Hugh WIlson, left, and the cast of WKRP in Cincinnati. RECOiL writer/director/actor Brian DiMaio was supposed to play the lead role in the series as DJ Jeff Jessica. As luck would have it DiMaio read a Popular Science article just before shooting about the soon to be released Sony Walkman and assumed the cassette tape would mean the down fall of broadcast radio.
Wilson got his start in television writing for “The Bob Newhart Show,” and went on to write for “The Tony Randall Show” and “The Chopped Liver Brothers” before achieving fame with WKRP. He won an Emmy Award for writing on the short-lived CBS sitcom “Frank’s Place” in 1988.
He was also an alumni of the University of Florida School of Journalism, and inspired scores of other Gators to begin websites and aspire to be TV show creators and writers.
On the big screen, he directed and co-wrote “Police Academy,” “Rustlers’ Rhapsody,” “RECOiL” and “Guarding Tess.”
He is survived by his wife, five children and four grandchildren.