WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series [DVD]

I'm old enough to have watched WKRP during it's first run on network TV and I loved every episode. I didn't buy the DVD set earlier only because earlier releases of it didn't have the original music due to licensing issues. Since this is a show about a rock radio station the original music is pretty important to many of the story lines. This version does have almost all the original songs and from what I've read, in the few instances where the original couldn't be used a very good substitute was used. So I finally have the entire series!This is one of the top five funniest and entertaining sitcoms ever produced and it's aged remarkably well. A few episodes, like the Thanksgiving "As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly" episode and the Scum of the Earth band episode; "can I say hello to my mother?" "Does she live in Cincinnati?" "Well there's always a chance isn't there. Hello mummy...don't come home if you know what's good for you!"Two of the funniest episodes of any sitcom ever on TV, and the rest of the series is almost as good. If you've already watched WKRP then I'm preaching to the choir, if you haven't then I highly recommend it, even if you weren't born yet when it first aired. It's sitcom gold.And kudos to the people who finally released it in as complete a version as possible with most of the music from the original episodes, it's the only way to experience it.

"WKRP" is another of those classic 70s/80s sitcoms that I watched as a kid in afternoon syndication. The crazy antics of the cast. I remembered Les's door, an outline taped to the floor that everyone was more-than-obliged to respect, Herb Tarlek's crazy-ass suits, and, of course, Dr. Johnny Fever.The delight I found in watching this series as an adult was that the series was more than just a workplace sitcom. It tackled issues. Abortion, racism, interracial dating, sexual harassment, juvenile delinquency, and even some gender identity issues (some more tactfully handled than others).The controversy surrounding this series in syndication and on home video is that some music has been replaced. I've done my research and Shout! did a damned fine job securing the rights it could and being transparent when that they couldn't get everything.As I said, I expected some silly laughs and Loni Anderson bouncing around in too-tight angora sweaters. What I got was, like "Three's Company," "All in the Family" and "Maude," a great look at the 70s that would never fly on television today!

This was such a fun series and full of iconic characters. Wasn't long ago that referencing someone as dressing like Herb Tarlek came up in conversation and most people knew what it meant. Resistance-leading Andy; hard-working but shy Bailey; the always smooth Venus Flytrap, occasionally caught up in hijinks with the spaced-out Dr. Johnny Fever or Andy; Jennifer, the receptionist who was hired for her looks and got by with only answering the phone and keeping people away from Carlson, and the paranoid and delusional Les Nessman, he of farm reports and the famous turkey drop horror. Really enjoyed watching all of it again, and while there is an occasional less-than-fabulous episode, there are a few that are great enough to make purchasing the whole series worthwhile. I know most people are into streaming these days, but it's nice to have something on hand that won't be pulled out from under you.

My dad and I would watch Taxi, the Wonder Years, and WKRP together when I was little. Taxi isn't too difficult to find, but Wonder Years and WKRP have been very tricky due to licensing issues related to the soundtrack.It has been so long that I don't remember the original soundtrack, but they have done wonderfully here. Although many of the tracks are from the original series, several have been replaced with properly licensed tunes that fit very well. You can easily web-search the original tunes and compare them with the replacement ones, and you'll see that they did an excellent job matching the new tunes to the show and storyline.

I bought as a xmas gift for my wife. She loves it. The picture quality is quite amazing as this was a late 70s production and we are playing the DVDs on a 65 inch TV. Great color and really good resolution. Didn't think it would be that nice. The format is fitted to the old box TVs so is square on the screen. To be expected.So far the downfall so far on viewing is that the "Turkey Drop" episode is such that the voice sound is about 2 seconds after the lip movement. The only episode like that so far.The second complaint is I paid $100 for the set before xmas and sells for $33 now. Quite the discount.Still, a good purchase and highly recommend it .

