WKRP

Oh my gosh.  I do so love my old time television show channels.  Sunday Evenings one of those channels shows back to back episodes of WKRP.  I try not to miss a single one.  Some episodes are funnier than others, some dealt with meaningful issues of the time, while others delved into the personalities of the characters working that the somewhat inept radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I couldn't help but fall in love with these people.

Anyway, one of my favorites was when, for a Thanksgiving Day promotion, they decided to heave live turkeys out of a helicopter.  I have to say to this day, the news report 'live' from the scene of the turkeys departure from the aircraft still cracks me up.  "Oh, the humanity!" And of course, the line "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."  is burned into my memory bank forever.

Then, last night they had an episode about garbage.  I don't remember ever seeing the particular show before, and this one came pretty close to matching that of the turkey drop.

It seems Cincinnati's refuse workers were in the throes of a garbage/trash strike, and the morning guy (the always outspoken Johnny "The Doctor" Fever) suggested everybody take their garbage/trash and leave it on City Hall's front steps.

Unbeknownst to The Doctor, and the station, it was discovered WKRP, not only had 'a listener' they had listeners, who were doing exactly what The Doctor had asked them to do. Throw their garbage/trash on City Hall's steps.  Well, of course the half hour show continued to spiral out of control from there.

Eventually the good doctor was required to apologize for the morning remarks, which was a very bitter pill for Johnnny Fever to swallow.  However with the help of Bailey, another WKRP employee, Johnny is able to squeak out an apology, but not before he manages to say (on air), to Bailey, "This is, uh, your Doctor speaking. Hello, and good afternoon Cincinnati. I sure would like to take you home and kiss you all over in the dark."

After which, his courage renewed, he announces on air... "Attention fellow babies. If you're driving around out there with your car full of garbage right now, and you were on your way to City Hall, the Doctor feels kind of responsible for that. So why don't you cruise on by the mayor's home? Or maybe the Union chief's home? We'll get those addresses for you real soon so you can find 'em real easy. The point is, if your trash comes flying out on the lawn, it could be an accident, or it could be a political statement! My point here is, we don't have to take this garbage anymore!"


"I'll tell you something else, we oughta all stop paying our utility bills! What's the utility company gonna do, close its doors? And let's talk about the telephone!"

Sigh!  My point is, these folks always, always had good intentions, they simply just didn't know how to go about them.  Maybe that's what made them so endearing, maybe once in a while all of us should 'unload' no matter how ridiculous that unloading might be.  Hey, don't you wish you had the guts to throw your garbage on the front steps of your city hall...or at least a bucketful of e-coli laden water once in a while.