WKRP-Cast

WE ARE IN RE-RUNS! PLEASE ENJOY THIS ENCORE PRESENTATION!
Hi!! Our names are Allen and Donna Stare! We are a married couple from the Midwest who have been fans of the television show "WKRP in Cincinnati" since it originally aired. Allen started a career in radio and advertising at age 15 and much of his interest was inspired by WKRP. While Allen comes at the show more from the radio side of things, Donna is a fan of the humanity and the characters that populate the world of WKRP. We are both lovers of trivia, music and history...

[This Podcast is a RERUN of previously released material. Enjoy this Encore Presentation!]

WELCOME BACK!
Hey, Fellow Babies! Prepare yourselves for something COMPLETELY different! We're on a holiday break but we didn't want to leave you hanging for a full two weeks. So, we decided to do a little something "extra"...which is why we're calling this a "WKRP-Cast Extra"!! Huge thanks to Casey Piotrowski, writer of "Contest Nobody Could Win" for sharing the outline with us. Casey said they were handed out during a new writer's meeting in the fall...

HOLIDAY RE-RELEASE!
(We're re-running this classic on November 24th, 2025.. As God is our witness, here's to the start of a wonderful Holiday Season!! Enjoy!!)

Hey!! It's Allen and Donna Stare! It's time for another episode of the "WKRP-Cast"...and this one's a doozy! It's "Turkeys Away", the most popular and most famous episode of WKRP ever conceived!! Who thought of it? Who wrote it? Is it true? Were any turkeys harmed in the making of this episode?? These questions and more will be answered this time as we tackle the 800lb. Turkey of sitcom episodes...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
This is it, Fellow Babies. Welcome to the FINAL network first-run airing of WKRP. This episode, "The Impossible Dream" had been shelved by the network in the spring of 1982. Now, with a breakout hit on their hands, the network decided to play this never-before-seen episode well into the fall season...the season AFTER WKRP had been cancelled.

It's Les's birthday. The passing of another year has spurred the News Beacon of the Ohio Valley to strive for more in his career. That, and his mother is in to...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
This roll of film had fifty pictures of a black guy in a tux holding a bottle of shampoo...and ONE picture of a dorky white guy at a bar-b-que grill. Guess which one the printer chose?  Would your answer change if you knew the photographer was Herb Tarlek?

In a career marked by colossal screw-ups, this is one colossal screw-up. Herb's new client "Soul Suds" went the full multi-media promo route. They're utilizing point of purchase display stand-ups featuring WKRP's own Venus Flytrap. Venus is right the...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Finally! All the hard work for the KRP-Crew seems to be paying off! Andy got the new Book in this morning and there's some GOOD news!! The Mighty 'KRP has risen to a quite respectable SIXTH in the Cincinatti Market!!

Andy calls the gang together for the big reveal. Herb thinks this is it for his time on the streets...the phone will be ringing off the hook, right??

In the lobby, a gentleman with a deep and resonating voice has introduced himself to Jennifer as...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
We're 87 episodes into the series and Mr. Blake Hunter has decided we really need to clarify a few things that came before...like stuff that happened during the PILOT!

It's time to corral all those things we've heard about Venus over the last four years and explain how it could all happen to one man. We know him as military deserter...accomplished teacher...hottest nighttime deejay in NOLA...how was he able to pull it all off and he's not 63 years old??

We discover a fe...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Les is a consummate newsman...when the news is farm related. As Johnny says, Les's stories have that unmistakable 'barnyard aroma.'

Andy has an assignment for the News Beacon of the Ohio Valley. Mrs. Carlson is a big supporter of a local children's hospital. The Hospital is in dire need of community support. Andy hands Les the info and tells him to go down there and do a story on it. Now.

Les, in an inspired bit of delegation, hands the story to Bailey. Tr...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
There's a Fire in the Flimm Building!! Alliteration loving Les is happy to hear it's on the FIFTH floor! The gang was just leaving for the day as the conflagration broke out.

Herb and Jennifer made it on the elevator. They walked right past Johnny who was coming in for work...ummm...yeah, you'll need to ask Johnny about this one.

Herb and Jennie-poo wind up trapped between the 8th and 9th floors...the rest of the gang is stuck on 14.

Johnny decides, si...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Venus snuck a girl past the night guard. Okay, so this is not unusual for Venus. What's different this time? The girl is using Venus as cover so she can engineer a robbery at a Wholesale Jeweler elsewhere in the Flimm Building.

Sounds like "Law and Order: WKRP", right? It kind of is! The fuzz shows up in the bullpen and Venus is hauled downtown in cuffs.  Johnny, in disguise, visits the jailbird. His fake beard had to sign the visitor's log separately.

