# Howard Hesseman (Dr. Johnny Fever) passed away **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [January 30, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657 "2022-01-30T18:22:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/61 "2022-02-04T05:13:37Z")
My favorite episodes of WKRP that featured Johnny are the two-part where he’s Rip Tide, the one where his daughter shows up with her brain-dead SO, and the one where God talks to Johnny. That’s especially well-done, because it doesn’t get resolved. We don’t find out that it was a prank, or his neighbor’s TV, or a gas leak. It’s a question of faith: believing when there’s no explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/62 "2022-02-12T17:46:35Z")
It seems fitting to end the thread this way. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MFcA8gA4nD8/hqdefault.jpg "WKRP ending theme song with lyrics.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFcA8gA4nD8) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/63 "2022-02-12T18:57:59Z")
Anyone ever watch the sequel show “New WKRP”? I actually remember that coming on, but never saw it. Looks like Hesseman did appear, but only occasionally. It ran two seasons, had about half the episode run of the original. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/64 "2022-02-12T19:00:52Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Anyone ever watch the sequel show “New WKRP”? I actually remember that coming on, but never saw it. Looks like Hesseman did appear, but only occasionally. I did. It wasn’t bad, but it couldn’t entirely recapture the magic of the original. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/65 "2022-02-12T19:58:57Z")
No. Gordon Jump (Art Carlson), Richard Sanders (Les Nessman), Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek), and Carol Bruce (Carlson’s mother) all returned as regulars, but the rest of the original cast only made small cameo appearances. French Stewart was a bright spot as new disc jockey Razor D. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/66 "2022-02-12T20:12:04Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > the one where his daughter shows up with her brain-dead SO I hated that one for the writers’ hypocrisy. IIRC, Johnny gets on his daughter’s case for using drugs. HELLO? They showed Johnny dumping his stash when the X rated movie was raided. I didn’t think Johnny’s drug use was even subtext. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/67 "2022-02-13T02:19:36Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I hated that one for the writers’ hypocrisy. IIRC, Johnny gets on his daughter’s case for using drugs. HELLO? They showed Johnny dumping his stash when the X rated movie was raided. I didn’t think Johnny’s drug use was even subtext. I’m sure I must have seen that episode, but I don’t remember it at all. Was that the _writers’_ hypocrisy, or Johnny’s? It’s not exactly uncommon for parents to take a “Do as I say, not as I do” attitude towards their children… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/68 "2022-02-13T02:26:04Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > It’s not exactly uncommon for parents to take a “Do as I say, not as I do” attitude towards their children… - It could also be “I’ve done that and look how fucked up I am. I don’t want that for you.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/69 "2022-02-13T21:15:40Z")
Johnny was very much aware of the hypocrisy and hated it. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657/70 "2022-02-14T13:41:32Z")
Yeah, that was a major theme of the episode. Johnny’s daughter had run away from her mother and come to live with Johnny because she thought he would be the “cool dad” who would let her do whatever she wanted. He tried it for awhile, but it turned out that no matter what his youth had been like, when it came to his own daughter he wanted something different for her. He agonized about it, but in the end that was how he felt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/howard-hesseman-dr-johnny-fever-passed-away/958657.md?page=3)