The New WKRP in Cincinnati

The New WKRP in Cincinnati
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Hugh Wilson Buzz Sapien (director)
Starring	Gordon Jump Richard Sanders Frank Bonner Mykelti Williamson Tawny Kitaen French Stewart
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	47
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Various (syndicated)
Original run	14 September 1991 – 1993
Chronology
Preceded by	WKRP in Cincinnati

The New WKRP in Cincinnati is a sequel/spin-off of the original CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. It was made for the syndication market from 1991 to 1993.

Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson), Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek), and Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) reprised their roles from the original show. Other original cast members came in for guest spots, with Loni Anderson (Jennifer Marlowe) returning for two episodes, Tim Reid (D.J. Venus Flytrap) for one episode, and Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever) appearing in nine episodes total (four in the first season, five in the second), as well as directing several other episodes.

Synopsis

The character of Arthur Carlson, Jr., returns as an adult, but Sparky Marcus did not return to reprise the role that he had played as a ten-year-old in one episode of the original series. Newcomer Lightfield Lewis was signed on to assume the role of the character, modeled much after the Herb Tarlek character from the original series. Like Tarlek and his father before him, Art Jr. works as an advertising sales rep for WKRP, presumably grooming him to take over the business from his father.

The show underwent many cast changes during its run, and ended in 1993 after two seasons and 47 episodes (though it ran for another year in repeats on VH-1). Among the other notable actors that were cast members on the show were Mykelti Williamson as program director Donovan Aderhold, Tawny Kitaen as late night D.J. Mona Loveland, and French Stewart, who joined the cast in the second season as morning D.J. Razor Dee.

In the first season, Michael Des Barres played Jack Allen, half of the "Burns and Allen" (a play on George Burns and Gracie Allen) morning show. Des Barres had played Sir Charles "Dog" Weatherby, frontman for the fictional band "Scum of the Earth" in the "Hoodlum Rock" episode of the original series.

The familiar opening and closing themes from its parent series were retained; while a new arrangement/recording was used for the opening theme, the closing theme was the same version heard on the original series.

The series followed up on some details left unaddressed in the original series. For example, the actual frequency of WKRP was never revealed in the original series. In this version, the station is identified as being at 1530 AM, the actual home of WSAI (now WCKY), also licensed to Cincinnati.^[1]

