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August 24, 2019 10:02 pm  #1


Instant Replay Bonus: TV Shows About Radio

Why didn’t radio play a bigger role as a location for TV shows? Maybe they weren’t visual enough, like their television-set counterparts. Whatever the reason, there have only been a handful of shows over the years that dealt with radio.
 
Here are a few of them.
 
Good Morning World, CBS, 1967
 
A show about a morning team that might answer the question posed above. It had a great cast but no really funny lines. And like their radios, a lot of viewers just tuned out.
 

See Good Morning World on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWvZfMoL0Ms
 
Midnight Caller, NBC, 1988
 
Gary Cole as an ex-cop turned into a current Larry King. The show couldn’t get arrested.
 

See Midnight Caller on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_VsVZIiQSs 

Adventures of Mark & Brian, NBC, 1991
 
Not exactly set at a radio station, but starring two shock jock morning DJs from Los Angeles. Their adventures didn’t last long.
 

See The Adventures of Mark & Brian on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh-yqRXayUo 

Hello Larry, NBC, 1979
 
McLean Stevenson had a history of going from one of the best TV shows of all time – M*A*S*H – to a series of terrible programs he’d later come to regret. Among them: “Hello Larry,” in which he played a radio talk show host. It managed to run for two years, with the first emphasizing the station and the second centering on the family. It wasn’t long before viewers said “Goodbye Larry.”
 


See Hello Larry on YouTube
https://youtu.be/vIgLDRqnxyc

Gerry Todd, SCTV, Syndicated/NBC 1980s
 
Not really a radio show, per se, a video TV segment of SCTV that was loved by everyone in the biz.
 

 
Frasier, NBC 1993
 
Not totally involving radio, but one of the best sitcoms of all time. A lot of it took place at the fictional KACL in Seattle, where former Cheers character Frasier Crane relocated after leaving Boston.
 

See Frasier on YouTube
https://youtu.be/cBxiKzyPQi4 

WKRP In Cincinnati, CBS 1978/Syndicated, 1991
 
It was based on real radio people by creator Hugh Wilson and though it never topped the ratings, it was a solid performer for CBS and later came back with some original cast members in syndication. Still the solid gold standard for radio on TV.
 

See WKRP In Cincinnati on YouTube
https://youtu.be/6DgQvgRd-AU

 

August 25, 2019 4:31 am  #2


Re: Instant Replay Bonus: TV Shows About Radio

newsradio starring Canadian Kid dave foley?  or the ever so awful wkrp reboot in 1991....

 

August 25, 2019 6:31 am  #3


Re: Instant Replay Bonus: TV Shows About Radio

splunge wrote:

newsradio starring Canadian Kid dave foley?  or the ever so awful wkrp reboot in 1991....

Excuse me? I happen to LIKE the WKRP reboot in 1991. It was very good. 

The TV ads were also very good. 
Yes, they parodied U2 instead of coming up with something more original. SO WHAT? Still very good. 





 

Last edited by Radiowiz (August 25, 2019 6:35 am)


RadioWiz & RadioQuiz are NOT the same person. 
RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

August 25, 2019 7:35 am  #4


Re: Instant Replay Bonus: TV Shows About Radio

It is truly amazing that WKRP In Cincinnati lasted four years in production. From 1978-82 the series endured twelve!! timeslot changes airing mostly on Mondays. The final season aired on Wednesdays 8-8:30, 9-9:30 and 8:30-9. With that many changes, it is incredible that viewers found the show. Somehow, they did. In the second season, the series finished 22nd in the Neilsen ratings. Sandwiched between MASH and Lou Grant probably helped a bit.                  Sadly, someone did not renew the copyrights for the music that aired on the series in time. As a result, the music is not the original in the episodes viewable now.

 

August 25, 2019 9:05 am  #5


Re: Instant Replay Bonus: TV Shows About Radio

splunge wrote:

newsradio starring Canadian Kid dave foley?

Wow, I can't believe I forgot Newsradio! Probably second to WKRP as one of the great radio centered shows of all time.

It probably happened because I was looking through all the Fall Preview issues - and this started as a mid-season replacement. I recall that most of the show took place behind the scenes and you rarely heard their supposed on-air product.

A wonderful show which never got the respect it deserved - although it had a respectable four-year run, and even survived the murder of one of its main stars, Phil Hartman.

     Thread Starter