W-K-R-P

[Musicradio]

Will W-K-R-P ever be released on DVD? I hear because of all the music used in the shows, we'll never see the original versions that were broadcast.
Bummer.....

 

[donnyg]

Go on youtube and type in WKRP and you will find the tornado episode, the turkey episode, the pilot and others with the original music. One exception, in the tornado episode, after the scene where Mr. Carlson convinces the little girl to go to her basement, when Les plays the record, it was supposed to be the star spangled banner, however it is the dubbed over version of my country tis of thee, I suspect this was because it was a broadcast from Canada as is evident from the TV rating logo in the upper left corner of the screen displaying the Maple Leaf.

 

[CrankyYankee]

Here's a brief explanation of why you may never see "WKRP" released on DVD.

"Music clearances are a problem in DVD Land. They're the reason we probably will never see unexpurgated releases of WKRP in Cincinnati or Solid Gold or several others. Those programs used too many popular records that would have to be cleared...and by "cleared," let's understand that it often isn't a matter of not being able to get the rights. It's often a matter of not being willing to pay what the rights holder is asking for permission. In a few cases, it's even a matter of not being willing to pay anything."

(Excerpt from: http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_10_12.html#012239 )

 

[pqgeorge]

>>"Music clearances are a problem in DVD Land. They're the reason we probably will never see unexpurgated releases of WKRP in Cincinnati or Solid Gold or several others. Those programs used too many popular records that would have to be cleared...and by "cleared," let's understand that it often isn't a matter of not being able to get the rights. It's often a matter of not being willing to pay what the rights holder is asking for permission. In a few cases, it's even a matter of not being willing to pay anything."

(Excerpt from: http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2006_10_12.html#012239 )<<

I can only say that thank God I recorded WKRP episodes when they were being aired on Boston's WSBK-TV38 during the summer of 1990. I'm in the midst of digitizing the episodes to DVD to save the shows. The tapes are now almost 17 years old and there are some dropouts. BUT, still... I can enjoy some of the original music soundtracks before the episodes were sliced and diced with generic music. I would still buy the episodes with replaced music as the storylines are still pretty much intact, if it were to be available.

 

[Obtuse1]

There are a few of "unofficial" bootleg DVD sets floating around...these may be the only way to see the episodes with the original music (other than youtube et. al) for the forseeable future.

The 18 disc set I've seen were episodes from WKRP's first syndication run (trimmed by about 2 minutes, but have all the original music), recorded on VHS from WGN in the mid-eighties. The quality is not bad considering the source, and sure beats the later syndie episodes (TNN, TVLand, Canada's Comedy Channel) which had most of the original music replaced with generic music (sometimes requiring dialogue to be re-dubbed). Les putting on his "Mr Macho" toupee just isn't the same without Foreigner's "Hot Blooded".

There is also a VCD set (with replacement music, from Comedy Channel), and a 23 disc DVD set (original music, haven't seen this one in person) available from various internet sources.

 

[Musicradio]

Just like a radio aircheck, these are a part of radio's history.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Ever-so-slightly OT--is any cable net (are you listening, TV Land?
Probably not. ) going to run the (in)famous turkey drop episode
around Thanksgiving? Even if it is with the "generic" music tracks.

 

[nuzguy]

"With God as my witness I thought turkeys could fly." Arthur Carlson

 

[anotherguyTN]

I think the last time WKRP was shown in the US on cable was for a short time in the Fall of 2003 on TV Land as part of the TV Land Kitschen programming on weekends. The Turkey Drop episode was scheduled to be shown and I had planned to tape it, but it turned out to be the weekend after Gordon Jump died, and TV Land did a tribute to him and showed different episodes instead. (Typical for TV Land ) It seems to me like that episode would have fit right in, but it wsn't shown, and to my knowlegde hasn't been shown anywhere since. :-\

 

[Braves2005]

I wish that they would release WKRP to DVD,but it is always these dreaded "music rights" that are the problem. What is the difference when they aired the original shows in syndication with the regular music back in the 80's than now? Money to the artists who sang the songs?

On the season 2 DVD set of What's Happening!! where The Doobie Brothers appear,the songs they sang are intact as they were in the syndicated episodes as well.

