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WKRP in Cincinnati Season 1 Episodes
Season 1 Episode Guide
22 Episodes 1978 - 1979
Episode 1
Pilot: Part 1
Mon, Sep 18, 197825 mins
Andy Travis joins the crew at WKRP in Cincinnati as Program Manager from Santa Fe and decides to shake things up. First, he changes the music format from Muzak/Swing to Rock and Top 40. DJ Johnny Caravella morphs into Dr. Johnny Fever, to dispense the perfect prescription for his "fellow babies." Next, Andy hires night-time sensation, Dr. Venus Flytrap, from New Orleans...probably away from 870 AM.
Episode 2
Pilot: Part 2
Mon, Sep 25, 197825 mins
Andy and the crew work the new format. The changes puzzle the conservative Les Nessman and terrify lazy, unimaginative Herb Tarlick, who is totally motivated by money. When certain advertisers and a bloc of blue hairs threaten a boycott, Mr. Carlson is pulled in two directions: is Andy Travis right or is WKRP doomed?
Episode 3
Les on a Ledge
Mon, Oct 2, 197825 mins
A fellow reporter refers to Les as a "queer duck" when Les demonstrates his usual lack of understanding about sports and one of the athletes misunderstands and gets Les banned from the locker room. When Les finds out, he reacts badly. But, at least he learns who his friends are...
Episode 4
Hoodlum Rock
Mon, Oct 9, 197825 mins
Since coming to WKRP, Andy has wanted the station to promote a rock concert for further exposure of the format change. Andy believes Mr. Carlson doesn't quite understand what he wants to do when he suggests talking to his old friend, Steve Pievy, a local concert promoter, who doesn't look like he would know a rock band if he was run over by one. Much to Andy's surprise, Pievy does have the rights to book one of the hottest new British rock bands who Andy would love to have as the WKRP promoted act: Scum of the Earth. In booking Scum, Andy lays out a plan which includes Venus interviewing the three members of the band - Blood, Dog and Nigel - on the air and emceeing the concert itself, while Andy would act as their official liaison to the station. Andy will find that the old adage about the best laid plans may come into play here as the band's suit-attired appearance, proper tea-sipping and outward polite demeanor belies their less than gentlemanly behavior in almost every other respect in epitomizing what they call hoodlum rock, which at its core is violence. As with any situation, Andy, Venus and Johnny, as the front line for the station, will have to find the right buttons to push to get the band to do what they want, the questions being whether they can find those buttons and if so if they are prepared to press them in their less than professional nature, regardless of the success of the venture if viewed solely by ticket sales and station exposure. What may factor into at least Andy's decision is showing a growingly skeptical Mr. Carlson that they did the right thing by promoting Scum.
Episode 5
Hold Up
Mon, Oct 16, 197824 mins
Going mano a mano with each other using their respective sales tactics, Herb is able to sell Del Murdock, owner/manager of Del's Stereo and Sound, for some advertising time on the station, the primary piece being for the station to hold a three-hour midday remote broadcast at the store to advertise a sale at the time, in return Herb personally "buying" some stereo equipment from Del, whose store is more often than not devoid of customers. Despite what Herb had negotiated which is for him to do the remote, Andy and Mr. Carlson decide that one of the on air personalities should do it, Johnny the most appropriate person. In the lead up to and during the remote, things go from bad to worse when Buckey, the union protected station engineer, who is setting up the remote, causes problems on more than one front, when the station remote does not bring the customers in as Del had hoped (seeing that it is WKRP, #16 in the 18 station market), and finally as the first customer in the store proceeds to hold them up, with only Del, Johnny and Buckey on site. If most specifically Andy, but perhaps Mr. Carlson or Herb, was able to see or hear the voice of the hold-up man, they would probably recognize him and understand his ulterior motive in this action.
Episode 6
Bailey's Show
Mon, Oct 23, 197825 mins
Public Service Announcements (PSAs) at WKRP were all about forest fires before Bailey had her big idea: "Cincinnati Beat," where regular citizens are interviewed by the resident Doctor. Bailey is excited to be producing the show. But, when all of the prospective guests turn out to be freaks, aliens and weirdoes, Bailey has a crisis of confidence.
Episode 7
Turkeys Away
Mon, Oct 30, 197824 mins
This is the signature episode, the one that first comes to mind when one thinks of WKRP in Cincinatti. On air, Dr. Johnny Fever tells his fellow babies about Turkey Day doings. Out on the streets, "oh the humanity"... Mr. Carlson stages a top-secret holiday promotion and ends up ruffling a lot of feathers.
