DVD Review: WKRP in Cincinnati - Season One
Published April 21, 2007
It really is a dam shame, but you can’t say they didn’t warn you. The package for the first season of WKRP in Cincinnati clearly states “some of the musical content has been edited for this release.” Not only does this statement in fine print confirm the rumors that have been circulating on the Internet for years, is also confirms that that the music industry still has no clue when it comes figuring out why they're held in such low esteem by the public.
If this were any other show it probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal but the fact that much of the first season of WKRP’s plot centers around the creation of a fledging rock and roll radio station, the absence of the original music is a total buzz kill and is, for the most part, unforgivable. Music like Pink Floyd’s “Dogs”, the original inclusion of which provided for a now ruined, side-splitting scene, is gone and replaced with musical filler and in some cases scenes are chopped up or gone all together.
Despite this, the show still stands as one of the best music-themed sitcoms ever produced. The first season establishes the show's cast, and the antics of characters like Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) and Dr. Johnny Fever are classic. That’s because part of the show's charm lies in the fact that the show's other characters are just as strong, as exemplified by the cat-and-mouse relationship between the characters of Herb Tarlek (Frank Bonner) and Jennifer Marlow (Loni Anderson).
Highlights include “Hold-Up,” an episode that revolves around Dr Johnny Fever being held at the mercy of a crazed gunman, and the classic “Turkey’s Away,” that finds WKRP’s bumbling news reporter Les Nessman (Richard Sanders) being mobbed by an irate crowd after the station's out of touch manager Art Carlson (Gordon Jump) decides to drop live turkeys from a helicopter in an ill-fated Thanksgiving promotion.
Both episodes, as well as many of the other 20 episodes included in the three-disc set, showcase the excellent writing that carried the show through its original four seasons and captured the culture of the era perfectly. The characters of program director Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) and the shy Bailey Quarters (Jan Smithers) round out the show's main cast and provide a romantic sub-plot that develops throughout the show.
All in all this first season is a nostalgic pleasure to revisit but without the music that added a whole other dimension to the show, it is far from its original greatness.
- DVD Review: WKRP in Cincinnati - Season One
- Published: April 21, 2007
- Type: Review
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Television, Video: Comedy
- Writer: Brandon Daviet
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Comments on this articleComments
Gotta love the music industry. Or they'll sue you.
WKRP reruns were one of many things responsible for my all-too-brief foray into the radio world. I swear to God the morning guy was Johnny Fever turned up to 11!
Man, 'KRP - one of the all-time greats. Too bad about the music but easily one of the most under rated sitcoms in television history. Very much like Newsradio.
please tell me that they managed to include Nugent's "Queen of the Forest" when Fever plays the first rock tune on the station.
if they hacked that, i'm not buyin.
Besides the music replacement, I have read that many eps are of the cut for syndication variety....
I hear that the "Hot Blooded" accompaniment to Les preparing for his date with Jennifer has replaced by pap. No way I'll buy this. These changes would get on my nerves and ruin the memories of this great show.
here's an article that ends with a complete list of what's not there.
it's worse that i could have imagined.
What I don't understand is how the music companies don't see the advertising potential for the music.
TV Shows on DVD has some good reporting about what happened and why.
it's no different than back in the "tape trading is killing out business" era, or the "downloading is killing our business" era....they just don't get it.
I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THE MUSIC WHEN I PRE-ORDERED FROM AMAZON - VERY DISAPPOINTING.
When I finally, at long last, saw KRP in the dvd section I was so overjoyed I didn't bother to read the box. I snatched it up, raced home and popped it into the player. I was so happy to see all those characters, then came Johnny's big scene...I was crushed. It truly is not the same. The characters and the writing make the show, but the music was the supporting cast. I have no doubt that when KRP was originally aired, there were more than a few record execs doing everything in their power to get a song played on this series to boost record sales. Now, they want paid. Give me a break. Won't be long, we'll have credit card machines hooked up to our car stereos just so we can listen to the radio.
I almost ordered, then remembered reading about the music substitutions before, then read the reviews. Hopefully, few will buy and these DVDs will go to waste. I would only buy if the original music/clips were intact.
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It's a very short sighted view in my opinion. The music industry is saying "pay us or else" and in the process losing revenue because the DVD producers are telling them to something physiologically impossible to themselves. What they should be doing is offering a reduced rate (income for the companies) in return for promotion from the DVD producers which would presumably lead to increased sales of the music that's on the DVDs. But maybe I just don't get it.