We spend a l...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Big things happening all over the place this week, Fellow Babies! Herb got a new client. Believe it or not, a sponsor for Les's newscasts. It's a computer dating service called "I'll Take Romance." They're just across the river into Kentucky.

Fill out their questionnaire and be matched to the guy or gal of your dreams...scientifically.

This ALSO happens to be the same week as the Cincinnati Broadcaster's Dinner and Dance. It's a pretty swank affair...$35 a person and there'll be a trio for da...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Jennifer says it at lunch with Herb (yeah, right there should tell you how crazy this one is!!): "Change is exciting, don't you think?"

Maybe when it's happening to someone else, but the changes happening around the station are leaving everyone reeling. Herb is looking GOOD in a conservative grey suit. He's also spouting the supply-side doctrine of the new Reagan Administration. Who is this fellow in the nice-looking suit, and what have you done with our Herb??!!

But Herb's threads are nothing compared to th...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Amphetamines were outlawed in 1970. It was a Tricky Dick move. He made amphetamines a very-illegal Schedule Two drug. No more bottles of "mother's little helper" available over the counter.

By the late 1970s, some intrepid manufacturers of 'diet pills' were concocting concentrated formulations of caffeine, ephedrine and sometimes taurine. It was an attempt to legally create the amphetamine buzz that was so prized by speed-freaks in the '60s.

Hundreds of milligrams of caffeine in a concentrated form will get you buzzing....it might even  hel...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Giant Lizzard ravages East Coast!! Les is at it again...a classic Nessman mess up.

Once Les gets things sorted out with giant reptiles and winter storms, he tells us about a fire at the Vine Street Mission. Turns out, Dr. Fever is a big supporter of the Mission. He was on sight for a live report right after the fire...kinda.

The kitchen at the Mission needs a new roof...to the tune of $40,000! For Johnny, and most mere mortals, this is a big pi...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
It's College Class Reunion Time and Moose...er, Art...is getting ready to head out for the big weekend. He's gotten his Letterman Sweater cleaned and he's making reservations at the "Eat 'n Sleep."

Meanwhile, Venus is attempting to 'woo' a young lady from a local broadcast school. She seems a bit smarter than Mr. Flytrap's usual conquests. She's also not thrilled about the lack of privacy in the Venus Lovenest...aka The Control Booth.

With Art out of town, Venus sees a chance to re...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Andy's good buddy, Norris Breeze, is in Cincinnati! What brings ol' Norris to town? That would be Mama Carlson. Norris has developed a coke habit so he needed a high paying job. He's now a "radio consultant" tasked with making every radio station sound the same from coast to coast.

Norris has already been in town a couple of days, monitoring the Mighty 'KRP. Andy gulps hard and starts the wheels turning. How can he discredit "the Radio Doctor" from New York? Oh, Andy's not as 'aw-shucks' as...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Remember way back at the start of Season Four when the Phone Cops blew up the transmitter?? (Or, something like that...gotta stop listening to Johnny). Anyway, insurance said they'd replace the transmitter...at its current value. Its old, and usually broken, current value. Andy decides a Top Ten operation like WKRP should be heard on something nicer than Harris' best AM Transmitter from 1968.

He decides the best way to get to the checkbook is around Art. Mama Carlson can authorize additional funds. Andy decides to meet wi...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Jennifer is out on the town enjoying a posh meal at an upscale and trendy Cincinnati hotspot. Her companion is...elderly. Let's not kid ourselves...he's old! This is the Colonel. He seems to have held a special spot in Jennifer's life for a while now.

Actually, if Steve Marshall and Hugh Wilson had gotten their way, he'd have been MARRIED to Jennifer right now. Dinner doesn't go well. The Colonel expires minutes before paying the whopper of a check.

Is Jennifer a conniving gold di...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Hmm...turns out saying "booger" on the air is NOT grounds for firing someone. Johnny had a year left on his contract and somebody decided to sue for it. Out of the blue, a settlement... minus his attorney's quite reasonable 51%...has shown up in Johnny's mailbox.  Even with everybody's mitts on his money, Johnny is still walking away with a lump sum of $24,000.

Art voices all of our concerns:  "Good golly...Fever with money?"

Johnny goes on a bender, meets some friends and buys some clot...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Herb's in the Hospital being checked for potential ticker troubles. Whatever the doctor might tell him can't be as bad as the little item he finds in today's paper. Carlson confirms it! WKRP is interviewing sales people! It sounds long term!

Back at the station, the cheap cologne brigade has assembled on Jennifer's doorstep. Andy, for some reason, is conducting the interviews in Art's office.

