Jennifer Elizabeth Marlowe is a character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati

WKRP in Cincinnati

WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta...

(1978–82). She was played by actress Loni Anderson

Loni Anderson

Loni Kaye Anderson is an American actress who played the role of Jennifer Marlowe on the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.- Early life :...

, who received two Emmy nominations for playing the character.

Fictional character biography

Jennifer comes from a town called Rock Throw, West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

; when speaking to her mother on the phone, she slips back into her native Southern accent. She was engaged to her old sweetheart T.J. (Hoyt Axton

Hoyt Axton

Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...

), but did not marry. She has been on her own since the age of seventeen. She left West Virginia and moved to Cincinnati, where she stumbled into WKRP and got the job as the new receptionist, succeeding Joyce Armor (Rosemary Forsyth

Rosemary Forsyth

Rosemary Forsyth is a Canadian-born American actress most notable for her role as Bronwyn opposite Charlton Heston in The War Lord in 1965....

), who is introduced in a later episode.

She soon attracted the attention of various wealthy older men. She rarely dates younger men, claiming "I like older men better. They're so mature and kind, and they tire easily." Her dates, most of whom are never seen, shower her with expensive gifts, allowing her to live in a huge penthouse apartment

Penthouse apartment

A penthouse apartment or penthouse is an apartment that is on one of the highest floors of an apartment building. Penthouses are typically differentiated from other apartments by luxury features.-History:...

 with a piano and a doorbell that plays the song "Fly Me to the Moon

Fly Me to the Moon

"Fly Me to the Moon" is a popular standard song written by Bart Howard in 1954. It was originally titled "In Other Words", and was introduced by Felicia Sanders in cabarets...

." Also through her wealthy boyfriends, she has made friends with a number of wealthy high-society people, including Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

; she implies in one episode that the president offered her the job of Secretary of the Treasury, but she turned it down. Her most frequently-mentioned boyfriend is someone referred to only as "The Admiral," who in one episode flies her to Bethlehem for Christmas. The episode "Jennifer and the Will" introduces another: Colonel Buchanan (Pat O'Brien

Pat O'Brien (actor)

Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...

), who dies and makes Jennifer executrix of his will

Will (law)

A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...

. Though the papers portray Jennifer as a gold-digging floozy, it turns out that Jennifer has asked the Colonel not to leave her any money; he accedes to her request, leaving her only the first dollar he ever made. Furthermore, when the video will recording of Buchanan specifies that the bulk of his estate be used to fund a big veterans' parade, Jennifer immediately began preparing to fulfil his wishes while his greedy family protested this bequest.

Jennifer at WKRP

Jennifer is the receptionist

Receptionist

A receptionist is an employee taking an office/administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business...

 at the AM radio station WKRP. She sits at a desk in the lobby, answering the few phone calls the station gets and taking messages. Jennifer is very clear about what her job does and does not entail: she does not take dictation

Dictation (exercise)

Dictation is the transcription of spoken text: one person who is "dictating" speaks and another who is "taking dictation" writes down the words as they are spoken.-La dictée:...

, type letters, or make or get coffee

Coffee

Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

. As she explains in one episode, "I am a receptionist. Receptionists receive. They offer comfort, provide support, answer a few telephone calls. But they do not type, unless it's for a very good cause." When asked if she belongs to a union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

, she says she is a member of the exclusive "Sisterhood of Blond Receptionists", adding "If you saw our minimum salary

Salary

A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis....

, you'd have a heart attack and die."

Her primary job at the station is providing support and comfort for the station's general manager

General manager

General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...

, Arthur Carlson

Arthur Carlson

Arthur Carlson, aka "The Big Guy" is a fictional character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati , the general manager of the low-rated Cincinnati radio station WKRP. The character was also a regular on the "revival" series, The New WKRP in Cincinnati, still working as general...

