Episode Data

WKRP in Cincinnati

update

Season 0

• _{not specified}

  4: A Look Back at WKRP with Gary Sandy

• _{not specified}

  5: Cast Reunion at Paley Center

• _{not specified}

  7:

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  6: Cast Reunion at Paley Center

• _{not specified}

  1: Do My Eyes Say Yes?

  "Do My Eyes Say Yes?" is a brief celebration of the Jennifer character.

• _{not specified}

  2: A Fish Story... Story

  "A Fish Story... Story" lets Wilson explain why the famous episode is his least favorite. - S01E21- Herb dresses up as the WKRP mascot, a carp, and gets into a fight with the WPIG pig (played by Lee Bergere); meanwhile, Johnny and Venus take an on-air alcohol test with a police officer (Jerry Hardin), with Johnny's reflexes strangely improving with each drink. Trivia: The script for this episode is credited to 'Raoul Plager,' who does not exist. Series creator Hugh Wilson actually wrote the episode under duress from the network to infuse the show with more physical comedy, and used the alias to signal his frustration with their demands.

• _{Tuesday, September 3rd, 1991}

  3: 50th Anniversary Special

  A special program that aired before the start of the series "The New WKRP In Cincinnati" for syndication in 1991.

Season 1

• _{Monday, September 18th, 1978}

  1: Pilot

  Andy Travis, a young program director from Santa Fe, takes over at Cincinnati radio station WKRP and changes the format to rock and roll.

• _{Monday, September 25th, 1978}

  2: Pilot, Part 2

  While Andy tries to come up with a publicity stunt to get the station in the news, a group of irate former listeners demands a return to the old format.

• _{Monday, October 2nd, 1978}

  3: Les on a Ledge

  Mortified by a personal accusation, Les climbs out on the ledge of the Flimm building and threatens to jump.

• _{Monday, October 9th, 1978}

  4: Hoodlum Rock

  Andy arranges for the station to sponsor a concert by a rowdy English rock group.

• _{Monday, October 16th, 1978}

  5: Hold-Up

  During a live remote from Del's Stereo and Sound, an unemployed DJ shows up with a gun and hijacks the broadcast.

• _{Monday, October 23rd, 1978}

  6: Bailey's Show

  Bailey gets a chance to produce a new public-service interview show, but her potential guests all seem to be out of their minds.

• _{Monday, October 30th, 1978}

  7: Turkeys Away

  Feeling left out at the station, Mr. Carlson comes up with a top-secret Thanksgiving promotion involving twenty live turkeys.

• _{Monday, November 6th, 1978}

  8: Love Returns

  Andy falls back in love with an old girlfriend, now a famous singer, and must decide whether to follow her on the road.

• _{Monday, January 15th, 1979}

  9: Mama's Review

  Mama Carlson conducts a quarterly review of WKRP's personnel and profits, with clips from previous episodes illustrating the show's best moments to date.

• _{Monday, January 22nd, 1979}

  10: A Date with Jennifer

  When hot-blooded Les wins an award, he asks Jennifer to be his date for the banquet.

• _{Monday, January 29th, 1979}

  11: The Contest Nobody Could Win

  After Johnny announces the incorrect prize amount for a song-guessing contest promotion, the crew scrambles to make the contest so difficult that no one can win.

• _{Monday, February 5th, 1979}

  12: Tornado

  While Japanese radio executives are touring the station, the city experiences a series of tornadoes.

• _{Monday, February 19th, 1979}

  13: Goodbye, Johnny

  Johnny is offered a job in Los Angeles, so the other staffers throw him a party in which they try to manipulate him into staying.

• _{Monday, February 26th, 1979}

  14: Johnny Comes Back

  Johnny returns to WKRP after being fired in L.A., but he has to settle for the late-night graveyard shift.

• _{Monday, March 5th, 1979}

  15: Never Leave Me, Lucille

  Herb separates from his wife Lucille and stays at Johnny's apartment while Jennifer tries to reunite the couple.

• _{Monday, March 12th, 1979}

  16: I Want to Keep My Baby

  After a young single mother leaves her baby at the station, Johnny becomes attached to the infant.

• _{Monday, March 26th, 1979}

  17: A Commercial Break

  The staff sings a radio ad for a chain of funeral homes.

• _{Monday, April 2nd, 1979}

  18: Who Is Gordon Sims?

