WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete Series Review (See Posts #218 & 356 for Info) (2 Viewers)

[TJSBEATLES]

Not sure if everyone's seen this gag reel, ostensibly from Hugh Wilson's You Tube account. I just stumbled across it and thought I'd share - Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[LeoA]

Love, Exciting And New: No music edits due to there being no music in the episode. Running time: 23:44. The bumper before the tag scene is there. This episode looks like it runs short but I did compare running times with the original and this is correct.

Just finished watching season 4 and hopped on here wondering what was wrong with this episode since at 12:40, something certainly seems to be missing. But instead of my curiosity being satisfied, it sounds like it might actually be intact.


I have no recollections of this episode and how it originally aired, but it just doesn't flow correctly.


Has anyone else ever noticed what I did? Is it just a commercial break that threw me off?

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I just re-watched "Baby, If You've Ever Wondered." The episode prominently features Supertramp's "Goodbye Stranger," and in the hallway outside the DJ booth you can see a cardboard standee promoting the Breakfast in America album that song came from. Further down the hall is a poster for Randy Newman's Born Again album. And in Andy's office behind his desk, a poster for Chuck Mangione's Live at the Hollywood Bowl album is prominently displayed.


This makes me wonder: was this just set dressing to create the popular atmosphere, or was the show, by this point in the second season, actually getting deals to promote certain songs and albums?

 

[Hasslein]

This makes me wonder: was this just set dressing to create the popular atmosphere, or was the show, by this point in the second season, actually getting deals to promote certain songs and albums?

I've often wondered this as well, especially since seeing both a Zenyatta Mondatta and Ghost in the Machine poster featured prominently behind the Djs.

 

[johnnyelectron]

The record company promo materials might have been an early attempt at 'product placement' - but it isn't like the current Tiny Fey movie "Sisters" where they have "Big Lots" plastered everywhere in the movie.


I think it is neat 'set dressing' and I wonder if the record companies were actually smart enough back then to realize that WKRP would be a great 'free' vehicle to promote artists' releases?

If that was a source of income, it could have been enough to record another 2 or 3 seasons of our favorite show?

If you watch the end of "The Good Wife", the closing credits imply that somebody is actually 'funding' the show - a 'pay to play' is what I gather?

Could WKRP have done the same type of thing with the music companies, if it was taping in 2016?

 

[Hasslein]

Jan Smithers, Loni Anderson and Tim Reid are going to be at the Hollywood Show next weekend in Los Angeles. If Hessman or Bonner were to be there I would go to try to get more info on the Contest reshoot, but I doubt those three would have much recollection...

 

[johnnyelectron]

Hasslein, what is the "Hollywood Show"? More details?

 

[MattHR]

www.hollywoodshow.com

 

[jeffyoungct]

I just stumbled across raw footage of a November 2015 interview with Hugh Wilson for the Television Academy's Archive of American Television.

http://emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/hugh-wilson

It looks to be over 2.5 hours in two parts. There are links to chapter stops if you click to the Interview tab. My rough estimate is that there is an hour relating directly to WKRP. ENJOY!

 

[dietcola]

just here to edit my syndicated cuts list. somehow, a ton of extra carriage returns got into it and messed up the formatting. i really enjoyed watching the show while compiling that document. enough time has passed that i should break out the DVD set and go through the series again soon. WKRP was one of the best sitcoms ever made (could be my all-time favorite show).

 

[The Obsolete Man]

just here to edit my syndicated cuts list. somehow, a ton of extra carriage returns got into it and messed up the formatting. i really enjoyed watching the show while compiling that document. enough time has passed that i should break out the DVD set and go through the series again soon. WKRP was one of the best sitcoms ever made (could be my all-time favorite show).

Since I have some time before Quantum Leap on Blu arrives, I decided to do just that.

I'm through S1 so far, and far removed from the scrutinization of the first watchthrough, I noticed only two obvious music replacements in the whole season... in the first part of Johnny moving to LA, and the final episode of the season with Little Ed.

So on the music front, the Shout set really holds up, IMO, unless you know the show better than the back of your hand.