Episode 8
Love Returns
Mon, Nov 6, 197825 mins
Bailey is jealous when an old girlfriend of Andy, country singer, Linda Taylor, shows up in Cincinatti on a concert tour. Linda wants Andy to quit the station and go with her on tour. Can Andy leave what he tried so hard to build? A "Date the DJ" promo for Linda's concert works out better for Venus than Johnny.
Episode 9
Mama's Review
Mon, Jan 15, 197925 mins
Mr. Carlson and Andy are entering into their quarterly review meeting with Mrs. Carlson, this being the first for Andy and the first since the format change. As such, Mr. Carlson, despite preparing a week for the meeting, is dreading facing his mother more than usual. They end up discussing the success or failure of the format change, what they have done to promote it, and how the change has affected their listeners, their advertisers and the staff. Perhaps more importantly, they discuss the role of each of the employees in that success or failure. Despite the quirks of each of the staff members, Mr. Carlson timidly but vehemently defends his employees. With Mr. Carlson's defense of the staff, Mrs. Carlson may see that the problem is at the top if she does deem the events of the past quarter a failure. By the end of the meeting, Andy, as the newcomer to these meetings, may learn Mrs. Carlson's hidden agenda, not only with this meeting but all the quarterly meetings and the way she deals with her son.
Episode 10
A Date with Jennifer
Mon, Jan 22, 197925 mins
Mr. Carlson has been on a tear writing memo after memo instituting new station policies. Amidst Mr. Carlson's memo-writing, Les announces that he has won the "coveted" Silver Sow award. Regardless of the cost cutting measures he's announced in memos, Mr. Carlson says that the station will pay for tickets to the awards banquet for Les and his date. With cues around him making him feel like he has no chance with women, Les asks any of the guys, like Herb or Andy, if they'd like to go to the banquet with him. Taking the bulls by the horns, Herb, as Les' pal, shows him how to ask women out so that he can get a real date for the banquet. Despite or because of Herb's smarmy pick-up tactics, Les is able to secure a date, specifically with Jennifer, who in large part wants to show Herb that decency, and not smarm, is what works. Les, in turn, wants to be what he considers a real man when he has Jennifer on his arm. Herb does a one hundred eighty degree turn in doing whatever he can to make the date with Jennifer not happen in his jealousy, he using an unwitting Mr. Carlson as his unsuspecting pawn.
Episode 11
The Contest Nobody Could Win
Mon, Jan 29, 197925 mins
Andy is able to convince Mr. Carlson to place some money for contest giveaways into the promotions budget. That plan goes awry when Johnny, in introducing on the air the first contest, which is to name the six songs in order of a spliced-together audio clip, mistakenly announces that the giveaway prize is $5000 instead of the actual $50.00. This gaffe could potentially mean both Johnny and Andy's job. However, Venus comes up with a plan that he and Andy feel could save that $5000 from being given away at all, that plan which Mr. Carlson decides is worth implementing. Will the plan work? Meanwhile, in the station turmoil and the possibility of both Johnny and Andy leaving, Herb feels it's time for the "suits" (he, Les and Mr. Carlson) to retake command the office from the "dungarees" (Johnny and Andy), this situation in place ever since Andy's arrival on the scene. The "suits" show how well they can take command in relation to the contest.
Episode 12
Tornado
Mon, Feb 5, 197925 mins
On a day that a group of non-English speaking Japanese executives are touring the station with their non-Japanese speaking Hispanic interpreter, a tornado warning is issued for the Cincinnati area. The problem is that no one at the station, including Les the newsman, are aware of the tornado warning until the first one hits and Andy gets injured, as Herb, annoyed by the sound, unplugged the teletype machine as news of the tornado warning was coming through. The staff at the station has to ensure that their guests are safe under the circumstances, which is easier said than done as some of the staff are scared out of their minds about the tornado to be of any real use to others. The cooler heads have to find then enact the station's disaster plan, with Les' civil defense report, on which he was working earlier in the day, possibly the closest thing they are going to come to an actual disaster plan. Enacting a disaster plan and getting that news on the air may be crucial not only in saving their own lives but that of their listening audience, some who may be at greater risk or be especially vulnerable and thus in need that sage and calm guidance.
