Dr. Johnny Fever
Encyclopedia
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
and disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
(DJ) on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta...
. He was inspired by Atlanta DJ Skinny Bobby Harper
Skinny Bobby Harper
Skinny Bobby Harper was a Canadian radio and video DJ. First making it big in Cincinnati, Ohio at WSAI , he moved to Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1960s and joined the staff of WQXI radio, where WKRP in Cincinnati creator Hugh Wilson used him as inspiration for the sitcom's off-the-wall character Dr...
. The character was portrayed by Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman
Howard Hesseman is an American actor best known for playing disc jockey Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and schoolteacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class.-Early life:...
.
Before and after the format change
Johnny Fever, whose real name is John Caravella, comes to WKRP from a major station in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he worked under the name "Johnny Sunshine" and did a popular show called "Johnny Sunshine, Boss Jock." After he said the word "booger
Dried nasal mucus
Dried nasal mucus, pieces of which are colloquially known as bogeys in English and boogers in American, is commonly found in the nose and is a result of drying of the normally viscous colloidal mucus .-Formation:...
" on the air, he was fired with a year left on his contract. (He sued the station for wrongful dismissal
Wrongful dismissal
Wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is an idiom and legal phrase, describing a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer in circumstances where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contract of...
and received a large cash settlement after a few years.) After leaving L.A., he led a nomadic existence, going from town to town. His next job was hosting a garden show in Amarillo. He has used many on-air names, including Johnny Duke, Johnny Style, Johnny Cool, and even Heavy Early. (Most of these names appear on the side of Johnny's coffee cup.) He finally hit "rock bottom," in his own words, when he landed in Cincinnati at the worst radio station in town, WKRP -- the only station that would hire him. He found himself hosting a "beautiful music" show in the morning, so obviously bored with the music that he didn't even bother to make up a new name or on-air persona.
When Andy Travis
Andy Travis
Andy Travis is a fictional character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati . He was played by Gary Sandy.Travis was originally intended to be the lead character, the more-or-less normal person who would anchor the series and provide the focus for most of the stories...
takes over as program director of WKRP and changes the format to rock n' roll, Johnny is initially doubtful that he can succeed as the morning man in the new format; conscious that he is older than the average morning DJ, Johnny advises Andy to find someone "about fifteen years younger," but Andy insists that he can handle it (and gives him permission to say "booger" on the air). When he gets on the air the first time after the format change, Johnny comes alive, signaling the change with a loud drag on the playing record (a fictional cover of "(You're) Having My Baby
(You're) Having My Baby
" Having My Baby" is a song written and recorded by Canadian popular music singer Paul Anka. Recorded as a duet with female vocalist Odia Coates, the song became Anka's first No...
" by the Hallelujah Tabernacle Choir) and literally folding the record album in half. He immediately adopts the new, hyper-excited persona of "Dr. Johnny Fever," by playing the first record, and telling his listeners:
- All right, Cincinnati, it is time for this town to get down! You've got Johnny... Doctor Johnny Fever, and I am burnin' up in here! Whoa! Whoo! We all in critical condition, babies, but you can tell me where it hurts, because I got the healing prescription here from the big 'KRP musical medicine cabinet. Now I am talking about your 50,000 watt intensive care unit, babies! So just sit right down, relax, open your ears real wide and say, "Give it to me straight, Doctor. I can take it!"
He then starts the station's first rock record, and then triumphantly says, "I almost forgot, fellow babies: BOOGER!"
On-air style
The "Doctor" is a great talker to his radio audience when he is in a confident mood. He can jive with the best D.J.s of his era. He once gives Bailey QuartersBailey Quarters
Bailey Quarters is a character on the television sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati. She was played by actress Jan Smithers, and was based on creator Hugh Wilson's wife.- WKRP roles :...
, nascent newswoman, this sage advice: "Talk into the microphone as if you were talking to your best friend." Later, in that same episode ("Mike Fright"), he would have to gather the courage to take his own advice.
Never a fan of disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, the new music fad of the era, he is a lover of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, although he feels he is getting too old to be a DJ in the genre (aside from two episodes on which he adopts a disco persona for a high-paying television job--see below). Tunes like "Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
" are used for bathroom breaks or extended chats with friends.
Though the format of WKRP is supposed to be Top 40, Johnny frequently refuses to play any songs off the station playlist
Playlist
In its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. They can be played in sequential or shuffled order. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers.-In radio:...
