It’s time to start showing off all my WizWorld encounters for 2017! Kicking matters off are two stars from the well-loved, nostalgic SitCom WKRP Cincinnati with Lonnie Anderson on my right (this was her break-out role) and Howard Hesseman on my left. Lonnie is actually taller in real life than I thought. Even if you subtracted her heels, she’s still taller than most actresses I’ve met.
Great to meet them very briefly. WKRP is the show which led to my initial poor career choice in college too. As high school was coming to a close, I was rather worried, rudderless and panicking about what I would be doing for a living since university would be a short four years. I didn’t want to have a boring desk job, typing code into a mainframe like my father plus his career caused us to move every year lately. Then I started catching reruns of WKRP and thought, hey, radio is a great idea. I wouldn’t be a DJ like Dr. Johnny Fever or Venus but I could have a behind-the-scenes job like Bailey while enjoying the music the station played!
Fortunately, I realized what a backwards-minded industry FM radio was in the rock space and began learning other stuff which has oddly led me to the gigs I’ve had since I joined kinko’s in 1991. Wise decision too. Thanks to the Telecom Act of 1996, over 10,000 jobs were destroyed through consolidation and it’s only gotten worse in the Aughts as people listen to their phones and streaming services. Still, the show with its great cast continues to entertain and make us laugh.