I've been watching the original on Antenna TV, and another thing I think hurt was that none of the original "straight" characters returned. You had the three most bumbling, incompetent characters back, Big Guy (owner's son, obviously he'd be back), then Herb and Les. And honestly, I don't know who would've been able to come back and help the show, but it needed some balance from an original.
I don't think syndication necessarily hurt, except for the fact that it was well after the trend of network shows going to syndication ended. You had "Mama's Family", "Charles in Charge", "Too Close for Comfort" and a few others in the mid-to-late-80s, but the first two were canceled in 1990. Had "The New WKRP" come back 5 years earlier, you probably would've been able to get a few more cast members, and it might've had a somewhat better chance.
Oh stewardess...I speak jive.
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