In my own opinion, "WKRP" could never be made again. The primary reason, radio is a dead format. Radio just isn't what it was back in the 70's & early 80's. Anybody agree with me?

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/article/783/783961/wkrp-in-cincinnati-the-complete-first-season-20070426114009951.jpg

I remember back in the 70s, us kids would have our older sister Cathy (She loved talking on the phone) call into the radio station and dedicate "HeartBeat-Its-A-LoveBeat" by The DeFranco Family to Cathy, David, Jim, Bob and Lois.
One thing about the radio in the olden days is that there really was something for everyone--and we all watched WKRP :wave:

Yes, I agree with you, partly for a different reason: I just don't think (so I've heard) that small radio stations are structured the same nowadays: they have fewer employees, and the jobs there are not as delineated or compartmentalized as they are on WKRP (a great show, btw). We have a small AM station in my city, a satellite broadcasting station (satellite in this case to mean not the main station which is like 30 miles away). This particular station in my city operates out of a rented space upstairs in a rented office. There is one, sometimes two employees at most at any given times, i.e., the DJ him or herself, plus the person coming on for the next shift. Nothing like the different departments: News, weather, sports, etc., like you see on WKRP.

For the other part, I completely agree with you. It does seem to be a dying format, especially AM radio which I have loved since I was six years old. Dakert, I think you're right. There used to be something for everybody. The transmission radius used to be much, much better. Now I will be listening to a program on AM, and by 4 or 5pm, the signal is either so weak or there is so much static you can't even hear the rest of the show. The other thing is that half the AM dial isn't even in English: I can get Mandarin, Spanish, etc. I don't mean it as a racist statement: don't get me wrong. Stations make money by tailoring their programming for their desired listenership. The point I am making is what dakert said earlier and which I referred to about the limited variety. I am so tired of going up and down the dial, to listen to a guy who's conversed with space aliens here, to a Vitamin huckster there, to a religious nut somewhere else (I'm a devout Christian, but some of these guys are 'off the wall'). Here's to a resurgence of good radio once again. Good thread, Brian!

Yes, I agree with you, partly for a different reason: I just don't think (so I've heard) that small radio stations are structured the same nowadays: they have fewer employees, and the jobs there are not as delineated or compartmentalized as they are on WKRP (a great show, btw). We have a small AM station in my city, a satellite broadcasting station (satellite in this case to mean not the main station which is like 30 miles away). This particular station in my city operates out of a rented space upstairs in a rented office. There is one, sometimes two employees at most at any given times, i.e., the DJ him or herself, plus the person coming on for the next shift. Nothing like the different departments: News, weather, sports, etc., like you see on WKRP.

For the other part, I completely agree with you. It does seem to be a dying format, especially AM radio which I have loved since I was six years old. Dakert, I think you're right. There used to be something for everybody. The transmission radius used to be much, much better. Now I will be listening to a program on AM, and by 4 or 5pm, the signal is either so weak or there is so much static you can't even hear the rest of the show. The other thing is that half the AM dial isn't even in English: I can get Mandarin, Spanish, etc. I don't mean it as a racist statement: don't get me wrong. Stations make money by tailoring their programming for their desired listenership. The point I am making is what dakert said earlier and which I referred to about the limited variety. I am so tired of going up and down the dial, to listen to a guy who's conversed with space aliens here, to a Vitamin huckster there, to a religious nut somewhere else (I'm a devout Christian, but some of these guys are 'off the wall'). Here's to a resurgence of good radio once again. Good thread, Brian!

Well said by the BOTH of you! The days of personalities like Wolfman Jack, Cousin Brucie and the like are long gone.


Yooch, you are 100% right, I worked in a few radio stations and you basically have skeleton crews working 24/7. It is sad really.

I agree. I am in radio, and you could never do a show like this again. With the exception of college and free form radio, most radio stations have playlists (which is why you hear the same songs over and over again).

Count me in!! The "ayes" have it!!! :cool: :D

I agree with everyone, and would add another reason. You'd never get the same chemistry that you did in the original show; those actors are just irreplaceable.

I agree with everyone, and would add another reason. You'd never get the same chemistry that you did in the original show; those actors are just irreplaceable.
I agree. They tried a new version of the show in the early 90's and it was awful. The only good thing was seeing some of the original cast.

Besides the reasons that everyone else has listed about how the radio format has changed, casts just don't seem to have the same chemistry with each other anymore. The people on this show acted like a believable family. Today that would be too hard for anyone to pull off. Actors just seem to have too big of egos or something where they just cannot believably get along and care about each other.

