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WKRP in Cincinnati Pilot: Part 2 (1978–1982) Online

WKRP in Cincinnati Pilot: Part 2 (1978–1982) Online
1978–1982 Gary Sandy Gordon Jump Loni Anderson Michael Zinberg
Original Title :
Pilot: Part 2
Genre :
TV Episode / Comedy
Year :
1978–1982
Directror :
Michael Zinberg
Cast :
Gary Sandy,Gordon Jump,Loni Anderson
Writer :
Hugh Wilson,Hugh Wilson
Type :
TV Episode
Time :
25min
Rating :
8.1/10

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WKRP in Cincinnati Pilot: Part 2 (1978–1982) Online

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 complete credited cast:
Gary Sandy Gary Sandy - Andy Travis
Gordon Jump Gordon Jump - Arthur Carlson
Loni Anderson Loni Anderson - Jennifer Marlowe
Richard Sanders Richard Sanders - Les Nessman
Tim Reid Tim Reid - Venus Flytrap
Frank Bonner Frank Bonner - Herb Tarlek
Jan Smithers Jan Smithers - Bailey Quarters
Howard Hesseman Howard Hesseman - Dr. Johnny Fever
Richard Stahl Richard Stahl - Wayne R. Coe
Nedra Volz Nedra Volz - Mrs. Burstyn
Delos V. Smith Jr. Delos V. Smith Jr. - Buzzy Milker

This was not actually part two of the pilot but rather the first episode taped after the show had been picked up. The producers simply called it "Pilot Pt. 2" because they couldn't think of a better title.

Richard Stahl, who plays Wayne R. Coe in this episode, was originally a member of the Committee, a comedy troupe that Howard Hesseman once belonged to. Many of Hesseman's former Committee colleagues have appeared in a handful of other WKRP episodes, including Hamilton Camp, Garry Goodrow (WKRP in Cincinnati: Hold Up (1978)), Larry Hankin (WKRP in Cincinnati: Hotel Oceanview (1980)), Ruth Silveira (WKRP in Cincinnati: Til Debt Do Us Part (1981)) and John Brent (WKRP in Cincinnati: Straight from the Heart (1981)). (A stand-up comedy box set from Rhino Records features a Committee recording in which Howard Hesseman describes the Vietnam War like a play-by-play sportscaster.)

Note the map in the lobby. The radio wave circles is drastically smaller than from the pilot, and the station is now shown at 5,000 watts instead of 50,000. This was done because 50,000 is a very powerful station and the producers felt a struggling station couldn't afford that much power.

The 2-part pilot was filmed at CBS Television City in Hollywood. The rest of the episodes were taped at CBS Studio Center in the San Fernando Valley, on the same stage as Mary Tyler Moore (1970). Only shots for the opening and closing credits and cutaways for a few episodes were recorded in Cincinnati.


User reviews

Brightfury

Brightfury

You just know that a whole lot of fun lies ahead with these well-defined crazy set-up: new guy Andy, shirker Mr. Carlson, pass-the-buck Herb, ol' stick-in-the-mud Les, naive Bailey and sexpot Jennifer. Add to that the lunatic fringe running around the station in this episode, complete with a missing cat...

Jan Smithers as nervous little Bailey was non- surprisingly overlooked by the media, the It girl of the time was Loni Anderson, and WKRP IN CINCINNATI was really put more on the map because of her presence. But I'm in the Bailey corner, always been, and in this episode, she is quite dynamite, notice the red boots. Oddly enough she is depicted as quite less insecure at times, an inconsistency, really.

Of course they are all pure genius. Think of them all as chemical components... Here stirred together in a wondrous volatile elixir which produced a mostly-forgotten but zany and lovable old classic.

Almost forty years later, and they're still hilariously funny. Better than the vast majority polluting the broadcast waves today.

Want a good laugh? For those in the know, you are invited to join the club. Tune in to WKRP.
Alister

Alister

A frustrated Carlson calls a meeting with Tarlek and Travis to demand to know why there are no new ad sales and muses about canning Tarlek. Tarlek is well-prepared to protect himself and lay the blame on Travis when he produces a list of sponsors (Including "Rolling Thunder European Regulatory Tonic" - can you even imagine what radio ads for that must have sounded like?) who have jumped ship since the station went Rock N' Roll.

Travis counters that without publicity for the format change ad sales are likely to remain stagnant for awhile. Carlson and Tarlek have no answers particularly since there is no money budgeted for the needed publicity campaign. Other employees have no answers as to how to generate free publicity.

Johnny of course doesn't appear to care one way or the other. Fewer commercials mean he gets to spin more tunes and do his Rock N' Roll Howard Beal act. Why Venus, the night-time jock is even there during the day is something never adequately explained in any episode.

The unexpected occurs when the Big Guy is visited by Wayne R.Coe. The soft-spoken but nevertheless utterly bonkers leader of what he himself characterizes as "A determined fringe element that can't be counted upon to do the sensible thing" confronts Carlson about the change in format, states that he and his people hate Rock N' Roll and are staging a protest. It is unexpected because the station had so few listeners under the old format to alienate.

The ragtag group assembled here (I refer to the protesters, not the staff) is only able to muster 12 signatures for an FCC petition with one name signed twice and only 9 of them show up for the sit-in at the radio station. The other activities of this far from cohesive unit include shutting down a small-town bingo hall and chasing Hari Krishna's out of an airport. Ultimately self-important, professional protesters lampoon themselves but never so completely as we see them depicted here.

But if you have had bad experiences with people like this it can impede your ability to find it funny. If they remind you of people who burn the flag or walk around with placards that have spelling mistakes on them which say that God hates a certain group of people it can test your patience a little.

When Travis decides to call news outlets and use the protest for publicity so that they can all get what they want it can also seem like a bit of a cop out. But compared with the Big Guy who is ready to cave in to their demands what Travis does and how the protesters react seems so utterly reasonable. Eventually the station and Travis will confront attempts at censorship in a meaningful way. They just didn't do it in the first season.

This is only the second episode of the series so we only see sets built for the lobby, Carlson's office, the DJ booth and Travis's office. Until they built the "bullpen" (office common area where Les, Bailey, Tarlek and the jocks have their desks) things looked very cramped.