 25 min
Once again, Mr. Carlson plans to give the staffers almost no Christmas bonuses. But in a dream brought on by eating one of Johnny Fever's brownies, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future visit him to show him the error of his ways.
Episode 8: Baby, It's Cold Inside
Jan 3, 1981 · 25 min
On a day when the furnace has broken down, Mama Carlson pays a surprise visit to the station and catches Johnny drinking in the broadcast booth.
Episode 9: The Painting
Jan 10, 1981 · 25 min
At Mr. Carlson's church auction, Herb buys a painting that Bailey loves. He tries to get Mr. Carlson or Bailey to buy it from him...until he learns that it might be valuable.
Episode 10: Daydreams
Jan 17, 1981 · 25 min
When Mr. Carlson rehearses a dull speech in front of the WKRP staff, all the staffers drift off into daydreams about what they would most like to be: Herb as a Latin-American dictator, Jennifer as a '30s movie star, Les as a reporter covering the Blitz in 1940, Bailey as the President of the United States, Andy as a radio Mafioso, Venus as a standup comedian, and Johnny as a rock star.
Episode 11: Frog Story
Jan 24, 1981 · 25 min
Herb has accidentally spray-painted his daughter's pet frog Greenpeace pink, and brings the frog to the station trying to find a way to save its life. Meanwhile, Les convinces Johnny that he is suffering from the dreaded ""schistosomiasis.""
Episode 12: Venus and the Man
Jan 31, 1981 · 25 min
The station's cleaning woman asks Venus to convince her big, tough teenage son not to drop out of school.
Episode 13: Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide: Part 1
Feb 7, 1981 · 25 min
Johnny signs a contract to host a music TV program unaware that the songs will be disco.
Episode 14: Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide: Part 2
Feb 7, 1981 · 25 min
Johnny signs a contract to host a music TV program unaware that the songs will be disco.
Episode 15: Ask Jennifer
Feb 14, 1981 · 25 min
When Herb's choice as host of a new call-in advice show proves unable to go on the air, Jennifer takes over and becomes an instant success.
Episode 16: I Am Woman
Feb 21, 1981 · 25 min
When it is announced that the Flimm Building is to be torn down, Bailey starts a campaign to have the building declared a Cincinnati landmark. Everyone pitches in to help, until Mr. Carlson gets his mother's permission to build a new and better building.
Episode 17: Secrets of Dayton Heights
Feb 28, 1981 · 25 min
The Secret Service refuses to grant Les credentials for a Presidential press conference, suspecting him of having radical affiliations. It turns out that the man who raised Les wasn't his father, and that his real father was a card-carrying Communist.
Episode 18: Out to Lunch
Mar 14, 1981 · 25 min
Herb's three-martini business lunches with an ad agency representative are causing him to mess up even more than usual, and it begins to seem that his use of alcohol as a sales tool is turning into a drinking problem.
Episode 19: A Simple Little Wedding
Mar 21, 1981 · 25 min
In honor of their 25th anniversary, Arthur and Carmen Carlson plan to get married again. They want a small, private ceremony, but Mama Carlson has other ideas.
Episode 20: Nothing to Fear But...
Mar 28, 1981 · 25 min
Everyone is in the grip of urban paranoia after the station is robbed.
Episode 21: Til Debt Do Us Part
Apr 5, 1981 · 25 min
When Johnny learns that his first ex-wife is planning to remarry, he is overjoyed at the thought of not having to pay alimony, and celebrates by inviting Bailey to take a trip with him. But he feels less happy about the situation when he meets the obnoxious womanizer his ex-wife is going to marry.
Episode 22: Clean Up Radio Everywhere
Apr 12, 1981 · 25 min
Dr. Bob Halyers, head of the organization Clean Up Radio Broadcasting (CURB), visits Mr. Carlson with a list of obscene songs that he wants the station to stop playing.
Season 422 ep. · 1981–1982
Episode 1: An Explosive Affair (Part 1)
Oct 7, 1981 · 25 min
After the station receives a bomb threat, Andy sends Johnny and Venus to broadcast from the transmitter tower while the station is being searched.
Episode 2: An Explosive Affair (Part 2)
Oct 14, 1981 · 25 min
Andy is unable to warn Johnny and Venus when he realizes that the bomb is at the transmitter.
Episode 3: The Union
Oct 21, 1981 · 25 min
The staff of WKRP considers joining a union. Mr. Carlson is furious and rushes to his mother for advice, while Andy tries to appear neutral in this labor-management conflict.
Episode 4: Rumors
Oct 28, 1981 · 25 min
While his apartment is being fumigated, Johnny accepts Bailey's offer to stay at her place, causing everyone at the station to think that the two are sleeping together. Johnny's also afraid that he's in danger of losing his time slot to Rex, the afternoon DJ, and when Bailey tries to cheer him up, he mistakes her friendliness for a come-on.