, choosing instead to highlight old favorites like Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, and Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
. A consultant hired by Mrs. Carlson at one point describes Johnny as being "stuck in 1962". Andy frequently tries to get Johnny to stick to the playlist, pleading with him: "Play the playlist. Play a part of the playlist. Play one song off the playlist. Play a part of one song off the playlist!" But Johnny continues picking his own music, to the point that Andy actually goes into a state of hysteria when he hears Johnny playing "The Long Run" by The Eagles: "That's a hit! He's playing a hit!" Fever's unorthodox choice of music pays off as the series goes on, and by the final episode he has become the number-one morning DJ in the city. Johnny's views towards his music and his audience were perhaps best summed up when, picking a record, he exclaims "Sacred music...B.B. King!" Once, during a bomb threat, he remarked "If I die, who will teach the children about Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
?"
Herb Tarlek
Herb Tarlek
Herb Tarlek is a character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati . He was played by actor Frank Bonner...
, the account executive, can never land the big accounts. As a result, Fever and the other DJs on WKRP have to do voiceovers (done live in that era) for spots for funeral home
Funeral home
A funeral home, funeral parlor or mortuary, is a business that provides burial and funeral services for the deceased and their families. These services may include aprepared wake and funeral, and the provision of a chapel for the funeral....
s and Red Wigglers, the "Cadillac" of worms (to which Fever adds the tag line "available at finer worm stores everywhere!"). However, he has his scruples, as when he walks out of a recording session for sports aids when he realized his dialogue is laced with euphemisms for dangerous drug effects. While it is strongly implied that Johnny is a frequent user of marijuana
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
, he doesn't go in for harder drugs, and leads a campaign to shut down a businessman who is trying to sell speed to teenagers. He also discovers his brief successor, Doug Winner (Philip Charles MacKenzie
Philip Charles MacKenzie
Philip Charles MacKenzie is an American actor and television director. He is best known for his role as Donald Maltby on Brothers, and as Ted Nichols on Open House, which he worked on with his current wife Alison LaPlaca.-Career:...
) has been accepting cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
for airplay under a payola
Payola
Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S...
scheme with a sleazy record promoter. Johnny doesn't rat Doug out, but cautions him about the dangers of cocaine abuse, knowing he'll eventually hang himself with his own noose, which subsequently happens and Johnny gets his old job back.
Personal life
WKRP settles Johnny down and establishes a relatively stable ensemble of associates for him, although the tradeoff is a cramped apartment and low pay; however, this arrangement doesn't seem to overly concern him much (at one point he describes himself as "a 40-year-old man who lives like a college student"). He is also believed to have been incarcerated at least once, in Mexico, where he says he was involved in a "minor misunderstanding with 145 Mexican cops." He was a hippieHippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
in the 1960s, 10-12 years before the show's time frame. It is implied that he smokes marijuana by his overall character, and occasional references to drug culture (e.g. Mr. Carlson once dismissed a business as a front for selling drug paraphernalia, and Johnny immediately asked where it was.) He is often seen wearing a Black Death Malt Liquor T-shirt
T-shirt
A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....
, designed by Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press
Rip Off Press, Inc. is a seminal publishing company that specializes in adult-themed literature and graphic novels, mostly in a specific comic book format known as underground comix.-Overview:...
underground comic artist Dave Sheridan
Dave Sheridan
David Christopher "Dave" Sheridan is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician. He is perhaps best known for his performance as Special Officer Doofy in the comedy Scary Movie .-Career:...
.
He has been married twice, with both of his ex-wives collecting alimony; he also has a college-age daughter, Laurie (Patrie Allen), who briefly moves in with him. There is some suggestion in one episode that he might still be in love with his first wife, Paula (Ruth Silveira), though they agree that their relationship is over, and Paula marries another man (Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp
Hamilton Camp was an English-American singer, songwriter, actor and voice actor.-Early life:Camp was born in London, England, and was evacuated during World War II to the United States as a child with his mother and sister. He became a child actor in films and onstage...
). Johnny's second wife never makes an appearance. Their parting was not as amicable: she tried to kill Johnny with a Ronco
Ronco
Ronco is an American company that manufactures and sells a variety of items and devices, most commonly those used in the kitchen. Ron Popeil founded the company in 1964, and commercials for the company's products soon became pervasive and memorable, in part thanks to Popeil's personal sales pitches...
Veg-O-Matic
Veg-O-Matic
Veg-O-Matic was the name of one of the first food-processing appliances to gain widespread use in the United States. It was invented by Samuel J...
.
Beginning in the second season, he becomes on and off romantically involved with fellow employee, Bailey Quarters. Though the staff seems indifferent at first, the rumor mills begin humming when Bailey invites Johnny to stay at her apartment while his apartment is being fumigated (he claims it's for lizards). Though Johnny is flattered by the attention at first, he quickly tires of the leering gestures from some of the male staffers and tells Andy that the rumors of him and Bailey shacking up aren't true, and expresses his dissatisfaction of the treatment Bailey has been getting. Andy, knowing he can do nothing until the rumors die out, counters by giving Johnny (who is in a perpetual state of poverty from ongoing alimony payments) a raise of another $50 a week.
