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 with a degree in journalism from 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 didn'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. As the series goes on, Bailey becomes more assertive and more able to speak up for herself. She undergoes subtle changes in her hairstyle and appears in eyeglasses less and less. She becomes better at standing up to her nemesis Herb; in one episode, she throws lighted matches at Herb's polyester suit, threatening to set it on fire. By the second season, she has evolved into a serious and dependable career-minded woman who brings "a measure of sanity" to the station. By the fourth season, she has developed to be on an equal footing with her co-workers. She becomes increasingly