Besides the reasons that everyone else has listed about how the radio format has changed, casts just don't seem to have the same chemistry with each other anymore. The people on this show acted like a believable family. Today that would be too hard for anyone to pull off. Actors just seem to have too big of egos or something where they just cannot believably get along and care about each other.

Good point. I think that the idea of an ensemble is totally undermined anymore by the desire of most of the casts to be the "star". Being a character actor or second (or third) banana is a real art, one that most modern actors don't seem to possess.

Agreed. Ensemble comedies seem to be just a thing of the past. :(

I agree. They tried a new version of the show in the early 90's and it was awful. The only good thing was seeing some of the original cast.

Agreed.

To the original question, Brian--right on, bro'! Could and SHOULD NEVER have been remade.

To those of you who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, especially in the Chicago area, "Larry Lujack" was synonymous with personality radio at "89-WLS" and, even earlier, "Super CFL." He died earlier this week in New Mexico. It's a safe bet that millions of wannabe disc jockeys who grew up in this era were trying to imitate the self-proclaimed "Superjock" with his cynical, smart-@$$ delivery on the air.

Lujack was one of the few personality jocks from the midwest who would rank nationally with Cousin Brucie, Don Imus, Wolfman Jack, etc. And you'll notice even these guys are no longer disc jockeys (the Wolfman of course has passed away), and gone on to other formats, in no small part thanks to program directors and general managers finding it less expensive to pay big bucks for live jocks.

It's easier to pay for someone back-announcing the songs (or even now referring you to your website if you missed the title of that song you loved in 1968)...and there is no way that a show like "WKRP in Cincinnati" could be produced today...nobody would believe there was ever radio like this even 35 years ago!

Yeah, I remember "Uncle Lar'" and "Little Tommy" when they were at WLS in the 70s and 80s. Played a ton of good music and had some good laughs, too. If you were anywhere near Chicago, you had to know these two!

RIP Larry.

In my own opinion, "WKRP" could never be made again. The primary reason, radio is a dead format. Radio just isn't what it was back in the 70's & early 80's. Anybody agree with me?

http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/article/783/783961/wkrp-in-cincinnati-the-complete-first-season-20070426114009951.jpg

I totally agree with you. Radio is dead along with print media. The machine now is the programmer. The listener has so many choices to choose from so why radio? Who needs advertising and other overhead expenses?
Digital changed the world, and not exactly for the betterment of it.
Give me the 70's over todays world any day.

While the radio format is NOW fast becoming passé, a remake of a radio format could still work, because of the time era the show is based on. Do I think a remake could work? Possibly. But remakes, 99.9999% of the time are never as good as the original.

When shows hit it big, no one ever really knew it would happen; many thought All In The Family would fall on it’s face. But it didn’t. And while the (sort of) remake of AITF with Archie Bunker’s Place was a good show, it still paled in comparison.

The same with The New WKRP. It was a good show, but just didn’t have that special something the original had.

My general thought: the HARDER you try to manufacture the MAGIC that happened spontaneously, the WORSE the show tends to do.

When shows hit it big, no one ever really knew it would happen; many thought All In The Family would fall on it’s face. But it didn’t. And while the (sort of) remake of AITF with Archie Bunker’s Place was a good show, it still paled in comparison.

Archie Bunker's Place wasn't a remake, it was a continuation of All In The Family.

Archie Bunker's Place wasn't a remake, it was a continuation of All In The Family.

Well, it’s been described as a spin-off continuation, so In my mind I perceived it as a remake. New profession for Archie, MANY new characters, loss of KEY character Edith. But I do see your point, and will try to be more precise in the future. Not to get too far off track, but just curious: do you think All In The Family seasons labeled as such, were better than those of Archie Bunker’s Place?

Well, it’s been described as a spin-off continuation, so In my mind I perceived it as a remake. New profession for Archie, MANY new characters, loss of KEY character Edith. But I do see your point, and will try to be more precise in the future. Not to get too far off track, but just curious: do you think All In The Family seasons labeled as such, were better than those of Archie Bunker’s Place?

It really wasn't a new profession: Archie bought the bar a couple of seasons earlier and was already entrenched in it. There were some new characters, but a few carried over from All In The Family as well.

The reason the name was changed was because Jean Stapleton no longer wanted to play Edith. (She only appeared in five season one episodes of Archie Bunker's Place).

The final season of AITF, season 9, was a transitional one to ABP, as Gloria and Mike were gone, The character of Stephanie was brought in and the show alternated between scenes at home and scenes at the bar.

I would say that season was better than any of the ABP ones because Edith was still a big part of the show and there were some good moments between her and Archie. But it wasn't the same without Mike and Gloria.

Newsradio had a similar dynamic and feel.

I wouldn't be surprised if WKRP was a big inspiration to the show.