WKRP to DVD with Some Music

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WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby jon » Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:55 pm

The Complete WKRP series is coming to DVD on October 28th. Unlike Season 1, who came directly from the studio, this version is from Shout Factory, and they have promised to get rights for as much of the music as they can (afford?):
WKRP in Cincinnati has had a complicated history of music rights restrictions. To make this the most comprehensive DVD release possible, we are doing our best to include every scene uncut and to license as much original music as possible.
ref. - http://www.shoutfactory.com/product/wkr ... ete-series

They are even offering shipping 5 weeks earlier if you order from their site.

Fortunately for Canadians, amazon.ca has a much lower price, even lower than amazon.com. Pre-release prices at amazon often start out low, presumably until a specified number of orders have been received, based on the deal they reached with the manufacturer for an introductory offer. This appears to be the case this time, as these two similar URLs demonstrate:
$83.76 http://www.amazon.ca/WKRP-Cincinnati-Co ... words=wkrp
$101.49 http://www.amazon.ca/WKRP-Cincinnati-Co ... B00KYCA4QY

Of course, no one knows yet, except Shout Factory, how much of the music will be original. On the positive side, they seem to have a pretty good reputation. I've liked what I've seen of their stuff, with one exception: their Route 66 tin can sampler set had major issues, but I can no longer remember the details.
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby Mike Cleaver » Mon Aug 11, 2014 2:17 pm

All of the original episodes are (were) on the net which include the original music.
I re-watched most of them a couple of years ago.
I've long forgotten the URL for the shows but a little diligent search work probably can find it.
It also included the pilot episode which was quite different from how the rest of the shows looked and sounded.
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby groundwave » Thu Aug 14, 2014 5:54 pm

In one episode, which for some reason I can remember as if I had just watched yesterday, the boss "Big Guy" (actor Gordon Jump) walks into the booth to find DJ Johnny Fever in a near-comatose trance, reclined back in the control chair and staring at the ceiling as Pink Floyd's "Dogs" plays to air on the turntable. Given that song's unique effects and style, it was a hilarious moment. Hopefully Shout will be able broker the rights for that one.
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby tuned » Thu Aug 14, 2014 6:40 pm

Shout Factory was started by the Rhino Records guys after they go bought out by Warners. They have a relationship with Sony Music so if the tracks are controlled by them there's a good chance they'll be on the DVDs.
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby jon » Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:05 pm

Latest News from amazon on the upcoming release: "Over 70% of the original music is contained in the set."
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby jon » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:41 am

Finally, my copy arrived in the mail yesterday. Watched the Pilot and it is very good quality, with all the music.

Found this review from a keener who ordered direct from the manufacturer to get earlier delivery:

***** (5 stars = top rating) EXCELLENT image quality w/ minimal edits!
By Marty Gillis on October 6, 2014

'WKRP in Cincinnati' is on my short list of favorite classic TV comedies. Perfect casting, lovable characters and inspired writing, all framed with the music of the day. I never thought I would see this released but here it is, almost intact on DVD. I was so excited over this I purchased from Shout Factory direct so I could get the set a few weeks earlier than the street date.

For those not as concerned with the final music clearances, let me just say the image quality is almost uniformly excellent, with only a few spots here and there that show deterioration of the original broadcast tapes. WKRP was shot on video tape and edited that way as well so we are getting a scan of the master which is 2nd generation from each camera. DVD is more than sufficient to give us the full tape resolution, Blu Ray wouldn't have provided any uptick in quality other than being able to put more episodes on each disc, making the set smaller.

Discs load up quickly and after the prerequisite and annoying FBI warnings, you then go directly to the disc menu with the theme music playing. Hit the episode selection button and the music changes to the end theme. There are no listed chapter selections, just episode titles. (each title has 5 chapters) If you own other Shout Factory Series Box Sets, you pretty much know what you are getting here. You can choose your episodes individually or select the "Play All" function and just sit back and enjoy.

Both front and back theme music are presented in their full versions, along with the MTM logo at the end. There are occasional commercial "bumpers" between some scenes. (no commercials however)

The packaging is very nice. heavy duty outer cardboard sleeve holds 4 amaray cases that hold 3 discs each plus a slimline case that the extras disc is housed in. All discs were tightly on the spindles with nothing banging around in the entire set. Nice! Sightly different artwork on the discs and color portraits of Johnny, Venus, Andy and Jennifer adorn the 4 amaray cases. (what? No Les, Herb, Bailey or Big Guy?) There is additional art work on the back of each Season set with a short season synopsis.

No booklet of episodes is included and that is a real shame. You can find the titles but only by opening the case for the first two disc contents, which are posted on the left of disc #1 and by removing the #3 disc in each case for it's contents. Likewise, episode titles are not on the discs themselves so you still need to look inside the cases and behind the DVDs to find the show you are looking for. That's really the only place where the ball was dropped for this set, the lack of booklet. Even a small cheapo would have sufficed.

I took pics of the cases , front and back plus the discs themselves but Amazon is currently not allowing pics to be uploaded. (again) If at any time they can be posted, I will upload them.

Audio is fine, MONO of course, and disc media is robust.

And now for the folks worried about the music............. (I was one of them)

Music Edits: This seems to be foremost on everyone's mind. MOST of the music is there, SOME of it isn't. IN a few cases entire scenes have been reedited and slightly changed to eliminate certain songs that Shout could not obtain the music clearance rights to. All 3 of The Beatles songs are missing, while the McCartney song remains. No Pink Floyd .. In the end, no big deal as "Turkey's Away" still flies high! OH, the humanity!

