# WKRP - One of the Great Sitcoms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 18, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282 "2006-05-18T17:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/41 "2006-05-19T04:48:29Z")
I especially liked the episode where Venus had to face being a “deserter.” And the tornado episode, The Big Guy is the only one who knows Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/42 "2006-05-19T04:52:16Z")
My favorite is probably the “phone cops” episode, ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/43 "2006-05-19T07:57:05Z")
My Favorite? Venus is talked into buying an expensive condo and asks Johnny to get him out of it. At the meeting, Johnny says nothing as the lawyers tell them ‘A deal’s a deal.’ Johnny breaks into Flaming Queen Mode. Says he loves the place and that he and Venus would ‘practically be living in the pool.’ They let Venus out of the deal. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/44 "2006-05-19T13:14:28Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] My Favorite? Venus is talked into buying an expensive condo and asks Johnny to get him out of it. At the meeting, Johnny says nothing as the lawyers tell them ‘A deal’s a deal.’ Johnny breaks into Flaming Queen Mode. Says he loves the place and that he and Venus would ‘practically be living in the pool.’ They let Venus out of the deal. [/QUOTE] The best part of that episode is watching Tim Reid (Venus) trying so hard not to crack up. I have a hunch they had to shoot it about a hundred times. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/45 "2006-05-19T13:24:09Z")
I’ll just say here what I said in the Nanny thread: > [@](#): > > WKRP, eh. I watched it from time to time but I can’t recall a single episode off the top of my head. I can’t fathom how it lasted 10 (?) seasons. Maybe because I was only in my teens in the late 70’s and early 80’s so I didn’t get a lot of the humor. Loni Anderson was clearly hired for no other reason than to hook the male audience using the same formula as “Stacked” - a show centered around (and named after) Pamela Andersons breasts. > > I’d place WKRP in the same category as Barney Miller - good for a chuckle or two but neither or them really grabbed me. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/46 "2006-05-19T14:22:40Z")
“Real Families” when they focus on the Herb Tarlek clan is eye-watering hilarity, even watching it now. The episode was like the great mockumentaries before Christopher Guest made his. “We only watch wholesome family shows like ‘Little House on the Prairie’. It’s about blind children” And when the family goes to church but it’s clear they don’t have a church so they wing it. The clip is below, I cannot do it justice (although I cannot wait to attend an N A double C P meeting). ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-mq2KxTGsi8/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/-mq2KxTGsi8?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/47 "2006-05-19T14:55:50Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] My Favorite? Venus is talked into buying an expensive condo and asks Johnny to get him out of it. At the meeting, Johnny says nothing as the lawyers tell them ‘A deal’s a deal.’ Johnny breaks into Flaming Queen Mode. Says he loves the place and that he and Venus would ‘practically be living in the pool.’ They let Venus out of the deal. [/QUOTE] Ah yes, the “Gone-With-the-Wind-ers.” ---
**Author:** ![blueserge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@blueserge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueserge)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/48 "2006-05-19T15:11:13Z")
[QUOTE=Thin Ice] This site is loaded with wav files, including opening and closing themes, with info. [http://www.littleshopofvoices.com/wkrpwavs.html](http://www.littleshopofvoices.com/wkrpwavs.html) [/QUOTE] Thanks very much! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/49 "2006-05-19T15:23:22Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] Uh, no. Jennifer was almost always the smartest person in the room! Loni Anderson insisted on that, after having been informed that the character was envisioned as the stereotypical dumb blonde. [/QUOTE] Jennifer was a caricature of the _smart blond_ – the kind that always seem to be biochemists in James Bond movies. That didn’t make her character any better developed or more realistic. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/50 "2006-05-19T15:25:33Z")
I hardly think she was a caricature at all. She wasn’t smart in the sense of being a scientist, a physician or a high-powered attorney. Rather, she just had good, all-around intelligence. Besides which, smart blondes were in short supply (and still are), so I’d hardly call that a caricature. Of course, Bailey was still much hotter. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/51 "2006-05-19T15:51:37Z")
Wasn’t Jennifer a member of a union? The Sisterhood of Blonde Receptionists or something? I remember the episode where a group of religious right folks were going to boycott the station because they were playing “Imagine.” Andy (damn, but was he poured into his jeans or what?) stood up to them. I think there was a backlash for the RR but I don’t remember what it was. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282/52 "2006-05-19T15:58:02Z")
[QUOTE=bup] Welcome to a club that includes about a billion guys. Let me show you around the place. [/QUOTE] We even have a t-shirt. It says “Black Death” on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wkrp-one-of-the-great-sitcoms/357282.md?page=2)