Johnny Caravella becomes "Dr. Johnny Fever" on WKRP

[@kensolar69]

I love the music playing while the needle is on the LP label.

[@bold810]

Now you know from the Needle and the Damage Done.

[@josephcontreras8930]

Put the needle on the record!!! Give us our daily dose of rock n roll therapy and set our RX round of injections til we're all better, doctor!!!!!

[@marzsit9833]

it was a low-budget show, none of the equipment in the studio really worked.

[@kensolar69]

@@marzsit9833 Oh, I know. I just thought it was funny having been a DJ for a time.

[@77barrymac]

I've been a fan of this show since it first aired, and NEVER noticed the tonearm on the label while the music's playing! But it's a fairly brief, passing moment when you're watching it on TV. Watching it here, on a fairly good size computer monitor, it's a bit more in my face! No props to the continuity department for this one, but hey, it was 1978, AND their first show.

[@catherinewilliams9680]

Howard Hesseman was underrated as a comedic actor. His eyes would say more in one look than anything 10 pages of dialogue could say.

[@IMeMineWho]

Don't forget the smug mgr in Spinal Tap!

[@mikeknowles8017]

Not underrated by me. I remember him all the back in Billy Jack. He was in an episode of House MD and the combination of Hesseman humor and Hugh Laurie humor was borderline bizzare and I just loved it.

[@danielwatkins2195]

Wasn't he gay Not that that matters

[@IMeMineWho]

@@mikeknowles8017 What did he play in Billy Jack? I was booked to be on House but due to a set accident never worked on it! I didn't know Howard was on it!

[@IMeMineWho]

@@danielwatkins2195 Howard or Hugh? I know Howard played a gay character on a series.

[@janem9016]

I loved this show. A few years ago, when I was going through cancer treatments, I downloaded the first season on my iPad and laughed through my chemo sessions. It’s true, Dr Johnny Fever is the best medicine!

[@Liam1H]

Good to know the cancer treatments worked! Stay healthy!

[@MrHAPPYHAWAIIAN]

laughed?😁

[@mrbill4499]

Loved the show...so many great episodes, but Johnny thinking the "phone cops" were after him was hilarious 😂

[@geoffreykeating8172]

Cool to see this little piece of comedy Gold 🥇

[@angelagoodwin5758]

"...Just do it." Andy Travess said it before Nike. Johnny Fever was one of the best characters on tv ever! Thanks for uploading this hilarious clip.

[@charleskadletc2431]

Loved the show much, I took his ways on the radio. And copied it for my DJ pt job.

[@thebrinx9632]

phone cops!

[@michaelschroeck2254]

Turkey drop!!!

[@randymagnum143]

But not before Forrest Gump

[@censorshipsucks9493]

Rip Tide.

[@lineshaftrestorations7903]

Bailey was the Mary Ann to Jennifer's Ginger. While many hound dogs were panting over Jennifer outright, they were quietly pining for Bailey.

[@mikekinsella2822]

i never found to many guys who liked jennifer over bailey. jennifer was so plastic while bailey was so girl next door.

[@jjryan1352]

@@mikekinsella2822 i didn't get a plastic vibe from her but more of a prim, motherly vibe.

[@billintex001]

Bailey was 100 percent all natural sexy, not manufactured in a plastics lab.

[@Huskrrrr]

Me.

[@KarlFardman]

Even at 15..I dug Bailey over Jennifer. Same with Mary Ann over Ginger.

[@fw1421]

This was one of the best shows on TV of the late 70’s. Wonderful cast.

[@paulc1665]

One of the greatest moments in television history.

[@patjr210]

I remember that show like it yesterday. I laughed my butt off. And I agree that Bailey made the show. I have seen Howard Hessman as other characters but he will always be Johnny Fever. ,

[@michaelbajorek1972]

A great moment in television history. Loved this show.

[@JL-is9rg]

"Don't you people get it? It was the phone cops!" Next to the turkeys of course one of my favourite episodes. RIP H.H.

[@claytonperkins3397]

This series was incredible. I will always remember Les Nesman reporting live at thanksgiving as WKRP's helicopier was dropping frozen turkeys into a packed parking lot. I don't think any show since has topped that one for laughs.

[@DerylEagle46]

Actually the turkeys were not frozen but live which Les commented on as they came down. LOL

[@mrjohnklake]

“With God as my witness, I believe turkeys can fly” 😂😂😂

[@dankelly5150]

@@mrjohnklake Yup, Les found out the hard way that turkeys can't fly as the streets below were live turkey bombed !!

