Favorite Episode…?
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tagster — 19 years ago(April 06, 2006 06:31 AM)
I also liked the one where some scummy photographer took naked pictures of Jennifer when she was changing clothes and Johnny and Bailey ('Ginger Grigg') had to go get the photos back.
I loved the interactions between Mama Carlson and her butler Hersh.
I always laugh when I hear 'Chances Are' by Johnny Mathis, because in the one where Les takes Jennifer out, and they end up at his place, he asks her if she would like to hear a record and he goes over to his turntable, and there's a big wire record rack with only 'a record' in it. and his one record was Johnny Mathis.
Some memorable quotes:
'Soap you can see through!'
Q: 'Where do these stairs lead?' A:'Up.'
'Community Green Belt'
'Silver Sow Award'
'attle-minded and obtuse'
'He's a hard worker, loyal family man, and all-around great guy!'
'Disco is.'
AND, I totally remember that funeral home episode, and the 'Hey! You're young and swingin' - no time to think about tomorrow' song.
and nobody beats The Riz! -
StevenMars — 19 years ago(May 02, 2006 04:41 PM)
Wow! You guys are amazing. It's been a quarter of a century since many of those episodes aired and you remember them in greater detail than I would have thought possible.
I had the great fortune of working on the show and writing some of the episodes you've talked about hereAn Explosive Affair and Filthy Pictures. (How do you know the titles since we never broadcast them?)
It's really too bad that there will never be a legal DVD collection because of the music rights issue. There would be a real demand for it, I believe. Notice I said a "legal" collection because there are bootleg ones all over e-Bay. No residuals for us in those, but at least people can still see the show.
Thanks for the memories! -
PeaceChild — 19 years ago(May 03, 2006 04:35 PM)
What an honor to be able to say you worked on such a wonderful show!
I have a bootleg set out of desperation, but I would buy up a legal set in a heartbeat, as I'm sure many others would.
By the by, I know that you were with Just the Ten of Us, which also featured work from Frank Bonner (of whom I'm a big fan). Would love to see that show on DVD, as well. -
StevenMars — 19 years ago(May 07, 2006 05:42 PM)
Yes, my partner and I co-created Just the Ten of Us. The network wanted a "Growing Pains" spin off, but we weren't willing to spin any of our regulars off. But Bill Kirchenbauer had made many appearances as Mike's drama teacher, the hapless P.E. coach who ended up substituting for just about any class, including French, (even though he didn't speak it). He was a very funny man and we decided to create an outside life for him and make that the new show.
We are presently trying to convince Warner Bros. TV to release Just the Ten of Us on DVD. I'm amazed that people still talk about it all these years later, but there does seem to be a market for it. -
ruggedrascal — 19 years ago(May 08, 2006 04:43 AM)
What makes me reluctant to pick up the bootleg DVDs is that I suspect they're from the old syndication versions which would mean that most of the music would be intact but 3-4 minutes would be cut out of every episode. And WKRP got really murdered by the syndication cutters. (Whose crazy idea was it to cut Bailey's daydream out of "Daydreams?") The Comedy Network in Canada used to show many episodes without syndication cuts, but with those terrible '90s music changes.
The only way to create a really good bootleg set of WKRP DVDs would be for collectors to pool their resources and make a composite of uncut tapes with the original music from the old syndication package, but I'm not even sure if that's possible.
I have to wonder whether it might someday be possible for Fox to put together some kind of DVD set of WKRP they know there's huge demand for it and music-heavy shows have managed to get released when there's sufficient demand (Freaks and Geeks). -
tagster — 19 years ago(May 08, 2006 03:07 PM)
Hey StevenMars,
That's so cool that you worked on and wrote some episodes of WKRP! It's the only TV program that my whole family quotes to each other when we all get together..very funny and memorable stuff!
I wondered if there were issues regarding music rights that prevents the DVD release that's really unfortunate.
and nobody beats The Riz! -
ruggedrascal — 19 years ago(May 17, 2006 09:15 AM)
What's certain is that if WKRP is ever released on DVD (and that's a big "if"), some of the music will have to be replaced I could see them taking out some of the short snippets from the songs the DJs play but keeping the songs that are either announced by the DJs or actually used in the scene (e.g. "Tiny Dancer" or "Goodbye Stranger" or "Hot Blooded"), and getting the costs down that way. In the Turkey episode, I could live with them replacing the song Johnny plays just after the drop (there's only about three seconds of it) if they kept Pink Floyd's "Dogs."
