Dr. Johnny Fever from WKRP in Cincinnati has signed off :-(

I really loved him. The last couple of years I have watched a made for TV Christmas movie with him in which he seemed a little weak and foggy, but it was still great to see him.

Nice guy too.

I watched that show as a teen. I remember the Turkey Drop and the episode right after the people were trampled in Cincy at The Who concert. I always liked Jan Smithers more than Loni.

The best part of WKRP

RIP Howard Hesseman and WKRP a great show.

RIP Howard Hessman.

You are one of a kind and will be missed.

Great clip, curiousjim!

To me personally, it my favourite Sitcom of all time. I grew up with all those characters. As a pre-teen/teen, my friends and watched every episode and talked about it at school the next day. You loved all the characters but Johnny was always my favourite followed by Bailey & Jennifer. 

I was a MaryAnn and Bailey guy.

@dadork

Love Les commentating in the parking lot as the turkeys were falling from helicopter......." Oh the humanity of it all!"

Greatest show ever!!!

The infamous "turkey drop" episode in WKRP was actually followed by something similar in Cleveland in the early 80's (I happened to be visiting there at the time).  It as either inspired by the turkey show or in spite of the turkey show.

To celebrate the spring opening of the Cleveland Ind*ans (can I type that anymore?) season a local radio station had a contest where they dropped baseballs from a helicopter and if you caught one you won a ticket to the opener

It went about as well as you'd expect with several people injured and the loss of a car windshield and assorted property damage.

What I particularly remember was the editorial on the TV News raging that "this is what makes Cleveland a laughing stock".

Hi All,

You known I never really watched this particular show. I grew up watching Welcome Back Kotter, SWAT, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea...However I remember Johnny Fever vividly. And when I saw news of this yesterday it struck me...Is it just me getting too sentimental in my older age now (52) or do you all feel this profound kind of sadness when people we grew up watching/cheering for even those we may not have necessarily watched we knew of them, pass? Remember how much simpler and less complicated everything was back in the 70's-80's? I don't have kids (thankfully with today's world) but I feel so bad for today's younger generation. All they've known is drama, chaos, stress, craziness....At least us older folk remember when everything was simpler and made much more sense...

HH, sure, but we all know why teenage boys loved that show. Then Burt Reynolds married her!

@curiousjim 

Thanks very much for that...he was wonderful!

RIP

@kingbr  It’s not just you…

Thanks @johnnycamp5 😀...Always nice to know others share those same feelings...Very sad sometimes to think of days gone by and think of how things were and see how things are now. 

During the turkey drop as everybody was in the studio listening to Les describe the scene, all were all horrified except for Johnny who just sat there with a wry smile on his face. Classic Dr. Johnny Fever.

kingbr,

Things were no simpler then than they are now. Our minds just tend to filter out the bad things and retain the good. 

Great guy, and great show. Wonderful legacy. 

Loved the show and have the DVDs of the old episodes somewhere. 

Did anyone realize that Les Nesman always had a bandage somewhere. It seems he did that to make himself look tough or macho.

My favorite episode is when Les is reading the sports report with Johnny and Bailey in the studio. Les goes on about a local swim meet where a swimmer won the women's breast stroking.

And don’t forget his other sitcom, Head of the Class. Another good one.

@roxy54 

Everyone’s different, plenty of folks filter out the good a remember only bad…a pessimist optimist thing..

As far as things not being more simple well…

I recall there being four or five channels (broadcasts) to watch on the TV. We would check the TV Guide every now and then to see what program we might want to watch lol.

Not hundreds or even thousands of channels like now…it seems a bloody mess to me…

I thought it was much simpler, lifestyle at home by checking the mail or answering the phone when it rang lol…

Generally speaking there was certainly no “information overload” (in our household)… things were much simpler!

johnnycamp5,

I understand what you're saying, but all of those things are incidentals that are balanced out by other modern conveniences. I just meant that for the good and the bad, (mostly good) life doesn't really get simpler or more complex. 

A TV station called "Decades" is running a Johnny Fever featured WKRP In Cincinnati marathon this weekend.

I haven’t watched this show in a really long time. Laughing my butt off! Forgot how funny some of these episodes were.

Just watched the episode with Hoyt Axton.  Love that guy!  I am going to listen to a few of his LPs this evening.

Heard interview with him on NPR the other day, very interesting and intelligent guy.

CincyJim

Born and Raised in Cincinnati,OH.

Actually WKRP was a TV Show name,

There is WKRC TV 12 a CBS affiliate

WKRC 550 am talk radio 

WKRQ 101.9 fm Pop Hits radio 

I always enjoyed watching WKRP the whole cast

yes indeed, many a good laugh from that show back in the day

rip hh

Awww.R.I.P. Howard:-(

Avid collector of WKRP memorabilia. Have the Blondie Gold Record for Parallel Lines (presented to the Staff of WKRP) that hung on the wall in Seasons 2 thru 4. Purchased it directly from Skip D'amico who was given the award at the end of the shows run. His name is in the closing credits of most of the episodes.

  About 5 years ago Loni Anderson sold off most of her worldly possessions at an auction house in California.  I have her WKRP Satin Baseball Jacket and the T-Shirt she wore during the WKRP vs WPIG Softball game episode. Sadly her Shorts werent included!!  :)   Also a bunch of very large photos of the cast that she had framed.  A WKRP Bracelet that Gary Sandy had given her as a present when they were dating and her WKRP Binder where all her Scripts for each show were kept.  Also have "Bailey's" Script Binder with her name on it that I got years later off of EBAY when she unloaded some of her stuff.