WKRP in Cincinnati — Season 3
So just sit right down, relax, open your ears real wide and say, "Give it to me straight, Doctor. I can take it!"
About this season
When a Cincinnati radio station switches from sedate music to top-40 rock 'n' roll, its staff of oddball characters is forced to switch gears quickly. New programming director Andy Travis brings in a new DJ named Venus Flytrap to work with the station's burned-out veteran, Dr. Johnny Fever. Neurotic newsman Les Nessman, eager beaver Bailey Quarters, sleazy salesman Herb Tarlek, blonde bombshell Jennifer Marlowe, who serves as the station's ultra-capable receptionist, and station manager Arthur Carlson, whose domineering mother owns WKRP, round out the eccentric bunch.
Episodes (22)
1. The Airplane Show
5.0Aired 1 November 1980 • 25 min
Trying to compete with WPIG's traffic helicopter, Les starts doing traffic reports from a World War I biplane piloted by a crazy war veteran.
2. Jennifer Moves
6.5Aired 8 November 1980 • 25 min
The staff helps Jennifer move into her new $125,000 house in the quiet suburb of Landersville. But she soon finds out that life in Landersville isn't as pleasant as she thought it would be.
3. Real Families
7.5Aired 15 November 1980 • 25 min
When Herb's family is featured in the show ""Real Families"", he is sure that they can serve as an example of a clean living family. Unfortunately, the image Herb wants to convey is different from the reality shown on screen.
4. The Baby
6.5Aired 22 November 1980 • 25 min
Mr. Carlson's wife goes into labor and the WKRP staffers all visit the hospital to be there when she gives birth.
5. Hotel Oceanview
3.0Aired 29 November 1980 • 25 min
Andy, Mr. Carlson and Herb visit Dayton to try and land the advertising account for Vicky Von Vickey jeans. While Mr. Carlson worries about the notorious Dayton poisoner, Herb romances an old high school acquaintance and Andy has trouble with his slide projector.
6. A Mile in My Shoes
5.0Aired 6 December 1980 • 25 min
When Herb is called for jury duty, Andy takes over as sales manager and soon discovers just how tough it is trying to sell advertising time or collect from deadbeat clients. Meanwhile, Venus becomes acting program director and has to deal with Les's plan to disguise himself as a black man so that he can do a series of reports based on the book Black Like Me.
7. Bah, Humbug
5.0Aired 20 December 1980 • 25 min
Once again, Mr. Carlson plans to give the staffers almost no Christmas bonuses. But in a dream brought on by eating one of Johnny Fever's brownies, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future visit him to show him the error of his ways.
8. Baby, It's Cold Inside
5.0Aired 3 January 1981 • 25 min
On a day when the furnace has broken down, Mama Carlson pays a surprise visit to the station and catches Johnny drinking in the broadcast booth.
9. The Painting
5.0Aired 10 January 1981 • 25 min
At Mr. Carlson's church auction, Herb buys a painting that Bailey loves. He tries to get Mr. Carlson or Bailey to buy it from him...until he learns that it might be valuable.
10. Daydreams
5.0Aired 17 January 1981 • 25 min
When Mr. Carlson rehearses a dull speech in front of the WKRP staff, all the staffers drift off into daydreams about what they would most like to be: Herb as a Latin-American dictator, Jennifer as a '30s movie star, Les as a reporter covering the Blitz in 1940, Bailey as the President of the United States, Andy as a radio Mafioso, Venus as a standup comedian, and Johnny as a rock star.
11. Frog Story
7.0Aired 24 January 1981 • 25 min
Herb has accidentally spray-painted his daughter's pet frog Greenpeace pink, and brings the frog to the station trying to find a way to save its life. Meanwhile, Les convinces Johnny that he is suffering from the dreaded ""schistosomiasis.""
12. Venus and the Man
7.7Aired 31 January 1981 • 25 min
The station's cleaning woman asks Venus to convince her big, tough teenage son not to drop out of school.
13. Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide: Part 1
6.5Aired 7 February 1981 • 25 min
Johnny signs a contract to host a music TV program unaware that the songs will be disco.
14. Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide: Part 2
6.5Aired 7 February 1981 • 25 min
Johnny signs a contract to host a music TV program unaware that the songs will be disco.
15. Ask Jennifer
6.5Aired 14 February 1981 • 25 min
When Herb's choice as host of a new call-in advice show proves unable to go on the air, Jennifer takes over and becomes an instant success.
16. I Am Woman
5.0Aired 21 February 1981 • 25 min
When it is announced that the Flimm Building is to be torn down, Bailey starts a campaign to have the building declared a Cincinnati landmark. Everyone pitches in to help, until Mr. Carlson gets his mother's permission to build a new and better building.
17. Secrets of Dayton Heights
5.0Aired 28 February 1981 • 25 min
The Secret Service refuses to grant Les credentials for a Presidential press conference, suspecting him of having radical affiliations. It turns out that the man who raised Les wasn't his father, and that his real father was a card-carrying Communist.
18. Out to Lunch
5.0Aired 14 March 1981 • 25 min
Herb's three-martini business lunches with an ad agency representative are causing him to mess up even more than usual, and it begins to seem that his use of alcohol as a sales tool is turning into a drinking problem.
19. A Simple Little Wedding
5.0Aired 21 March 1981 • 25 min
In honor of their 25th anniversary, Arthur and Carmen Carlson plan to get married again. They want a small, private ceremony, but Mama Carlson has other ideas.
20. Nothing to Fear But...
5.0Aired 28 March 1981 • 25 min
Everyone is in the grip of urban paranoia after the station is robbed.
21. Til Debt Do Us Part
5.0Aired 5 April 1981 • 25 min
When Johnny learns that his first ex-wife is planning to remarry, he is overjoyed at the thought of not having to pay alimony, and celebrates by inviting Bailey to take a trip with him. But he feels less happy about the situation when he meets the obnoxious womanizer his ex-wife is going to marry.
22. Clean Up Radio Everywhere
7.0Aired 12 April 1981 • 25 min
Dr. Bob Halyers, head of the organization Clean Up Radio Broadcasting (CURB), visits Mr. Carlson with a list of obscene songs that he wants the station to stop playing.