Among a certain subset of straight, male Gen Xers, few choices will engender as much spirited debate as the eternal chestnut, “Jennifer or Bailey?” Obviously I’m talking about Jennifer Marlowe and Bailey Quarters from one of the greatest situation comedies of all time, WKRP in Cincinnati. I’m such a fan of Jennifer, Bailey and the rest of the WKRP that it’s one of the shows I wrote about in this fabulous book.
Jennifer, as played by blonde, buxom, and bodacious Loni Anderson, brought an alluring mix of bombshell style and high intelligence that made it almost impossible not to choose her. She was always a step ahead of all the men, and enjoyed mischievously teasing them with her aloof hotness.
Meanwhile, Bailey—played by tall, leggy, girl next door Jan Smithers—was shy and introverted, a classic, brainy girl with glasses type. She was the “ugly duckling” who had no idea she was actually a smoking hot looker.
Ultimately, Bailey was probably my first, or very nearly first, television crush. My love of the “girls in glasses” thing started with Bailey. I just adored her, and still do, thanks to her amazing seventies hair and wardrobe, plus her introversion was an early example of seeing a semblance of myself reflected in a character onscreen. I always wanted to be Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman), but I’m definitely a healthy mixture of Bailey and the good doctor.
I still swoon over Bailey every time I revisit WKRP, but my affection for Jennifer has definitely grown over the years. She’s such a marvelous character, so confident and knowing. The recurring takeaway is always that Jennifer could run WKRP exponentially better than her bumbling boss, the Big Guy, Arthur Carlson. Together, Bailey and Jennifer presented two types of women, whose personalities and outward appearances may have differed, but whose agency and solidarity as the only two women at WKRP felt wonderfully realized. They were never pitted against each other. Instead, they were constant support for one another. Ultimately, the choice between Bailey and Jennifer doesn’t need to be a choice at all. I can swoon over both, because they’re both awesome.
The Starfire Lounge 
A favorite show of mine. As you say, both are good characters but it’s definitely Bailey for the win for me.
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I could not have stated any of your sentiments better Michael 🙂 I too loved both Loni Anderson’s Jennifer Marlowe and Jan Smithers Bailey Quarters 🙂
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I’m gonna have to say I’m on Team Bailey, but no guy would (could?) ever say “no” to Jennifer if the opportunity arose. Jennifer was such a great character and Lonnie totally crushed it playing her. I got the feeling that Mother Carlson only let Arthur “run” the station because she knew Jennifer was there to actgually pilot the ship.
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They used to show WKRP a lot on stations like ME-TV, Atenna TV, etc., for a long, long time, and now no one shows it anymore, which is a shame cause I always enjoyed watching it. I adored both Jennifer and Bailey as they each had their own individual qualities that allowed them to be desirable to a varied array of people. Jennifer’s a little perplexing as well, as she never made a secret of loathing and blatantly refusing to do a lot of what is required of the receptionist/secretary job, yet loved working in that office, keeping it running smoothly and prevented all out chaos from ensuing. Bailey of course personified the hard-working girl who took every opportunity to prove her worth to the boss. There’s this Mary Ann or Ginger vibe with them too, as Jennfier can, to a certain extent, fall into the category of the girl most guys can only dream of having a chance with while Bailey is the girl next door type you can always bring home to meet the parents.
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