  Venus reveals that he is a military deserter, and Mr. Carlson helps him clear his name.

• _{Monday, April 23rd, 1979}

  19: I Do, I Do... For Now

  To fend off a childhood sweetheart, Jennifer pretends to be married to Johnny.

• _{Monday, April 30th, 1979}

  20: Young Master Carlson

  Mr. Carlson's troubled young son escapes from his military school and visits WKRP, where he manages to offend most of the staff.

• _{Monday, May 28th, 1979}

  21: Fish Story

  Herb wears a carp costume to represent WKRP and fights a rival station's pig mascot, while Johnny and Venus take an on-air test to demonstrate the effects of alcohol on human reflexes.

• _{Monday, June 4th, 1979}

  22: Preacher

  WKRP's Sunday morning evangelist (and former wrestler) may be a fraud, but no one has the nerve to fire him.

Season 2

• _{Monday, September 17th, 1979}

  1: For Love or Money (1)

  Johnny forgets about his date with Bailey when he gets a call from Buffy, his old girlfriend from California. He borrows Jennifer's apartment to impress Buffy; however, that plan ends when she tells him she's suing him for palimony.

• _{Monday, September 24th, 1979}

  2: For Love or Money (2)

  Johnny calls his friends over to Jennifer's apartment to help him deal with Buffy and her threat of a lawsuit. Buffy arrives and, after having a drink with Johnny, tells him that she put poison in his drink.

• _{Monday, October 15th, 1979}

  3: Baseball

  The staff plays against the team from rival station WPIG in a softball game.

• _{Monday, October 22nd, 1979}

  4: Bad Risk

  Herb starts selling insurance as a sideline, and sells a comprehensive policy to Les, who promptly has an accident.

• _{Monday, October 22nd, 1979}

  5: Jennifer Falls in Love

  For the first time in her life, Jennifer is in love, with a penniless but handsome repairman who turns out to be even more of a gold digger than she is. Meanwhile, Les tries to get a raise, and Johnny becomes convinced that he's the man Jennifer is in love with.

• _{Monday, November 5th, 1979}

  6: Carlson for President

  Mr. Carlson runs for Cincinnati City Council. When Bailey discovers a potentially damaging piece of information about the front-runner in the election, Mr. Carlson considers using that information in a televised debate.

• _{Monday, November 12th, 1979}

  7: Mike Fright

  During a citywide garbage strike, Johnny jokingly suggests that his listeners dump their garbage on the steps of City Hall. The joke is on him, and the station, when hundreds of listeners take him seriously. Johnny becomes aware of his power and develops a serious case of mike fright.

• _{Monday, November 26th, 1979}

  8: Patter of Little Feet

  Mr. Carlson's wife Carmen announces that she is pregnant. Mr. Carlson is overjoyed, and certain that Carmen feels the same way. However, Mama Carlson points out the potential dangers of middle-aged pregnancy and recommends an abortion.

• _{Monday, December 3rd, 1979}

  9: Baby, If You've Ever Wondered

  The new ratings book arrives, and WKRP has climbed from 16th to 14th place in the Cincinnati market. Everyone is happy about the gain except Andy, who knows that the station has not improved enough, in part because of his own unwillingness to fire incompetent employees like Herb and Les.

• _{Monday, December 10th, 1979}

  10: Bailey's Big Break

  When WKRP needs an assistant news reporter, Bailey applies for the job and gets it. Les, who doesn't want to work with anyone, least of all a woman, tries to keep Bailey from going on the air.

• _{Monday, December 17th, 1979}

  11: Jennifer's Home for Christmas

  Jennifer tells her friends that she has nothing special planned for Christmas, and that she doesn't have a tree this year. Everyone begins to suspect that she might be alone for the holidays.

• _{Monday, December 24th, 1979}

  12: Sparky

  Mr. Carlson hires legendary baseball manager Sparky Anderson as the host of a new sports interview show. But when the show proves a complete disaster, it falls to Mr. Carlson to fire his hero.

• _{Monday, December 31st, 1979}

  13: God Talks to Johnny

  When Johnny thinks he's heard God's voice talking to him, everyone, including Johnny, thinks he's going insane.

• _{Monday, January 7th, 1980}

  14: A Family Affair

  Andy's sister Carol visits Cincinnati, and Andy sets up a date for her and Johnny. But Carol winds up going out with Venus instead, and Andy becomes instinctively angry about it.