Jennifer's doorbell is flying to the moon while Les's toupee is again accompanied by "Hot Blooded".. Classic! "The Contest Nobody Can Win" retains All the original contest songs but the very end of the show has been reedited to eliminate "A Lotta Love".. "Hoodlum Rock" is totally unedited so we get Scum of the Earth's full song at the end..... RUFF!!! RUFF RUFF !!! That's it for you then !

Basically, MOST of the important stuff is back, way more than anyone had thought possible, given the sometimes greedy nature of the rights holders. In most cases, the artists themselves do not control the issuing of music clearances and can not be blamed for their exclusion from this set. The Beatles aren't there , because MJ's company wouldn't play ball. McCartney's stuff IS there, he is more reasonable. Etc. Etc. Etc.

BOTTOM LINE: This is the very best we are EVER going to see and hear WKRP unless you owned a U Matic Video Tape recorder back in the day and have first generation copies of all the original broadcasts. (and if you do, watch out for Phone Cops! They're everywhere!)

OK, so how do the episodes REALLY look?
Image quality is very very good. It is not perfect. A few episodes show color fading and some have slight anomalies on the sides (typical tape artifacts). Mostly the episodes are clean, clear , brightly colored and stable. Let's face it, all us fans have been living with the faded low rez syndicated copies for so long that when you first see these, they will blow you away! Better than I had expected! Video quality is truly a fans dream come true here. Running time is approx 24 minutes per episode so you get at least 2 extra minutes (or more) of content that was chopped off in the syndication masters. Remember, the source was broadcast videotape and is not as detailed or as clear as film. Tape also deteriorates over time and there are signs of that happening occasionally during episodes. It is still miles ahead of any current broadcast rerun you can find. A few of the earlier episodes of Season One are a bit on the dark side, but this clears up quickly and doesn't return.

OK, picture quality is good, how about the sound?

WKRP was always intended for MONO broadcast and as such that is the only mix available for this release. Other than the few cases where edits were required for this release, the sound is presented in it's original form, with the original mixes intact. It's a solid 4 out of 5 for the audio with almost all dialogue clean and clear and some nice dimension and fidelity to the music. Pretty darn good for video tape source material. It speaks to the original quality of the production sound and Shout Factory has ported that over to us intact. BOOGER!!!

** you may notice the sound seems to be mastered at a much higher level than some of your other discs. I have had to lower the volume on my amp wile playing these. Also, there is just a bit of audio "clipping" from time to time that sharp eared listeners will register as distortion, but this goes back to the production sound and is not an issue with the Shout Factory transfers.

OK, picture and sound are really good, how about the special features?

'WKRP in Cincinnati' is no slouch in the special features department. The cast reunion, interviews and featurettes are all very welcome additions to this package. (Sad to say both Richard Sanders and Frank Bonner are MIA) I admit I would have been just as happy with a bare bones release so this is great to have the additional material.

This set is a WKRP fan's dream come true. Yes , there have been edits but with a great picture, good sound and a large majority of music restored, 'WKRP in Cincinnati' delivers the goods. Time for some serious binge watching! This set is worth the price of admission just for the extra 2 or 3 minutes of former syndication cuts per show that are now included.

I am totally enjoying this set. In fact, you might even say I am becoming addicted to it all over again. I GOTTA MONKEY ON MY FOOT!

TOTALLY Recommended by ME, Marty G

See http://www.amazon.com/review/R3R4U5J7NSO6U1/ for the more than 100 responses Marty received or responded to
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby Neumann Sennheiser » Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:04 am

..but "no Pink Floyd" means no "Dogs"...and no this classic scene (still laugh every time I watch it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1enfo8zn3_g
"You don't know man! I was in radio man! I've seen things you wouldn't believe!"
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby jon » Sat Nov 15, 2014 10:04 pm

Neumann Sennheiser wrote:..but "no Pink Floyd" means no "Dogs"...and no this classic scene (still laugh every time I watch it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1enfo8zn3_g

Hadn't remembered that the scene in question is from "Turkeys Away". Just watched it from the new DVD release and it is very cleverly edited to remove any mention of Pink Floyd but the dogs barking in the music aligns with Mr. Carlson's mention of them.
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby jon » Mon Dec 21, 2015 5:40 pm

One of our eagle-eyed reporters just saw this set for $72 at Costco in Calgary.

amazon.ca is currently selling it for $73.99 Canadian. Buy it from amazon.com and you pay about 60% more once you figure in the exchange rate.
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby groundwave » Mon Dec 21, 2015 7:06 pm

Too bad about the absence of Pink Floyd as disclosed by the reviewer. The integrity of the final release is significantly poorer for that. A rights holder(s) most likely either said flat-out "no" or barring that, demanded an obscenely high royalty fee. In either case, Shout can't be faulted for a lack of trying. I have Shout releases of the early SCTV (NBC version) series and Larry Saunders, both of which are, at least in my evaluation, uniformly satisfactory if not excellent in quality - especially given the obvious age and generational state of the source elements used. Based on that, I honestly believe Shout cares a great deal about assembling the best product possible.
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Re: WKRP to DVD with Some Music

Postby groundwave » Tue Dec 22, 2015 6:12 pm

groundwave wrote:...I have Shout releases of the early SCTV (NBC version) series and Larry Saunders...


Whoops... That should be Larry Sanders. :violent1:
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