Instead of causing Herb REAL ticker troubles, Jennifer says she'd like to give this Account Executive thing a go...at le...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Herb is going on vacation...with his insurance papers. It's how ol' "Work Hard/Play Hard" Herbie rolls. Or maybe not. Jennifer starts to worry, Les starts to dial hospitals.

He starts with the cheapest first, so it doesn't take long. One call is enough and Huggable Herbie has been located. Les decides to visit Herb before jetting off to Omaha and Copper Cob Accolades.

Herb decides to visit a Porn Theater. Hang on...there is a rationale, but this gets weird. Herb's decided, in or...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Johnny's got lizards...big ones. The landlord is fumigating, so Johnny is out on the street! He appeals to the gang for a place to crash. Les says no because Johnny's messy. Herb just says 'no.' Andy and Venus both seem to be hosting exchange students.

Bailey takes pity on our poor beleaguered morning man. She will give him a place to stay until the de-lizarding is finished.

The rumor mill kicks into high gear immediately. Even Jennifer, Venus and Andy are whispering and sn...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
It's time to organize, it's time to unionize, it's time to "look for...that union label...".

WKRP has had another bit of a ratings surge. The lack of commercials following Dr. Bob's Boycott seems to have attracted listeners. The Mighty KRP is now ranked 10th among all Cincinnati Radio Stations. Art's ready to celebrate with a few raises!

While Art's looking for someplace cheap but elegant to hold a company dinner, the rest of the gang is sneaking around whispering about unions. They held a me...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
You made it back for Part 2! (a lot of people didn't in 1981). In case you need a refresher, we've got a Bomb threat!!

Andy dispatched Venus and Johnny to the Transmitter Building in the middle of Part One. The guys are blowing off the dust and trying to keep some tunes on the WKRP Air. Things are...rough. The turntable doesn't want to play and the bookie doesn't want to talk. Wing, Johnny's Chinese Bookie and Restauranteur, put Johnny on hold just minutes before the biggest hunch be...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
It's a busy day around the Mighty 'KRP!! Joyce Armor, the woman who used to have Jennifer's job, has returned, The usual round of complaints about Johnny have arrived, Venus and Johnny are gambling in the Control Room and oh, yeah...there's a bomb threat.

Bomb threat? Excuse me!!

Andy says its normal for a newly popular station to get these kinds of things. Everyone would figure it's a hoax if it weren't for John Davidson having his show blown up over on Channel 73 in Da...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…A SPECIAL INTERVIEW!! 
Hey there, Fellow Babies! If you're a fan of WKRP at all (and if you're listening to this podcast, we're guessing you are) you've probably seen the name "Max Tash" in the credits. It's the first name listed over the nighttime city shots when the "Went to a Bartender" closing theme begins. Picturing it in your head? 

Max was working for WKRP from before the beginning. He was an MTM "runner/gopher" on the production while casting was happening. He was production associate in the first seas...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Dr. Bob Halyers (Halliers? Halyer?) has come to WKRP with one thing on his mind: cleaning up the airwaves!! Dr. Bob is the head of "Clean Up Radio Broadcasting" aka CURB. Yes, it's possible he was also head of something called "Clean Up Radio Everywhere" or CURE...but that was an earlier draft.

We get into the details about all things "CURB/CURE" with a VERY special Guest! WKRP Associate & Coordinating Producer MAX TASH joins us with his insight. You see, not only was Max doing his pr...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Johnny's gotten some GREAT news!! His ex...first ex, Paula...has called to tell him she's remarrying!! The remarrying isn't the good news...it's the fact Johnny will now be off the hook for alimony!! He decides to celebrate by spending all the money he just saved on a Jamaican adventure.

There's a catch. Paula, his ex, wants him to meet the new guy. Enter BUDDY! Buddy is being played by one of our favorites: Hamilton Camp is BACK!

This one was written by Howard He...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Johnny is filling in for Moss Steiger, the overnight guy. The Doctor is either hung over or dealing with a bad cold. Either way, he's wandering around the station with a towel over his head completely oblivious to the ROBBERY taking place in the station!

The next day, the gang finds all the valuables are gone...the phones, Art's hobby equipment, even Les' typewriter! The only rational response is to install a burglar alarm...which The Big Guy does immediately!!

Okay, so not IMMEDIATELY...but it...

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Imagine Mama Carlson is your mother. Now imagine having her help you plan your wedding. Carmen couldn't take it at first...all the way back in 1956. She and Arthur eloped just to get away from "the Boss." Carmen never had a "real" wedding ceremony.