• _{Monday, January 14th, 1980}

  15: Herb's Dad

  Herb's father, a lifelong salesman who shares Herb's taste in clothes, runs away from the Shady Hills Rest Home and visits the station.

• _{Monday, January 21st, 1980}

  16: Put Up or Shut Up

  Bailey convinces Jennifer to accept a date with Herb in the hope that he'll get scared and back down.

• _{Monday, January 28th, 1980}

  17: The Americanization of Ivan

  Bailey and Les attend a press conference given by a group of visiting Russian hog experts. One of the Russians falls for Bailey and asks her to help him defect to the United States.

• _{Monday, February 4th, 1980}

  18: Les' Groupie

  Les goes out on a date with a female fan, who proceeds to move into his apartment and take over his life.

• _{Monday, February 11th, 1980}

  19: In Concert

  At a concert by the Who in Cincinnati on December 3, 1979, eleven kids were trampled to death when the crowd rushed to get seats. The first part of this episode takes place before that concert; the second act takes place the day after, and presents the characters' reactions to the tragedy.

• _{Monday, February 18th, 1980}

  20: The Doctor's Daughter

  Johnny's daughter shows up and moves in, and Johnny has to decide whether to express his disapproval of the shiftless boyfriend she's brought along.

• _{Monday, March 3rd, 1980}

  21: Filthy Pictures (1)

  Mr. Carlson convinces Jennifer and Andy to pose in bathing suits for a "Surf's Up in Cincinnati" poster. After the photo session, the photographer secretly takes nude photos of Jennifer while she's changing.

• _{Monday, March 3rd, 1980}

  22: Filthy Pictures (2)

• _{Monday, March 10th, 1980}

  23: Venus Rising

  Venus is offered a job as program director of WREQ radio, but is disillusioned when he discovers how the station is run and why they want to hire him. Meanwhile, Herb circulates a rumor that he, too, has received a job offer.

• _{Monday, March 31st, 1980}

  24: Most Improved Station

  Everyone starts bickering after the station loses a broadcasting award.

Season 3

• _{Saturday, November 1st, 1980}

  1: The Airplane Show

  Trying to compete with WPIG's traffic helicopter, Les starts doing traffic reports from a World War I biplane piloted by a crazy war veteran.

• _{Saturday, November 8th, 1980}

  2: Jennifer Moves

  The staff helps Jennifer move into her new $125,000 house in the quiet suburb of Landersville. But she soon finds out that life in Landersville isn't as pleasant as she thought it would be.

• _{Saturday, November 15th, 1980}

  3: Real Families

  When Herb's family is featured in the show "Real Families", he is sure that they can serve as an example of a clean living family. Unfortunately, the image Herb wants to convey is different from the reality shown on screen.

• _{Saturday, November 22nd, 1980}

  4: The Baby

  Mr. Carlson's wife goes into labor and the WKRP staffers all visit the hospital to be there when she gives birth.

• _{Saturday, November 29th, 1980}

  5: Hotel Oceanview

  Andy, Mr. Carlson and Herb visit Dayton to try and land the advertising account for Vicky Von Vickey jeans. While Mr. Carlson worries about the notorious Dayton poisoner, Herb romances an old high school acquaintance and Andy has trouble with his slide projector.

• _{Saturday, December 6th, 1980}

  6: A Mile in My Shoes

  When Herb is called for jury duty, Andy takes over as sales manager and soon discovers just how tough it is trying to sell advertising time or collect from deadbeat clients. Meanwhile, Venus becomes acting program director and has to deal with Les's plan to disguise himself as a black man so that he can do a series of reports based on the book Black Like Me.

• _{Saturday, December 20th, 1980}

  7: Bah, Humbug

  Once again, Mr. Carlson plans to give the staffers almost no Christmas bonuses. But in a dream brought on by eating one of Johnny Fever's brownies, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future visit him to show him the error of his ways.

• _{Saturday, January 3rd, 1981}

  8: Baby, It's Cold Inside

  On a day when the furnace has broken down, Mama Carlson pays a surprise visit to the station and catches Johnny drinking in the broadcast booth.

• _{Saturday, January 10th, 1981}

  9: The Painting

  At Mr. Carlson's church auction, Herb buys a painting that Bailey loves. He tries to get Mr. Carlson or Bailey to buy it from him...until he learns that it might be valuable.

