Enough already Fox. Are we EVER going to see WKRP released? (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

Kate & Allie only got released by another Canadian company because Universal only owns the US rights. FremantleMedia owns the copyrights on the show and holds the masters. Therefore VEI was able to get it. Same deal with Gimme a Break.

Fox owns WKRP outright throughout the world.

 

[Elena S]

That figures. In other words, there's no chance for improvement.

 

[Tony J Case]

*Captain! Dissenting opinion dead ahead!*

So my roommate picked up season 1 just a couple of days ago, so I got a chance to watch some of the set. A couple of things to note

- The show is stunningly brilliant. I'd forgotten how damn good this thing was.

- If I hadn't known about the music missing, I'd never had noticed anything was wrong.

Now that I've seen how the show stacks up, frankly I think it's much ado about nothing. Yeah, it would have been great to get Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, and whomever on the soundtrack, but the show isn't that diminished without it. It's still 100% drop dead funny, regardless of the 5 second snippets missing from the soundtrack.

 

[TonyD]

not convinced, still not buying it.

not much ado about nothing.
it is much ado about a dis-service to the integrity of a great show.

is this thread moot?
the title of it is wrong.
the show will never be released with enough of the original music intact.
and will likely continue to have bits and pieces of scenes removed.

a lot of people dont care.
a lot of people are very upset.

whats left.

 

[Elena S]

Maybe not if you aren't that familiar with music. For an ex-DJ who used to watch and love the show, the omissions are painful.

 

[bjdwsm]

I originally decided against buying the set as soon as I heard the nature of the editing because I had my own recordings from the Comedy Network broadcasts, but I eventually broke down and got it this weekend. It is a shame that the music had to be replaced (well, more that Fox didn't want to put any effort into clearing it) and that the two episodes were syndication edits (those same two were also syndication versions in the mostly full-length package), but overall I'm glad to get better looking/sounding copies of the shows I already had (and transferred to disc)...most of my season 1 tapes were recorded in SLP mode on a mono VCR. At least we know what's missing and that there is some record of what was originally recorded.

I do have a few concerns about future releases...I can take an edited season one because the syndication package had that as the most edited season anyway, but season two through four had some sequences that need the music more than season one did. "Tiny Dancer", obviously, but how about that sequence in "Nothing to Fear But" with 'Just The Two Of Us'. The later seasons had less cut music but at the same time it would be more deeply entrenched into the fabric of the scene. I wonder how much worse those seasons would fare if Fox continued to act in this manner.

 

[Tony J Case]

Now dont get me wrong. Dont take my "Meh, looks alright to me" stance as trying to undermine your fire for not getting all the soundtrack. Please, hold onto that rightous rage for all its worth.

I'm just saying from what I saw, with having 20+ years between me and the last time I saw the show, I didnt have a huge issue with the changes. Were I so inclined to buy (which I never was in the first place), seeing the edits wouldnt deter me.

 

[David Deeb]

Now that this set has been out for over a month...

Is there any verdict on whether it sold well despite the people's protests, or did it flop because of the boycott?

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I still have decided agaiinst buying the set. I think I would buy the set if Target eventually drops the price down to around $20. What happens to sets that don't sell is that Target starts price dropping ...

I'm also curious how the season set sold ... it would be nice if they could get a different company to handle future releases of the show because it's obviously not getting anyone to buy it ...

 

[TravisR]

There's a greater tendency for the sets that sell well to go on sale because they're not going to bother wasting the ad/shelf space on something that isn't a big seller and isn't going to get people in the store to buy more junk that the store is making a profit on. While you'll see a show that didn't do well (like Everwood) on sale at Target, it's much more common to see Gilmore Girls, Prison Break, 24 or The Simpsons on sale than Everwood.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I can tell you that Target does have Everwood, Wildfire, 24 S1 & 2, Seinfeld S 1-4, Firefly, Rosanne S1-6, 7th Heaven, Bones S1 and many more price cut down to $19.99 along with Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

It sold well as far as I can tell. In its first week of release it was # 18 on the Billboard chart of top selling DVDs, which is really big for a 30 year-old series. (It didn't stay in the top 20 for more than a week, but TV shows usually don't.)

I suspect that it might have sold better in brick-and-mortar stores, where people buy it without knowing what's been done to the product, than on Amazon, where the reviews explain it in detail.

 

[pitchman]

No need to wait, Mark. You can get it delivered to your door for $20.71 (total) during the current DeepDiscount.com 20% off sale.

I am trying to hold firm to my resolve, but after all my pissing and moaning, I may cave and buy it too. For twenty bucks, it is very hard to resist...

 

[george kaplan]

I can't believe you guys are caving. :frowning: They could lower the price to 1 cent and I wouldn't buy this, since I'd never watch these butchered versions. It reminds me of my wife - she'll sometimes buy something cause it's got a coupon or a big discount, even though we don't use it - but she's saving money. :frowning: The price may be dropping due to poor sales, but the product hasn't been upgraded - it's still a piece of shit.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I have no interest whatsoever in this show but just learning about this makes the answer rather simple -- either you buy it and have "at least something," or you have nothing at all. The choice is yours. That is, unless some of you have all the episodes taped intact off the air already and in which case, just make do with those.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Some of us are not caving, George. Even with a cheaper price, I have no plans to buy this version of WKRP. I'd rather spend my money and viewing time on something I'll enjoy more. That's just my personal view, though. I don't really care how well or poor this set sells. I only make my purchase decisions based on how I feel about an item.

 

[Jeff*H]

I'm not caving no matter if they give it away for free, my VHS copies are better.
My Fox boycott continues, as I learned recently that their new Fall Guy release has cuts, blur-outs and music edits/substitution. The madness continues...

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Are they on Flippers too adding insult to injury.

 

[Tony S]

www.DeepDiscount.com is running their semi-annual 20% off sale on all dvd's (excluding pre-orders). I just picked up WKRP Season 1 for $20.71 with free shipping. Just enter the code: DVDTALK at checkout.

 

[Jeff*H]

Ah, but just imagine you could have used that $20 on a 1/4-tank of gas


And Dave, the discs are miraculously single-sided. My guess is Fox is probably using a defective batch of flippers that only have 1 side