Success and Failure for WKRP

During its 1978-82 run on CBS, WKRP in Cincinnati was one of the most critically acclaimed television programs on the air and won numerous accolades. Indeed, the sitcom won a Humanitas Prize -- an award intended to honor television shows that "promote dignity" -- and was nominated three times for Outstanding Comedy Series in the Emmy Awards. However, much of the popular success of WKRP did not come into fruition until the show aired in syndicated reruns, long after its run ended. Indeed, while the program was on the air in the late 70's and early 80's, its ratings fluctuated. At the beginning of its run, the show's initial eight episodes - despite featuring such later-beloved episodes like "Turkeys Away" - performed poorly in the ratings. Consequently, WKRP was put on hiatus shortly thereafter. Nevertheless, the clamor of disc jockeys across the country and TV critics -- who admired the show's witty humor -- helped resurrect the sitcom.

Ultimately, suspecting that WKRP could bear auspicious fruits for CBS, the network gave the sitcom a golden spot in their primetime schedule. The new time slot of WKRP was as the follow-up to the extremely popular comedy, M*A*S*H. Believing that the sitcom would attract viewers who were watching M*A*S*H, the decision from CBS was seemingly logical and rational. Consequently, show creator Hugh Wilson exploited the opportunity to adjust his sitcom's subject manner to include more dramatic plots to reflect the time change from CBS. The lead-in to the show, M*A*S*H, while essentially a sitcom, was nonetheless known for grappling grave and controversial topics. Therefore, Wilson saw it as appropriate to take advantage of the time slot change to develop more dramatic episodes such as one that revolved around the DJ Venus Flytrap's desertion from the U.S. Army. However, Wilson was deprived of the opportunity of making his show a megahit. During the second season, CBS moved WKRP yet again to a new timeslot earlier in the day, a decision that left producers and writers wondering what material would be appropriate for the new timeslot, considered the "family hour." As a result of even more changes in its time slot, WKRP saw its ratings decline -- with the notable exception of the finale earning #7 among all TV shows in Nielsen ratings -- and by 1982, the show was off the air.

Despite the troubles WKRP faced in its run, the show has earned several accolades and become more massively popular in reruns than anticipated. The sitcom was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, including a win by Andy Ackerman for the Emmy for Videotape Editing in season three. The show's "Turkeys Away" episode was listed several decades later by TV Guide as one of the greatest television episodes of all time. Furthermore, in syndicated reruns, WKRP became so popular during the 1980's that it performed better in the ratings than all of the other sitcoms of MTM Enterprises running on the air at the time. In fact, the reruns were frequently placed among the highest-rated syndicated shows on television during the 1980's alongside hits like Wheel of Fortune. The popularity of the reruns helped inspire a spin-off to the show, The New WKRP in Cincinnati during the early 1990's, yet this sitcom was a ratings disaster. Ultimately, even though the sitcom failed to find significant popular success during its time on the air, it has won numerous awards and found ratings glory since its run ended.

SOURCES:

1. WKRP in Cincinnati - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WKRP_in_Cincinnati

2. WKRP in Cincinnati - The Internet Movie Database - www.imdb.com/title/tt0077097/

3. WKRP in Cincinnati - An Episode Guide - www.epguides.com/WKRPinCincinnati/guide.shtml

IMAGES:

1. Wikimedia.org

2. www.timstvshowcase.com