I don't even know if that much is possible, but I think that's the only hope at this point. -
ruggedrascal — 19 years ago(May 17, 2006 11:52 AM)
The thing is, an industry standard method is never going to be established, so when it comes to WKRP the choice will be between a) Never having it on DVD at all, or b) Having it on DVD with some bits of music replaced but the important music remaining. I would accept that. Other shows have already come to DVD with some music replacements and the fans were more or less OK with it ("Roswell" comes to mind).
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happipuppi13 — 13 years ago(July 21, 2012 03:05 PM)
I know most people just "love" "Turkey's,Away!"
but,while I do like it,I like these ones even better.
Season 1 :
Part 2 of the pilot. When the protesters move in, especially Johnny telling the two old people "Up Agaisnst The Wall!"
Les On A Ledge - All those near misses but then it's Herb who falls.
Bailey's Show - With the Dr. who has nutty ideas about child psychology!
Love Returns - Very touching and well acted episode on all counts.
A Date With Jennifer - Les going out with Jennifer! I;m sure that's all the writer of the script had to say. (On the CBS airing) Les putting on that wig to "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner.
Tornado is also a favorite. Love Herb cowering under his desk & Johnny freaking out and Jennifers CPR!
Touched by "Uncle Arthur helping the little girl get to her basement to be safe.
The 2 part show about Johnny going to L.A. & retuning to find a DJ on the take (payola).
Lucille 7 Herb possibly getting divorced,much to Jennifer's horror!
A woman leaves a baby to Johnny. (At the end of the show,on CBS,Johnny played "You're Smiling Face" by James Taylor.)
Who Is Gordon Sims?
Venus is forced to confess his real name, and the fact that he is wanted for desertion from the Army , fromwhen he was in Vietnam.
FISH Story is hilarious!! If not kind of retro-slapstick. Herb in that fish suit & having to go to the bathroom.
Season 2 : The Baseball Episode
Carlson runs for city ccounsel.
The show where Johny jokingly,tells people to throw trash on the steps of city hall & they actually do it.
Les doesn;t want Bailey to join his newscast.
God Talks To Johnny - Johnny thnks he heard God tell him to play golf.
Les's Groupie - A woman who "loves" Les's show,takes over his life. I love the scene where she starts taking the tape off the floor & Les freaks out.
When a photographer sneaks illicit nude shots of Jennifer,while she changes from a photo shoot. The guys break into his offie to get them back. (butno peeking!)Season 3 :
When Les gets taken hostage on a small airplane by it's pilot who is mad that people only think of Vetran's Day asa day off from work.
"Real Families" - A brilliant idea for an epsiode back in 1980. Herb;s family is followed by a camera crew,showing their everyday life. (Which Herb tries to fake). The show was virtually a prediction of the "reality shows" we know today.
Bah,Humbug - Yeah,another TV show doing the Scrooge thing but it's done with great originality. When Mr. Carlson goes to the future,"old" Herb is the only employee left at WKRP because the station is "automated".
In Concert :
The episode that paid homage to the WHO fans that got trampled at an open seating concert in Cincoinatti for real on Dec 3, 1979.
11 young people died and scores more were injured as a tightly packed crowd of thousands tried to enter the few open doors of was then called Riverfront Coliseum to see The Who.
(Quite ironic this showing debuting just over a year before that.)
Daydreams - The staff,while bored,has daydreams.
Best one,Jennifer's romantic fantasy man is approaching
her in her room but the next shot reveals it's Les!
Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide Pt.'s 1 & 2 :
Johnny becomes "Rip Tide" for a TV
disco dance show and the new personality begins to take over.
Ask Jennifer : Jennifer fills i nat the last minute for a dradio advice show,when the host faints. She gives a woman advice to stand up to her husband & the woman calls back the nrext day,telling "Annie",that he had physically beatenher.
Season 4 :
An Explosive Affair 1 & 2 : WKRP gets a bomb threat.
Jennifer and the Will :
When an elderly gentleman friend of Jennifer's dies, the man's family blames her for stealing his fortune. (Sounds like what happened to Anna Nicole Smith)
The Consultant : Where everyone acts inept around the man Mama Carlson hired to evalute the staff. Love Bailey doing the Nestle's chocolate song.
