Shout Factory Working on a Complete-Series "WKRP in Cincinnati"

http://tvshowsondvd.com/n/19780

In 2007, Fox released a 3-disc set of The Complete 1st Season on DVD, but sales of the title suffered because a lot of the original music had been cut or replaced throughout the episodes. As a result, Fox never moved forward with further releases, but fans never stopped wanting this show on DVD. Now the good news: our friends at Shout! Factory have licensed the show's home video rights, and are planning to deliver all four seasons of the sitcom together in one package with WKRP in Cincinnati - The Complete Series on DVD! No timeframe for this title has been set, and they clearly are aware of everything fans want to see on every season of this release. This is just an early heads-up that the item is in-the-works, to whet your appetites. Stay tuned, of course, and we'll update you as further developments occur!

So, no word about the music, but I'd be surprised if Shout puts out four years' worth of mutilated DVDs given how most fans (myself included) hated Fox's S1 hatchet job.

 

Let's face it, there's no way they're going to clear ALL the music....we just need to wait and see whether they get 50% or 90%...

 

I don't see how they could do it. Maybe if they concentrate on irreplaceable music -- like "Tiny Dancer" -- that is crucial to the story or otherwise directly referenced by the characters, while using genuine music from cheaper-to-license second-tier acts (that was actually played on rock stations of the era) for the programming that happens to be playing on the station in the background.

 

I'd feel more confident if it were Time-Life (StarVista) in charge of the project (they did an awesome job with all the music on the China Beach DVDs), but I'm hoping for the best. I'm forever grateful to Shout for their complete Barney Miller and The Larry Sanders Show boxes.

 

Stranger things have happened. Shout! was able clear all the music for Freaks and Geeks. Granted, it was ten years ago and the show has far fewer episodes, but still...

 

This has me happy (and hoping Shout! clears all of the music - including Jennifer's doorbell).

 

Please let this be the original unedited version with original music. I have been waiting for this show to get released properly for a long time. The smart thing to do is release it as a complete series. Stop messing around and get it out there before all the original fans of the show die off.

 

I'd love to have a legit copy of the whole shebang with the original music cues - my second-generation syndication dupes are serviceable, but no replacement for the real deal. Maybe the publishers decided to stop being such dogs in mangers for once and allow a classic release like this to go ahead. And maybe I'll win the lottery tomorrow.

 

Good news! Lets hope we get them uncut (in addition to the music replacements, the existing DVD has some very truncated episodes), and with (at the very least) key musical moments intact. Foreigner's "Hot Blooded" for starters...

Of course there are some songs they'll never get cleared, like the Beatles "I'm Down" or the Beach Boys "Surfin' U.S.A. (heck, that one didn't even make it past the early syndication runs).

 

So I'll be happy if they can clear most of the music.

 

They were not able to clear all the original music for F&G. Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" was played in a pivotal scene at the end of one episode, but in the DVD set it was changed, I think to a Dean Martin song. I still have a VHS of this taped of Canadian tv with the Neil Young song.

If they can get all the WKRP original music I don't see any way I'd be able to resist this package.

 

It's surprising how expensive Beach Boys music can get. I remember vividly author Stephen King complaining in the late 1980s that he wanted to use one paragraph of a lyric quote from a Beach Boys songs at the front of one of his novels, and he was told by the publishers that they wanted $100,000 just for that quote. He killed it and used some other group like Jan & Dean or something for maybe $5K. Some groups and publishers get very, very greedy over this stuff.

 

Great news - was a casual viewer back in the 80's so I don't recall all the musical moments,but it'll be good to have most of the original music intact. Another DVD set to buy.

 

I was re-watching my dvd copies (VHS rips) recently I couldn't believe how much music I forgot about. There's a lot of music on there to clear. Some of it is just back ground stuff so if they had to replace that I could probably live with it, but certain scenes revolve around the song. For example, the scene where Carlson goes into the DJ booth and Fever is playing "Dogs" by Floyd. The whole scene revolves around that song. Without it, there is no scene. www.youtube.com/watch?v=1enfo8zn3_g

What I'm wondering is what will be the price if they clear all that music?

 

I'm thinking AT LEAST $100-130 for the set.

 

It's Mike Love's fault!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

But by the time FREAKS & GEEKS aired, the idea of a physical format reissue of the show was a possibility and presumably incorporated into the original clearances. I think the problem for producers of older television show reissues like WKRP is that they're re-negotiating from scratch.

IIRC, on the commentary tracks for the SCTV DVDs, one of the cast members admitted they didn't bother clearing rights for the original broadcasts!

 

Oh, I suspect it'd be more. Like, I suspect even today that there are enough WKRP aficianados to make a complete run of the show with all original music cues priced at $100-$120 a fairly easy sale. I know I'd pony up!

 

I plunked down 80 bucks for the syndicated episodes about 10 years ago. I know there were some omissions and subs on the music, but it isn't too distracting. Don't think I can justify paying that or more again.....unless the long lost Bailey Quarters nude scenes are included in HD.

 

I bought the first season DVD when it was released. I was aware that a lot of the music hadn't been cleared and that there was replacement music. I noticed some strange edits and voice overs in a couple of places but it wasn't as important as the comedy. I was just happy to see the characters again after so many years from first broadcast.

This is any easy purchase for me. If they get most of the music I'll be happy but if not I still get to see more of Travis, Jennifer, Bailey, Herb, Les, Venus, Mr. Carlson and Doctor Fever.

 

If Shout does it right, I'm guessing it'll be much more than that. China Beach, with all its Vietnam-era music, initially cost $200 for its 62 hour-long episodes before individual-season DVDs were released at much lower prices.

So, I figure Shout will do the same and put the WKRP diehards to the test and hope there's enough of them to do the heavy lifting of defraying the licensing costs by ponying up for the box.

 

Ridiculous. All these publishers have a goldmine of free advertisements at their fingertips and they're too money hungry to realize it or care.

 

Yeah I'd pay that much easily. My friends who love the show who don't buy DVDs or BR much would certainly buy the set at that price, or more, if it had the original music.

 

I really don't think the inclusion of a song on that set is necessarily going to result in a big enough uptick in sales for bands to discount their asking prices. Are Pink Floyd really going to get a bunch of new fans because they heard the song "Dogs" in the show? Probably not.

Music is so much a part of this show, that even at the lower end, it'll still be an expensive cost for Shout.

 

It does slightly puzzle me that, as I've said before, the publishers wouldn't cut a deal for something like this. I mean, it's not something new, it's a widely-acknowledged classic show that has already used the songs. Why not arrange a one-off reduced rate that would get the show back out there and let everyone involved make a few extra bucks? It's not like there are significant transaction costs or "favoured nations" mandates involved.