User Reviews

Johnny, broke as always, considers sidelining as an afternoon Dance Show host for one of the local TV stations in town. Mary Frann (of future NEWHART fame) is the producer who cons Johnny into making him think he can play the same oldies on TV that he does on WKRP. When the show wants him to play disco, Johnny initially refuses but buckles under when he is reminded he is now under contract. In order to not alienate his radio listeners who are used to "the Doctor" and the music he plays, Johnny creates a new persona, Rip Tide, to get in the groove with his new audience. He becomes such a huge success that Herb wants to cash in on the new persona for WKRP. The underlining theme becomes a study of the pressure DJ's face to become a larger-than-life personality in order to increase their fame and bank account. Wolfman Jack was already doing it for a few decades, Casey Kasem had America's Top 40, Don Imus and Howard Stern were just coming on to the scene. And of course the man at the top of the Dance TV show format was Dick Clark with American Bandstand. So when Johnny feels the pressure to become the next big thing, he goes through a crisis of confidence and self doubt. It forces Johnny to think about who he really is and what he wants to be.