WKRP in Cincinnati (TV Series) Jennifer and the Will (1981) User Reviews

My second favorite episode of WKRP

[harvster3 · 9/10 · 21 July 2009]

This episode had a some lines in it that left me laughing out loud. I don't do that very often, but it was just to funny not to. The Old man recorded his will on a VHS tape and was played to his greedy relatives and Jennifer, and he knew all of them so well, it looked like he was talking to them interactively! When one of his relatives made a comment, asked a question or just made a snide remark, he would stop reading his will, look at them and answer them directly!

This is a spoiler; near the end of reading of his will, he said, "I have decided to leave all of my money to the Hare Krishna's", to the horror of his family, then he says "but only if they promise to stay away from all Airports and quit bugging everyone", , then he says, "Just Kidding".

Very funny episode.

The best episode from season 4

[sscheiber · 10/10 · 2 January 2016]

I agree with the other reviewer who stated that this episode is the best of the fourth (admittedly weakest) of the show's 4 seasons. I don't give 10 stars easily. But this one nailed it, with lots of surprises.

The episode demonstrates how this show could be serious when necessary without losing its sense of timing. I've always thought that other critically acclaimed shows that try scripts where someone dies make much too light of the death. They turn it into farce. Here, dealing with the death is the whole idea -- with far better sarcasm than you'd expect they could get away with. Jennifer wins her battle, savoring the victory without sacrificing any of her sense of humor.

CBS never really liked the serious episodes. And sometimes they didn't work so well. But "Who is Gordon Sims? from the first season is brilliant. It gave us all a taste of what it might have been like for a black man fighting in Vietnam. "Never forget." And there are many others.

But the show could show poignancy even in episodes that are mostly manic comedy. The widely acclaimed "Turkeys Away" (NOT my favorite by any stretch) contains one scene that few viewers ever saw before Shout Factory!'s recent restoration. If you have a complete copy, check out a quiet but hilarious scene between Johnny and Venus in the DJ booth about Carlson's last promotion -- and I'm not going to tell you what it was. I don't know that anybody would consider it a spoiler, but it is SOOOO absurd that it needs to surprise you.

A wonderful episode of one of my all-time favorite shows.

Every Character Has Their Moment

[jpop59 · 10/10 · 30 March 2019]

This is one of my favorite episodes It focuses on Jennifer but it showcases the entire cast as they each react differently to the death of her beloved "Colonel", (a much older man that she has been dating). Most everyone has something to say, without knowing what to say, and its all awkward as they reach for just the right condolences. Everyone but Herb that is. For better or worse, Herb says exactly whats on his mind and this ends up calming Jennifer who realizes there is something to be said for not being politically correct all the time. The highlight of this episode for me is the reading of the will which the Colonel did himself on video. Guest star Pat O'Brien is hilarious as he runs through each of his greedy and spoiled relatives while lovingly recognizing his "good soldier" Jennifer. The family sees Jennifer as a gold digger since she was named executrix of the will, therefore there is much resentment and gossip surrounding the "mystery lady". Their are many good lines throughout this episode such as when Mr. Carlson escorts Jennifer to the funeral ("Hey look! She's with another old coot!"). Or when Les and Herb banter back and forth about the meaning of "executrix". In the end however, it is LonI Anderson's spot on performance as Jennifer that holds the show together. One minute sad, one minute uncertain, but through it all its her intelligence and wit that stand out. Don't miss it.

one of the true classics, not just of 'kpr but TV

[cormac_zoso · 10/10 · 3 March 2013]

when TV started dragging back actors from the golden age of Hollywood to do guest shots on sitcoms and such, it was a pretty sad thing really ... seeing such legends on the 'love boat' and such was well, sad ... it's the only word that fits ... it's not bad enough that the 'young' stars trying to make a name are on these crap-o-ramas but to tarnish the names of legends, well, that's sad ...

i hope they made a lot of money for these usually one-time shots on these shows that lasted much too long ... how many of these shows ever made it to air is really beyond me and in the end finally resulted in me not wasting my time or money owning a TV ...

but every once in a while on a rare and consistently clever and high-quality show, one of these classic film stars would make a guest appearance that resulted in a truly classic episode ...

such is the case of "Jennifer and the Will", perhaps the best episode of the final season of the short-lived and maltreated sitcom WKRP ... Pat O'Brien, a name as big as any during the '30s, '40s, and '50s, perhaps his best known personae on-screen was the tough-talking, tough-minded, and ultimately golden-hearted priest assigned to a run-down and soon-to-be-closed parish in a low-income and no-hope inner city area which he of course saves thru what these days might still be referred to as 'tough-love' ... it's what us old-timers used to call 'common sense' :P and so being a fan of ate-night movies when i was young and having seen many of O'Brien's films, it was rather a shock when i saw him pop-up on my then favorite-sitcom as one of Jennifer Marlow's 'older gentlemen friends' ... and then to die in the first two minutes of the show lol ...

and so the story revolves around the problems of Jennifer having been named as executrix of the rich gentleman's will since he trusted none of his money-grubbing relatives ... of course the family portrays Jennifer in the media as a gold-digger, etc, and the subsequent stress of the media hounding Jennifer at the funeral and so forth, not to mention the lack of tact any of the employees around 'KRP have in expressing any kind of appropriate consolation to their friend ... tho of course Herb tops them all with "Hey Jenny, I didn't get a chance to tell you how sorry I am that that Colonel guy bought the farm. Hey, he had a long life, a lot of dough, he got to go out with you, caught the big bus while he was eating in the best joint in town. Not bad, if you ask me!" much to the delight of Jennifer ... sometimes Herb did the right thing ... not often but sometimes ...

and so O'Brien pops back up in a classic video will shown for Jennifer and his deadbeat relatives at the attorney's office with some genuine laugh out loud laughs ... and in the end, you know that Jennifer followed his final wishes to the enth-degree and that is a heart-warming finale that has none of the saccharine-sweet-carcinogenic-standard-additive nearly every other episode of every other sitcom ever produced has injected to lethal doses thinking they have accomplished the same effect ... the difference is so clear in this episode when you set it side-by-side with the other 99.9999999 percent of the other 'like' episodes ...

i've never really seen a fan-based top ten list of 'krp episodes but i'd think this one would be in the group ... of course 'turkey's away' has to come in number one ... there is just no better half hour in sitcom history, period ... and there are lots of 'krp's that are just side-splitting ... but while this one isn't am all out laugh riot, it has that very special quality that 'krp could muster when appropriate ... 'in concert', dealing with the tragedy outside riverfront stadium when 11 who fans were trampled to death is another, and it was handled appropriately, not a maudlin pompous self-righteous preachy show typical of these types of events but spotted the problem and dealt with that, not blaming the who which seemed to be the most popular thing to do after those deaths ... the 'Secrets of Dayton Heights' is another show handled with a deft touch as Les Nessman finds out that the father he thought was his biological one, the father than raised him, etc, was not his father ... that his father was a 'card-carrying-communist' in the days of the self-invented 'red scare' of the McCarthy era ... and les goes to confront him, in a manner of speaking ... there's no sappy reunion, a moment realization that only excludes the light-bulb actually appearing over the main character's head as he comes to terms with the situation as most other sitcoms would be more than happy to do ... but simply a point in a life that brings about an understanding of many other things in a life but not without beating a dead and already well-beaten horse ...

so i'm done rambling this time ;) don't miss this episode ... it's one of the best ...