RIP Dr. Johnny Fever .. One of the best shows in TV history

and history has proven Johnny correct.

@tomlund4951

5 жыл бұрын

Joseph Scott we live in a world gone mad!!!!.... almost forgot.... BOOGER!

@widdershiznit

4 жыл бұрын

Not anymore. Read my comment.

Well I am old enough to know all about Phone Cops! WKRP was by far one of the best Sitcoms!

One of my favorite episodes. You have to be old enough to remember when there was only one phone co and they owned the phone in your house.

Just heard Howard Hesseman passed away. The good Dr. will always be a legend in television and radio. From now on I'm going to run through rooms yelling, "You didn't see me! You didn't see me!"

@rsprockets7846

2 жыл бұрын

boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooger!

@brendaamata9233

Ай бұрын

Sorry to hear he was great on WKRP

R.I.P. Howard. Thank you for the lifetime of laughter.

On this day in 1978 {September 18th} the sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" had its premier on the CBS-TV network. The show ran until April 21st, 1982, with a total of 88 episodes... During its four year run it earned ten Emmy Award nominations. In 1981 the show's theme song by Steve Carlisle entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; eventually it peaked at #65. R.I.P. Gordon 'Big Guy Carlson' Jump {1932 - 2003} and Gary 'Andy Travis' Sandy celebrates his 68 birthday in three months on Christmas Day.

2:14 "These phone cops play hardball" was in my head since it originally aired.

@brendaamata9233

Ай бұрын

To funny

OMG back in the day we split a gut every time somebody said, "It's the phone cops!" But nowadays no one really understands what it means.. :)

@piusg

7 жыл бұрын

4everSabella that's why I posted this! Who knew all these years later it'd be relevant!?

@nbmike65

7 жыл бұрын

I seem to remember Johnny singing his version of the Banana Boat Song, "Day say Dayo! Daylight comes and I want to throw up!" One of the funniest sitcoms ever! :)

@intheredcold9216

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah, Ma Bell was a monopoly and getting them to do anything was always on their time. The rates were fixed. They gave no sh*ts about complaints. Think Comcast 10x worse lol.

@kentonkruger8333

3 жыл бұрын

@@intheredcold9216 Still one of my favorite bits when Jennifer buys the house and asks the "phone guy" about having to wait all day for a hook-up. "Well, of course. It's like that because we don't have any competition".

@chronosschiron

3 жыл бұрын

and when you gt net instaleld of a phone line guess whom might be installing it....lol

Funny thing is...there WERE phone cops. I know, because my dad was one. They did covert operations, stake-outs and other under cover work. Of course, it wasn't for destruction of phones (Which were all owned by the phone company, you just rented them). Mostly, when he was in the field was watching people who used phone service in the act of committing a crime. Mostly, bookies. All they could really do was knock on the door and tell them they were from the phone company and were here to take the phones. Of course, professional bookies just stood aside and let them....then move down the street and set up again. Dad said, if you didn't try to act like a cop rousting them down, the bookies were usually very polite. Hey, business is business Now when he was promoted to corporate security, it got a little more interesting. He was involved in the Watergate investigation; it was all about an illegal wiretap, after all. Nixon (the government) wanted AT&T to declare in court that the wiretap at the Watergate was a "legal" wiretap, but AT&T refused to lie. Within three years AT&T was divested. It came as a big surprise, they had everything set up with the FCC to continue, and suddenly Charles Brown announced they were going to divest. I remember Dad saying "They have something on Charlie Brown". How do I know all this? I also worked for AT&T... in the legal department. Say what you want about "Ma Bell", they were always covering our butts. The Bell system got too powerful when it refused the US Government a request that resulted in a President having to resign. Can you honestly say your land-line service is better...or less expensive after The Bell System was divested? Nope. Another thing I can say is that Western Electric really made durable phones, not the crap we get now. Johnny really had to pound the crap out of that phone. LOL. OMG, Mom and I laughed so hard our sides hurt. It was so funny. Ah, better days.

This was one of my favorite episodes, that and the "Turkey incident".

