WKRP in Cincinnati hit the airwaves in 1978. It was never a major hit, seeing multiple timeslots that may have kept the show from finding its audience. It was in syndication that WKRP found its sweet spot, and it has been seen in reruns continuously since leaving the air in 1982.
The show was created by Hugh Wilson, a writer with production company MTM (Mary Tyler Moore and her husband, Grant Tinker), who wrote episodes for the Tony Randall Show and The Bob Newhart Show before pitching WKRP to the studios. The concept was based on his experiences with an actual radio station. A former advertising exec in Atlanta, Wilson had worked with the local top-40 station WQXI (known as Quicksie in Dixie) and gotten to know the staff. The premise for the show, several of its central characters, and several of the plot lines came from this experience.
One of the show’s most popular characters, DJ Dr. Johnny Fever, was based on WQXI’s legendary morning talent Skinny Bobby Harper. Program Director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) was created based on a cousin of Wilson’s and a program director he had known. The character Bailey Quarters was based on Wilson’s wife, Charter Smith, who came from a background in radio. Salesman Herb Tarlek was based on WQXI Account Exec Clarke Brown. Gordon Jump’s character, station manager Arthur Carlson, was based on WQXI’s manager Jerry Blum, even sharing the same nickname, “The Big Guy.” Blum was the creator of one of Georgia’s most infamous events, the Ramblin’ Raft Race. He was also behind exploits that made their way into WKRP episodes, like having created a mythical Buford Triangle in Georgia that later was the basis for the Cincinnati Triangle in WKRP’s first season episode “Hoodlum Rock.”
Perhaps Blum’s most significant and most lasting influence was in WKRP’s most memorable episode, “Turkeys Away.” The idea for the episode came from an experience Blum shared with Wilson about his experience at Texas radio station KBOX in the 1950s. Blum had filled a tractor-trailer with live turkeys under the impression that the creatures could fly. The combination of the splattered birds and attendees getting into fights over the turkeys led to a terrible promotion but a great show idea.
Turkeys Away was named one of the most significant TV episodes ever by TV Guide. In it, station manager Carlson decides to drop free turkeys to an awaiting crowd at a local mall as a promotion. Unlike Blum’s inspirational story, Carlson opts to drop the birds to the awaiting fans from a helicopter.