[@OCMike]

Oh the humanity!

[@Momcat_maggiefelinefan]

I agree with you 100%! Saw it when the show was new and so was I … a teenager … One of the funniest episodes of this wonderful show! Dr. Johnny Fever was my fave character on the show, followed by Les and Herb. Brilliant acting and scripts! 🇨🇦🖖🏻🇨🇦

[@markwatson3135]

A format change like that might just give the Shady Hills rest home a lot more business! Loved WKRP when it was on!

[@jamesstuart3346]

Thanks for posting this. I needed a shot of Bailey

[@ynot0714]

Good one!

[@henryblanton6992]

My first Enlistment in the Corps was from 1978 ~ 1982. My Mother absolutely LOVED Doctor Johnny Fever. WKRP helped bring in the ‘80s, after a long day at work the Cast of WKRP helped with winding down during the weeks.

[@bennetfox]

Watching this show inspired me to work in radio and what was one of the first things I said when I got on the air? BOOGER!!!!!!

[@Jimmys4AU]

The Doctor was most definitely "IN!" Loved WKRP, Travis, Johnny, Venus, Mr. Carlson, Bailey, Les, Jennifer, and even Herb were a great cast of characters.

[@pugowner1347]

One of my all time favorite shows. Rest in Peace, Howard.

[@jamescressey3390]

Rest In Peace Howard Hesseman (Johnny Fever),Gordon Jump (Arthur Carlson) and Frank Bonner (Herb Tarlek)

[@sullivancalgary]

One of the GREATEST MOMENTS in tv history!

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

Just about to comment that...couldn't agree more !

[@JohnLeePedimore]

Because of copyrights they changed the music. When this episode aired and Johnny changed the format the song was "Queen of the Forest" by Ted Nugent.

[@laudanum669]

I have read over the years that getting DVD rights to this show is almost impossible. As the music Rights/license have run out and to issue the show on DVD they would have to re-buy all the music. Costing a fortune.

[@SilentKnight43]

@@laudanum669 I have the box set of the entire series on dvd - bought it many, many moons ago.

[@coolkidsdiscord]

The Shout! DVD set has more than 80% of the original music restored. Only 2 or 3 omissions are noticeable throughout the series and they still did a good job with creating similar generic music to fill the space and match the dialog.

[@DS2CV]

That makes sense. Something seemed off to me about the scene. Whatever that record is, it didn't rock as hard as I would have expected.

[@DS2CV]

@@coolkidsdiscord Do you know where I can find a list of the original songs vs what they were changed to for the rerelease?

[@jimbonsf]

One of the best TV comedies, ever. The music was fun, the actors were engaging and creative, the scripts were witty and clever, and Andy's pants came from the "Spray-On" can brand you could buy in the 70s.

[@shawngillespie3532]

Andy reminds of Bruce Boxleinter why am I just now realizing this😂😂😂😂😂

[@jasonjepsen7483]

What a great show! Wish it was on streaming platforms

[@adriaanboogaard8571]

Some times you just have to go for it and be yourself. I always enjoyed that about him on the show.

[@richardernst8857]

I used to love this show and this was one of my favorite episodes when he became Johnny Fever totally awesome 👍

[@newwavepop]

i miss this great show, i miss the era of radio it represents and i miss the cool DJ'S that existed back before every station was corporatized. and of course i just miss the time and place, i was barely in my tweens back then and totally had a crush on Bailey. it is a shame all the music copyrights prevent the show from ever being properly released on DVD.

[@texaspchcmonkeespodcast4586]

I love how at the end of the clip, the needle is turning on the label and not the record. lol

[@caprad]

did it need a nickel on the arm...or were there that many takes?

[@oldgoat142]

Hands down, one of my favorite comedies ever! They could also get a point across without bonking you on the cranium over and over, (Tim Reid teaching about the atom immediately comes to mind, as does Gordon Jump teaching about censorship).

[@halweiss8671]

My favorite sitcoms were the ones that would make a joke at the end of the show which referenced something that happened earlier in the episode, trusting the audience to remember and get it. WKRP was one of those shows.

[@MrRogsmart]

Thanks Brad. He was an amazing actor. Just watching his facial expressions in the above clip, brought that back to me.

[@pg1171]

Watched it from day one! The live turkey drop was my favorite, but this one was right at the top!

[@retirednavy8720]

Bailey was the best part of that show!

[@oldgoat142]

Yes indeed she was.

[@rikkilleen3169]

Probably my first celebrity crush.

[@oldgoat142]

@@rikkilleen3169 she was for me.