, a befuddled man who depends on Jennifer to shield him from people and situations he wants to avoid. Jennifer uses various tactics, including telling people that he's dead. In the first-season episode "Mama's Review", it is revealed that Jennifer is the highest-paid station employee, with a salary of $24,000 per year (over $80,000 in modern dollars). However, there is never any suggestion of impropriety between the two. In fact one of the running gags of the show is Mr. Carlson's almost child like reliance on Jennifer as a maternal nurturing figure, perhaps due to the fact that Carlson's own mother was anything but nurturing. Mr. Carlson treats Jennifer with great respect and deference and Mr. Carlson's wife Carmen is also shown to be on very friendly terms with her. And although never spoken, it is evident that Mrs. Carlson (Mr. Carlson's mother and the owner of the station) considers Jennifer as somewhat of an equal.

Despite her apparent wealth and high-society connections, Jennifer remains at WKRP, unwilling to leave her friends and especially Mr. Carlson, who is almost totally dependent on her; in an episode where she takes the day off and leaves Carlson in charge of the phones, he goes completely to pieces by the end. With her calm, unflappable demeanor and ability to keep her cool in most situations, Jennifer also helps maintain morale among the station's employees; in the episode "Most Improved Station," when the other staff members are bickering uncontrollably, Jennifer brings them back together by explaining the family dynamic at the station and reminding them not to take each other for granted.

Jennifer was famous for being the opposite of the "dumb blonde" stereotype that pervaded television in the late '70s; she is extremely smart and shrewd, and somewhat resentful of the fact that people assume she is dumb based solely on the way she looks. (That is played to humorous effect when Andy convinces the station to fool a "program doctor" by acting 180 degrees of their true personality.) Her strength and self-possession make her seem almost superhumanly competent. Almost, but not quite. In the episode "Ask Jennifer," she takes over as the host of a call-in advice show, using her intelligence and knowledge to give easy, offhand answers to all her callers' questions, but she doesn't think enough about the potential consequences of the advice she gives, and when a woman is beaten up by her controlling husband as a result of taking her advice to stand up to him, a distraught and guilt-ridden Jennifer quits the show.

Personal life

An episode that reveals some cracks in Jennifer's "perfect" facade is the episode "Jennifer Falls in Love," where she falls for her first non-elderly boyfriend in years: Steel Hawthorne, a handsome blond repairman. When he asks her for a loan, and then makes a pass at her friend, Bailey Quarters

Bailey Quarters

Bailey Quarters is a character on the television sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati. She was played by actress Jan Smithers, and was based on creator Hugh Wilson's wife.- WKRP roles :...

, Jennifer realizes that Steel is simply a gold-digger after her money, and she starts to question her own tendency to accept gifts from wealthy men. However, Mr. Carlson convinces her that she is nothing like Steel after all.

However, Jennifer's relationships with the other female characters on the show display the amount of respect they have for her. Mr. Carlson's wife is very friendly towards Jennifer (with no hint of jealousy or concern over her husband's close platonic relationship with her), while Jennifer's relationship with Bailey is often that of two sisters (with Jennifer the older, more experienced one often watching out for the younger, more naive Bailey). The dynamic between them has been compared to that between Ginger and Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island. And although it is never stated outright, it is clear that Mama Carlson views Jennifer as the only person who is her equal at the station.

For the bulk of the show's run, Jennifer is pursued endlessly by Herb Tarlek

Herb Tarlek

Herb Tarlek is a character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati . He was played by actor Frank Bonner...

, the station's sales manager, who even goes as far as to convince outside parties that he and Jennifer are a couple. Jennifer effortlessly rebuffs Herb's clumsy attempts at flirtation, before finally deciding to call his bluff (in the episode "Put Up or Shut Up") and accepting his offer of a date. Herb is so overwhelmed at even the remotest hint of his fantasies coming true that he begins to hyperventilate during their date, and the two end the night by agreeing to be friends. In spite of Herb's advances, Jennifer tries to help him both personally (when Herb and his wife were separated briefly, Jennifer tried to convince Lucille to take him back) and professionally (when Mr. Carlson was ready to fire Herb over screwing up a $5000 account, Jennifer spoke to the client, who ultimately proved to be sympathetic). Dr. Johnny Fever

