Cultural References
Herb is still identified, nearly three decades after WKRP's initial run ended, as the stereotype for "unprofessional, bribe-taking desperate salespeople" with sales professionals being advised not to wear plaid sports coats so as to avoid being associated in customers' minds with the untrustworthy Mr. Tarlek.
An Ann Arbor, Michigan-based rock band of the 1980s and 90s was called The Herb Tarlicks, a double pun on the character's name and guitar "licks".
Canadian band Rheostatics paid tribute to Herb Tarlek in their song, "The Tarleks", in which Bonner reprised his famous role in the music video.
Read more about this topic: Herb Tarlek
Famous quotes containing the word cultural:
“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)