Episode 13
Goodbye Johnny
Mon, Feb 19, 197924 mins
Among the items of contention at the station are Herb and Bailey's differing opinions about general copy for advertising spots. This and other issues end up being overshadowed by the reason that Johnny is singing "It's a Lovely Day Today" despite the snowy weather outside: he has been offered a DJ job at a station in Los Angeles, a station in direct competition to his old station. He plans to accept the job, it not an issue of money, but rather redemption in showing his old station that they made a mistake in firing him. Getting away from the unseasonally snowy weather is just a side benefit. Andy and Venus in particular are determined to keep Johnny at WKRP. If money is not the issue, they figure that they need to trick him in wanting to stay. With a plan devised and executed, will it make Johnny change his mind?
Episode 14
Johnny Comes Back
Mon, Feb 26, 197925 mins
With Johnny gone to his new DJ job in Los Angeles, Andy has to find a permanent replacement for the morning slot as much as the task pains him in the fact of losing Johnny. With some surprising help from Murray Gressler, the rep for Onslaught Records, he who has had a tumultuous relationship with the station, Andy, who is having a hard time finding anyone appropriate for the slot, ends up hiring Doug Winner, a former DJ getting back into the business after a stint at college. Five days after the hiring, an unemployed Johnny, fired from his LA job for saying another banned phrase on the air, returns to WKRP looking for his old job back. Unwilling to let Doug go without cause which Johnny understands, Andy can only give Johnny the dreaded overnight midnight to 6AM slot, which doesn't mesh with Johnny's high energy on air personality. Needing to reestablish himself somewhere, Johnny has no other option but to accept the offer. Doug's arrival at the station receives a mixed reception, with some being on his side, while others believe there's something not quite right with him. In the end as the staff learns which side Doug truly falls, Mr. Carlson becomes the unwitting recipient of some materials outside his comfort zone which may determine Doug's fate at the station.
Episode 15
Never Leave Me, Lucille
Mon, Mar 5, 197925 mins
Herb and his wife Lucille are getting a divorce, the first night after the decision Herb resorting to sleeping on the couch in the office. Herb may or may not be aware that Lucille's want for the divorce is because she thinks he takes her for granted as a woman. The divorce has an effect on everyone in the office. Herb needs a temporary place to stay until he gets his own place, with none of the guys, except Les, really wanting Herb, with Les out of the question solely because of the size of his apartment. And now that Herb is a "free" man, Jennifer feels more exposed, he who she could handle when she knew his talk was all bluster. He envisions his life now as a wild and crazy single, going out and partying all the time. While Jennifer works on Lucille, the guys try to show Herb without being obvious that he'd much rather be back at home with his family than all alone as a single.
Episode 16
I Want to Keep My Baby
Mon, Mar 12, 197925 mins
At the start of Johnny's show at 06:07, he receives a telephone call from an unnamed female listener who, now alone in Cincinnati, considers him her only friend in town. With no one else in the office yet besides Johnny in the booth, she has left a gift for him outside the locked office doors: her baby daughter. The rest of the WKRP staff, as they arrive one by one, bond with the baby, who they consider their unofficial mascot. The voice of reason, Andy, knows that they have to call in child protection services. But Johnny has second thoughts about the authorities taking the baby, he who wants to keep the baby as long as it takes to find the biological mother, which he hopes to do with coded/veiled messages to her over the air to call him back. The questions then become if Johnny's plan will work before child protection services has no other option but to take the baby, and/or Andy will allow Johnny to use the airwaves for this purpose.
Episode 17
Commercial Break
Mon, Mar 26, 197925 mins
The viability of the station largely rests in Herb's hands to bring in advertising dollars which in turn pays staff salaries. As such, he gets flack from among others Bailey and Les for not working hard enough at his job. Just then, Herb receives a return telephone call from a potential client, Randall Ferryman of Ferryman Funeral Homes, he who is opening up six funeral parlors in the Cincinnati area and wants specifically to advertise on a rock and roll station. Ferryman wants market saturation, which would make it an extremely lucrative account, the biggest in Herb's career. After an initial hesitation due to the subject matter, everyone at the station wholeheartedly jumps on board largely due to the expected raises in pay the result. However, with dollar signs in their eyes, are they losing sight of the rather crass nature of what they are promoting?
Episode 18
Who Is Gordon Sims?
Mon, Apr 2, 197925 mins
Herb and Les are organizing a promotion which would use the DJ's images. Venus, however, refuses to let Herb and Les take his photograph. Andy has to get to the bottom of the issue as he can't let Venus refuse to do it "just because." In speaking to Venus, Andy does learn about Venus' reason in his "third person" told story, namely that he, really named Gordon Sims, is wanted by the law. The specific criminal issue may place a wedge specifically between Venus and Mr. Carlson. Mr. Carlson takes action on the matter, that action which leads to a more comprehensive telling of what happened to Venus which may impact what will happen to him in the long run.