Dr. Johnny Fever

Dr. Johnny Fever is an off-the-wall character and disc jockey on the sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. He was inspired by Atlanta DJ Skinny Bobby Harper...

 also often flirts with Jennifer, but in a somewhat more playful fashion; at one point, she impulsively kissed Johnny and convinced him to act as though they were married. Jennifer once accompanied Les Nessman

Les Nessman

Les Nessman is a fictional character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati played by Richard Sanders. He reprised his role in the sequel series, The New WKRP in Cincinnati.-Background and Appearance:...

 as his date to an awards banquet. She also performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Andy Travis

Andy Travis

Andy Travis is a fictional character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati . He was played by Gary Sandy.Travis was originally intended to be the lead character, the more-or-less normal person who would anchor the series and provide the focus for most of the stories...

 when he was knocked unconscious during a tornado (to which a semi-conscious Andy replied by putting his arm around her, as in a passionate embrace) and had other flirtatious encounters with him, such as telling him "let's see the boy" in the episode "Baby, it's Cold Inside" when she was drinking to keep warm at work.

Other memorable episodes focusing on Jennifer include "I Do...I Do...For Now," where Jennifer's old boyfriend from West Virginia, T.J. (played by Hoyt Axton

Hoyt Axton

Hoyt Wayne Axton was an American country music singer-songwriter, and a film and television actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voice. As he matured, some of his songwriting efforts became well...

) Watson, shows up to marry her; "Filthy Pictures," where a sleazy photographer secretly takes nude pictures of Jennifer with the intention of selling them to a girlie magazine (partly a reference to the famous nude photos of Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

), and "Jennifer Moves," where Jennifer moves to the suburbs and discovers that her neighbors are all seriously dysfunctional.

Relationship with Arthur Carlson

Though Carlson is often seen as being almost completely dependent on Jennifer, she too has her moments where roles between the pair are reciprocated, leading to a relationship where they mutually take care of each other. In "Filthy Pictures", Arthur confesses to Jennifer that he and the airstaff broke into the photography studio to rescue nude photos taken secretly of her for a charity photo shoot. She tells him it was a foolish thing to do, but, touched by her boss' defense of her honor, embraces him.

In "Turkeys Away", Jennifer initially refuses to do typical secretarial tasks such as taking dictation or bringing him coffee (reminding Mr. Carlson that "we have an agreement"). However, upon seeing the disheveled and distressed Mr. Carlson after his promotional stunt has gone horribly wrong, Jennifer gently asks Mr. Carlson if he would like some coffee.

In "Jennifer and the Will", Jennifer is upset and overwhelmed at the publicity against her after Colonel Buchanan dies at the table while the pair is enjoying dinner. In a moment of exhaustion over the situation, and sitting in his chair, she leans on Arthur, who is standing next to her. He accompanies her to the funeral to shelter her from the paparazzi attending the graveside service.

In "Ask Jennifer", after she resigns as "Arlene", she sulks away at her desk, telling Andy and Arthur that she intends to simply sit at her desk and keep her mouth shut. Arthur tells her not to, and when she asks him why, he says it's because he needs her. "I don't want someone to need me," she says. "Oh yes, you do," counters Arthur. She asks the two men to leave her desk for a moment to be alone, to which they agree. As she is on the verge of tears, Arthur comes back to her desk, asking her to come into his office, because he needs her. When she asks why, he says his model train is broken. Happy at the thought of being needed for something she can actually be helpful with, she embraces her boss.

Cultural references

Jennifer Marlowe is frequently cited as an example of changing gender roles and the breaking of stereotypes. Jennifer changes the "blonde bombshell" stereotype of Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

 and Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield was an American actress working both in Hollywood and on the Broadway theatre...

, with a raised consciousness, increased sophistication and unexpected and intelligence.

Jennifer and Bailey offer a blonde-brunette dyad typical of sitcoms of the era, providing contrasting portrayals of female sexuality, while at the same time both exploiting and defying the expectation of the "jiggle TV' genre of the era.