@4everSabella

7 жыл бұрын

LOL! I just watched the "Turkey Incident" then I searched the "Phone cops!"

@dougbennett8592

6 жыл бұрын

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

@atworkstation

5 жыл бұрын

I got the entire series on DVD.

@johnmoldoch1057

3 жыл бұрын

Don't forget "The Reverend Little Ed Pembroke and The Church of The Mighty Struggle".

@johnmoldoch1057

3 жыл бұрын

"Ewwwheeee, I've got the devil on the run!!!!!"

One of the best episodes from WKRP. I watched this when I was 11 years old. Brings back alot of memories! Now this was TV not the garbage they play today with overpriced actors. Thumbs up if you think the 70s had better shows then today !!!

I liked how at the end the bomb was in the toolbox he used to smash the phone.

@piusg

6 жыл бұрын

Robert Drake I didn't include that part because I was focusing more on the etymology of the phrase "Phone Cops"

How prophetic in a way. Your phone tracks just about everything now. You're a genius Dr. Johnny Fever!

A friend of my wife's family was a phone cop. He was a state trooper and switched because Ma Bell had better working conditions,benifits and retirement package. True story !

This was one of the best gags on comedy TV.

The phone cops (well the bomb 2-parter) was one of my favorites. I was looking for this to post on FB to honor the great Howard Hesseman (RIP, Sir). Thanks for having it up.

RIP Howard Hesseman. You were truly unique actor. We will never forget #booger.

It should have included the last bit where Johnny tries (again) to creep up behind Jenifer. The phone starts ringing and he runs away. Hilarious.

@MrSkinnn

5 жыл бұрын

LMFAO

No, Johhny, it wasn't the phone cops. But this was a great scene. You will be missed, Howard. All your characters were great. RIP.

I love WKRP and Johnny Fever was one of my role models he help mold me into who I am today!!!! Thanks man it's all your fault and the phone cops!!!!

I had to explain to my 16-year-old son what a rotary-dial telephone was. He looked at me as if I had three heads.

@josephscott6388

6 жыл бұрын

piusg I knew I was old when I got the same look from a teenager when I brought up the snowy picture you used to get on TV back in the days of the aerial antenna.

@neseunit

3 жыл бұрын

Still have the one I bought when I worked at the phone company.

@duckduckgoismuchbetter

2 жыл бұрын

I'm in my 50s and as a teenager I tried to figure out how my grandparents old crank telephone must have worked. They had it mounted on a wall for decoration. I just didn't understand how letters had anything to do with it, lol.

@brendaamata9233

Ай бұрын

To funny

I love this show! I always wanted to be Johnny Fever as a kid and now,sadly I am. And he's right you know. The FBI and CIA have access to everything you say and do. Your every transaction and cameras at all major intersections and over passes. Their probly reading this right now!! AAHHHH

The greatest underrated show of all time.

This was one of mine and my mom's favorite episodes. We were always bringing up the "phone cops" as an inside joke. Of course not only do you have to explain that episode to people, you have to explain to them that back then you basically "rented" a phone from the phone company. The phone wasn't yours per se. That's why he was so afraid of the phone cops.

This has got to be the funniest show in all of WKRP! It was the phone cops man!

Absolutely the best episode! Wish you would have included the moment when Johnny hears that the bomb was in the tool box!

to this day when I hustle through a crowded room all I think is "you didnt see me... you didnt see me"

@lilorbielilorbie2496

4 жыл бұрын

Doug Breese you and me both brother.

This was back when the phone company actually owned the telephone you used - you just rented it

“Fever’s Break”- what a name for a horse!

I almost pissed myself laughing at this back then. This episode and the turkey episode.

This was a great show with a great cast. And remember phone cops are everywhere

Wkrp was my favorite show growing up and that episode of the phone cops had me on the floor 😅😂😂🤣🤣😂

One of the best shows ever. R.IP Howard Hesseman.

RIP Howard thanks for the laughs

OMIGOODNESS! I am SO HAPPY to find the PHONE COPS episode! I used to joke all the time about Phone Cops. This is great. THANK YOU.

