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

smeeth

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Doris2k said:
As someone who hasn't actually seen the original broadcast tape, but has no reason whatsoever to distrust the person who has seen it, and as someone who has heard your recollection of seeing something different on the same broadcast, and has no reason whatsoever to distrust you, I'm glad I'm not an attorney. This would be a difficult case. :huh:

Are you saying the "homo" word survived through the summer reruns as well? That's even harder to imagine. Then again, I'm not sure why I even care. Maybe I need to get out more. :)
I'm in the same boat with "Gary Seven" on this one.
Before seeing the episode on the Shout set, when I was reading this forum's discussions about it, seeing/hearing the quote with "gay" in place of "homo" grated, in exactly the same way that other edits do.
It's well true that memory can be faulty.
But I am 100% certain (FWIW) that I had never seen the "gay" version until the Shout, and have always enjoyed the joke as people described it here, that Herb is trying to be sensitive and supportive to his best friend, and that's what he comes up with. Great stuff.
I'm 48, watched the show in its original run in Detroit, and have been chasing it ever since (as we all have).

I'm with Doris2k too -- this is a mystery, as much as the freaky alternate ending for the "Contest".
At least we can all sound off to this support group, rather than just sit at home muttering at the TV when we notice these things.
 

alfke

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If i recall correctly, don't the networks preview each episode before it airs and requests/order the studio to make changes to things they don't like or is innappropriate? Also, wouldn't Standards and Practices have to agree to the character's use of the word homo before it airs?

Personally, my opinion is that it aired with the word "homo", but changed to gay after some complaints.
 

TravisR

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alfke said:
If i recall correctly, don't the networks preview each episode before it airs and requests/order the studio to make changes to things they don't like or is innappropriate? Also, wouldn't Standards and Practices have to agree to the character's use of the word homo before it airs?
Yes but they could have also change their mind after the episode was shot and dubbed it.

For what it's worth, prior to hearing about a recording of the original airing, I also thought that it was something that had been changed early on in the show's syndicated life.
 

GrapeApe64

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I thought the whole "Contest" controversy was really interesting, but when I saw the episode, I remembered it. Somewhere, sometime, I had seen this cut of the episode before.
 

Doris2k

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TravisR said:
Yes but they could have also change their mind after the episode was shot and dubbed it.

For what it's worth, prior to hearing about a recording of the original airing, I also thought that it was something that had been changed early on in the show's syndicated life.
RE: Les on a Ledge. I received this email from my friend with the original recording. I thought it might be of interest here:

"It's funny that people seem to still be debating the Les episode. Anyway, just for edification and full disclosure, I can vouch that it's the original airing as it also contains the original ads. the WBBM bumper at the top of the hour wishes a happy Rosh Hashanah, which in 1978 happened to fall on 10/1, and as well, there's a promo for the CBS show "People" which aired after WKRP in 1978, but only for about 10 episodes that fall and it did not air later when reruns of "Les on a Ledge" occurred. So, based on those two pieces, I can say unequivocally, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that it is the original airing from 10/2/78."

So it did air edited, on WBBM anyway, on its first run. If anyone has a recording of the unedited version, PLEASE speak up. All syndicated versions of this episode have the audio edit.
GrapeApe64 said:
I thought the whole "Contest" controversy was really interesting, but when I saw the episode, I remembered it. Somewhere, sometime, I had seen this cut of the episode before.
RE: The Contest Nobody Could Win. If you remember seeing it, Jim, then it must have been what aired originally. But then why the re-shoot? I hope someone from the production sheds some light on this.
 

AndrewCrossett

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Is it possible that some stations complained about the use of the word "homo" in the original episode, and they made this re-dubbed version available to those stations that refused to air it uncensored? If so, then both versions could have been seen in different markets.
 

Brian Himes

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Memory is truly a funny thing. At times I think it's played a few tricks on me in regards to TV shows and their original airings versus syndicated airings.

