WKRP In Cincinnati - complete series coming on DVD

[Mike Blakesley]

Well here's some good news I found by accident...our buddies at Shout!Factory are preparing to release the complete series of WKRP In Cincinnati on DVD this fall, supposedly with most or all of the original music intact.

According to one of the sites I read, Shout!Factory is "well aware" of what the fans want, and they know sales of the Season 1 DVD tanked mostly due to the lack of the proper music on the shows...so this looks like it has real possibilities.

It's going to cost $139, but if you pre-order it from them it's $20 off and you get it five weeks sooner than the rest of the world. I've gotten a few other DVD sets from S!F and they always do a nice job on them, so I'm looking forward to this.

Here's a link to the site where you can pre-order it:

http://www.shoutfactory.com/product/wkrp-cincinnati-complete-series?gclid=COup4qeY3b8CFVIQ7AodtyEASg

 

[Rudy]

I will definitely borrow a set for review once it is released. I have original episodes on hand to compare them to.

If the price seems high, that is actually a good sign that they licensed that music for the DVDs.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I never thought about that price thing, but I'm sure you're right. $139 figures out to $34.75 a season, which definitely is on the high side. I usually would wait until it's out to order, but I have faith in Shout!Factory due to their previous products I've purchased so I went and ahead and ordered this one. I'm thinking it'll probably be my last TV-on-DVD purchase since I've already collected most of the other shows I liked (and don't have time to watch!)

My biggest fear is they might have a lot of the original music but a handful of the most famous stuff (like "Dogs" by Pink Floyd") won't make it due to just being priced too high. So...fingers crossed.

Last time I bought a box-set of anything, it was the "complete works" of the Alan Parsons Project. I bought it because it was packaged in mini-LP sleeves, which I think are very cool. So, the thing showed up and the sleeves were mini all right, but they weren't reproductions of the originals. They were printed on cheap non-glossy paper, the gatefolds weren't reproduced, and the coolest cover of all (Stereotomy) didn't have the red/blue filter outside wrap. The worst was, all of the covers had a white border like an old fashioned photo surrounding the cover art. It was a travesty, design-wise. (The sound of the albums was stellar.) So I'm hoping this WKRP set restores my faith in box sets.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I actually mis-quoted the price on the WKRP set. If you pre-order it thru the Shout!Factory website it's $30 off, not $20 off. So that makes it $109.99. The pre-order street date is 9/23.

 

[jfiedler17]

Awesome news! WKRP is definitely one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. I've got the existing first-season set and watch it fairly frequently (and I never let a Thanksgiving go by without watching "Turkeys Away"). There's so much to love about that show - top-notch writing, fantastic ensemble cast (especially love Howard Hesseman and Richard Sanders), wonderful characters. Glad to hear the last three seasons will finally come to DVD!

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I found a site online with quotes by the series creator Hugh Wilson where he says they are still working on the music licensing (this is as of early June) and they have been "85% successful" so far. I would expect people like the Beatles, Beach Boys, Eagles and such to be the most difficult to work with. If they can manage to snag Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" and Pink Floyd's "Dogs," plus the songs that are in the "impossible song contest" clip, that'll help a lot.

I worry the most about the PInk Floyd tune.

Arthur Carlson: What's the name of this orchestra?
Johnny Fever: Pink Floyd.
Carlson: They're pretty good. Say, do I hear dogs barking on that thing?
Fever: *I* do.
Carlson: There's a song here called "Pigs on the Wing"... what do you suppose that sounds like?
Fever: I don't do requests.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Well I just got an email from Shout Factory as follows:

Thank you for pre-ordering WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete Series. We just wanted to let you know that the product will be shipping to you to arrive on or before October 9th. We had planned to ship in late September, but creating the best possible set (see below) took a little longer than we expected. Thanks for understanding.

Since Shout! Factory first announced the upcoming release of WKRP: The Complete Series on DVD, speculation about how much original music we’d be able to clear has been rampant. And understandably so—in WKRP, music is almost a character itself, an essential aspect of what makes it one of the best-loved shows of all time. Unfortunately, WKRP was created at a time when DVDs were barely a glimmer on the horizon, so the music was not pre-licensed for home entertainment use. The enormous challenges in going back to clear classic songs has been the main reason why the complete series has not been issued on DVD until now. As fans of the show ourselves, we tried our best to clear all the songs that made it memorable, but in a few cases, it was simply impossible to get the rights. We were able to include the vast majority of the music, though, with the aim of presenting the best possible release of WKRP on DVD. We believe that we’ve kept the integrity—and the spirit—of the show as intact as anyone could have. We hope you agree.