Main characters

• Arthur Carlson (Gordon Jump), occasionally called the "Big Guy," is the middle-aged general manager, whose main qualification for the job is that his business tycoon mother is the owner. His bumbling, indecisive management is one of the main reasons the station is unprofitable, although he is a decent man and something of a father-figure to his employees.
• Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner), the boorish, tasteless advertising sales manager, wears loud plaid suits, with his belt matching his white shoes. Though he can't land the big accounts, he displays a remarkable talent of collecting from deadbeat clients. While Herb is portrayed as buffoonish most of the time, he does occasionally show a sympathetic side, particularly towards Art Jr., whom he feels he needs to protect though there's no love lost between the two. Tarlek was based on radio executive Clark Brown.
• Arthur Carlson Jr. (Lightfield Lewis), the rookie advertising executive, groomed to one day take over the management of WKRP after his father retires. Pompous and arrogant (but angelic in his father's presence), he's much like Herb, but lacks Herb's experience when it comes to dealing with potential problem clients, proving himself to be no more competent. His own personality is the complete opposite of his father's: where his father is passive but will stand up for himself and others when pushed, Art Jr. is aggressive but quickly backs down when confronted.
• Les Nessman (Richard Sanders), the fastidious, bow-tied news reporter, approaches his job with absurd seriousness, despite being almost totally incompetent. For instance, he mispronounces golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez's name as "Chy Chy Rod-ri-gweeze". Les is forever trying to win the fictitious Ohio radio news trophy, the "Buckeye Newshawk Award" (though he has already won five times), as well as the "coveted Silver Sow Award" for excellence in farm news, particularly hog reports. He is best friends with fellow employee Herb Tarlek. To protest not having an office of his own, he has marked where walls would be with tape on the floor around his desk, and mimics opening a door whenever he enters or leaves. Mr. Carlson and Herb humor him by "knocking" (clicking their heels together while making a knocking motion with their hands) before entering.
• Donovan Aderhold (Mykelti Williamson), the station's new program director. He arrives at WKRP after the former program director is fired. He has also worked with former WKRP morning DJ Dr. Johnny Fever at a radio station in Pittsburgh.
• Mona Loveland (Tawny Kitaen), the station's new nighttime DJ, hired by Aderhold. Beautiful and talented, Mona is also exceptionally intelligent, much like Jennifer Marlowe in the original series. Her dilemma is that though she longs for male companionship, she enjoys her freedom and dedication to her career. Like Jennifer was with Herb, she finds herself constantly rebuffing advances from Art Jr.
• Buddy Dornster (John Chappell), the station's hopelessly lazy chief engineer. He is the brother of Bucky Dornster, who held the same job on the original WKRP and was played twice (on "Holdup" and "Baseball") by series head writer Bill Dial, who reprised the role once in a cameo on the revival. Buddy has served alongside Carlson in the Korean War, and has some shell-shock tendencies, such as diving for cover suddenly when Jack Allen yells "Incoming!" in his direction. John Chappell appeared as Reverend Drinkwater in the "Preacher" episode of the original WKRP.
• Claire Hartline (Hope Alexander-Willis), the station's traffic and continuity director. Unlike her predecessor, Bailey Quarters, Claire's role is that of her job title, unlike Bailey's eventually expanded role as midday and afternoon news anchor and part-time field reporter. Claire is often sarcastic (like the Bailey character evolved into later in the original series), but kind and levelheaded, one of the few competent employees at the station.
• Ronnie Lee (Wendy Davis), the station's attractive receptionist. She finds a kindred spirit in Donovan, as they are the only two black employees at the station. Though Herb for the most part leaves her alone, she often finds herself rebuffing his advances.
• Jack Allen (Michael Des Barres), half of the station's "Burns and Allen"-style morning show with Dana Burns. Their on-air chemistry is similar to George Burns and Gracie Allen, but both are at each other's throats off the air, largely due to their impending divorce. Despite their constant bickering, both know that outside of their morning show together, neither has much of a future in the radio business. They are replaced by Razor Dee in the final season of the series.
• Dana Burns (Kathleen Garrett), half of the station's "Burns and Allen"-style morning show with Jack Allen.
• Mrs. Carlson (Carol Bruce) is Arthur Carlson's ruthless, domineering mother and the owner of WKRP. An extremely successful and rich businesswoman, her only regret is that her approach to parenting (the "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" school of child-rearing) backfired; her son ended up indecisive, weak-willed and afraid of her. She makes her debut in the new series after the series of events that led to the firing of Donovan's predecessor, where she tells Arthur that she has agreed to sell the station to a new owner. Carlson foils her attempt to sell the station with his former receptionist Jennifer's help.

Critical reception

Several critics of the show railed against the thought of continuing the original series, and it premiered to a mix of positive and negative reviews. Among the negative reviews from broadcast professionals was the charge that the station, broadcasting on the AM band, was still playing Rock 'n Roll music in the early 1990s, long after FM was established as the industry's leading band.

The series, contrary to the belief of some, was not canceled due to large monetary losses. Despite the challenges of syndication, which included varying airtimes (sometimes late at night) in various markets, the series was able to operate in the black, but not producing a profit substantial enough to investors backing it financially.^[2]

References

1. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101153 IMDB entry for "The New WKRP in Cincinnati
2. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101153 IMDB entry for "The New WKRP in Cincinnati

External links

• The New WKRP in Cincinnati at the Internet Movie Database
• The New WKRP in Cincinnati at TV.com