The New WKRP in Cincinnati

As a fan of the original WKRP in Cincinnati, I could follow the story, News Director Les Nessman and Sales Manager Herb Tarlek as well as the Big guy Arthur Carlson Sr. (Sr. Apparently) as far as the new cast I found the morning maniacs (Season 1) and Razor D (Season 2) entertaining, the program director wasn't as entertaining as Andy Travis (The original WKRP) The studio was awesome, finally made use of an area we never seen on the original series by putting Les Nessman back there with cart machines and his own board (which I am sure it was controlled by a pot on the other side on the main board) it was cool to see Michael Des Barres on this series, fans of the original series will remember him from Episode 4 of the original series as Sir Charles Weatherbee but he answers to Dog, of the band they get to play a concert called The Scum of the Earth, but I was just as amazed to find out Des Barres is an actual musician, and the song that he did on the original series was one of his own, but the New series was great from a standpoint of it kept enough originals (with Howard Hesseman and Tim Reid appearing in 5 for Howard and 1 for Tim in guest slots) this show along with the original were two good examples of how GOOD tv was, notice I Didn't mention Jr. Well no one else thought he should have even been there.

Laugh tracks aren't always a bad thing. When the laughs happen at the right time they are gold, when the laughs happen for no reason(like they do here) it makes it hard to watch or respect the show. That's really the only bad thing about this show. Anyone who says the original was "so much better" is either lying or hasn't seen the original in 30 years so they don't remember what it really was like. It was literally a show full of 50 year olds who were "edgy" and "pushing the envelope". Saying booger and being scared of mud people was all they had. If the original had aired in the 50's it would have been ground breaking. In the 70s it was just sad old people trying to be young and hip. This is just as good as the original, don't listen to the crusty octogenarians. BTW I love that Les looks exactly the same in the 90s as he did in the 70s. Did you know him and Travis were almost the same age???

The New WKRP in Cincinnati did not capture the same nostagia as the original series. Some of the cast members did make their return such as: Gordon Jump, Frank Bonner , Richard Anderson, and Carol Bruce. Howard Hessman, Loni Anderson, and Tim Reid made cameo appearances in this new version, but the show just did not have the same appeal as before. Notably missing was the original show's star Gary Sandy and Jan Smithers. They did entroduce new characters to this version, but they just did not have the same dynamic or chemistry like the original cast. When watching the original it felt like you were watching a dysfunctional family, but in a good wholesome way. It felt like it would have been fun to go to work there everyday with those people. This show just failed to make that connection. The reason this show was made was out of response to the high ratings the original show received when it went into syndication. Now believe it or not this new version had OK ratings, but was cancelled do to budgeting issues, but regardless the show still had problems from poor connectivity with the cast members, bad dialogue, and terrible story lines. The original series will always be #1 in my heart and I wish it would get streamed on one of these streaming services someday. "I am living on the air in Cincinnati WKRP"

The original WKRP In Cincinnati was brilliant, with hilarious stories. This sequel series, not so much. I really wanted to adore it, I tried! There's a few sparks of genius of old but the remaining ones were mediocre at best. It had been almost 10 years since the original series ended but the new show picked up only about a week later. Besides the timing (and obvious aging of the actors) the plot lines were weak. The bottom line is, even as a rabid fan of the original series, even that could not make this watchable.

Like almost everyone who tuned in, we were fans of the original show. Bill Dial (the original engineer, Bucky Dornster) was a major creative force behind the scenes in both, but was working in a different environment this time round.

The new WKRP had paid great attention to the physical details of the sets, and brought back 3 strong cast members. Unfortunately that was less than half of the original ensemble, and despite what other reviewers have said, few of them seemed to work. French Stewart as Razor and Nancy Braithwaite were the only standouts, as they were drawn as broadly comedic characters like most everyone in the original WKRP. Claire, Dana, Jack and even Art Jr. were just too boring and plain, forcing the best story lines to lean on Art, Herb and Les too much, or to bring in guests from the first series.

The 2 seasons were very different as well, since 4 main cast members from season 1 were replaced without explanation heading into season 2. This disjointed nature rose towards the end of season 2 with Donovan being killed off apparently in the second last episode, then zero mention in the final episode, while Mona just never appeared after the episode in LA with Johnny. So the overall story arc was a problem, along with the casting.

Now that said, there were still moments of strong TV here, particularly as Herb and Les still are the wacky nuts they always were. Nancy provides a great foil for Herb, showing the reverse of the Jennifer scenario. He gets a taste of his own medicine for a change. When Johnny guests it is always a compelling tale, and the Hollywood version of WKRP mimics the "Real Families" episode from the original to great effect.

Hopefully now that the show has finally appeared on the torrent and streaming sites it will be possible for more fans to rediscover this interesting, albeit flawed, bit of TV history.