Out of all the staff, Johnny appears to be the closest to fellow DJ Venus Flytrap
Venus Flytrap (WKRP in Cincinnati)
Venus Flytrap is a character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati , played by Tim Reid. He is the evening and early night-time disc jockey at WKRP, and during the course of the series he also becomes the assistant program director.-Development:Concerning the paucity of black actors...
, to the point where Venus gives him financial advice, bets on horses and football games with him, and even knows which seedy bars Johnny spends time at (for his part, Venus once claimed that he came to WKRP specifically "to work with the Doctor").
In the second season episode, "God Talks to Johnny," God speaks to Johnny, who concludes that he must be going crazy. The rest of the staff seem to agree. When Johnny checks himself into a hospital, he is met by Carlson, who tells him that there is nothing wrong with hearing God's voice. At the end of the episode, God's entire message is revealed: He says He loves Johnny, wants him to seek knowledge, and wants him to become a golf pro.
Other jobs
In an early episode, Johnny's new persona and his immediate popularity earn him a job offer from another station in L.A. -- the biggest competitor of the station that fired him. His co-workers at WKRP throw him a partyParty
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, or recreation. A party will typically feature food and beverages, and often music and dancing as well....
where they try to convince him not to leave; he admits how much he loves and cares about the people he works with. But in a reversal of sitcom conventions, Johnny actually takes the job in L.A. However, in the next episode, Johnny returns: he is almost instantly fired in L.A. for saying something much worse than "booger" on the air.
Later in his WKRP career, Johnny Fever is approached by a female television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
(Mary Frann
Mary Frann
Mary Frann was an American actress best known for her role as Bob Newhart's wife, Joanna Loudon, on the television series Newhart.-Early life and career:...
) to be a TV DJ for her disco program (based on Merv Griffin
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward "Merv" Griffin, Jr. was an American television host, musician, actor, and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer who went on to appear in movies and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 Griffin hosted his own talk show, The Merv Griffin Show on Group W Broadcasting...
's Dance Fever
Dance Fever
Dance Fever is an American musical variety series that aired weekly in syndication from January 1979 to September 1987. The series was created and produced by Merv Griffin and written by Tony Garofalo....
) "Gotta Dance". "Rip Tide," his TV persona, is money-hungry, disco-loving, and has a very different voice and personality. In the two-part episode, Fever becomes Rip Tide during WKRP on-air time (he loses control of who he acts like). He seems to be totally taken over by the Rip Tide persona until sanity (in the persons of Andy Travis and Jennifer Marlowe) takes hold. He then defiantly turns down the big bucks from the TV producer, and Rip is R.I.P. for good.
Dr. Johnny Fever never leaves the WKRP "family" of employees for the duration of the series, but in the New WKRP in Cincinnati series, he has moved on to at least two more stations. He admits this is a good situation for him, but does wonder from time to time about what he is missing by being "under wraps" and largely out of the national limelight by staying.
In the final episode, Johnny is rated the #1 morning disc jockey in the Cincinnati ratings book. When Mrs. Carlson decides she wants to eschew the now-successful rock format for an all-news station, it is Johnny that figures out that she never wanted WKRP to be profitable (it's a tax write-off for her), and blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
s her with the information in order to make sure it continues as a rock station.
Casting
The role of Dr. Johnny Fever was originally intended for Richard LibertiniRichard Libertini
Richard Libertini is an American stage, film and television actor known for playing numerous character roles and his ability to speak in numerous accents....
, but he became unavailable. Howard Hesseman was known to WKRPs production company, MTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises
MTM Enterprises was an American independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS...
, from his recurring guest role as Mr. Plager on MTM's The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart portrayed a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers...
. He was originally considered for the role of Herb Tarlek
Herb Tarlek
Herb Tarlek is a character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati . He was played by actor Frank Bonner...
, but when he read the pilot script, he decided that Johnny was the part he really wanted. He was particularly suited for the part because he had actually been a disc jockey at one time, and he brought some of his experience to the character of Johnny -- including picking most of the songs that Johnny played on the show. Also, Hesseman had played wacky hippies before in Dragnet
Dragnet (series)
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
and in the film Billy Jack
Billy Jack
Billy Jack is a 1971 action film. It is the second, and highest grossing, in a series of motion pictures centering on a character of the same name, played by Tom Laughlin who also directed and co-wrote the script. Filming began in Prescott, Arizona, in fall 1969, but the movie was not completed...
.