• _{Saturday, January 17th, 1981}

  10: Daydreams

  When Mr. Carlson rehearses a dull speech in front of the WKRP staff, all the staffers drift off into daydreams about what they would most like to be: Herb as a Latin-American dictator, Jennifer as a '30s movie star, Les as a reporter covering the Blitz in 1940, Bailey as the President of the United States, Andy as a radio Mafioso, Venus as a standup comedian, and Johnny as a rock star.

• _{Saturday, January 24th, 1981}

  11: Frog Story

  Herb has accidentally spray-painted his daughter's pet frog Greenpeace pink, and brings the frog to the station trying to find a way to save its life. Meanwhile, Les convinces Johnny that he is suffering from the dreaded "schistosomiasis."

• _{Saturday, January 31st, 1981}

  12: Venus and the Man

  The station's cleaning woman asks Venus to convince her big, tough teenage son not to drop out of school.

• _{Saturday, February 7th, 1981}

  13: Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide

  Johnny signs a contract to host a music TV program unaware that the songs will be disco.

• _{Saturday, February 7th, 1981}

  14: Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide (2)

• _{Saturday, February 14th, 1981}

  15: Ask Jennifer

  When Herb's choice as host of a new call-in advice show proves unable to go on the air, Jennifer takes over and becomes an instant success.

• _{Saturday, February 21st, 1981}

  16: I Am Woman

  When it is announced that the Flimm Building is to be torn down, Bailey starts a campaign to have the building declared a Cincinnati landmark. Everyone pitches in to help, until Mr. Carlson gets his mother's permission to build a new and better building.

• _{Saturday, February 28th, 1981}

  17: Secrets of Dayton Heights

  The Secret Service refuses to grant Les credentials for a Presidential press conference, suspecting him of having radical affiliations. It turns out that the man who raised Les wasn't his father, and that his real father was a card-carrying Communist.

• _{Saturday, March 14th, 1981}

  18: Out to Lunch

  Herb's three-martini business lunches with an ad agency representative are causing him to mess up even more than usual, and it begins to seem that his use of alcohol as a sales tool is turning into a drinking problem.

• _{Saturday, March 21st, 1981}

  19: A Simple Little Wedding

  In honor of their 25th anniversary, Arthur and Carmen Carlson plan to get married again. They want a small, private ceremony, but Mama Carlson has other ideas.

• _{Saturday, March 28th, 1981}

  20: Nothing to Fear But...

  Everyone is in the grip of urban paranoia after the station is robbed.

• _{Sunday, April 5th, 1981}

  21: Till Debt Do Us Part

  When Johnny learns that his first ex-wife is planning to remarry, he is overjoyed at the thought of not having to pay alimony, and celebrates by inviting Bailey to take a trip with him. But he feels less happy about the situation when he meets the obnoxious womanizer his ex-wife is going to marry.

• _{Sunday, April 12th, 1981}

  22: Clean Up Radio Everywhere

  Dr. Bob Halyers, head of the organization Clean Up Radio Broadcasting (CURB), visits Mr. Carlson with a list of obscene songs that he wants the station to stop playing.

Season 4

• _{Wednesday, October 7th, 1981}

  1: An Explosive Affair (Part 1)

  After the station receives a bomb threat, Andy sends Johnny and Venus to broadcast from the transmitter tower while the station is being searched.

• _{Wednesday, October 14th, 1981}

  2: An Explosive Affair (Part 2)

  Andy is unable to warn Johnny and Venus when he realizes that the bomb is at the transmitter.

• _{Wednesday, October 21st, 1981}

  3: The Union

  The staff of WKRP considers joining a union. Mr. Carlson is furious and rushes to his mother for advice, while Andy tries to appear neutral in this labor-management conflict.

• _{Wednesday, October 28th, 1981}

  4: Rumors

  While his apartment is being fumigated, Johnny accepts Bailey's offer to stay at her place, causing everyone at the station to think that the two are sleeping together. Johnny's also afraid that he's in danger of losing his time slot to Rex, the afternoon DJ, and when Bailey tries to cheer him up, he mistakes her friendliness for a come-on.

• _{Wednesday, November 4th, 1981}

  5: Straight from the Heart

  Herb tells everyone that he's going on vacation, but Les and Jennifer discover that he's actually checked into the hospital for heart tests.