I hate it also when they take away the theme song of a show because of this,the first season DVD of Life Goes On comes to mind when they replaced Ob La Di,Ob La Da which was sung by the whole cast and replaced that with generic music. And that's quite possibly why The Wonder Years won't be released any time soon either or any other season sets of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley.

 

[tjthedj]

Will all due respect, you'd feel alot differently if YOU wrote those songs and wanted that check every month. ASCRAP and BMI have to get their share to pay that off.

 

[ixnay]

I watched a small handful of WKRP episodes during its CBS run (mainly during the first season [78-79], because I had been to Cincinnati about a year before WKRP premeired and the trip was fresh in my mind; I was living in the Philly area at the time), and later in syndication on WKBS-48 Philadelphia. I half paid attention to the episodes. :-[ What was the turkey drop episode about? ???

ixnay

 

[ixnay]

On the season 2 DVD set of What's Happening!! where The Doobie Brothers appear,the songs they sang are intact as they were in the syndicated episodes as well.

One of my favorite eps of WH!! IIRC that was a 2-parter where Rerun gets caught up in a bootlegging ring and gets caught tape recording the Doobies concert. I remember "Black Water" being in that episode.

ixnay

 

[azumanga]

What was the turkey drop episode about? ???

It was about a WKRP publicity stunt for Thanksgiving, and Arthur Carlson sums it up real nicely: "As God as my witness, I thought turkeys can fly."

 

[Obtuse1]

I wish that they would release WKRP to DVD,but it is always these dreaded "music rights" that are the problem. What is the difference when they aired the original shows in syndication with the regular music back in the 80's than now? Money to the artists who sang the songs?

The original music rights had expired, and when a new syndication package was put together in the early nineties, the rights were not renewed (deemed too expensive).

When the show originaly aired on CBS, it was shot on videotape rather than more expensive film, so the money saved could be applied to buying (then) current music for the series. This was, of course, before the widespread use of VCR's and the home video market, which later caused a huge increase in the cost of re-aquiring the rights.

Later attempts at airing WKRP (TNN, TV Land) were fairly short lived, I suspect the potential audience was none too pleased with the butchering the episodes received. There were a few VHS releases of select episodes, which got the "music removal" treatment as well, though a 1991 VHS release of "Pilot (Part 1)/Turkey's Away" came away relatively unscathed, and was the only time "Turkey's Away" had a video release.

Last I heard about an official DVD release was that it was being "looked at" by current owners Fox Video. I'm not holding my breath, though.

 

[anoldguy]

One of the first examples of music being removed from reruns I remember, was watching an episode of The Rebel (starring Nick Adams) several years ago. The theme song song by Johnny Cash had been removed and replaced by some generic instrumental. The Johnny Cash song was the best part of the show.

 

[Braves2005]

I have the complete pilot episode on VHS when they were sold back in the early 90's and the whole episode is very much intact. The choir singing Paul Anka's "You're Having My Baby" is on there. When syndication and various other channels(TNN) carried this in the 90's and early 00's,they omitted that part and went straight to Johnny Fever scratching the record and him saying "Booger!!" on the air.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Later attempts at airing WKRP (TNN, TV Land) were fairly short lived, I suspect the potential audience was none too pleased with the butchering the episodes received. There were a few VHS releases of select episodes, which got the "music removal" treatment as well, though a 1991 VHS release of "Pilot (Part 1)/Turkey's Away" came away relatively unscathed, and was the only time "Turkey's Away" had a video release.

I've looked for a copy of Turkeys Away on VHS, even used, but haven't been able to find it. What is the name of the video that it's on? I'd like to find it possibly on Ebay.

 

[Maine-i-ac]

I have always tried to be on the up and up buying recorded product, but to be honest, I am seriously thinking about buying WKRP from one of the bootleggers.

It is one of the favorites of my wife and myself and let's face it, it looks like it may never be given a release from Fox. I would even consider paying $50 - $60 retail for a full season if it meant the original music was included, and I think many other true fans of the show would do the same.

But since I would like to see it again before I pass on from this world .... can you say "bootleg"?

 

[gr8oldies]

Better catch those episodes on YouTube before the rights holders get their cease and desist in gear. I did catch the version of the pilot withot the "hallelujah Tabernacle Choir" and it just wasn't the same ("What a lovely way to say you're thinking ABOUT US...right now").