2006-09-21

All-Star cast indeed: WKRP In Cincinatti as it might have been

Reading about the classic 70s-80s sitcom about a wacky radio station (which tragically will never show on DVD for the same reason Married With Children shall always have the crappy theme music on Seasons 3-11), I was shocked to discover that key cast members were brought in when the producers first options failed:



Roddy McDowell as "The Big Guy" Arthur Carlson





David Letterman as Andy Travis







Richard Libertini as John "Dr. Johnny Fever" Caravella







Howard Hesseman as Herb Tarlek






Bonus Married With Children... trivia tidbit: MWC's resident lesbian Amanda Bearse directed episodes from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place (which once guest-starred WKRP alumnus Howard Hesseman). She's also directed episodes of Dharma and Greg, Veronica's Closet, and The Big Gay Show.

Bonus Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place trivia: Ryan Reynolds, the "successful" Blade actor who portrayed Berg in the show, was offered the part of Xander on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Nathan Fillion, his castmate from Pizza Place who played Johnny, auditioned for the role of Angel but was turned down. Joss Whedon didn't realize this when he offered Fillion the Firefly lead.