@TheFarmerfitz

7 жыл бұрын

Just watched the whole 2 part episodes... If you're looking for it it's called (An Explosive Affair....)...

Haha. Thank you for posting this!! I'm one of those "young whipper-snappers" who didn't get the reference when someone made joke about it 😅 it's a funny clip and joke now that I understand

You should have included the part where Fever and Venus find out the bomb was in the very same toolbox Jihhny used to destroy the phone! "THE toolbox?!?!"

@hibob418 I loved the on-the-air drunk test Johnny and Venus did with the state trooper. Every time Johnny takes a slug of whisky and gets timed, he tests are more sober -lol.

LOL, as a fan of WKRP, this is one of two episodes (The other one being Turkey's Away) that I can still vividly remember 25 years after the show went off the air...Thank you for posting this!

Love how Johnny wore those tinted glasses to hide the fact he was always stoned.

Man, I sure miss this show! So many great one-liners from one sit-com!

Other than the turkey drop this was my favorite episode back in the day! 😁✌

Rest In Peace Dr Johnny Fever😞

This was a great episode , i always dug Ferrimans Funeral Parlor and the episode where Venus and Johnny got trashed on the air

@hankkingsley9300

2 жыл бұрын

trooper couldn't believe that the more Johnny drank the more sober he got actually I know people like that hell I am one

One of my favorite episodes.

Thumbs up if this should be an internet meme.

@video4menow

6 жыл бұрын

Someone needs to make one up! lol I'm not good with that sort of thing :)

Oh yeah, one of my FAVORITE bits from WKRP. I saw this in prime time when it was first aired, and it is still as funny today as it was then!

Back in the old days all phones were owned by the phone company.

@libertarianmama596

9 жыл бұрын

YES! I remember what a Nazi Northwestern Bell was about their phones. My Mom broke our phone once and it was like pulling teeth to get a new phone. Thats why I always remembered this episode. Funny stuff right here.

@meganmose

5 жыл бұрын

you kidding me vonskull Lol Verizon is a phone company, that comment was silly

@kellyrayburn4093

4 жыл бұрын

@@meganmose Verizon didn't exist back then. It was all Bell, Northwestern, Northeastern, Southwest, etc, but it was all one company. And they did own all the phones. They leased them out as a part of your bill. *NOW* you can and are pretty much required to own your own phone, but not back then.

@blockmasterscott

4 жыл бұрын

I remember that. No one owned their own phone back then. I remember in the very early 80s my mom bought a phone somewhere when the very first privately owned phones appeared on the market. my friend's dad across the street worked for Ma Bell and was infuriated that my mom bought her own phone, said it was her problem if there was problem with the phone.

@kellyrayburn4093

4 жыл бұрын

@@blockmasterscott As it should be. If there is a problem with the phone, it is the owner's responsibility to repair or replace it. You don't ask someone else to fix or replace your vehicle without compensation if something goes wrong. Why would you expect such concerning a telephone?

The phone cops finally got him! RIP

hey hey hey. wait one freakin second. the show had been cancled by the time i was born and my parents had me watching reruns of this show as an infant. one of my favorite shows of all time. so dont say all us young guys that we dont know about the phone police coming after johnny or that carlson didnt know turkeys cant fly

Yes, .... the Phone cops, The old days Of Dial Phones Heavy Enough To Use a Hammer. & Party Lines, & If You Had More Than 1 Phone Hooked Up On Your Line(In Your Own Residence) They Charged you More Per month & Fined you If You Didn't Tell them ahead of time = The Phone Gestapo. .................. & The Turkey drop, seeing That written here Took Me a Few Seconds To Remember = Les Nessmans Classic Line. WKRP What a Show with a Few Beers

If I remember right, the bomb was actually inside the toolbox he smashed the phone with.

Dude! I am so glad you posted this. I agree no one seems to have seen this. Absolutely the best segment from the great sitcom. Thanks again!

@blogwiser

9 жыл бұрын

Oh geez. I forgot about the turkey drop. -As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly. OMG!

Love the Phone Cops! I feel so old when I mention the phone cops and get blank stares.