Brought back great memories , fantastic box set ,

An excellent bundle of the classic sitcom. If you liked the antics of the team at WKRP AM radio then grab it.It hasn't been edited, remastered or messed with.I don't think it is clear in the Amazon listing that the DVD's are for copyright Region 1 (USA).If you live elsewhere check that your player will allow playback. I live in Region 4 (Australia) and found one of my DVD players wouldn't accept them.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!I have been a fan of WKRP ever since I was a kid in the 1980s, watching reruns of episodes my parents recorded on VHS... and they recorded a lot. I have gone through all the episodes I have at my disposal, using the SoundHound music identification app on my phone and cross-referencing from the list posted on the Shout Factory website, and I have come up with these two lists of artists and songs I believe are both present and absent from the WKRP Complete Series on DVD:SONGS (LIKELY) PRESERVED (in no particular order):Kenny Loggins – This Is It (from Venus Rising)Boston – Don’t Look BackChic – Le Freak (from Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide)The O’Jays – Money (from The Contest Nobody Could Win)Derek and the Dominos – Layla (from the end of Johnny Comes Back) – This is perhaps one of the most important ones to have kept intact, because it accompanies the triumphant return of Johnny Fever to the station after a brief storyline-based hiatus.Detective – ALL the songs from “Hoodlum Rock”Bo Diddley – Bo Diddley (from The Doctor’s Daughter)The Doors – Light My Fire (from A Fish Story, after Johnny frustrates the policeman by getting FASTER while drunk)The Rolling Stones – Start Me UpForeigner – Hot Blooded (from A Date with Jennifer), when Les dresses up for a date with Jennifer...A MUST HAVE!!! -- Urgency (from the end of An Explosive Affair Pt.1)Bob Seger – Old Time Rock and Roll (from part two of the pilot when Johnny remarks “I’ve killed a lot of old people in my time”.)Bill Haley and His Comets – Rock Around the Clock (from The Doctor’s Daughter, when Johnny receives a letter from his daughter)Janis Joplin – Mercedes Benz (from Hold-Up)Bob Dylan – Like A Rolling Stone (from Hold-Up)Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers – Why Do Fools Fall In Love (from The Doctor’s Daughter)Buddy Holly – Peggy Sue? (sung by Johnny towards the end of The Baby...which would be odd, since it is not the original recording, but an actor singing it...and slightly off-key at that ;-)Wilson Pickett – Land of a Thousand Dances (from the start of Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide)Greg Kihn Band – song near the beginning of An Explosive Affair Pt.1Tubes – Talk To You Later (from An Explosive Affair Pt.1)Bob Marley – unknown song from An Explosive Affair Pt.1Kool and the Gang – Celebration (from the first half of An Explosive Affair Pt.2)Carl Carlton – She’s A Bad Mamma Jamma (from the last half of An Explosive Affair Pt.2)Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock (from Bailey’s Show)Boston – Don’t Look Back (from Bailey’s Show)Joe Cocker – Fun Time (from Turkeys Away)Van Morrison – Into the Mystic (from Johnny Comes Back)The Kinks – A Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy (from the start of I Want to Keep My Baby)Toto – Hold the Line (From the first half of I Want To Keep My Baby); this is an important one, because the fact that the record is left skipping on air for several minutes before Johnny realises is particularly funny!Elvis Presley – Return to Sender (From the first half of I Want To Keep My Baby); another important one, because of another hilarious record malfunction!)Randy Newman – Lover`s Prayer (from the end of I Want To Keep My Baby)James Taylor - Your Smiling Face (from the end of I Want To Keep My Baby)...with all four of these songs intact, we have one of the funniest, as well as one of the more socially-relevant, episodes of WKRP intact!The Coasters – short clip of a song from the second half of A Commercial BreakBlondie – Heart of Glass (from the second half of A Commercial Break)...Blondie credited their success with Heart of Glass to its having been featured in this episode, and donated a gold record of the single to hang on the set of WKRP as a result...no surprise they signed over the licensing rights!)Donald Byrd – Flight-Time (from Who Is Gordon Simms)...good mood music for the serious discussion that takes place during it.Chuck Mangione – Last Dance (from Who Is Gordon Simms)...more mood music, essential to the buildup to the revelation that comes later in the episode.Jerry Lee Lewis – Don’t Let Go (from Sparky)The Durocs – Lie To Me (from A Family Affair)Joan Baez – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (from A Family Affair) ... Unfortunately, the song immediately preceding it in the same scene (“I Am Woman” by Helen Reddy) does not appear to be on the Shout Factory list, so I suspect some creative editing was required to edit out this song while retaining the one by Joan Baez.Elton John – Tiny Dancer (from the end of The Americanization of Ivan)...an essential part of the episode, without doubt.The Pretenders – unknown song (from the start of In Concert)The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil (from the beginning of In Concert)The Sir Douglas Quintet – Texas Rock and Roll (from I Am Woman)SONGS (LIKELY) EDITED OUT (in no particular order):Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough (from the final scene of Baby, If You Ever Wondered), when the staff celebrate and discuss their rise from 16th place to 14th place (in an 18 station market :-P ), and where Carlson and the staff congratulate Andy for the success, and he resists this accolade (because he initially saw it as a failure compared to hisprevious track record with improving stations).The Eagles – The Long Run (from the end of The Doctor’s Daughter), which is heard during the reading of the letter, and when Andy runs in and shouts with joy that Johnny is actually playing a hit, and while the end credits are running.The Kinks – You Really Got Me (from Frog Story), a short clip in the middle of Les’ “diagnosis” of Johnny’s ailment.Della Reese – unknown song from the end scene of Venus and the Man; only a few credits are shown during this end scene, and there is not much relevant dialogue, so missing this scene wouldn’t be a big loss...unless they are forced to include it because the credits are an absolute requirement.James Brown – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (from The Consultant), from an important scene when the spy sent by Mother Carlson walks in on Venus holding up Johnny with a knife...one of the funniest scenes in the episode, so there may be a bit of a loss not having this scene.The Beatles – Come Together (from Jennifer and Johnny’s Charity), where Johnny asks for a donation from Les.Ernie Watts – unknown song from the first 5 minutes of The Creation of Venus, which could cause the entire setup of the episode’s plotline to be lost...but to be fair and honest, I DO NOT KNOW FOR SUREPink Floyd – Dogs (from Turkeys Away), featured prominently at the beginning of Turkey’s Away, where Carlson walks in on Johnny and they have one of the funniest exchanges in the whole show! This could be perhaps THE greatest miss fromthe DVD collection (if it indeed ends up being missing.) It would be a shame, because this was rated by TV guide years ago as one of the Funniest Hundred Television Episodes in History.Beach Boys – Surfin’ USA (from the start and the end of Goodbye, Johnny)Hoyt Axton – This country star played an actual role in an episode, and a song of his was performed several times during it, but he is nowhere to be found on the list of artists...I do hope the episode makes it intact onto the DVD collection!Gene Watson – Should I Come Home (Or Should I Go Crazy) (from A Family Affair), which runs for almost three minutes in the scene where Venus and Andy’s sister get up and dance, and are accosted by a racist guy (whom Venus and Any proceed to punch out)...The problem is that the injuries they receive are featured in the next and final scene, and are the reason forthe big laugh at the end of the episode, so I would hope at least that the visual scene remains intact but with voice overs.Bill Evans – Remembering the Rain (from In Concert)...not necessary, but a shame it’s missing because it shows that WKRP (like most real radio stations) switched to more somber programming in light of real-world tragic events...ah, well.Bonnie Raitt – Runaway (Live) (from Dirty Pictures Pt.1); not necessary to the plot, but Les does come in while it’s playing and ask Johnny to relinquish the board for a breaking news item...which turns out to be irrelevant, with Johnny they lighting Les’ news page on fire as he’s reading from it...hope most of the scene remains intact.Sly & the Family Stone – The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry) (from Venus Rising), when “Max” the computerized DJ is revealed.The Flying Lizards – Money (from Venus Rising)I hope this list helps people decide whether or not to buy the complete series...I personally am going to, and I would encourage all readers to buy it as well. Shout Factory has been doing an excellent job over the years of preserving and making available some of the best shows in the history of television that otherwise would never have been made commercially available. I, for one, think that a hundred dollars for the almost complete set of one of the greatest sitcoms of the past half-century is more than fair, even if one or two key moments end up being left out.Go Shout!

I got this about a week ago. I've really been enjoying it. It's a great TV show. Very smart and not too dated, even after almost forty years. I always really liked it.The set itself is packaged really well. The discs are one sided, which is very nice. The disc holders aren't made out of paper, which is essential. Any idiot who thinks he can sell DVDs in paper holders needs to spend some time in jail. Paper is abrasive. Any CD or DVD I have ever bought before that came in a paper holder was scratched the moment it came out of the box.The only problem I had was that one DVD skipped while I was watching it. The screen went black for a second, and then it continued to play normally. I can put up with it, but it makes for a much less enjoyable viewing experience. I've only watched two of these episodes from the DVDs themselves. The rest I have been watching from my hard drive after I imported them in. I haven't had any problems whatsoever with the files I've imported. They all play well.All in all, it's a good set and I'm happy to have it.

It's dated, but it's still funny.