Pills The station sells some new commercial spots to a diet company whose 'magic pills' are not as innocuous as they seem. A teen boy ends up OD'ing on them.
happipuppi13
arf,man!! -
turtleturk — 19 years ago(July 04, 2006 12:29 AM)
Whoever wrote the John Lennon-Imagine episode was absolutely Orwellian. With the religious right trying to shove their views down supposedly free American's throats today, the episode was very much ahead of it's time. It was true to life when it was first on the airwaves, but I think it would stand out even more today. It may never be the episode that people remember as the funniest (The Turkey Drop is the hands down winner there), but I think it was the greatest episode. The Who episode was well done and timely as well. I know people dig the Turkey Drop for laughs, but I have to say that the two parter with Johnny thinking the Phone Cops were after him had me laughing out loud. And to squeeze one more in with a shoe horn: When Les' girlfriend moved in and turned his living room furniture setup into the bridge of The Enterprise, pulled up his office outline tape and tossed his "Silver Sow" in the garbage, it was hard to forgetobviously. Take care all and keep your fingers crossed that the greedy artists and publishers finally give in and think something is better than nothing and get reasonable. Turtleturk OOOOPS! Just one more: Died laughing when The Big Guy realized that he put Jeff Altman's cocaine in his shoes, thinking it was foot powder.
"It's not the ups and downs that make life difficult, it's the jerks." Charles Chaplin -
JakeFromJersey — 19 years ago(July 17, 2006 01:41 PM)
First, of course, the Turkey episode, if I may quote my quote in my signer:
"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
The second best Arthur Carlson line, from the dirty pictures episode, after the guys have broken into the photographer's lab:
"I drive a Dodge, for God's sake!"
"As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."
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seancharles — 19 years ago(July 24, 2006 11:24 AM)
You guys have named some of the best episodes. HOWEVER, my favorite is still the one where a tornado hits Cincinnati. Les can not find the emergency file for tornados so Andy tells him to the read the "If Communist's invade" file but replace communist with tornado. That is absolutely classic.
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topgun4321 — 19 years ago(August 12, 2006 11:10 AM)
It really is hard for me to pick one "favorite" episode. Some episodes that stand out are:
The "Real Families" episode. A TV show chronicles a day (or was it a week? I can't remember) of Herb Tarlek's life. Do you remember the main quote of that episode? It was what Herb told his co-workers to say about him: "He's a hard worker, loyal family man, and all-around great guy!"
Another favorite episode of mine is where Herb dressed as a fish and a guy from WPIG (WKRP'S rival station) who is dressed as a pig. Herb and the pig end up having a fight with each other in the men's room. The funny line from that show was during the fight when Bailey hears the commotion and walks into the mens room. Les then says in his shocked voice: "Bailey! You're not suppose to know what it looks like in here!!" lol. That is also the same episode where they are doing a test on the air with Johnny and Venus of how alcohol affects a person's reaction time. Venus fairly quickly gets drunk, but Johnny has no problem holding his liquor. Well, during that time the WPIG pig guy goes to the WKRP office to file a complaint on Herb. To make a long story short, he is left alone in the office and finds a can of red paint and begins to messily paint all over the walls. During a radio commercial break, Johnny is walking back to the studio after a trip to the restroom (liquor will do that to ya. lol.) and sees the pig painting the wall. He then at that point starts staggering back to the studio - thinking he MUST be drunk - and tells his listeners he is now drunk because he "just seen a pig painting the office walls". What a great episode!
There are so many great episodes that I could write for pages here. Probably the strangest episode was the "God Talks To Johnny" episode. When Johnny thinks he's heard God's voice talking to him, everyone, including Johnny, thinks he's going insane. Unusual episode.
A quote that me and my brother sometimes quote is when Herb walks into the office and mentions something about having lunch. I can't remember exactly why and what the situation was, but for some reason after Herb mentioned the word "lunch" it made Les go crazy. After Herb said the word lunch, Les then hollered the word, "LUNCH!" and then attacked Herb and started choking him. Now whenever my brother happens to say the word "lunch", I do my best Les Nessman impersonation and holler, "LUNCH!". However, I don't actually go through with the choking part
Oh yes, WKRP is greatness. -
PeaceChild — 19 years ago(August 12, 2006 12:59 PM)
The lunch bit is in "Most Improved Station" which is one of my favorite episodes. Everybody is on edge because they've just lost the award for most improved station. Herb and Les are talking in the bullpen, and Herb insults Les ("a wimp - a jerk, a crybaby, a weakling, a nobody"). Les gets angry, Herb casually asks him to lunch to try and break the tension, and then Les attacks with "LUNCH!" One of my favorite lines that I say randomly to make myself laugh comes a moment later, when Andy walks in on Les attacking Herb and he says, "Herb, will you quit pickin' on Les?!" Brilliant. I love everything about that episode.
As for favorites, any episode about Herb, but that's just me Put Up or Shut Up, Frog Story, definitely Real Families. "Herb Tarlek is a hard worker, loyal husband, and an all around fine person." I have a lot of favorites. Tornado, Most Improved Station, The Consultant are all wonderful ensemble episodes. When a series is so consistently good, it's hard to pick specific episodes as favorites.