One of my most favourite segments from the show

Yes, the Phone Cops are the worst! How I miss WKRP, it was one of the best shows around.

RIP Johnny Fever. :(

Rest in peace, Dr Fever....BOOGER

one of my fav episodes! and as it turns out...

Poor Venus. "I had to chase him across half a cornfield". ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RIP Dr. Johnny Fever RIP Howard Hesseman

WKRP The best fun you could have back in the day, w/o rollin' it yourself.

funniest sitcom ever!

Was always one of my favorite moments... and even funnier when I got a job with the phone company...

RIP Dr. Fever.

This is my favorite episode! Thanks for posting. I get those Blank Stares too -lol.

"The real cops are in on it."...CLASSIC!!!!!!

One of THE BEST scenes of this outstanding series! Thank you SO much for putting this up! Someone on KZread started posting about Howard Hesseman/Johnny Fever, and the thread just took off, and then someone brought up this scene! Made my day watching this again! :)

Back when I was a teenager I was out doing nothing in particular with a couple buddies. One of them tried to scam a collect call to have his mom pick us up. It didn't work. Then we heard a siren and my other buddy screamed "phone cops!" and we scattered while laughing so much it was hard to breathe.

Still funny all these years later. Thanks for uploading!

Today we have Google Cops, Amazon Cops, Facebook Cops....

...easily one of the better episodes!

By far - the best episode! My personal fave!

I've used the phone cops reference before and gotten the blank stares. I hate when that happens!

Here it is in Covid-era 2020, and the pilot episode of WKRP shows up in my recommended list. I watched it, then the PHONE COPS episode popped in my head. So glad I was able to find it. I also use "phone cops" in casual conversation, and get many blank stares. Like so many commenters here I am old enough to fully understand the dangers of damaging a phone! Thank you so much for showing this!!

This was a 2 part episode, together they were the best to me (and they had many). Remember when Johnny asked when is Andy going to call, and Venus hands him the dial from the smashed phone and says [why don't u call him].

I'll play anything! I'll play the Carpenters, I'll play Barry Manilow!

This was an awesome episode!

People in the 70s and 80s really thought the phone company had its own enforcement. That episode was hilarious.

@lilorbielilorbie2496

2 жыл бұрын

Doug Taylor Who's to say that they didn't.?

Great Series!!!

"You didn't see me! You didn't see me!" almost got me killed hahahaha I'm still laughing

oh, Bailey!. Sigh....

Rest in peace Howard

You know that man is deep-down terrified when he promises to play the Carpenters and Manilow.

I would have given anything to see Jan Smithers in tan stockings and garters.

@johnmoldoch1057

3 жыл бұрын

Uhmmm, yeah.... and nothing else. Nice imagery.

great show, and my fav episode too. the turkey drop was a close 2nd. started to think only old stoners knew about "the phone cops" = )

god i miss this show

You used to have to rent your phones from Bell Telephone. They were the only game in town.

This is my all time fave episode

Ma Bell is coming to get you - Sweet Dreams, Howard.

I’d like to have heard Bailey’ frustration explaining to a caller that they can’t announce the radio station is off the air when they’re off the air.

@michaelterrell

2 жыл бұрын

I was a Broadcast Engineer in the '70s. Some people must have already dialed part of our phone number abd waited to dial the last digit to wait for one of the many, frequent film breaks because you couldn't dial the entire number that fast on rotary phones. One of the dumbest questions I've ever heard is 'Do you know the film broke'? No moron. I'm sitting six feet from the projector, at master control. Why would I notice? I could jump out of my seat, stop, reload the film and restart the project in about three seconds. Then splice the film and carefully let the reeling motor pick up all of the spilled film from the highly waxed floor. Why would I notice?

This was a great episode hehe, especially the part where the transmitter was blown up and Johnny says those phone cops don't fool around hehe.

The BOMB was in the tool box

Incredible

today is Google that knows everything literally

rip johnny

This ep was great but my top two will always be Happy Feet and Turkeys Away.

Love it

Johnny's rabid paranoia was a joy to see.