The New WKRP in Cincinnati


The New WKRP in Cincinnati is an American sitcom television series that aired in first-run syndication from September 14, 1991, to May 1, 1993, as a sequel to the original CBS sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. As with the original WKRP, MTM Enterprises produced the show.
Gordon Jump, Frank Bonner, and Richard Sanders reprised their roles from the original show, while Howard Hesseman reprised the role of Dr. Johnny Fever on a recurring basis. Other original cast members came in for guest spots, with Loni Anderson returning for two episodes and Tim Reid for one episode. Other recurring players from the original series who appeared as guests on this sequel show included Carol Bruce, Edie McClurg, Allyn Ann McLerie and Bill Dial.
The week before the show's premiere, many stations carrying the program aired the hour-long WKRP in Cincinnati 50th Anniversary Special, centered on a newspaper reporter interviewing Arthur Carlson about the fictitious station's golden anniversary, which served as a setup to show clips of memorable moments from the original series.

Synopsis

The New WKRP in Cincinnati revisits radio station WKRP, a station that had slowly climbed from near-last in the ratings to a top-10 station over the course of the original series under program director Andy Travis, who was last seen drunk and collapsed on the floor of owner Lillian "Mama" Carlson about to tell her off at the previous series end. With Travis gone, the station soon lapses into a dysfunctional, poorly performing laughingstock under Carlson's son, the indecisive general manager Arthur Carlson. Almost all of the staff at the station has left, with only two longtime employees, boorish sales manager Herb Tarlek and comically inept news director Les Nessman, remaining.
Nine years after the original series ended, with the station's 50th anniversary approaching, Mr. Carlson hires new program director Donovan Aderhold to help turn the station around. Already at the station when Donovan arrives are DJs "the Morning Maniacs" Jack Allen and Dana Burns, a couple in the throes of divorce who nevertheless work as a team on-air. Donovan soon also hires sexy night-time DJ Mona Loveland. Off the air, other staff members initially included traffic/continuity co-ordinator Claire Hartline ; sporadically seen engineer Buddy Dornster ; receptionist Ronnie Lee ; and, after a few episodes, assistant sales manager Arthur Carlson, Jr..
The show underwent many cast changes during its run, eventually dropping or replacing most of the initial "new" cast. Partway through the first season, the characters of Dana Burns and Ronnie Lee were written out. Ronnie's replacement as receptionist was spacey blonde Nancy Braithwaite. Dana's character was not replaced.
After the first season, more characters were dropped: Claire Hartline, Jack Allen and Arthur Carlson, Jr. all disappeared. French Stewart joined the cast in the second season as morning DJ Razor D.
Dr. Johnny Fever made a few appearances as a guest in season 1, and participated in a four-episode story arc as WKRP's overnight DJ in season 2, although he left the station before the season ended. Mona Loveland was quietly written out towards the end of season 2, and does not appear in the last five episodes. Donovan Aderhold quit the station in the next-to-last episode, and was seemingly killed off in a plane crash at the episode's conclusion. Donovan does not appear and is not mentioned in the series finale.
A number of cast members from both old and new series wrote and directed episodes of the series. Howard Hesseman, in addition to appearing in nine episodes, directed two others in which he did not appear. Bill Dial wrote or co-wrote 13 episodes of the series, while Richard Sanders co-wrote three episodes with his wife. Frank Bonner directed five episodes, mostly in season 2, and Mykelti Williamson directed one episode. Non-cast members Asaad Kelada and Max Tash combined to direct most of the show's other episodes; among other notable non-cast members in the production staff included Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson's then-husband, who directed one of Jennifer Marlowe's two appearances in the series in a stunt casting move, and Los Angeles conservative talk radio personality Doug McIntyre, who wrote two episodes. As was the case with the aforementioned Andy Travis, Bailey Quarters was completely absent from the series.
The show ended production in 1993 after two seasons and 47 episodes. Only the "original three" characters of Mr. Carlson, Herb Tarlek and Les Nessman remain with the program for the entire run and are seen in every episode.
For the first several episodes, the series was still identified as WKRP in Cincinnati and used a nearly identical opening sequence to the original series, except with updated cast names. The New portion was not added to the title until later, when clips of the starring actors were added to the title sequence. The familiar opening and closing themes of its parent series were also retained, and while a new arrangement/recording was used for the opening theme, the closing theme was the same version heard on the original series.
The series followed up on some details left unaddressed in the original series. For example, the actual frequency of WKRP was never revealed in the original series. In this version, the station is identified as being at 1530 AM, the actual home of WCKY, also licensed to Cincinnati, though the actual 1530 AM is a 50,000-watt class A clear channel frequency, while WKRP's coverage map promoted the station as a 5,000-watt Class B station.
Also addressed is why the station is in the same position as the original series, which was supposed to conclude with everyone's hard work paying off and the station reaching number six.

Main characters

Regulars

Episodes

Critical reception

Several critics of the show railed against the thought of continuing the original series, and it premiered to a mix of positive and negative reviews. Among the negative reviews from broadcast professionals was the charge that the station, broadcasting on the AM band, was still playing Rock 'n Roll music in the early 1990s, long after FM was established as the industry's leading music band.
The series, contrary to the belief of some, was not canceled due to large monetary losses. Despite the challenges of syndication, which included varying airtimes in various markets, the series was able to operate in the black, but not producing a profit substantial enough for investors to back it financially.

Stations