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

[LeoA]

It makes no sense that they'd dub modifications made years later onto the original master tapes. If something crept in from what you said that MTM did in the 90's, they either made a deliberate decision to use that source for that particular episode or perhaps that's all they had available.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

It makes no sense that they'd dub modifications made years later onto the original master tapes. If something crept in from what you said that MTM did in the 90's, they either made a deliberate decision to use that source for that particular episode or perhaps that's all they had available.

I don't know the reasons behind it, but I was told once that MTM had either changed or lost the masters in some cases. MTM treated its catalog pretty shabbily in its later years, so I wouldn't put anything past them. Still it doesn't really matter; as you say, it could just as easily be that the '90s dub is all they could find in some cases.

 

[Doris2k]

This link is a post by Justin Levine, the guy at MTM whose job it was to replace the music originally:

http://www.againstmonopoly.org/index.php?perm=886089000000001005

In it he states that unmolested copies of the masters were filed away somewhere...

 

[Mike Frezon]

Did I watch some episodes of WKRP when it first aired? Sure.

And I enjoyed them. I actually was in college studying Broadcast Journalism at the time and then went to work in a small radio station in NY's Catskill Mountains.

So the topic of the show really resonated with me.

But you people are amazing--in terms of your knowledge of this show: down to the episode titles, use of music, minor actors and running times. Wow.

I monitored the other thread and I'll stick around here too...just to continue to be amazed.

 

[kentmccord]

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.

thanks for the revie, I have an idea... in the ORIGINAL POST is there anyway once you have done your complete review to make 1 super long post that says episode ? - season ? - title of episode - and list every edit - then 2 lines between eps so is easy to read + so that way people can find the info in 1 post not several

 

[AndrewCrossett]

Except for the bad voice redubs (which is not cool), this set will be perfect for people who haven't watched the show before. It seems like they've retained 95% of the humor and 95% of the genuine "rock & roll" feeling of the original.

It's only us old-timers who will cringe every time we hear a piece of replaced music or notice a missing scene. I was ages 13-17 when the show originally aired, and it was on in heavy syndication right through my college years, so unfortunately I'm one of the people that will be agonizing over every imperfection.

 

[TonyD]

Just three more weeks. . . . .

 

[Doris2k]

It's only us old-timers who will cringe every time we hear a piece of replaced music or notice a missing scene. I was ages 13-17 when the show originally aired, and it was on in heavy syndication right through my college years, so unfortunately I'm one of the people that will be agonizing over every imperfection.

Thanks to this Shout! Factory set, any old-timer with a video editor and some free time can now remedy most or all of this issue. (Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. Say no more...)

 

[Jeff*H]

Received my set today from Shout and I've been laughing myself silly the last 2 hours, watching the 2 parts of the pilot, "Turkeys Away" and "Fish Story", 4 of my favorite episodes. Watching "Fish Story" with The Doors blasting out of the speaker is beyond compare to this old-time WKRP fan--can't wait to dive further into the set.

Thank you, Shout Factory, for the effort you have made with this set. I didn't expect to enjoy this set as much as I have been this evening--it's like a visit with old friends, with the soundtrack that I remember growing up.

 

[Matt.Koz]

Matt, can you spot check a couple things when you get a chance?In the episode Mike Fright from the second season, did the Sly and the Family Stone track "Remember Who You Are" make the cut? Sly wasn't on the song list that Shout released. Fever mentions the band and the tune so if they weren't able to license it (thanks, MJ), I'm guessing that would have been edited out. Also, can you check if "Chances Are" by Johnny Mathis remains in the episode Les's Groupie, also from the second season? Would be a shame if that was cut (Les's only record!). Another important one would be "I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy which was used to hilarious effect in the episode A Family Affair, as part of the laid-back soul sound of DJ Apollo Flytrap, who was filling in for Venus (as improvised by Andy). Also curious if "Once in a Lifetime" by Talking Heads was cut from the brilliant season three episode, "Real Families." Didn't see the Heads on the song list so guessing yes. Like others, I'm also curious if the Eagles song "The Long Run" (the hit Johnny played!) was cut from "The Doctor's Daughter," also in season two. Thanks so much. Look forward to hearing more from you and Brian on this long awaited set.

I will check all of these tomorrow...had a pretty busy day. I did watch Real Families and Once in a Lifetime is not there.

