Radio on TV

Here is a fun re-post of a recent Gospel Aircheck blog entry:

“Baby if you ever wondered / Wondered whatever became of me / I'm livin' on the air in Cincinnati / Cincinnati WKRP.” 

Over 40? You remember the show in first run like I do or maybe you became a fan later in re-runs on TV Land. Whatever the case WKRP in Cincinnati is one of my favorite TV shows about radio.


At the start of my radio career the show was still on CBS and I'd often compare the situations and characters to real life at my little dysfunctional radio family. There was a Mr. Carlson, a real life Venus Fly Trap, a Herb Tarlek and a few mini Doctor Johnny Fever's running around. We even had our version of the Loni Anderson character, the hot receptionist Jennifer Marlowe. Never mind who took on which role; the show was spot-on with realistic social interaction.


While WKRP was somewhat accurate in its depiction of radio culture I thought the equipment props and the way the actors handled the technical details of broadcasting fell short. It's a silly quibble―I know―the show is dang funny and makes up for these “short-comings.”

WKRP basis was a real radio station, my hometown, Atlanta's WQXI-AM. Their “Skinny” Bobby Harper was the Dr. Johnny Fever prototype. WQXI (known locally as “Quixie in Dixie”) was a popular Top-40 outfit in the late 60' and early '70's. Many of the episodes are based on actual events experienced by series creator, Hugh Wilson, former Atlanta ad man.

That brings me to wonder what other shows that I can remember that had radio themes. Most obvious is Frasier on 11 seasons with NBC. With a much more high brow appeal than 'KRP, the series chronicles the life of psychiatrist / radio talk show host Frasier Crane played by Kelsey Grammer. The show had some of the best written episodes of any show, period. It remained an excellent example of great TV and proved consistent over all eleven seasons. What I loved about Frasier was that it involved more than just radio related themes with deep character development and very funny situations. The production values were unequaled and satisfied my technical side with real identifiable radio equipment props that satisfied the techno geek in me.


This is far from an exhaustive survey of TV shows about radio; I've only touched on two. Others that come to mind are: News Radio on NBC in the mid-90's staring Saturday Night Live alum Phil Hartman who was murdered in 1998 by his wife in real life. (The show only lasted one more season following his untimely death. It was never again the same without his comic genius.) A 2008 show on CBS; Gary Unmarried, involves recently divorced Gary Brooks, played by Jay Mohr, who finds himself switching careers from a house painter to his dream job as host on an all-sports station. Unfortunately, the show has been canceled by CBS despite well written scripts and a great cast. It's all about the ratings, baby!


Stay tuned


Coming soon to the Peanut Whistle "E-Man: A DJ Saved My Life": How my first radio home dealt with two radio stations of opposed formats crammed into one facility and my inauspicious introduction to "E93"


©2010 Neal Rhoden, The Peanut Whistle. All rights reserved.

Radio on TV

“Baby if you ever wondered / Wondered whatever became of me / I'm livin' on the air in Cincinnati / Cincinnati WKRP.” Over 40? You remember the show in first run like I do or maybe you became a fan later in re-runs on TV Land. Whatever the case WKRP in Cincinnati is one of my favorite TV shows about radio.

At the start of my radio career the show was still on CBS and I'd often compare the situations and characters to real life at my little dysfunctional radio family. There was a Mr. Carlson, a real life Venus Fly Trap, a Herb Tarlek and a few mini Doctor Johnny Fever's running around. We even had our version of the Loni Anderson character, the hot receptionist Jennifer Marlowe. While the show was somewhat accurate in its depiction of radio culture I though the equipment props and the way the actors handled the technical details of broadcasting fell short. It's a silly quibble, I know; the show is dang funny.

WKRP basis was a real radio station, my hometown, Atlanta's WQXI-AM. Their “Skinny” Bobby Harper was the Dr. Johnny Fever prototype. WQXI (known locally as “Quixie in Dixie”) was a popular Top-40 outfit in the late 60' and early '70's. Many of the episodes are based on actual events experienced by series creator, Hugh Wilson, former Atlanta ad man.

That brings me to wonder what other shows that I can remember that had radio themes. Most obvious is Frasier on 11 seasons with NBC. With a much more high brow appeal than 'KRP, the series chronicles the life of psychiatrist / radio talk show host Frasier Crane played by Kelsey Grammer. The show had some of the best written episodes of any show, period. It remained an excellent example of great TV and proved consistent over all eleven seasons. What I loved about Frasier was that it involved more than just radio related themes with deep character development and very funny situations. The production values were unequaled and satisfied my technical side with real identifiable radio equipment props that satisfied the techno geek in me.

This is far from an exhaustive survey of TV shows about radio; I've only touched on two. Others that come to mind are: News Radio on NBC in the mid-90's staring SNL alum Phil Hartman who was murdered in 1998 by his wife in real life. (The show only lasted one more season following his passing. It was never again the same without his comic genius.) A 2008 show on CBS; Gary Unmarried, involves recently divorced Gary Brooks, played by Jay Mohr, who finds himself switching careers from a house painter to his dream job as host on an all-sports station. Unfortunately, the show has been canceled by CBS despite well written scripts and a great cast. It's all about the ratings, baby!

Stay tuned

©2010 Gospel Aircheck. All rights reserved.

King of all Peanut Whistles

Talk about a peanut whistle. I worked a year at this particular 2,500 watt gem. We had local news, Southern Gospel music, a Swap Shop and daily obituaries. The news wasn't from a teletype or our own reporters. No, we read it directly from the newspaper. Verbatim. A few years before the dot com boom one of my fellow staff members commented on the state of our programming. The idea of a good ole country station was a relic of a bygone era. The world was now more accessible thanks to new technologies. I don't agree with him totally because stations such as this have their own unique charm. My friend Jim did get it right on one point though, we are a more enlightened society thanks to outlets such as CNN and other TV cable networks readily available then. It was 1992 and the World Wide Web and Fox News were a few years off. The context of his remarks was framed by people who he had observed overstating their "country" heritage by feigning ignorance, although being just as enlightened as city folks.

I was a bit of a snob then and saw this station a road block in my career.  The WBKI culture was an adjustment and was a step down from a purely business perspective. I later adopted their style and grew to appreciate their way of doing things. A few of the more countrified elements were weeded out and we became more "sophisticated." The home spun morning DJ resigned shortly after some heated debate with me. I viewed him as a local yokel. He was blissfully ignorant but the people loved him. The station fell into decline and eventually folded. My guess is that we didn't give the listeners what they wanted or maybe poor management was to blame. Who knows? Our GM saw the futility of the situation early on and probably mentally quit long before our demise. To borrow from the famous TV show WKRP in Cincinnati this guy was "town to town, up and down the dial". Success eluded David. We had worked together before. I witnessed his slow decline at my previous radio gig and now doubt my own wisdom in hitching to his star. However, I learned a lot from him and consider him a mentor. He allowed circumstances to limit him. I missed the control I had as a program director at my two previous jobs and felt the air chair was a handicap. For the first time in 6 years I was "just" a dee jay.

Stay tuned!