MovieChat Forums > WKRP in Cincinnati (1978) Discussion > For those who think the show reflected r...

For those who think the show reflected reality.

posted 7 years ago by pure-conscience
23 replies | jump to latest

It didn't. It was a television show.

I didn't begin working in commercial radio until the 1990s, when things were completely alien to what we saw on WKRP, but growing up I was privy to many radio stations studios and the folks who worked there as far back as the 1970s and in general, nobody had neearly the sort of freedom to choose their own music or format as the Jocks all seem to on WKRP.

There are more than a few discrepancies administration-wise as well, but I won't bore you with that.

Oh and Les Nessman would have been fired before his first shift was over. Love-able or not.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the show, but its just a show.

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.

[–] rikkirat 7 years ago

Free form or progressive rock jocks in the late 60's to about the mid 70's had great latitude with music selection. When hiring jocks I was more interested in a candidate's music knowledge and their ability to put together creative and awesome sounding music sets. And to my radio colleagues and I the show was spot on... radio people LOVED the show.

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

Then you worked in the exception, not the rule.

b]But what do I know. I'm just a girl.[/b]

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

I was privy to many radio stations studios and the folks who worked there as far back as the 1970s and in general, nobody had neearly the sort of freedom to choose their own music or format as the Jocks all seem to on WKRP.

Ever hear of KSHE 95 in St. Louis? I grew up listening to it. They would play AC/DC - Dirty Deed, then Little River Band - Reminiscing, followed by Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia.

Oh and Les Nessman would have been fired before his first shift was over. Love-able or not.

There's a station out of Cape Girardeau, MO which has a woman doing weather. For several years she'd say, "I'm Heather Zayer, meteorologissth for 100.7 KGMO." She couldn't pronounce "meteorologist." Not because she couldn't say it, but because she really wasn't one, and therefore purposely mispronounced it. Another station called her out on it and now she just says, "I'm Heather Zayer with 100.7 KGMO weather."

Also, you seem to forget one of the episodes when Andy is p!ssed that they weren't #1 - only something like #3. I forget if it was Venus or Johnny who explained it to him that if he wants to be #1, he has to fire Les. But, if he fires Les, he has to fire Herb. And, if he fires Herb, then he has to fire Mr. Carlson - but, that can't happen since Mr. Carlson's mother owns the station.

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

Dude, calm down, its a television show. It doesn't even remotely reflect reality.

Of course I can't speak for your own personal "reality". (*wink wink*) lol.

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

Thank you for admitting your original post was BS.

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

Your delusions continue to pile up.

Please seek real help you will never receive here. Good luck! :)

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

No, sugar britches. You are the one who is delusional. You spouted off a bunch of BS and when you got called on it, you act like you are the only one who is right.

Hubris, moron. Look it up.

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

Dude, why would I take you seriously? My posting was based on working in and being in many radio stations. Yours is based on listening to the radio. Don't make me laugh. Any more than you have anyhow. Now go back to bed, you must need your nap. Thanks for playing, though! :)

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.

[–] 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

You can choose not to believe the truth, that doesn't surprise me. However your entire argument is based on songs you heard. Ridiculous. I really didn't want to have to point out the obvious, but you don't have a clue who programmed it or why. Stick to commenting on things you actually know. Like how to make those fast food fries and make change.

Regardless of the discussion at hand, though you have shown yourself to be little more than a simply angry, nasty man who argues despite his limited knowledge. So rather that debate your ignorance indefinitely I am blocking you (IE you are now on "ignore"). So we're done. Buh-bye.

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

You can choose not to believe the truth,

You've given no information so as to make anyone believe what you are spewing is the truth. You are an anonymous voice on the internet. Unless you want to give your credentials, you are no more trustworthy than people in chat rooms.

However your entire argument is based on songs you heard.

KSHE-95. Ever heard of it? I know I asked you before, but you didn't answer the question.

You can look at their website and see their expansive library as proof. They also still have DJ's on the station who were there in the 1970's and 1980's, and the DJ's talk about how they'd go from one genre to another with little input from the bosses.

It's a shame you are such a butt-hurt pansy who can't stand someone calling you out on your BS.

Run away back to your safe-zone, snowflake. 

[–] snelling 7 years ago

Even if WKRP bent the truth with reality a little, they were right on about discussing radio in a format hardly seen before. The stampede at The Who concert, the made-up story about the sick boy with the flower picture, the CURB minister, the speed-selling guy just moving his business from place to place to avoid the law, the contest nobody could win, the robbery at the station, Jennifer's advice show, and all the non-radio stories too. Like Venus and his military desertion, Ivan wanting to defect, Real Families (classic, and way ahead of its time), when Venus taught the black kid about the atom in two minutes, "Daydreams," Johnny's daughter, the softball game, man, I could go on and on.

"'Extremely High Voltage.' Well, I don't need safety gloves, because I'm Homer SimpzzzZZZnnnNNNbbbBBB--" - Frank Grim

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

No doubt about it they bent the truth. The purposely didn't wear head-phones because they not only wanted the music to be part of the show, but they didn't want to have to mess with them every time someone came into the studio.

But, as I said, I listened to KSHE-95 starting in the 1970's. I heard the wide variety of music they played. On Sunday mornings they do the KSHE Klassics show where they play songs which were big on KSHE back in the day, but maybe not big hits nationally. Just a few weeks ago they played Charlie Daniels. They also play Marshall Tucker a lot.