 

[Obtuse]

I will check all of these tomorrow...had a pretty busy day. I did watch Real Families and Once in a Lifetime is not there.

Just watched "Real Famiies":

Real Families theme music/intro has been changed.

The Rolling Stones "She's So Cold" (in background during Bailey's interview) and Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime" (background during Venus' interview) have been altered. Dialog is the same, but with different music obscuring the original background tunes.

 

[stacia_jones_]

Now, my CBS copy is only 24 minutes. The Shout! version is 25. Shout! is trying to use the longest available copies of the episodes, which explains this. There's no way they'd have edited in deleted scenes to get rid of "Lotta Love." It's just a whole alternate cut that nobody knew about.

WKRP sometimes did 25 and 24-minute versions for different time slots (its episode running times sometimes vary on how much time was available to them in that slot). It might be that they shot the new ending then, where Johnny saves the day? I have no idea - but it's entirely possible that this version might have aired at least once. Anyway I'm excited to get it.

It looks like "Jennifer's Date" on 1/22/79 was at 9:30PM, which was the originally scheduled broadcast date for "The Contest." It was postponed a week, though, and "The Contest" aired 1/29/79 at 8:30PM. Is it possible that they had to quickly cut down to a 24-minute version (perhaps an extra 60 seconds of commercial time was needed earlier in the evening slots) so did some reshoots? Just a thought.

Thanks to everyone on this thread for the great info! Also, thanks to Jaime -- I've been using your website as a reference for "WKRP" info for years, absolutely love it.

 

[bryan4999]

I am thrilled to hear that the music is intact in "Jennifer's Home for Christmas". I have a question about that episode if anyone has time: when Les enters Jennifer's apartment, is the dialogue intact regarding giving Jennifer her Christmas goose? Les says, "Where's the goose? Herb said he was coming up here to give Jennifer her Christmas goose. I don't see any goose." and Herb says, "Shut up, Les!" That little sequence is missing in some versions I've seen.

Thanks, Brian, for this epic undertaking!

 

[lpstd1]

Last winter I spent a few weeks going through all the episodes of the show and listing all the rock (and other) songs used. I put it all together in a handy spreadsheet and now, thanks to all the reviews here, I've started marking all the songs that are present on the DVD set (and those not present). So this is a work in progress, and all help finishing it off will be very much welcome. (I received my set yesterday and haven't had a chance to dive into it myself yet.) Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jWiewI2fp1l9gxrIXXhbWWT1a_L4kvASk4UFYLFl4Hw/edit?usp=sharing

 

[kentmccord]

Last winter I spent a few weeks going through all the episodes of the show and listing all the rock (and other) songs used. I put it all together in a handy spreadsheet and now, thanks to all the reviews here, I've started marking all the songs that are present on the DVD set (and those not present). So this is a work in progress, and all help finishing it off will be very much welcome. (I received my set yesterday and haven't had a chance to dive into it myself yet.) Here's the link:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jWiewI2fp1l9gxrIXXhbWWT1a_L4kvASk4UFYLFl4Hw/edit?usp=sharing

AWESOME !!! an idea to enhance it, could you put in the far right column after the 2 that shows what song is and IF it is subbed, what song is in the sub, artist song OR if unknown, put generic music

for each episode where there is missing scenes and/or dialogue, could this info be included there too ?

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I also recall that in one episode (I think "Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide, Part 1") Johnny recites some Chuck Berry lyrics when he's talking about his contempt for disco. ("It's gotta be rock and roll music if you want to dance with me.") Considering that Chuck Berry is apparently difficult to license, I wonder if they had to cut that scene.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Here's a question I have:

Why do some scenes with replaced music have the original dialogue left alone, but not others? Were there some scenes where the music was added in post and not added in live?

 

[Obtuse]

A minor edit in "I Want To Keep My Baby":The episode opens with The Kinks "Rock And Roll Fantasy", but a few seconds at the beginning of the episode are trimmed (resulting in less of the song being heard). Perhaps there was a limit on the amount of the song they could use.

 

[Obtuse]

Here's a question I have: Why do some scenes with replaced music have the original dialogue left alone, but not others? Were there some scenes where the music was added in post and not added in live?

In those cases where the original dialogue is intact, you can often hear remnants of the original track underneath. Sounds like they basically cut out the uncleared music around the spoken lines, then put new music over the scenes.

 

[classictvfan40]

Those who ordered it from Shout are getting their copies today.