Episode 19
I Do, I Do... for Now
Mon, Apr 23, 197925 mins
Jennifer receives an unexpected visit from T.J. Watson, a guitar-toting, good (or not so good) ol' boy she knew from her days growing up in Rock Throw, West Virginia. Although Jennifer doesn't initially even recognize him, he reminds her of their "engagement," a deal they made when they were younger. In an act of desperation to get out of marrying T.J., Jennifer tells him that she is already married, her husband being the first man at the station to come along: Johnny. To Jennifer's dismay, T.J. doesn't seem that easily dissuaded, she and Johnny who are forced to throw a dinner party for T.J. and their friends at "their" i.e. Jennifer's apartment. Can the group convince T.J. through an entire evening that Jennifer and Johnny are indeed happily married, especially considering that Johnny has never even stepped foot in Jennifer's apartment before? Through it all, Andy sees something else in T.J. that may end up affecting what happens between T.J. and Jennifer and by association Johnny, who wants to make it out of this situation alive more than anything else.
Episode 20
Young Master Carlson
Mon, Apr 30, 197925 mins
On his own initiative and supported by Mother Carlson, Mr. Carlson's precocious eleven year old son, Arthur Carlson, Jr., has left Prussian Valley Military Academy, the only school he's ever attended on Mother Carlson's recommendation, because he was passed over as regimental commander. Mother Carlson wants Arthur Jr. to live with her while he spends his days temporarily at the radio station learning the family business. Mr. Carlson has no other choice but to abide by his mother's wishes while he tries to get Arthur Jr. back to Prussian Valley where he belongs due to his temperament. While in his short time at WKRP Arthur Jr. wreaks havoc leading to the WKRP employees having their own negative feelings about him despite being the boss' son, Mr. Carlson learns from the administration at Prussian Valley the real reason why Arthur Jr. left. As such, Mr. Carlson has to forge a new type of relationship with his son.
Episode 21
Fish Story
Mon, May 28, 197924 mins
Andy has arranged for Quentin Stone of Cincinnati Magazine to conduct an in-depth interview with him and Mr. Carlson on how the station has fared since the format change. Andy believes it will be a good day for Mr. Stone to come in and see all the positive changes as much is happening at the station today. Johnny and Venus, under the supervision of Highway Patrolman R.F. Buddy Plyler, are the human guinea pigs in an on-air public service announcement on the negative effects of drinking on reaction and thus the hazards of drinking and driving. And the station lobby is being repainted which should make it attractive for anyone arriving at the station. In addition to these two items, Andy learns that today Mr. Carlson is also introducing WKRP's new mascot - a carp (KRP) - which in this instance is Herb dressed up in a fish outfit. Herb, with Les and Bailey in tow, are to head to the university for a pep rally where rival WPIG's mascot - a pig - will also be in attendance. With all this activity and the staff being who they are, Andy may ultimately regret asking Mr. Stone into the office today.
Episode 22
Preacher
Mon, Jun 4, 197924 mins
The Reverend Little Ed Pembrook hosts a one hour show, "The Church of the Mighty Struggle," on WKRP at the 8AM Sunday time slot. Those few people at the station that have actually met the Reverend, including Mr. Carlson, are scared of him in his fire and brimstone demeanor, that he is a 300-pound ex-wrestler, and in believing he's crazy, one incident of note being when he stuck the head of a much larger wrestling competitor in a soda pop machine. The station has received many complaints about the unseemly nature of the Reverend's show, including from the Greater Cincinnati Inter-religious Council, those complaints asking for the Reverend's removal from the air. The complaints question the veracity of the Reverend actually being a man of religion, he selling religious-themed merchandise on his program being the biggest issue. Andy does believe it is grounds for the Reverend's dismissal. But Andy, who has never met the Reverend, may not be able to overcome the Reverend's bigger than life nature to fire him, or the fact that he has a two-year contract. Is there any way to get rid of the Reverend or at least have him tone down his shows truly to bring religion to the people? For Mr. Carlson, the biggest problem about having to deal with the Reverend may be the continual meetings in his office which won't allow him to play in peace with the latest toy he has just had delivered. Meanwhile, Jennifer's beau of one week, Rhett, owner of a wholesale appliance business, is showering her with gifts, which would allow her not only to equip her kitchen fully, but that of all the other WKRPer's kitchens and sheds many times over.