And, KSHE still has a couple of DJ's from the early days and the stories they tell are quite interesting. The station started off at an old drive-in theater. The DJ was on display for whoever wanted to come up to the window. They talk about more than once young, buxom ladies would lift their shirts and press against the window in order to get concert tickets or free "schtuff."

Maybe what the OP is confused on is that he worked in corporate radio. Until the mid-1980's, KSHE was independent and thus not constrained by the idiot consultants.

Heck, they had someone's grandmother (Ruth) as a DJ. It was a blast to hear an elderly woman say, "Here's another song to rock your socks off." 

[–] 7 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

I would agree they were fairly adept at presenting current events that were related, yes. Albeit that is kind of a separate point from what I was making in my original post. Still, sure I mostly agree they were very keen in being topical in those ways.

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.

[–] crazyivanova 7 years ago

I have to weigh in on this one too, even though I never worked for very long in the business.

I used to think this show's characters were exaggerated for comedic effect but, later on when I actually worked in radio, I discovered those people are very real. My time in the business was short but I made life long friendships and I still keep up with many of my former co-workers. Every single one of them, regardless of whether they work in large or small market stations, say the exact same thing about this show; "whoever made that show understood this business." In fact they almost always use those exact words. So, while it is true the show bent reality somewhat, the show did in fact represent radio and radio people far more accurately than any show that I can think of.

I can only conclude I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate.

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

Oh there are characters working everywhere, and the radio industry doesn't have any shortage of that, that's for sure. That said I was referring more to how formulaic real radio is, as well as the ineptness of many of the staff on the show. However yes, characters abound in the real world. Although it did depend what station you worked at. I was at a couple which were very professional, but also had the (mis?)fortune to be the PD at a station that I often (in exaggerated form) would refer to as the true-incarnation of WKRP, being that we had more than our share of characters and, if truth be known, more inept folks than I cared for. Also a few folks who did seem to occasionally have issues staying within the format. Although still nothing compared to the fiction of WKRP.

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

It didn't. It was a television show.

I didn't begin working in commercial radio until the 1990s, when things were completely alien to what we saw on WKRP, but growing up I was privy to many radio stations studios and the folks who worked there as far back as the 1970s and in general, nobody had neearly the sort of freedom to choose their own music or format as the Jocks all seem to on WKRP.

There are more than a few discrepancies administration-wise as well, but I won't bore you with that.

Oh and Les Nessman would have been fired before his first shift was over. Love-able or not.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the show, but its just a show.

God dam are you bi-polar or just exceedingly stupid?

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

NO YOU ARE WRONG!!!! PURE SAYS YOU ARE WRONG THEREFORE YOU ARE WRONG!!!



[–] crazyivanova 7 years ago

At first, I thought she was talking about the show in general but, in her reply to my post, she made it more clear what she was talking about. So, no, she's not really saying I'm wrong. Likewise, she's not wrong either about the formats. Even back when the show aired, the "block formatting" idea was starting to die off. There were still "crossover" songs just as there have been for years but the idea of having a particular genre of music for a given daypart was going the way of the do-do even during my brief flirtation with the business. To this day, you may still find really small market mom-n-pop stations that will do this but they're very few and really far between.

Wow, I apparently end a lot of sentences with prepositions. I'm bad, I know. 

I can only conclude I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate.

[–] justanicknamed 7 years ago

The point is, she's convinced that because it was that way for her, it is that way completely. It doesn't matter that she provides nothing to support her point and I gave a clear example to support mine; she's convinced she's right.

As she said, she started "working in commercial radio until the 1990s, when things were completely alien to what we saw on WKRP," So, yes, by that time things had changed. But, in the 1970's, it wasn't. It was the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which really changed how things were done.

She also said, "I was privy to many radio stations studios and the folks who worked there as far back as the 1970s and in general, nobody had neearly the sort of freedom to choose their own music or format as the Jocks all seem to on WKRP." Yet gives no information about those stations - where they were, their format, were they independent stations, were they sizable stations?

As I said, KSHE-95 - Real Rock Radio - played Little River Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Steely Dan, Beatles, CSN, Eagles, Charlie Daniels, Marshal Tucker as well as AC/DC, Kiss, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, plus many bands which were local and only had mediocre success on a national stage.

And they weren't the only ones. KY-98 was a top 40 station which in the late 1980's was playing Steely Dan and other groups like that with the new stuff.

In addition, KSHE had DJ's who weren't just local talent. They would hire guys in from other cities, and those guys talked about how different things were. Some talked about how they hadn't heard of a lot of the groups they were now playing, or had only played one or two songs from certain groups which KSHE played heavily.

I don't doubt her experiences. I'm just calling her out that she's an expert on all things radio related when she provides nothing of significance to support her claim / what she says can be easily refuted.

And, it is kind of obvious how she got so defensive and never directly addressed what I posted that she knows she's talking out of her azz.

[–] davie4u 7 years ago

You know police work is not like it is shown on Barney Miller, and that criminal cases are not resolved in one hour like on Law and Order, too?

[–] pure-conscience 7 years ago

Exactly...

But tell some of these people that. :/

But what do I know. I'm just a girl.