WKRP in Cin-ci-naaat-tiiiii....

and his Mom ie Carol Bruce is incredible
ugh i can’t get enough of her

the episode where it was the anniversary of her husband’s death & she got drunk with Jennifer & then sang Gershwin to the bullpen...my jaw was on the floor

What a dame

Cosign on the Carlson's: I just saw the one where they find out she's pregnant and it's striking just how nimble the writing/acting were on the show--You have the whole cuteness of the opening revelation and them looking back through his calendar to see about conception dates ("Oh no, Friday--after we saw Superman!") segueing into the meeting with Mother and her insisting they get an abortion and then the awkwardness of Carlson trying to get advice from Venus (who thinks he's looking for partners for swinging) and the dance at the end--all with the added bonus of everybody clowning Herb on his concept of marital sex.

Carol Bruce was so good as Mother Carlson, and she had to replace Sylvia Sidney who played her in the pilot.

And young Carol Bruce...

https://i2.wp.com/www.oicvintage.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-easycart-data/products/pics1/50840a_02c6f0f2dcfda4de492daab2b79b01f4.jpg?w=1080&ssl=1

yeah god, so stunning

I mean my god

https://youtu.be/7t0vuUJA6SQ

I am into S3... a lot more out of the station eps which feels like a bad idea.

and les in blackface ugh

I've gone through the first six eps and it's kind of crazy how many left turns they take, with only two eps erring even close to the usual 'What's happening at the station' stories, and even those have a lot of action outside the studio.

Also Les has really become a proto-Dwight. I mean he always was, but now they've got him spouting off about ghosts and serial killers.

I do have to say that the "Real Families" ep (the one were Herb's family goes on the reality show) is quite brutal. Love the detail that he owns an '80 Corboba, which is basically Herb in car form:

http://momentcar.com/images/chrysler-cordoba-1980-3.jpg

Yeah that ep was wild! & pretty dark, you’re right

Awesome car. Cordoba with the Corinthian leather. Pretty much a cheap alternative to an 88', Continental or Caddy.

A thing that's funny in retrospect is Andy riding Johnny hard about playing 'hits' and, yeah, he plays badass oldies, but when he's not doing that we're getting The Pretenders (on import!), Flying Lizards, and the B-52's (whom we don't actually hear, but we see him cue up).

...and then when he plays 'a hit', it's the Eagles--except now on the DVD it's a soundalike of "The Long Run".

"Turkeys Away" first aired on this date 40 years ago.

Here's Andy Travis introducing the official rerun in 1980:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lci20k1nHtc

awww happy birthday turkeys away

i knew about the ep for years before i saw it. i had heard about the punchline from coworkers out of context every thanksgiving almost & they would fall about laughing. tbh i was kinda prepared for it not to be as funny as they made it out to be, even tho i didnt know the whole story.

turned out it was FUNNIER than i was prepared for. i literally laughed til i cried. it’s put together so brilliantly & the acting is hysterical.

I love the callback in the "Real Families" ep when the PETA rep condemns them for both the turkey drop and Herb's unseen later "Dancing Ducks" promotion.

yes that was great!

the dancing ducks promo description was so vivid i feel like we DID see it

confession: years of hearing about the turkey episode & always led me to picture the turkeys being frozen (no idea why)

imagine the carnage from THAT 😂

Highly recommend the podcast Hold My Order, Terrible Dresser, which does WKRP episode recaps as a springing board for chat about 70's culture, politics, conspiracy theories, all sorts of esoteric sociological stuff - it feels very ILX.

Might have to check that out.

Years later, Richard Sanders tossing stuffed turkeys...

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/c9b5854dfa281f05afd3a5ca1daefea4c5c12d00/c=0-2-868-1160/local/-/media/2016/11/24/Cincinnati/Cincinnati/636155811592018787-cindc5bk-5ibqjgfbyn8ax4h0d96-original.jpg?width=534&height=712&fit=crop

lol <3

it was weird when Sanders showed up on Loni Anderson's late-'80s series Easy Street playing the BTK Killer

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0257/3165/products/MVA50863.jpeg?v=1497362340

Les Nessman: Motherfucker With Dark Secrets.

O_O

https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/46734865_10155905029473225_2887246817903247360_n.jpg?_nc_cat=105&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=1e3b3d3a28de2ebf8464294c2f6d48dc&oe=5C75A7FA

<3

that ad came up on my FB feed and i was like FINALLY the algorithm gets me

"The turkey's are hitting the ground like bags of wet cement!"

Don't forget the Dancing Ducks...

http://youtu.be/1Tk6NpIncXg?t=1084

rewatched the turkey bombing tonight
still excellent

"As God as my witness..."

https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/frank-bonner-dead-wkrp-in-cincinnati-1234999322/

so sad, he was the fucking best. Herb was so iconic!!!

i can still hear his voice when i read old quotes, his timing was so good

Les:
What is an executrix?

Herb:
I don't know. High heels and a whole lot of leather, something like that

never forget the dancing ducks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tk6NpIncXg

BIG SNAKE SALE
SSSSSAAVE
SSSSSAVE
SSSSSAVE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGdWnCB5NFM

Great physical comedy from Bonner in this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kalVG4XgIDM

Yeah, I was one of the viewers who laughed HIS ASS off at this episode. But also, I'd like to add, I was six years old when I first saw it.

I'll always remember Herb's dad telling him he had cancer... then telling him it was a joke... then saying he really DID have cancer... then telling him it was a joke again.

lol

Wish I could find the clip but someone telling Herb he didn't know they still made suits like his and Herb replying that there was one pro shop in Kentucky is a great line delivery.

^^That's from "3 Days of The Condo", the one where Johnny wins a lawsuit and buys a...wait for it...condo.

Speaking of Johnny, tonight Decades reran a Dick Cavett from 1969 featuring The Committee with Don Study aka Howard Hesseman.

This bit forecasts some of his scenes w/Reid at the KRP. Hesseman even drops a 'fellow baby' line!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA3YXa_kLqg

And here Cavett and fellow guest Janis Joplin join the troupe for A Symphony of Emotions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qJdNx8veDc

Fast Forward to 1:37 to see Hesseman respond to wiseguy in the audience.

"WKRP - The station with more music... and Les Nessman"

Buckeye News Hawk™️

The Coveted Silver Sow®

The Sneaky Snooper.

Les Nessman, award-winning journalist. pic.twitter.com/Dxomv3ZWLX

— Super 70s Sports (@Super70sSports) March 7, 2021

Anyone know an old folks' home with any openings for me? pic.twitter.com/zH3qbMftEk

— becca (@magicjewball) October 5, 2021

It was only minutes ago, after several decades of apparent semi-consciousness, that the joke hidden in WKRP finally dawned on me.

Crap or Karp?

Karp wouldn't all that much of a joke tbh.

Not that much WKRP material but the Tim Reid interview on Marc Maron's podcast has really interesting stuff about his 60s-70s work as part of a travelling interractial comedy duo. (Apparently he ripped off a joke from Howard Hesseman and had to apologize when they met at the beginning of KRP)

Baby, if you've ever wondered, wondered what ever became of Gary Sandy...

https://www.thespec.com/entertainment/stage/2021/10/25/theatre-aquarius-hamilton-wkrp-in-cincinnati-gary-sandy.html