Bill O'Reilly and Tim Reid ( Venus Flytrap from WKRP )

[cypresscoach]

One of the funniest shows ever. Every character was funny, and interesting. "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly". How does it get any funnier than that?

[slosh29]

Im my opinion the show was one of the funniest in history..I wish they would release the other seasons. The comedy should be more important than them music. Even though the clothes, music and lines are dated they are still funny and still hold up..When my parents passed away I put comedies in as much as I could trying to get my mind off and laugh a little..Wrkp was the first I put in..It did help!

[YafatFuqa]

The show would been better without tim reid I heard the only reason he got the job was because he black and bitched about no black people on TV

[KevinR38]

@YafatFuqa You heard wrong. Good Times was almost all black, there was The Jeffersons, there was Sanford and Son. Welcome Back Kotter had Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington. What's Happening!! was basically all black actors as well.

It'd probably be good to know the landscape of the time frame before just believing what you 'hear', or before making it up on the fly. Whichever the case might be.

[YafatFuqa]

@KevinR38 descent White people never watched that shit

[metalmaho]

It is one of the best. If you look at the politically correct world we live in today, it would have been cancelled immediately or moved to cable.

[bluesintheblood]

Bill says: I"I can't believe I still remember that" really Bill, your show I think started to come out just a couple years after, WHILE I remember watching reruns almost back to back with WKRP AND WHEN YOU WERE A HACK START UP on A Current Affair, remember the show, where you had your first on camera blow up, of which you now have parlayed all that anger and hatred into your own show....

[noto1070]

Except for Oreilly, this was great. Oh and Bailey was so freaking hot.

[tjttzcspplt]

The best show, and we can't get past the first season on DVD.

[KevinR38]

@tjttzcspplt The cost of the musical rights, from what I understand is just too high to put the series on DVD.

[tjttzcspplt]

@KevinR38 Is that it? Oh, I should have known greed was behind it.

[MrHypnofan]

Did Bailey (Ms. Smithers) ever work on another show?

[KevinR38]

@MrHypnofan Not as a regular as far as I know. IMDB does show her doing various things up to 1987. She married James Brolin and didn't work much, if at all after that. It's hard to believe she's 61 or 62 now.

[klwewf]

@KevinR38 I think she was in Joyce Dewitt land-lol

[abc1000001]

I think Bill could be a nice fit for Les Nessman.

[alpha18412]

@abc1000001 "And now.. more news and Les Nessman.." I loved that show.

[abc1000001]

@alpha18412 Too bad it isn't on syndication anymore.

[alpha18412]

@abc1000001 Jan over Jennifer hands down.

[PinkOld]

@alpha18412

No doubt!

In junior high, while this was still on the air, I had a huge crush on Jan Smithers.

[Rowzdower69ify]

@deedubya 286 yeah she had that smart librarian quality,even a 10 yr old could appreciate!(I speak for myself)  Ur the best Jan!

[Rowzdower69ify]

Is it me,or did they totally blow off Jan Smithers,who played Bailey! She was like the Cheryl Ladd of WKRP.

[deedubya286]

@Rowzdower69ify She was always my favorite character on the show and I've had a crush on Bailey Quarters ever since the show was in first run.

[nudist1033]

I'm sorry. I should have started with the phrase "without looking anywhere else 1st".

So, does anybody else know it?

[KevinR38]

@nudist1033 Gordon Sims (without looking it up). He used to have a show "Gordon Sims and the Sounds of the Night".

[deedubya286]

@KevinR38 Without looking it up do you know what city he had this show in?

[deedubya286]

@nudist1033 Without looking it up, Venus also used to be on a children's tv show where he played "Sailor Ned".

[KevinR38]

@deedubya286 I remember the episode that was in but off the top of my head I can't remember what city it was supposed to be set in. New Orleans comes to mind right off but I'd be surprised if that was right.

[deedubya286]

@KevinR38 Absolutely right! Andy hired him away from a radio station in New Orleans.