[@gregshock]

She really was cute as hell and very sweet.

[@oldgoat142]

@T Raybern This just occurred to me. Bailey was the quintessential "girl next door."

[@gioscervelo]

I remember watching the movie FM and then this sitcom came out. Gold for a 16 anos boy.

[@darrinwebber4077]

Great show. I watched every episode when I was kid. Good memories.

[@johndavis2938]

I loved the telephone police episode and the turkeys/helicopter episode. Good stuff!

[@IMeMineWho]

(Take on the Coop's thinking chickens could fly)

[@larryjoeanderson]

The inspiration for that comes from when WKLS "Class radio" here in Atlanta suddenly changed to "96ROCK". The last song played was Perry Como, and the next one was " Baba O'Reilly"

[@Eggmanontheair]

Remember vividly watching this pilot episode...and laughing hysterically when Fever slaps the cartridge into the player with his palm - because in those days I was a DJ at a Podunk AM station and we had to do the exact same thing quite frequently.

[@lelonfurr1200]

the best opening show of any series

[@gazoontight]

I used t have the same Black Death Malt Liquor tee shirt that Dr. Johnny wore in later episodes.

[@edlobato1251]

This show was a master classic!

[@Έμποροςθανάτου]

Yes we do. This is a great tribute. Thanks for taking the time to do it.

[@billblackstone6040]

A friend of mine who was a DJ in Santa Barbara had lunch with Howard in San Francisco. They departed after quite a few drinks and he put his arms around a parking meter and serenaded it.

[@DUCKDUCKGOISMUCHBETTER]

That sounds like a VERY Johnny Fever thing to do, lol.

[@johnbee7729]

Nice to see the tribute at the end. Dr. JOHNNY Fever will always live on.

[@budeyre9769]

He was the best. Great show, great cast

[@johoney5458]

such a good show. I miss the good ole days.

[@tesstickles1280]

The "phone police" episode was the funniest of all!

[@sidviscous5959]

some would argue that the the Les Nessman episode with the turkeys being "released" from the helicopter was the funniest . . .

[@glengamble526]

I remember when they re-did this episode…shot it all over again. And the transition to Fever was much wilder. Anyone else remember that?

[@digitalranger4259]

He was great. not just in this role but in others as well.

[@heygetoffmylawn1572]

I forgot how good WKRP was. This just cracked me. It brought laughter tears to my face. Thank you for sharing.

[@bruno640]

This piece reminds me of an almost exact format switch of one of my local FM stations, KGMO, Cape Girardeau, MO. Has to have been 20-some odd years ago now, at 12:01-PM that day. Originally, the format had been mostly easy-listening, local news, and, yes, the obligatory farm-report. (Well, duh, it was/still is a farming area.) Caught me totally off-guard, when it changed literally in a blink, from soft-hits, doing a full-180 flowing seamlessly into "Roxanne", by the Police...and never looked back once, as their rating exploded UP from that day on..!!!

[@FistandFootMartialArts]

I haven't seen that since it aired back in the 70s! Thank you for the reminder of a GREAT show

[@onceuponatube]

Never noticed when he plays the rock record, The needle is not in the record grooves, but on the label. Ah the magic of television.

[@danceswithcomicbooks7733]

Johnny was the best. I laughed at this as a kid and still do. So good.

[@miketalas7998]

YEEEYAP!!! BOOGAR!!!! I was there Fellow Baby's! At the ripe old age of 15.

[@SonOfSofaman]

Two of the three greatest moments in American comedy television history took place on this show. This scene is one.

[@bobbyhamblen2338]

Turkey Drop the other one?

[@SonOfSofaman]

@@bobbyhamblen2338 you know it!

[@JKerr-iy2jr]

Loved this show! RIP Johnny Fever (aka Howard Hesseman).

[@Vincent-fo7xp]

They should have brought back this show when they were all still alive

[@STho205]

They did, about a decade later. It had about half the cast and guest appearances. Its time had passed. The 2nd series was a bit bland.

[@Vincent-fo7xp]

@@STho205 I meant much later yeah maybe a movie LOL

[@82ndAbnVet]

@@STho205 You are too kind with a "bit bland". The only good parts of that series was when the original cast did "cameos".

[@STho205]

@@82ndAbnVet agreed. Tim Reed was my favorite of the cast, especially as he got deeper roles and character development in S2+. Andy was a solid but mostly uninteresting straight man, until they sparred him in dirty tricks with Mrs Carlson in the checkers match that was WKRP. Hirsh was my favorite guest character.

