the leading man is my tpye

What a beautiful movie!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Like almost everyone who tuned in, we were fans of the original show. Bill Dial (the original engineer, Bucky Dornster) was a major creative force behind the scenes in both, but was working in a different environment this time round. The new WKRP had paid great attention to the physical details of the sets, and brought back 3 strong cast members. Unfortunately that was less than half of the original ensemble, and despite what other reviewers have said, few of them seemed to work. French Stewart as Razor and Nancy Braithwaite were the only standouts, as they were drawn as broadly comedic characters like most everyone in the original WKRP. Claire, Dana, Jack and even Art Jr. were just too boring and plain, forcing the best story lines to lean on Art, Herb and Les too much, or to bring in guests from the first series. The 2 seasons were very different as well, since 4 main cast members from season 1 were replaced without explanation heading into season 2. This disjointed nature rose towards the end of season 2 with Donovan being killed off apparently in the second last episode, then zero mention in the final episode, while Mona just never appeared after the episode in LA with Johnny. So the overall story arc was a problem, along with the casting. Now that said, there were still moments of strong TV here, particularly as Herb and Les still are the wacky nuts they always were. Nancy provides a great foil for Herb, showing the reverse of the Jennifer scenario. He gets a taste of his own medicine for a change. When Johnny guests it is always a compelling tale, and the Hollywood version of WKRP mimics the "Real Families" episode from the original to great effect. Hopefully now that the show has finally appeared on the torrent and streaming sites it will be possible for more fans to rediscover this interesting, albeit flawed, bit of TV history.

I'd actually like to see a DVD release of this, though I doubt that's going to happen. I've got several of the episodes recorded on VHS, but haven't viewed them in several years. My memory could be a bit faulty here, but from my recollection, the show on the one hand wasn't nearly as good as the original. On the other hand, I still thought it was better than most sitcoms on television at the time. Les, Herb, and The Big Guy were all great in reprising their roles, but the supporting cast was kind of hit and miss. Mykelti Williamson was pretty good as the new P.D., and Tawny Kitaen became "the new Jennifer," the station bombshell, and I thought she was pretty good, but the rest of the new cast, even Michael Des Barres, didn't really stand out. I thought that changed a bit in the second season, when French Stewart arrived as Razor, and Howard Hesseman showed up a bit more guesting. And as I recall, there was an end of the second season cliffhanger that Johnny Fever MIGHT have been Razor's father! Definitely have to agree that, for a show that was pretty accurate in its portrayal of radio, it really didn't make any sense that, in 1991, there was still a current pop/rock format on the AM band, especially in a large market. But on balance, I liked the show, and was sad to see it go so soon.

I am a huge fan of the original WKRP - I have watched every episode probably twenty or thirty times, if not more. The reality is though, in comparing the New WKRP to the original, there is a tendency to angelize the former and demonize the latter. This is unfair. The reality is, there were as many problems in the original as the New WKRP. While Jan Smithers was beautiful, she was not an overwhelming personality on the show. The same is true for Gary Sandy. He paled in comparison to the others on the show. Of course, Loni Anderson, In many ways, the New WKRP made up for some of the failures of the original, in that most of the cast were, overall, much better. Returning were Gordon Jump, Richard Sanders and Frank Bonner (Carlson, Nessman, and Tarlek) for every episode, and they pick up right where they left off. Howard Hesseman also made several regular appearances (and all were excellent), as did Mama Carlson (Carol Bruce)who seemed to have aged very well.Three bright and shining characters that add to the new cast were Marla Rubinoff who played Nancy the receptionist. She was as hilarious as she was beautiful (she left TV and went on to become a counselor and therapist). French Stewart, later of 3rd Rock From the Sun fame, was quite entertaining as the morning DJ Razor D, and of course, let us not forget the gorgeous Tawney Kitaen. She was a much better actress in her early days than her later career would evidence. She had great timing and filled the screen with her presence. We must not forget Mykelti Williamson either, who would later go on to play Bubba in Forrest Gump. He brought a lot of energy and great timing to the role of the station manager.Overall, I have found the episodes to be of excellent quality, and with a stronger cast (overall), I think the writing is better. I hope that one day, these will be available on regular DVD, but for now, they can only be purchased from people who have the VHS tapes (on ioffer.com). Enjoy, I know I have!

10. This is a reunion show, as mentioned above. 9. Only 1/3 of the original cast bothered to show up, thus supplying only 1/3 of the humor. 8. It's never a good idea to call something "the new version" of anything as it will only make fans long for the original (just like The New Leave It To Beaver). 7. Had this show started out as a new concept, people might not have noticed right away that it wasn't really that funny. But when you have the original to compare it to, it can be downright painful (just like Saturday Night Live after the departure of the Not Ready for Primetime Players). 6. Dr. Johnny Fever is NOT a regular. That factor alone hurts the show. 5. This show was syndicated, which means no major network would buy it. More often than not, the networks would never know a good show if it lived next door. This time, however, they made the right choice. 4. Who are all those other people? They have no personalities. They might as well be rejects from Murphy Brown or Newsradio. 3. Herb, Les and Mr. Carlson are funny, I'll give them that, but here they have nobody to get their laughs off of. 2. In the original WKRP, the premise was that Andy had to bring rock to the station against Mama Carlson's wishes and deal with all the buffoons. What exactly was the premise behind this show? Was there even a premise at all? You know a show's in trouble when someone says, "Uh, they're still running the station with Herb, Mr. Carlson and Les." AND FINALLY... 1. The Number One reason for this show bombing (and by that, I don't mean "the bomb")...Tawny Kitaen. Any show that's desperate enough to use her as the resident bimbo/sex symbol is desperate indeed. Any time you see her name (or the names of Pamela Anderson or Barbi Benton) in the opening credits, you know right away that what you're watching is utter crap. What a shame to blacken WKRP's great name this way.