[KevinR38]

@deedubya286 Yeah, I remember the episode with Mama Carlson when Venus walked into the office and Andy introduced him. That's why New Orleans was in my mind.

[nudist1033]

Ok, here's one for ya.

What is the REAL NAME of the CHARACTER Venus Flytrap?

We all know that the real name of the ACTOR is Tim Reid.

What is the real name of the CHARACTER Venus Flytrap?

[ycicle]

Quite honestly, one of the best comedies on network television. It's a crime that the DVD release(s) don't carry the original music. The Pink Floyd "Dogs" scene illustrates that.

[PinkOld]

@ycicle

You can thank the moronic assbags in the music industry for that.

They demanded royalties for the music on the show, even if they rarely had more than fifteen seconds of any given song at any given point, except for Pink Floyd's "Dogs."

Hugh Wilson was forced to edit out all of the music and replace it with generic studio musician junk, but that also forced entire scenes to be deleted, including the aforementioned classic Pink Floyd scene.

The music industry continues to kill itself.

[stayjit1]

WKRP was the best written, best comedy, and best cast sitcom in its time.

[KevinR38]

@stayjit1 One of the best of all time in my opinion.

[redwoodowl]

"Who is this guy?"

"My father."

LOL!

[tomtrh]

OMFG, an intelligent Bill O'Reilly interview! STOP THE PLANET!

[bigboss686]

everybody here that, it was the number one show when it was canceled.

What's on television has nothing to do with ratings,

[Lennon4life1968]

Bill O'Reilly has banned Les Nessman until O'Reilly wins a Silver Sow..lol

[kfodom]

How appropriate-"Venus Flytrap" being interviewed by the 21st century's version of Les Nessman!

[amystreasures]

I can't believe it's been so long since I've watched the show that I didn't realize Tim Reid played Venus.

[GJohnson0313]

Brother Tim is STILL cool. Loved him then, love him now. Respect!

[SPEEDPAINTER1]

3:07-----BRILLIANT!!!!!

[xxlesslikeitsmathxx]

Venus Flytrap was probably the most fully-developed, well-rounded African American character on television at the time. He was always my favorite character on the show.

I just started watching WKRP from the beginning and still think it's one of the top five comedies ever written. Purely character-driven, not afraid to push the envelope. Great writing.

[PinkOld]

@xxlesslikeitsmathxx

Well said.

They wrote Tim's part to be very smart and funny, but still cool as hell.

[pullybrit]

Bill's just pissed because Les Nesman now has an office and Bill doesn't!

[BigBoiJC]

Difference Between Bill O'Reilly and Les Nessman???? competence.

[helpmeifucann]

the difference between Newsjunkie Marks and KRP Marks.....not much.

[wookie72]

It was a great show. Not the greatest show ever, but a great show. I don't know anybody who disliked this show.

[CommonSence2008]

I had no clue that Tim Reid from WKRP was on O'Reilly. I would have thought if any celebrity from that CBS TV sitcom would be on any news network, it would have been CNN on Larry King. I know that the first season is on DVD, but not the rest of the seasons and it's spinnoff; The New WKRP (from 1991-1993).

[KevinR38]

They replaced a lot of the music on the DVDs with generic music due to music royalties. They're also running the whole series on WGN on Sunday evenings, 2 episodes per Sunday.

[WhatsAYak]

Although "unofficial" DVD releases of the series w/the original music intact are also available...considering how bad the official 1st season release was, that's the best way to go, in my book. :-)

[animekitten321]

@CommonSence2008 they made a spinoff??? was it any good?

[KevinR38]

@animekitten321 The New WKRP came out around 1991 if I recall, it didn't last long and the magic of the original was gone by then.

[leggysheers]

I got a good kick out of the clip. Even though it was Bill O'Reilly, to be able to talk about WKRP and it's influence and standing in television history is always a good thing. It was a sharply written series, with a great cast that deserves to be mentioned as one of the top 10-15 American television shows of all-time. Good to see Tim again.