WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete Series Review (See Posts #218 & 356 for Info) (1 Viewer)

[Jaime_Weinman]

What's interesting about "The Contest" is that I've found a couple of references on tvguide.com to John Wheeler being in the guest cast for this episode. I'll have to wait until I see this "new" version but I still think it's possible that this is the original broadcast version (perhaps just shown that one time). I remember when I first saw this episode in syndication that something didn't seem "right" about it, but it was so long ago I just don't remember. Oh well, either way it sounds like this set is even better than most of us had anticipated!

Kudos to Brian for the updates.

It's quite possible. There's also another thing - this episode in Shout's version is the same length as Mama's Review and A Date With Jennifer, the two episodes that aired before it.

It's entirely possible that this is the version they reshot for airing, and the un-reshot version was the one that got rerun somehow.

 

[JMFabianoRPL]

Different rights holders.

So it's not Paul, could it be...WILLIAM CAMPBELL??? (ducking)

 

[JMFabianoRPL]

Waiting for info in S2 about "Americanization of Ivan". Since Elton John was a cleared artist, I assume no more edits and no more gibberish talk about "terrible dressers"?

 

[Brian Himes]

Here are the final two episodes of season 1.

Fish Story: No music edits. The scene of a drunk Venus singing is there (it was edited from on the Fox set). Running time: 23:58. There is a generic bumper just before the tag scene.

Preacher: As anticipated The Beatles song I'm Down has been replaced. A generic rock song is used. There is no dialogue over the song so the substitution is smooth with no edits. All of the other original music is present. Running time: 24:29. There is a generic bumper used just before the tag scene.

Well, there we have it. Everything that I found for each episode of season 1. In my opinion this version of season 1 is head and shoulders above and beyond the original Fox set. Shout has really done a spectacular job of preserving the integrity of the first season. Yes, there are some edits and music substitutions. For the most part these are handled smoothly without the loss of any dialogue. I think we all pretty much knew that Pink Floyd and The Beatles would be missing. Again these are handled very well. For me the only real bummer to the season is the missing 55 seconds in the episode Hold Up. I can live with the edit, but it is disappointing mainly because Linda Ronstandt was mention as being on the set. I guess I need to take my own advise and remember that just because an artist was on Shout's list as being there that didn't mean every song by that artist that was used on the show would be on this set.

The confusion over the ending to The Contest Nobody Could Win is puzzling. I guess the only way to know the answer that question would be to ask Hugh Wilson or find an off the air recording from the night of the original broadcast. Whatever the explanation is, I'm happy with the episode as it appears on this set.

My expectations for this set have been high, but I feel realistic. So far Shout has more than delivered. The real proof is about to begin as I delve into the seasons that have not been released before. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things continue to be just as good as the first season has been.

Ok, I'm off to start season 2.

 

[Skywalker79]

Here are the final two episodes of season 1.

Fish Story: No music edits. The scene of a drunk Venus singing is there (it was edited from on the Fox set). Running time: 23:28. There is a generic bumper just before the tag scene.

Preacher: As anticipated The Beatles song I'm Down has been replaced. A generic rock song is used. There is no dialogue over the song so the substitution is smooth with no edits. All of the other original music is present. Running time: 24:29. There is a generic bumper used just before the tag scene.

Well, there we have it. Everything that I found for each episode of season 1. In my opinion this version of season 1 is head and shoulders above and beyond the original Fox set. Shout has really done a spectacular job of preserving the integrity of the first season. Yes, there are some edits and music substitutions. For the most part these are handled smoothly without the loss of any dialogue. I think we all pretty much knew that Pink Floyd and The Beatles would be missing. Again these are handled very well. For me the only real bummer to the season is the missing 55 seconds in the episode Hold Up. I can live with the edit, but it is disappointing mainly because Linda Ronstandt was mention as being on the set. I guess I need to take my own advise and remember that just because an artist was on Shout's list as being there that didn't mean every song by that artist that was used on the show would be on this set.

The confusion over the ending to The Contest Nobody Could Win is puzzling. I guess the only way to know the answer that question would be to ask Hugh Wilson or find an off the air recording from the night of the original broadcast. Whatever the explanation is, I'm happy with the episode as it appears on this set.

My expectations for this set have been high, but I feel realistic. So far Shout has more than delivered. The real proof is about to begin as I delve into the seasons that have not been released before. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things continue to be just as good as the first season has been.

Ok, I'm off to start season 2.

My copy(boot) of Fish Story has a running time of about 23:51. It does seem kinda short for 1978.