Also, it's a good thing these episodes weren't in HD, Because in Andy's record collection quite prominently onscreen in the final episode of the season would have been a rather offensively titled Richard Pryor album that would have been quite readable if the show weren't on 40 year old videotape.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I had that Richard Pryor album too...

Yeah, I can say that, with just two or three exceptions, there are no compromises in this set that will bother you unless you watched the episodes when they originally aired, and you have a photographic memory. WKRP is my favorite sitcom of all time and, after the bitter disappointment of the Fox season 1 DVD set, it's probably my favorite TV-on-DVD collection.

 

[johnnyelectron]

Even the Pink Floyd 'sound-alike' sounds so close to the original, that it doesn't bother me anymore, as I'd rather have a good imitation than lose a classic interchange between Johnny and The Big Guy.

 

[Hasslein]

The telltale sign is the horrendous stock music that makes edits obvious, so even if I don't know the episode well I hear the edit. Had they used a cheap "real" song from the era the edits would've been smoother.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

The telltale sign is the horrendous stock music that makes edits obvious, so even if I don't know the episode well I hear the edit. Had they used a cheap "real" song from the era the edits would've been smoother.

Not even that.

Why not drop in a song that was already cleared for use on the set? Then you'd have to really know your episodes to dope it out.

But, Shout was working under a budget, and did a damn good job either way. A handful of off kilter moments in each season isn't bad considering the other options.

 

[AndrewCrossett]

I remember a couple of times while watching the Shout DVDs, I heard some song playing in the background that I liked and referred to the checklist to see what it was, only to find out it was a replacement song. They did a really good job of finding generic music that sounded right.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I remember a couple of times while watching the Shout DVDs, I heard some song playing in the background that I liked and referred to the checklist to see what it was, only to find out it was a replacement song. They did a really good job of finding generic music that sounded right.

There was one rare occurrence, at the end of the episode where Mr. Carlson's wife finds out she's pregnant, where the replacement was a better choice, IMO.

IIRC, the original song was "Thank Heaven For Little Girls", while the replacement was a cover of "We've Only Just Begun".

Purists will point at me like Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers '78, but I say that's a much better choice. It fits better with the tone and message of the episode.

 

[Tony Bensley]

There was one rare occurrence, at the end of the episode where Mr. Carlson's wife finds out she's pregnant, where the replacement was a better choice, IMO.

IIRC, the original song was "Thank Heaven For Little Girls", while the replacement was a cover of "We've Only Just Begun".

Purists will point at me like Donald Sutherland at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers '78, but I say that's a much better choice. It fits better with the tone and message of the episode.

"Thank Heaven For Little Girls" might have been just as apropos, had identifying the sex of the baby was possible back in the late '70s/early '80s?

Kidding aside, I believe that I vaguely remember viewing this episode with the "We've Only Just Begun" cover in syndication, but many years ago, and I do agree that it is a better choice. On the other hand, the original could have been used in a later episode, if Mrs. Carlson delivered a baby girl. I have no recall as to whether there ever was any such WKRPiC episode, however.

CHEERS!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

"Thank Heaven For Little Girls" might have been just as apropos, had identifying the sex of the baby was possible back in the late '70s/early '80s?

Kidding aside, I believe that I vaguely remember viewing this episode with the "We've Only Just Begun" cover in syndication, but many years ago, and I do agree that it is a better choice. On the other hand, the original could have been used in a later episode, if Mrs. Carlson delivered a baby girl. I have no recall as to whether there ever was any such WKRPiC episode, however.

CHEERS!

She did indeed have a girl, early on in season 3.

There was no music that needed replacing for the birth, though.

 

[Brian Himes]

"We've Only Just Begun" works fine, except for the horrible redubbed lines of dialogue and that Venus is seen holding the Gigi soundtrack that contains the song "Thank Heaven For Little Girls." The substituted song kind of spoils the joke at the end.

If Venus is playing The Carpenters, why is he holding the Gigi soundtrack and slightly bopping to the music? Makes no sense.