Episode 5: Straight from the Heart
Nov 4, 1981 · 25 min
Herb tells everyone that he's going on vacation, but Les and Jennifer discover that he's actually checked into the hospital for heart tests.
Episode 6: Who's on First?
Nov 11, 1981 · 25 min
With Herb in the hospital, Mr. Carlson pretends he is Herb and is impersonated by Les for an advertising client.
Episode 7: Three Days of the Condo
Nov 18, 1981 · 25 min
When Johnny receives $24,000 in a legal settlement, Venus convinces him to use the money to invest in a condominium at Gone With the Wind Estates.
Episode 8: Jennifer and the Will
Dec 2, 1981 · 25 min
Colonel Buchanan, Jennifer's elderly gentleman friend, dies suddenly. As executrix of his will, Jennifer must deal with the press and with the Colonel's money-grubbing, rumor mongering relatives.
Episode 9: The Consultant
Dec 30, 1981 · 25 min
Mama Carlson hires a professional radio consultant to evaluate WKRP. The man she's hired, Norris Breeze, is an old friend of Andy's who also runs a radio programming service. Andy soon realizes that Breeze intends to give the station a bad report unless it subscribes to the service.
Episode 10: Love, Exciting and New
Jan 6, 1982 · 25 min
Andy starts taking Mama Carlson out after hours in the hopes of getting her to pay for a new transmitter for the station. But he begins to suspect that she might have more-than-businesslike expectations of him.
Episode 11: You Can't Go Out of Town Again
Jan 13, 1982 · 25 min
Mr. Carlson goes with Carmen to a college reunion where he learns the disillusioning truth about how he and Carmen first met; Bailey is frustrated in her attempts to get a computer for billing; Venus can't get a moment alone in the booth with his latest date.
Episode 12: Pills
Jan 20, 1982 · 25 min
Herb sells ad spots to a seller of ""diet pills""; after it turns out that the pills are a legalized way of selling speed to teenagers, it also turns out that the station can't legally get out of running the ads.
Episode 13: Changes
Jan 27, 1982 · 25 min
When Venus learns that he's going to be interviewed by a militant black magazine, he adopts a new wardrobe and manner in order to seem more in touch with black culture. Meanwhile, Jennifer offers to change Herb's image, starting with picking out new, tasteful clothes for him.
Episode 14: Jennifer and Johnny's Charity
Feb 3, 1982 · 25 min
When a fire destroys the kitchen at the Vine Street Mission, Johnny recruits Jennifer to help raise the $40,000 dollars to rebuild it. Jennifer throws a party for her rich friends and asks them to contribute, and everything is going fine until the contributors meet the people involved.
Episode 15: I'll Take Romance
Feb 17, 1982 · 25 min
Herb fixes Les up with a date through his latest client, the I'll Take Romance Dating Service. Les hits it off with his date immediately, not knowing that the dating service is a front for prostitution.
Episode 16: Circumstantial Evidence
Feb 24, 1982 · 25 min
Venus's latest date gives him an expensive diamond earring as a gift and then runs out on him; it turns out that she's a thief who has used the stolen earring to frame Venus as her accomplice.
Episode 17: Fire
Mar 17, 1982 · 25 min
Herb and Jennifer are trapped in an elevator when a fire breaks out in the Flimm Building.
Episode 18: Dear Liar
Mar 24, 1982 · 25 min
When Bailey writes a news story on the Northside Children's Clinic, Les steals it and reads it on the air. This turns out to be a blow to the station's integrity in more ways than one when Bailey admits that she fictionalized part of the story.
Episode 19: The Creation of Venus
Mar 31, 1982 · 25 min
When Venus lets it slip that he was a schoolteacher before he came to WKRP, Andy has to tell Mama Carlson the truth about how he hired Gordon Sims as a DJ and how they came up with the persona of Venus Flytrap.
Episode 20: The Impossible Dream
Apr 7, 1982 · 25 min
On his birthday, Les announces that he's going to New York to pursue his dream of becoming a world-famous broadcast journalist by auditioning for The CBS Evening News.
Episode 21: To Err is Human
Apr 14, 1982 · 25 min
After Herb screws up an important advertising account, Mr. Carlson finally intends to fire him, but Jennifer takes pity on Herb and tries to help him keep his job.
Episode 22: Up and Down the Dial
Apr 21, 1982 · 25 min
Just as WKRP hits #6 in the ratings, Mama Carlson announces that she plans to switch the format of the station to 24 hours a day of news.


