"Back in the U.S.A." was written by Chuck Berry so that's probably why it wasn't included. I heard his music is hard to get which might explain why Surin' USA isn't on the set either because he got co-writing credit with Brian Wilson.

 

[Moore Maxx]

Okay so I was doing more checking on " The Contest" episode and dug up my copy of "Baby if You've ever Wondered..." America's Favorite Radio Station WKRP in Cinncinnati" by Michael B Kassel.

Under the episode recap in the episode guide section it ends by saying that Carlson decides to take over all promotions, including the presentation of the $5000. However, when "the suits" hand the money over to a con man, it is Fever to the rescue.

Also under additional cast for this episode they do not list John Wheeler.

Also looked thru out the chapter on the first season "behind the scenes" and there is no mention of any reshoots or different ending for "The Contest".

So does the new set cut out that whole exchange between the winner and Herb when Herb explains while putting his arm around Les that

"this man and I have just been fired".
Carlson runs in and says "Herb, Les,.............your fired"
Herb says, "See"

Always loved that scene and the great timing between all of them.


Glad I can still see it here:

http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.ca/2009/03/links-to-wkrp-episodes-posted-so-far.html

Maxx

 

[Brian Himes]

Okay so I was doing more checking on " The Contest" episode and dug up my copy of "Baby if You've ever Wondered..." America's Favorite Radio Station WKRP in Cinncinnati" by Michael B Kassel.

Under the episode recap in the episode guide section it ends by saying that Carlson decides to take over all promotions, including the presentation of the $5000. However, when "the suits" hand the money over to a con man, it is Fever to the rescue.

Also under additional cast for this episode they do not list John Wheeler.

Also looked thru out the chapter on the first season "behind the scenes" and there is no mention of any reshoots or different ending for "The Contest".

So does the new set cut out that whole exchange between the winner and Herb when Herb explains while putting his arm around Les that

"this man and I have just been fired".
Carlson runs in and says "Herb, Les,.............your fired"
Herb says, "See"

Always loved that scene and the great timing between all of them.


Glad I can still see it here:

http://zvbxrpl.blogspot.ca/2009/03/links-to-wkrp-episodes-posted-so-far.html

Maxx

The Herb, Les fired segment is not in the alternate version on the Shout set.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

You can't judge from America's Favorite Radio Station. The writer only had access to the episodes that were running in syndication at the time, and sometimes he thinks the replaced songs are the originals (like in "Patter of Little Feet"). Clearly there are two versions of "Contest" because, I mean, here we are. We just have to wait and see if anyone can confirm which version aired first.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the rest. I particularly hope that some of the usually-cut episodes from seasons 2-4 will be restored to their original length. If so, that goes a long way toward making up for any music they couldn't get.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Waiting for info in S2 about "Americanization of Ivan". Since Elton John was a cleared artist, I assume no more edits and no more gibberish talk about "terrible dressers"?

A reviewer on Amazon who ordered from Shout spot checked that episode at the request of another poster (the exchange is in the comments for the review), and says that Tiny Dancer is indeed intact, you terrible dresser.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

And while I'm thinking of it...

The alternate version of contest episode has to date back to the original run. I say this for one reason... would any unused footage even still exist to create a new edit of the episode? And since Fox's policy with the original DVDs seemed to be hack and slash, not restore, there's almost no way they would have assembled a new cut at any point. And Shout would probably not have it in their budget to do so.

 

[Jeffery_H]

Most of those missing edits still found on Shout release I have saved. They broadcast ALL episodes back in the day on TNN network unedited. To me, ANY of the missing music or edits just is not the same feeling for the show. If you have not seen the originals in a while or never before, then it's the best that you can do with this release. However, if you can find these old versions, they are truly some great gold and do make a difference.

 

[Doris2k]

Fish Story: No music edits. The scene of a drunk Venus singing is there (it was edited from on the Fox set). Running time: 23:28. There is a generic bumper just before the tag scene.

Shouldn't this have a running time of over 24:00? If 23:28 is correct, this must be the syndicated version (or edited some other way).

 

[strangeways]

The picture seems to be a bit dark in the earlier seasons and soft in spots all over the place. Am I wrong?I posed this question elsewhere and got this answer.
TVShowsOnDVD.com Strange Ways - I wouldn't describe it that way. I'd say that the colors are more saturated and less faded, so that the brights are brighter and the darks are darker...but it looks much more "correct" to me this way than the old Fox release did (which I put in, and watched "Pilot, Parts 1 & 2" before watching the same episodes on Shout!'s new version. I've also watched "Les on a Ledge," "Hoodlum Rock" and "Hold Up" (the next three eps) but that's all so far (I've got a teenager home from school on fall break this week, and I've gotta share the big TV with him! ).