Twenty-five years later, Carmen's still not happy about spending time with Mama, but she and Art are planning a real ceremony to celebrate their 25th Wedding Anniversary. They visit Mama Carlson hoping for her blessing...and a "hands off" approach to helping. Also, as...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…RIP-Howard Hesseman: We didn't have a chance to add anything to the episode, but we did want to take a moment to mention the passing of Howard "Dr. Johnny Fever" Hesseman on Jan. 29th of 2022. He was 81 years old.

WELCOME BACK!!
Everyone knows the wheels of commerce are greased by a steady flow of cocktails. At least, if you're Herb Tarlek, it's how things work. Herb has been on a sales binge for nearly a month now...which means he's also been on a drinking binge.

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
If you're Les Nessman, you know how important it is to stay vigilant. Commies are everywhere!! Pinkos, and other ne'er-do-wells who would undo our great democracy must be vigilantly repelled...even if one of them happens to be your own father!

This is an amazing story to take on in a single half hour of television. They threw in a lot of jokes...we've got a hilariously slapstick "B"-story involving Venus, Johnny and a studio project. We've got Jennifer preparing for Paris in the Springtime with a...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Somebody needs to save The Flimm!! The owners of the landmark Osgood R. Flimm building, located in downtown Cincinnati, have decided it's time for an upgrade. The 50 year old Art-Deco structure is scheduled for demolition...according to the Registered Letter Art got in today's mail.

The gang is outraged...livid...but, hey, we're talking Real Estate Mega-bucks, so what're ya gonna do??

Bailey decides she's not going to take this lying down...or sitting still or standing by...she's a bit drunk. Her directions are a...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!
Herb had a good idea (no, seriously...he did!!!) He suggested a call-in advice show. They're sweeping the nation! His buddy in St. Louis had all kinds of great stories about great ratings, winning timeslots...how could they NOT??

Finding the right host proves to be a challenge. Depending on how you count it up, it took them either five and a half months or a full year to find the perfect advice lady...her name is Arlene. Once they've found her, it only takes a day or...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!

The Ripper Returns!! Well...not 'returns' really. He never left...it was a full hour. He's still Rippin' right along. We're the ones who had to go away!! WE'RE back (and a Happy New Year to ya!) and ready to catch you up on the exploits of Cincinnati's hottest new TV host with the most.

So, when we left you last time, things were pretty rosy for the good Doctor. His "Rip Tide" persona saved his contract breaching butt just before airtime. Now, he's having a bl...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!

Johnny needs money...so what else is new? Big difference today, Johnny's picked up a side gig! He's been tapped to host a new Teen Dance show in the Cincinnati market!! (Hold on...Johnny FEVER? Dance Party?) Yeah, this one looked questionable from the start!!

Johnny may have been persuaded by the pretty face hiding a shark of a producer named Avis. Avis lured Johnny in with too much Champagne and too few clothes. He signed a fairly ironclad contract. It wasn't until WAY too late he...

HOLIDAY RE-RELEASE!
(We're re-running this classic on November 24th, 2025.. As God is our witness, here's to the start of a wonderful Holiday Season!! Enjoy!!)

Hey!! It's Allen and Donna Stare! It's time for another episode of the "WKRP-Cast"...and this one's a doozy! It's "Turkeys Away", the most popular and most famous episode of WKRP ever conceived!! Who thought of it? Who wrote it? Is it true? Were any turkeys harmed in the making of this episode?? These questions and more will be answered this time as we tackle the 800lb. Turkey of sitcom episodes...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!

We meet WKRP's cleaning lady, Cora...and she's got a problem. Her "little boy" Arnold just isn't all that into school. He's 16 and finding more success on the streets than in the classroom. Cora has turned to Venus Flytrap for his advice and help. Could he maybe have a talk with young Arnold?

Young Arnold turns out to be a middle-aged man...but we'll have to overlook that for the story. He's just as big, tricky and mean as his mama said. He also does NOT un...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!

There's been an accident at the Tarlek home!! The kids are fine...so's Lucille. No, the victim of this tragedy is Greenpeace. Not ringing a bell? Greenpeace is the name of Bunny's pet frog. She's become something of an environmentalist at the tender age of 9. Greenpeace got in the way of Herb's cabinet painting and wound up...pink.

There's no 911 for Frogs! The vet won't even make a house call. Herb decides to bring his sad little shoe box with the holes cut in the top in...

Send a note to Allen & Donna…WELCOME BACK!!

Art's been tapped by the Ohio Broadcaster's Association to give a speech at a dinner. He's got his 3 by 5 cards and he's done his research...but he's scared to DEATH about speaking to these guys. As Art says, "they can be a mean bunch." The speech is tonight, but Art is trying to back out. Andy, with a little help from Jennifer, convinces the Big Guy to give his speech in front of the troops to bolster his confidence.

It's a pretty boring speech. Sorry, Art...bu...