[@longhairscorpio3976]

amazing the label on that record sounded awesome

[@stephenconley2372]

Fun fact - Although this scene had altered music, the first rock song Johnny played was Ted Nugent's "Queen of the Forest"

[@bold810]

My Tribute band was ALWAYS going to be called "Led Hesseman". #it's twue

[@yvonnefobbs6232]

One of the best shows of THE CENTURY!!

[@GuiltyBystander58]

That little devil laugh as he cues the song kills me.

[@Momcat_maggiefelinefan]

Les and the turkey dropping episode is one of my favourites. My whole family watched the show, and we were all in stitches! It was a wonderfully entertaining and much enjoyed series. 🇨🇦🖖🏻🇨🇦

[@MusicAsWeMakeIt]

Best upload of this bit I've seen. I was 12 when this show was on. LOL

[@robertcartier5088]

The Phone Police finally got him, huh? That sucks! ;-[

[@billmadison2032]

I never realized after all the years of watching his that he was playing the label of the record at the end

[@nopeyadayadayada1248]

Notice the record had skipped to the middle yet music was jammin?. I say this because even a rose has thorns. This scene and TV show inspired me into a 30 plus year as a radio broadcaster. Johnny Fever loomed larger than life for me and a bunch of other minds in the clouds youngsters. RIP Sir.

[@jjryan1352]

That record must have been really smooth 😅

[@jjryan1352]

@@insignificantspeckofdust1214 😅🤣

[@TonyM132]

In this clip he also said "your fifty thousand watt intensive care unit," but the sign in the lobby always said 5,000 watts. Oh well, it's only a sit-com. They're allowed to be sloppy I guess.

[@martinmurphy4852]

Always loved this show. I lived within range of WKRC in Cincy in the 70s and was often told this show was based on the shenanigan's there. On the other hand all the stations were like WKRP before the corporate giants moved in and made everything vanilla. These days if its a weekend you cant even hear anything but the same canned infomercials all day long on the AM side. Sad state of affairs in my opinion. You dont know what you will miss until its gone. They paved paradise and made it a parking lot. Dam that's profound, I should make that into a song😉 Sunday mornings on WKRC use to be the King Biscuit Flower hour and Top 20 countdown. Now its nothing but snake oil salesmen and financial scammers for hours on end. Pretty sure the Doctor would be disgusted by that.

[@doughesson]

Don't get me started on the repeated music sets on the overnight broadcast. It's the same songs in the same order as the day shift.

[@martinmurphy4852]

@@doughesson I remember some of that going on the 70s but at least they still had to q up the records or put them on carts. Now its just a digi play list you could have on your phone. I am pretty sure these days everything is on a catalogue system. Meaning you dont keep track of what you play. If your a rock station you pay a flat fee every year and then can play anything in the rock catalogue you payed for when ever you want. Problem is there are certain groups that are still particular about stuff like this. For example Zepplin and The Doors. Can you imagine being a classic rock station and not being able to play zep or doors because they are not in the catalogue.

[@doughesson]

@@martinmurphy4852 Remember the episode where Venus Flytrap was offered his own station to manage but turned it down when he saw that he'd be supervising people changing tapes of the music played after the programming had run out? That episode was rather prescient,wasn't it?

[@MarionStevensJr]

​@@doughesson yep, but it's even worse than that now. Now, the programming decisions are made in the corporate headquarters thousands of miles away. Even the DJ"s are voicetracked and sent to the stations from somewhere else. All the creativity and originality is completely gone.

[@doughesson]

@@MarionStevensJr Rick Dees is back on Memphis radio but somehow I think he's phoning it in from LA instead of physically being at WHBQ again.

[@robertsullivan4773]

This was just so great, then you have Bailey walk in and it becomes 🔥 😊

[@cdavid8139]

thanks for sharing. When this show was good it was one of the best ever!

[@IMeMineWho]

Flying turkeys..(a nod to Alice Cooper's flying chickens)😉

[@craigthescott5074]

This was the best sit com ever.

[@southerncomfort6279]

One of the best shows ever.

[@Oceangirl_505]

I didn't know that he had passed, thanks for the update for the rest of us.

[@atworkstation]

RIP Howard Hessman (1940-2022).

[@82ndAbnVet]

He had a good run. Lived to be 82. Had 2 hit sitcoms (WKRP and Head of the Class), left his mark on both TV and Radio. He had a good life. Most of us can only dream to come close to living the dream like he did.

[@sea-envy3137]

I had never seen the first episode until "only" 20 years ago and had not realized that Travis was the lead and inciting incident.