• _{Wednesday, November 11th, 1981}

  6: Who's on First?

  With Herb in the hospital, Mr. Carlson pretends he is Herb and is impersonated by Les for an advertising client.

• _{Wednesday, November 18th, 1981}

  7: Three Days of the Condo

  When Johnny receives $24,000 in a legal settlement, Venus convinces him to use the money to invest in a condominium at Gone With the Wind Estates.

• _{Friday, December 25th, 1981}

  8: Jennifer and the Will

  Colonel Buchanan, Jennifer's elderly gentleman friend, dies suddenly. As executrix of his will, Jennifer must deal with the press and with the Colonel's money-grubbing, rumor mongering relatives.

• _{Wednesday, December 30th, 1981}

  9: The Consultant

  Mama Carlson hires a professional radio consultant to evaluate WKRP. The man she's hired, Norris Breeze, is an old friend of Andy's who also runs a radio programming service. Andy soon realizes that Breeze intends to give the station a bad report unless it subscribes to the service.

• _{Wednesday, January 6th, 1982}

  10: Love, Exciting and New

  Andy starts taking Mama Carlson out after hours in the hopes of getting her to pay for a new transmitter for the station. But he begins to suspect that she might have more-than-businesslike expectations of him.

• _{Wednesday, January 13th, 1982}

  11: You Can't Go Out of Town Again

  Mr. Carlson goes with Carmen to a college reunion where he learns the disillusioning truth about how he and Carmen first met; Bailey is frustrated in her attempts to get a computer for billing; Venus can't get a moment alone in the booth with his latest date.

• _{Wednesday, January 20th, 1982}

  12: Pills

  Herb sells ad spots to a seller of "diet pills"; after it turns out that the pills are a legalized way of selling speed to teenagers, it also turns out that the station can't legally get out of running the ads.

• _{Wednesday, January 27th, 1982}

  13: Changes

  When Venus learns that he's going to be interviewed by a militant black magazine, he adopts a new wardrobe and manner in order to seem more in touch with black culture. Meanwhile, Jennifer offers to change Herb's image, starting with picking out new, tasteful clothes for him.

• _{Wednesday, February 3rd, 1982}

  14: Jennifer and Johnny's Charity

  When a fire destroys the kitchen at the Vine Street Mission, Johnny recruits Jennifer to help raise the $40,000 dollars to rebuild it. Jennifer throws a party for her rich friends and asks them to contribute, and everything is going fine until the contributors meet the people involved.

• _{Wednesday, February 17th, 1982}

  15: I'll Take Romance

  Herb fixes Les up with a date through his latest client, the I'll Take Romance Dating Service. Les hits it off with his date immediately, not knowing that the dating service is a front for prostitution.

• _{Wednesday, February 24th, 1982}

  16: Circumstantial Evidence

  Venus's latest date gives him an expensive diamond earring as a gift and then runs out on him; it turns out that she's a thief who has used the stolen earring to frame Venus as her accomplice.

• _{Wednesday, March 17th, 1982}

  17: Fire

  Herb and Jennifer are trapped in an elevator when a fire breaks out in the Flimm Building.

• _{Wednesday, March 24th, 1982}

  18: Dear Liar

  When Bailey writes a news story on the Northside Children's Clinic, Les steals it and reads it on the air. This turns out to be a blow to the station's integrity in more ways than one when Bailey admits that she fictionalized part of the story.

• _{Wednesday, March 31st, 1982}

  19: The Creation of Venus

  When Venus lets it slip that he was a schoolteacher before he came to WKRP, Andy has to tell Mama Carlson the truth about how he hired Gordon Sims as a DJ and how they came up with the persona of Venus Flytrap.

• _{Wednesday, April 7th, 1982}

  20: The Impossible Dream

  On his birthday, Les announces that he's going to New York to pursue his dream of becoming a world-famous broadcast journalist by auditioning for The CBS Evening News.

• _{Wednesday, April 14th, 1982}

  21: To Err is Human

  After Herb screws up an important advertising account, Mr. Carlson finally intends to fire him, but Jennifer takes pity on Herb and tries to help him keep his job.

• _{Wednesday, April 21st, 1982}

  22: Up and Down the Dial

  Just as WKRP hits #6 in the ratings, Mama Carlson announces that she plans to switch the format of the station to 24 hours a day of news.