For example, take Charlies Angels. If anyone is familiar with the opening sequence from the first season you'll know what I'm talking about. During the Kate Jackson credit, there is a shot of Kate in a red three piece polyester pantsuit. In the sequence she turns as if startled from behind. Now, this piece of footage is from the episode The Killing Kind. More specifically, the clip is from a scene in which Sabrina is searching Brooke Anderson's apartment. The girl was murdered and Sabrina is searching for a manuscript Brooke wrote for a magazine article on Moonshadows resort. The local sheriff comes up behind Sabrina and startles her. That is the moment we see in the opening credits. The scene is even referenced later in the episode when the angels are discussing the case just after Brooke's father disappears and after Sabrina is nearly run off the road. Sounds pretty convincing, right? Well, I would swear on a stack of bibles that I saw that scene in the original 1976 airing of the episode and a later summer rerun of the same episode. However, neither the Columbia House VHS nor the season one DVD set have the scene. Did I imagine it? Not quite. There is a novelization of that episode that is based on the screenplay and in the novel that scene is there. So, I think I confused the quick clip in the opening credits with the novelization. The clip is obviously from the episode The Killing Kind and it is from the scene as described in the novel but the scene was, as far as I know, never aired within the episode itself. Odd, since every scene used in each of the actresses credits is actual footage taken from several different episodes. So, why is Kate Jackson the only one to have a clip in her credits from a scene that never aired in any season 1 episode?

Additionally, where is Farrah Fawcett's original opening credit? It was also a scene taken from The Killing Kind. The original credits was used until about the middle of the season when it changed to the shot of Jill in the roller derby. For some reason, this version of the opening credits is the only version that is seen today and has been the only version used since the early 80s. When the series was first in syndication on ABC late night, Farrah's original credit was still being seen. Not now and it is certainly not on the season 1 DVD set. This is something that I didn't imagine and my memory isn't playing tricks on me. I did see this more than once. In fact, several times. I always thought it odd that Farrah's name just about covered the entire lower half of her face in the credit. This is why it was eventually changed to a more flattering clip and why this version is still being used.

Here is the original Farrah credit from a 1979 ABC late night airing. It's a shortened version but it does have Farrah's original credit:

 

r_c

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I checked a copy I have from an early 80's syndicated set originally recorded on VHS (received from a newsgroup vine years ago). Two things I noticed: Maurice Chevalier did sing on "Patter of Little Feet" and Herb did say gay on "Les on a Ledge" (the same dub as on the Shout copy). An earlier line by Herb includes him asking "A HOMO_sexual?", maybe this is what we remember.By the way, fardels are burdens.Richard
 

G.T. Keplinger

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Another song mystery solved. The other record Johnny is holding in Most Improved Station is "Bad Rice" by Ron Nagle. You can even see the Warner Brothers label on the record on the turntable. The song that Johnny sings along with (and pulls off his headphones) is 61 Clay. You can listen to it here:

http://sonichits.com/video/Ron_Nagle/Somethin's_Gotta_Give_Now and click on 61 Clay

My wife just bought me the new box set at Costco over the weekend-- still $57.99-- for a late birthday present and I have enjoyed reading the posts on here about it. The woman at the service desk at Costco was a huge WKRP fan as well. I watched WKRP back in the day and it has always been one of my very favorite television shows. I have a number of the commercially released VHS tapes as well as the Fox First Season and have recorded all of the episodes from Antenna TV off of my DVR and many are almost entirely "bug free".
 

Howard Tom

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Moore Maxx said:
Has anyone been able to get a response from Shout on why they used the ending for The Contest that many of us never knew about until now? I tried thru the website but my email was returned. Maybe they could offer the other version if they knew? Maxx
My recollection was that the version on the DVD set was the first version that actually aired, but not necessarily in the US. During the series' initial run it aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and I think it may have aired one day earlier, or at least earlier in the evening. In this case it likely meant that the version seen on this set was delivered to the CBC earlier in the week, and likely in physical form (broadcast quality tape). It may follow that either the wrong tape was sent or the reshoot happened after the tape was sent.

When we saw the episode again in the first syndication run, we were the ones who didn't understand where this alternate ending came from. For my own part, first impressions are the strongest, and I still find the version most of you are now seeing for the first time funnier. Sometimes cruel humor works for me, I guess, and this one was about as hard as it ever got for this series.
 

awhite2600

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Has anyone found the set available for sale at a brick and mortar store in Canada? Best Buy and Future Shop have a listing but no availability. The Costco near me doesn't have the set. I placed a pre-order from a movie chain store (Cinema 1). They showed a release date of October 28th. They now claim that the set didn't arrive in their warehouse and can't explain why.

Was there an issue with Shout shipping to Canada?

I may have to bite the bullet and order from Amazon.
 

