Andy Travis

Andy Travis
WKRP in Cincinnati character
Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers) and Andy Travis (Gary Sandy)
Portrayed by	Gary Sandy
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	program director
Nationality	American

Andy Travis is a fictional character on the television situation comedy WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–82). 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. He is the subject of the theme song, and one critic went so far as to describe Sandy as "Gary Tyler Moore." As the first season went on, WKRP shifted to being more of an ensemble comedy, where any one of the eight regulars could carry an episode. Despite this change, Sandy retained top billing for all four seasons as the to the rest of the cast.

In the pilot episode, Andy arrives in Cincinnati to take over as WKRP's program director. He previously worked the same job at a radio station in his native Santa Fe, New Mexico; but he also ran a station in Albuquerque and Amarillo, Texas. He is young, handsome and friendly, and though he is viewed with suspicion by the old guard at the low-rated station—station manager Arthur Carlson, sales director Herb Tarlek, and news director Les Nessman—he soon manages to win them over to his side. Mr. Carlson even defends Andy to his domineering mother, the station's owner, when she wants to fire Andy.

Convinced that he's not going to last at WKRP, Andy spends about the first month in his apartment without furniture, in the event he has to suddenly leave town. In a flashback episode, it's revealed that Andy got his overweight landlady drunk to charm her into letting him out of his lease, which he does successfully.

Described by Mr. Carlson as a "cowboy," Andy frequently wears boots and a cowboy hat. He also wears very tight jeans to work, which makes Mr. Carlson uncomfortable. "With denim," Andy explains, "I feel comfortable and relaxed. I feel as though I can work better." He wears his hair in the late '70s "feathered" style, and many of the characters make fun of his ample hair: Bailey Quarters, asking him to take part in a promotion, asks him to imagine "Your hair flowing in the wind -- now, that stuff will flow!" Though he is usually quiet and low-key, describing himself as "an easy-going guy with a natural ability to lead," he can sometimes lose his temper when his employees won't listen to him, which is more often than not. In response to Johnny Fever's refusal to play his playlist of top 40 hits, Andy jokingly threatens to shoot himself. In fact, a common joke in the series is that Andy often has to literally run to the broadcast booth to stop some unacceptable material being broadcast at that moment.