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
Bailey originally came from Chicago from The Ohio State University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Her ambition is eventually to be a broadcasting executive, but though intelligent and talented, she was held back early on by her extreme shyness and fear of speaking up. In the earliest episodes, station manager Arthur Carlson could not even remember who she was or whether "Bailey" was a man or a woman.
She is originally in charge of just the billing and station traffic, but that changes when Andy Travis takes over as the program director of WKRP. One of his first acts is to give Bailey more duties, including being an on-air news reporter, over the strenuous objections of sales manager Herb Tarlek and news director Les Nessman, who feels threatened. In the episode "Dear Liar", a take-off on the Janet Cooke scandal, Bailey writes a news story that is partly fictional, which could have cost the station its broadcast license, though it was still in its initial draft and Bailey had not committed to using it. It only becomes an issue when Les jealously plagiarizes it on the air. Eventually the professional relationship between Les and Bailey becomes less strained, with Les allowing her more freedom and input on the station's news reporting. During the episode "In Concert", when reporting on the tragedy at the December 3, 1979 concert by The Who at Riverfront Coliseum (which Bailey had attended and Les hadn't), Les brings a depressed Bailey's spirits up by telling her "we're newsmen… well, newspersons" and telling her he needs her help to cover the story responsibly. By the fourth season, she has developed to be on an equal footing with her co-workers.
Personal life
Bailey has an on-again, off-again romance with Dr. Johnny Fever. In the early episodes, it is suggested that Bailey looks up to Johnny as her mentor in the world of broadcasting, but that she also has a schoolgirl crush on him, which leads her to ask him out on a date in the second-season opener, "For Love or Money".
In the third season, Bailey and Fever are seen in the bullpen lounging on the couch together with Bailey's arm familiarly placed around Johnny's shoulders ("Out to Lunch"). By the fourth season, their relationship develops into what Smithers characterized as "more adult", giving both characters another dimension to develop. However, their relationship never seems to go further than the occasional date. (It is implied at the end of "For Love or Money" and "Mike Fright" that they have had at least casual sexual relations, though in both cases, it could be discounted as hyperbole.) In season four's "Rumors", when Johnny stays at Bailey's place for a few days, Bailey is infuriated by the gossip that they are sleeping together, disappointing Johnny, who was hoping that the rumors would come true.
Cultural references and gender roles
Bailey Quarters is cited as an example of how 1970s' sitcoms reflected changing views of gender and women's roles in society and the workplace. One aspect of this is the expectation that women would be treated equally as men. The character of Bailey joined WKRP with a journalism degree and advanced from creating promotions to writing news copy to news broadcasting. This progression confirmed that hard work and talent would be rewarded, reinforced values of equality and diversity, and provided female viewers with reassurance of seeing a friendly, supportive workplace, and a character that struggled to be assertive and to overcome shyness, succeeding in gaining the respect of her coworkers. Even insecure, shy and chauvinistic newsman Les learns to accept assistance in his job from a woman as he learns to respect Bailey's ability and also respect Bailey as a person.
Bailey Quarters is contrasted not only with the other principal female character, receptionist Jennifer Marlowe, but also with the male characters. In contrast to Jennifer, Bailey seeks recognition in a "man's" field of journalism for her work in that field.
Jennifer and Bailey offer, in a blonde-brunette dyad typical of sitcoms of the era, contrasting portrayals of female sexuality from opposite ends of the spectrum.
thumb|Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers)
Male viewers often felt Bailey Quarters was more realistic and approachable than the idealized Jennifer Marlowe. The character showed that a woman could be both smart and attractive, similar to the actress Jan Smithers, who was a professional model before the show.
By comparing Jennifer’s traditional style with Bailey’s modern views, WKRP in Cincinnati explored changing gender roles. Bailey became a popular symbol of 1970s feminism because many women found her down-to-earth personality easy to relate to.
Bailey Quarters was one of the first media examples of the popular naming convention of use of a surname as a female first name. For men it was Charles Patrick "Ryan" O'Neal.