[@squigtonianmayhem4602]

Just not the same without the Nuge rockin that intro!

[@bossfan49]

Queen Of The Forest!

[@squigtonianmayhem4602]

@@bossfan49 give that man a cigar!

[@mikewazowski350]

A good friend was born in Cincinnati and he was really excited when this show started. I remember him coming over to my house and wanted to stop playing so he could watch the show. I really enjoyed watching it even though I was a bit too young to understand all the jokes. I had a huge crush on Bailey/Jan Smithers.

[@slimsantilli4476]

I survived the WKRP Turkey drop of 1978.

[@davidmitchell6873]

My mother was killed by a falling turkey at that event. I don't talk about it much.

[@slimsantilli4476]

@@davidmitchell6873 thoughts and prayers 🙏 ❤️

[@briandormann2435]

One of the best intros to any show. Highly underrated comedy.

[@ynot0714]

I was in high school in Cincinnati for the entire run of WKRP!. Watched it regularly! The call letters stood for CRAP!, If you didn't know! Lol.

[@oldvet7547]

No one can replace The Doctor!

[@RemoteCamper]

Les Nesman was the first time as a child I noticed something different with him on every episode. He always had a banaid on him somewhere. Different place each show, and it was consistent. It was beginning (for me) to start noticing TV shows that do mysterious things on every episode. St Elsewhere. The same old lady that dies in every episode (same name too). Cheers. Norms wife that was never shown on the show (until the last episodes) Tool Time. Mr. Wilson, you never see his face. Simpson's. Chalk Board. South Park. Killing Kenny. Bobs Burgers. Opening. I'm sure there are more.

[@buckelsass8599]

Howard was So good, no one even noticed the needle wasn't on the record grooves at the end.

[@endotimez9086]

God I loved this show!!!

[@jamesrogers2780]

This never gets old

[@phaedrussmith1949]

I'm burning up in here!

[@richardthompson6366]

WKRP made Cincinnati seem so cool to this kid from Ontario way back when, ha!

[@amymonroe9328]

DrJohnny. This was such a funny show!!

[@kennethhall289]

I always like the episode where they had the contest to guess all the songs and people kept getting it right.

[@carinduncan7594]

Turkey drop was the best,also Venus turning himself in for desertion and the classy way they handled the who concert deaths

[@levonpoe]

he was great

[@GeorgeD1965]

Johnny was always my fav

[@TheMichaelBeck]

One of the funniest memories of my childhood was the Thanksgiving episode where they threw turkeys out of the helicopter. Les Nessman's report was hilarious. If they want to reboot a show, start with WKRP!

[@IMeMineWho]

No. They will inevitably screw up the reboot!

[@D3voidofsoul]

@@IMeMineWho Agreed they have proven time and again that they CAN NOT recapture the magic. They will inject unneeded politics into the show that will destroy it. Look at the HBO show Velma for a prime example of just how bad it can get...dear lord that was bad. If the should do anything it should be a some kind of HD release of the original ones. 2k or 4k whatever. Hell I would take 1080p. I bought the original Star Trek Series that they did this too and it looks amazing.

[@IMeMineWho]

@@D3voidofsoul Well, Star Trek also injected politics into its series as did the Twilight Zone! I have no issue with that if it is relevant to the story. My beef against redoing series is the actors casting directors lately cast physically resemble the characters but do not have the acting chops to match! The scripts are generally lame and given that their are not many rock stations now, WKRP would find a really hard time existing..sadly.

[@tmastersat]

I wish we could watch the unsensored versions. Its ashamed that they had to remove all the copyrighted music from the reruns when all the artist were begging them to use it when it was in first run. Those rights should extent to reruns. Same problem with the vetnam shows

[@DUCKDUCKGOISMUCHBETTER]

00:44 I bet a whole lot of old folks suddenly started having a baby at this point. 😂

[@davidjames468]

I didn't know he had passed last year. I got to meet him at Dragon*Con. Nice fellow. We took a picture together. The clip would have been perfect if it had been the original music.

[@riblets1968]

I saw that specific show when it originally aired. It was a fun show, and funny! It came at a time when I was seriously tiring of sitcoms even at that young age. WKRP eventually lost its spark like they all did but it had a good couple of seasons or so.

[@MrJommins]

One of my all time fav tv moments

[@Scaramousche1955]

From the skit comedy in Billy Jack to Doctor Fever, Howard Hesseman was funny.

[@randywarren7101]

And the world was NEVER THE SAME AGAIN!

[@trunkmonkey9417]

"CHIPS ARE FALLING!!!" Thank you. Dr. Fever.