Skywalker79

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G.T. Keplinger said:
Another song mystery solved. The other record Johnny is holding in Most Improved Station is "Bad Rice" by Ron Nagle. You can even see the Warner Brothers label on the record on the turntable. The song that Johnny sings along with (and pulls off his headphones) is 61 Clay. You can listen to it here:

http://sonichits.com/video/Ron_Nagle/Somethin's_Gotta_Give_Now and click on 61 Clay.
Thanks so much for identifying this. I've been trying to figure out what song it was for about a week. I did a lyric search after hearing Johnny sing "nobody's leaving.." and couldn't find anything. lol
 

alfke

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awhite2600 said:
I may have to bite the bullet and order from Amazon.
Amazon.ca had a preorder price of $101.99. I noticed they jacked it to $139.99 the day it was released. I havent seen it cheaper in Canada anywhere else.
 

awhite2600

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alfke said:
Amazon.ca had a preorder price of $101.99. I noticed they jacked it to $139.99 the day it was released. I havent seen it cheaper in Canada anywhere else.
Cinema1 offered it for $99.99. I liked the fact that I could pay in store rather than providing a cc number up front.
 

alfke

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awhite2600 said:
Cinema1 offered it for $99.99. I liked the fact that I could pay in store rather than providing a cc number up front.
Their stores are only based in Ontario if I recall. Were their any major cross Canada retailers that offered it less than Amazon?
 

Doris2k

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G.T. Keplinger said:
Another song mystery solved. The other record Johnny is holding in Most Improved Station is "Bad Rice" by Ron Nagle. You can even see the Warner Brothers label on the record on the turntable. The song that Johnny sings along with (and pulls off his headphones) is 61 Clay. You can listen to it here:

http://sonichits.com/video/Ron_Nagle/Somethin's_Gotta_Give_Now and click on 61 Clay

My wife just bought me the new box set at Costco over the weekend-- still $57.99-- for a late birthday present and I have enjoyed reading the posts on here about it. The woman at the service desk at Costco was a huge WKRP fan as well. I watched WKRP back in the day and it has always been one of my very favorite television shows. I have a number of the commercially released VHS tapes as well as the Fox First Season and have recorded all of the episodes from Antenna TV off of my DVR and many are almost entirely "bug free".
Now there are only two pieces of unidentified music in the whole series:

1. The song fading out just before Carlson's campaign ad in "Carlson For President" (might even just be a bit of production music).

2. The jazz song in "Up And Down The Dial" (which may be from an obscure artist associated with Tim Reid's production company).

Very impressive detective work...
 

Hasslein

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G.T. Keplinger said:
Another song mystery solved. The other record Johnny is holding in Most Improved Station is "Bad Rice" by Ron Nagle. You can even see the Warner Brothers label on the record on the turntable. The song that Johnny sings along with (and pulls off his headphones) is 61 Clay. You can listen to it here:

http://sonichits.com/video/Ron_Nagle/Somethin's_Gotta_Give_Now and click on 61 Clay

I have a number of the commercially released VHS tapes as well as the Fox First Season and have recorded all of the episodes from Antenna TV off of my DVR and many are almost entirely "bug free".
THANK YOU! That was driving me nuts trying to figure out that song.

Yeah, I think that was one of antenna tv's marketing ideas, that they didn't use a bug, but the station here in L.A. created their own & so there is one. grrrr....
 

AndrewCrossett

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The very first song played on the show was identified by Johnny as "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away" by the "Felix Mandel Orchestra."

There was a real song by that title, recorded in the late 60's by Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks. This is definitely NOT Hicks's recording on the show (it was a country-folk type song), but it could be a "muzak" style parody of it... it's kind of hard to tell. The Felix Mandel Orchestra seems to be fictitious.

 

Brian Himes

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G.T. Keplinger said:
Another song mystery solved. The other record Johnny is holding in Most Improved Station is "Bad Rice" by Ron Nagle. You can even see the Warner Brothers label on the record on the turntable. The song that Johnny sings along with (and pulls off his headphones) is 61 Clay. You can listen to it here:

http://sonichits.com/video/Ron_Nagle/Somethin's_Gotta_Give_Now and click on 61 Clay

My wife just bought me the new box set at Costco over the weekend-- still $57.99-- for a late birthday present and I have enjoyed reading the posts on here about it. The woman at the service desk at Costco was a huge WKRP fan as well. I watched WKRP back in the day and it has always been one of my very favorite television shows. I have a number of the commercially released VHS tapes as well as the Fox First Season and have recorded all of the episodes from Antenna TV off of my DVR and many are almost entirely "bug free".
Ok, so is this on the Shout DVD set in the episode Most Improved Station? Because, on the Shout set, it sounds like it was changed and the dialogue redubbed. I know that the same song is used in the episode Real Families but as we have seen, Shout may have cleared the song but they may not have been able to clear all instances where the same song (Herb Alpert's Rise for example) is used more than once.
 

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