WKRP in Cincinnati
Up and Down the Dial
TV Flash files “Up and Down the Dial” as a desk essential hour — WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982) on CBS, season 4, episode 22, aired 1982-04-21, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E22: listed hour 90 of 90 in the WKRP in Cincinnati guide, last listed hour of season 4. It aired 1982-04-21 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “To Err is Human” (S04E21). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “Up and Down the Dial”. Up and Down the Dial is the 1982 closer. Four seasons of radio zoo, then a frequency-title bow: syndication would keep the characters and, for years, lose the music.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
The new ratings arrive, and WKRP has finally become a successful station, rising to #6 in the Cincinnati market with Johnny Fever as the #1 DJ. But when a new news director shows up and says he was hired by Mama Carlson, Andy soon finds out that she plans to change the station to a 24-hour news format.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Up and Down the Dial sit in the WKRP in Cincinnati guide?
S04E22 is listed hour 90 of 90 — last listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 22.
When did WKRP in Cincinnati S04E22 air?
Up and Down the Dial aired 1982-04-21 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Do I need the Thanksgiving turkey episode first?
It is the signature comic catastrophe, not the series bible. Start with the station ensemble; hunt the turkey drop when you want the legend.
In the series
Why this series still plays
A Cincinnati station flips to rock and becomes a zoo of DJs, sales pirates, and management disasters — Howard Hesseman's Johnny Fever, Loni Anderson's Jennifer, turkeys away. Hugh Wilson workplace sitcom with a playlist, then syndication music-rights grief. Cult-to-classic radio comedy.
The first image is a booth that should look like a makeover and instead looks like a zoo: a Cincinnati station flipping to rock, Howard Hesseman's Dr. Johnny Fever as the cool drape, Loni Anderson's Jennifer Marlowe as glam that does not have to leave the desk to own the frame. CBS's WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982), from Hugh Wilson, ran four seasons, 90 episodes. Gary Sandy's Andy Travis, Gordon Jump's Arthur Carlson, Tim Reid's Venus Flytrap, and Jan Smithers's Bailey Quarters fill the booth. The Thanksgiving…
Filed against
- Gary Sandy as Andy Travis
Gary Sandy's Andy Travis walked into WKRP in Cincinnati to flip a station to rock and inherited a zoo — DJs, sales pirates, management disasters, and a playlist that later became syndication grief. Hugh Wilson workplace sitcom with a…
- Howard Hesseman as Dr. Johnny Fever
Howard Hesseman’s Dr. Johnny Fever made WKRP in Cincinnati a DJ zoo with a hangover — 1970s catalog rock-format workplace, turkeys away, then Head of the Class stretching the cool into an honors-room substitute. TV Flash files him as the…
- Gordon Jump as Arthur Carlson
Gordon Jump's Arthur Carlson was the station boss who could not run WKRP in Cincinnati — a Big Guy in over his head, turkeys away, sales pirates and DJs turning a rock format into a zoo. Hugh Wilson workplace sitcom with a playlist. TV…
- Loni Anderson as Jennifer Marlowe
Loni Anderson ran the front desk as Jennifer Marlowe on WKRP in Cincinnati — the receptionist who was smarter than the zoo of DJs, sales pirates, and turkey-drop management disasters around her. Hugh Wilson workplace sitcom with a…
- Tim Reid as Venus Flytrap
Tim Reid’s Venus Flytrap made WKRP in Cincinnati a playlist with a soul — Johnny Fever, turkeys away, sales pirates, Hugh Wilson workplace zoo — then fathered Sister, Sister’s twin-sitcom sparkle. Cult-to-classic radio comedy; TGIF-to-WB…
- Jan Smithers as Bailey Quarters
Jan Smithers’s Bailey Quarters kept WKRP in Cincinnati literate while the zoo flipped to rock — DJs, sales pirates, management disasters, Howard Hesseman’s Fever, Loni Anderson’s Jennifer, turkeys away. 1970s workplace sitcom with a…