What say you all?

 

[Brian Himes]

Shouldn't this have a running time of over 24:00? If 23:28 is correct, this must be the syndicated version (or edited some other way).

Ooops. Soooo Sorry. That should be 23:58. My fault. I did check it against the original version that I have access to and the running times are the same. I'll correct that in the original post.

 

[Doris2k]

Thanks for your great work on this, Brian!

 

[John Karras]

Here's a thought...perhaps "The Contest" version with John Wheeler is the original broadcast version and the other one with Vincent Schiavelli is the syndicated version??? It's been so long since I saw it in its original run that I'm just not sure. I wonder if anyone at Shout! knows the answer.

Two things to consider:

1. If you check the original TV Guide, you'll see that John Wheeler is listed as the guest star for this episode. However

2. This episode was originally scheduled to air 1/22/79, but was postponed until the following week (1/29/79)...possibly to effect some quick post-production alterations.

 

[Brian Himes]

Ok, here are the first two episodes of season 2.

For Love Or Money, part 1: Sadly there are two music edits in this episode. Robert Palmer's Bad Case Of Loving You and Herb Alpert's Rise are gone. Each song is substituted with generic music. The substitute for Robert Palmer is a generic rock song. There are two quick lines of dialogue over the song. Bailey is in the booth and says, 'Uh...Johnny' and Johnny pops out from under the console and says 'Yeah.' The sound drops a bit during these lines of dialogue. It sounds like the lines have been redubbed using voice actors. Once Johnny turns the sound down so the song is gone, everything is fine.

The Herb Alpert song missing is a bit more troublesome. In the original version we see the establishing shot of Jennifer's apartment building and Venus's voice is heard talking over Rise by Herb Alpert. He even says Venus is on the rise. In the new set the song is missing and the voice we here is not Tim Reid's voice. This is very obvious. The lines of dialogue have also been changed. No longer is 'Venus on the rise.' That's just part of what makes this troublesome. Rise is also used in the season 3 episode Hotel Oceanview. I checked Hotel Oceanview and the song is there. So, I'm confused. If the song was licensed, why wasn't both instances cleared? Were both instances cleared and this is just a mistake? I can't say. The very, very bad voice over bothers me alot. However, in the episode Hotel Oceanview there is a lot more dialogue over the song, so Shout may have had to choose the lesser of two evils here. I don't know. This just seems strange that the song could be used in one episode but not the other.

Now Earth, Wind and Fire's After The Love Is Gone is here. However, during the very end of the episode when Bailey is in the hall outside the booth, there is some sound dropouts. The song tends to come and go. This could be an issue with the original master tape. The 'next week on WKRP' is there just before the end credits.

Running time: 24:54

For Love Or Money, part 2: No music edits. The recap of part one is there just before the opening credits. Running time: 24:53.

Well, not the best start to season 2 in terms of music replacements. That really bad voice pretending to be Venus is bothersome. Not to mention that Rise by Herb Alpert is heard later in the series and it was included in the later episode. I have no explanation.

I'll return tomorrow with more season 2 episodes.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

When MTM changed the music in the '90s, in many cases they seem to have dubbed these crappy new voices right onto the master. It's possible that Shout! didn't have all the episodes without those '90s redubs? (Not that they couldn't have found the audio somewhere else, but I don't want to get into that issue right now.) Anyway where you hear a bad voice dub, it's probably from that '90s MTM package - which seems to have one guy doing all the male voices.

But anyway, in that MTM package, which is the one usually sent out to TV stations now, Herb Alpert is removed and Venus's voice redubbed in "For Love Or Money," yet Alpert is intact in "Hotel Oceanview." I have no idea why, but a lot of what the collapsing MTM did with the show doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

[Hasslein]

I was set to cancel my pre order, I was so bummed about Pink Floyd, but after reading how much of the show is intact, I am very excited about it. So far only need to keep a couple of broadcast recordings. Very happy Jennifer's Home For Christmas is all there, one of the best Christmas episodes ever! Thanks for the info.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

The redubbing on recent versions of some episodes is bad, but I heard the most annoying has to be the scene where a middle-aged woman was clearly redubbed in the 90's version by a man trying to sound like a woman.

I heard about this on IMDB.