Here are some of the artists included on the DVD set:

AC/DC
Herb Alpert
Ashford & Simpson
Joan Baez
Captain Beefheart And The Magic Band
Pat Benatar
George Benson
Blondie
Booker T And The MG's
Boston
Alicia Bridges
Jackson Browne
Donald Byrd
Carl Carlton
The Cars
Gene Chandler
Ray Charles
Chic
Chicago
Eric Clapton
The Coasters
Joe Cocker
Elvis Costello
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Christopher Cross
Derek And The Dominos
Detective
Bo Diddley
The Doors
Dr. John
Gene Dunlap
The Durocs
Bob Dylan
Earth, Wind & Fire
Flying
Foreigner
Marvin Gaye
The Go-Gos
Grateful Dead
Bill Haley And His Comets
Buddy Holly
Bob James
Jefferson Starship
Waylon Jennings
Elton John
Janis Joplin
Greg Kihn Band
Albert King
B.B. King
Evelyn “Champagne” King
Freddie King
The Knack
Kool And the Gang
Jerry Lee Lewis
Huey Lewis & The News
Little River Band
Living Voices
Kenny Loggins
Nick Lowe
Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers
Chuck Mangione
Bob Marley
Paul McCartney And Wings
Delbert McClinton
Eddie Money
The Monotones
Van Morrison
Gary Myrick And The Figures
Ron Nagle
Randy Newman
Olivia Newton-John
Ted Nugent
The O’Jays
Carl Perkins
Tom Petty
Wilson Pickett
The Police
Jean-Luc Ponty
Elvis Presley
The Pretenders
Quarterflash
Queen
Otis Redding
Little Richard
Lionel Richie
Kenny Rogers
The Rolling Stones
Linda Ronstadt
Sam & Dave
Bob Seger
The Sherbs
The Sir Douglas Quintet
Bruce Springsteen
Edwin Starr
Steely Dan
The Stone City Band
Styx
Supertramp
James Taylor
Carla Thomas
Toto
Pete Townshend
The Tubes
Luther Vandross
Junior Walker
Grover Washington, Jr.
The Who
Stevie Wonder
Lauren Wood
Neil Young

(Mike again)
Notice it says "here are SOME of the artists" so maybe they are still hoping for a last minute breakthrough on a song or two. Unfortunately Pink Floyd is NOT on the list -- but some of the other very memorable bits are restored, such as Les Nessman putting on his toupe to "Hot Blooded," and Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" in the episode about the Russian guy, or James Taylor's "Your Smiling Face" in the episode about Johnny's daughter.

There is also a spreadsheet floating around (not sure about the source) that lists what's included and what's not -- according to that list a whole bunch of stuff (some 40% of the song titles) is left out, including such things as "The Star Spangled Banner" and a lot of very obscure artists. So I have a feeling that spreadsheet is something that has older information and some of those things might show up in the finished product.

 

[Rudy]

The list above says "some", so I take it that the list is not all inclusive. Unless I missed it, I don't see Johnny Mathis. (Les brought a date back to his apartment and played "Chances Are".)

This will be great even if a few tracks are missing!

 

[Dave]

My mom loved this show (although the music, not being her cup of tea would be the last in the world to complain, or even notice if/that the songs are/were/would have to be different!) and of course Les was her favorite character (and much as I have to admit, if I were to be any one character as in a "Which WKRP Character are You?" Quiz, I think I'd be him! (w/ a little Dr. Johnny Fever & Venus Flytrap mixed in!)

Yes, seeing Richard Sanders' name in the Written By credits told me that these were exciting episodes, as though he would stand up in the Writers Room and say "THIS is a good plot for how a Radio Station is RUN!" much like how his alter ego Les would be...

If I can't get a hold of this set right away, I can at least rest assured my mom is probably watching this in Heaven right now!


-- Dave

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I have to admit, outside of some of the "major" music cues (such as the ones I mentioned above) I'm more excited to see the episodes restored to their un-edited-for-syndication state.

 

[toeknee4bz]

Make sure while you're watching those episodes from late '79 or '80 to be on the lookout for the Herb Alpert RISE poster in the hallway of the WKRP office (behind the glass doors). FYI

 

[Rudy]

Make sure while you're watching those episodes from late '79 or '80 to be on the lookout for the Herb Alpert RISE poster in the hallway of the WKRP office (behind the glass doors). FYI

I remember seeing that the last time I watched the series. Lots of record company promotion going on in that show.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Apparently the song "Rise" is featured in two episodes but in this set, is only used in one episode. Nobody seems to know why it was removed from the other one -- unless they only paid enough to get to use it once...?

I've been watching episodes over the last couple weeks and I'm about a third of the way through the series. It looks VERY good and at least 75% of the original music is there. What they had to remove, in many cases they've been able to substitute something that sounds similar to the original... for example, Pink Floyd refused to allow "Dogs" to be used, but they put in a very Floyd-sounding track with dogs barking in the background. So the only thing missing is Mr. Carlson saying "What's the name of that orchestra?" and Fever replying "Pink Floyd." Everything else is there.

The biggest change and 'complaint' from me is they used an alternate second half of the episode "The Contest Nobody Could Win" featuring a different actor playing the "phony" contest winner. I'd never seen it before -- it's not as funny as the original and sort of seems like a dress rehearsal or an unfinished version. But who knows, maybe that's the only copy they could find...?

Anyway, overall I think they've done the best job possible on this series, given there are a few artists out there like Pink Floyd, the Beatles, Eagles and so on, who simply will not allow their music onto a TV show, no ifs ands or buts.

 

[Rudy]

I only recall "Rise" being in one episode, but I tended to partially tune out the music when I watched the series unless the music was a pivotal part of the scene ("Hot Blooded", "Dogs", etc.).

Odd about the alternate episode ending...

 

[Dave]

Well, wasn't "Rise" a pivotal part of a GENERAL HOSPITAL scene in one episode--and of the first notoriety in Broadcasted Media?

Now, my sister was the avid GH fan, and to this day when she can tune in at 3, still is!


-- Dave

 

[Captain Bacardi]

"Rise" was on General Hospital in several episodes. It was played day after day which shot it up the charts.