Pairing an impeccable ensemble cast with hilarious wit and popular tunes, WKRP in Cincinnati celebrated four amazing seasons, making it the quintessential situation comedy for any music lover! Join everyone’s favorite radio DJs—the rockin’ Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) and the soulful Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid)—as they weave through the inner-office antics of the crazy WKRP staff including the station’s steady program director Andy (Gary Sandy), indecisive manager Carlson (Gordon Jump), smarmy advertising executive Herb (Frank Bonner), quirky news man Les Nessman (Richard Sanders), shy ingénue Bailey (Jan Smithers) and, of course, the station’s lovely receptionist, Jennifer (Loni Anderson). So sit back and enjoy the sound of uproarious laughter as you watch all 90 episodes of this iconic series!
Bonus Content:
Disc 13:
- WKRP in Cincinnati: A Paley Center Reunion
- “Do My Eyes Say Yes?” Featurette
- “A ‘Fish Story’ Story” Featurette
- A Conversation with Gary Sandy
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Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
MPAA rating : NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 0.7 x 5.4 inches; 1.45 Pounds
Item model number : generic
Media Format : DVD
Run time : 37 hours and 30 minutes
Release date : April 17, 2018
Actors : Howard Hesseman, Frank Bonner, Gary Sandy, Tim Reid, Richard Sanders
Subtitles: : Afrikaans
Studio : SHOUT! FACTORY
ASIN : B00KYCA4QY
Country of Origin : USA
Number of discs : 12
As I See It today –
Sounds Like Original Music
It took a long time before WKRP could be released due to royalty rights. These are what I remember from the broadcasts. A few original scenes may be missing if memory serves right, but the theme catches all the important moments. Not remastered so very close to VHS or broadcast quality and that is alright since we get the essence of the show.
GLENN C MEYER –
Great show
Always enjoyed watching WKRP got it at a great price very good deal
marla –
Great show
Everything good.
R. Dirienzo –
Great
Great comedy
Darren Sombke –
Be careful of the new packaging….
One of my all time favorite shows and I’m super glad I got it at a much better price than what is shown currently. It was out of stock for awhile so I was a bit nervous. This one is in two cases one for years 1 & 2 and the other for 3 & 4, 6 disks in each case. Both of the cases arrived with broken plastic pieces. One of the hinges inside the case broken off. I just hope the disks are ok. This packaging looks to be a little smaller but the plastic the cases are made of is really poor quality. Also I am of the age where I really need to have subtitles. This could have used them.
Tellis Coolong –
I’m living on the air in Cincinnati…
“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!
KFM –
One of the best sitcoms ever made and as funny today as it was when it first aired.
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.
Steve Scheiber –
UPDATE!! We GOT the real thing!
Tentatively!!! Like most true fans of this show, I’m waiting to see if it will come with the original music. The price point is high, but if it is REALLY the show we all remember, it will be worth it. And this from someone who has never forked out $125 for a DVD set. The music was every bit as much a part of the script as the dialog. How can you watch Les Nessman put on his “MCHO” toupee for his date with Jennifer without Foreigner’s “Hot Blooded” and all the rest of the sarcastic bits of music that confirm the show’s brilliance? So I’ll TENTATIVELY give it 5 stars. If it’s another hatchet job like the first effort, I’ll be sorely disappointed, and I will once again forego the pleasure (and Shout Factory! will have to forgo the money) of purchasing the set. And I’ll once again drop my rating to 1 star.GO MUSIC!!! GO MUSIC!!!FEBRUARY 20, 2015Okay, they did an extraordinary job, so I’m adding these comments:I’ve now bought the set and watched all of the episodes.To call this “The Complete and Edited Series” would lump it in with an enormous number of clumsy DVD releases that made no real effort to “get it right”. In fact, it would place it in the same category as the disastrous first season release from Fox 8 years ago. That would be blatantly unfair to Shout! Factory and to fans like me who have held out for a long time. I even bought a bootleg set (about the only time I’ve ever turned to the bootleggers) after Fox insulted the show’s fans the way they did. In just about every respect the bootlegged version was a poor substitute for this wonderful collection. And they HAD all the music, if you ignore the fact that they had only the syndicated versions of the episodes and were therefore missing minutes of the actual show.Yes. I agree. Technically it is slightly edited. But aside from the as yet unexplained change to “The Contest that Nobody Could Win” and the unfortunate loss of Johnny Olsen’s voice in “Real Families”, Shout! Factory did an extraordinary job, far beyond what any of us could have hoped. They are almost exclusively complete episodes. They included all of the important music except for Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and some of the Rolling Stones. The handful of music replacements are almost all appropriate and not intrusive. In fact, in “The Holdup”, an unavoidable edit removed :55 from the episode. Had I not been watching it with a list of the substitutions and edits in hand, I’d never have noticed. In certain cases — Pink Floyd’s “Dogs” comes to mind — the replacement was so inventive that if you didn’t know what to expect you’d never notice that you don’t have the original music. If the fan base insisted on those unatainable items, the set could never have been released at all. The copyright holders in question basically said, “NO AT ANY PRICE!” Give credit where credit is due. Don’t be so dogmatic that you denigrate all of the great work that the company did. One other reviewer offered the perfect rejoinder. He said something like, “I’d rather have this set than go to my grave lamenting that I never got an absolutely complete copy of WKRP.”One other kudo to Shout! Factory on this set. Their new animated logo is MUCH better and MUCH less intrusive than the old one was.So don’t minimize what we have just because a few megalomaniacal copyright holders refused to cooperate.My 5 stars stands. I suspect Marty Gillis agrees with me.
Kooshla –
Brought back great memories , fantastic box set ,
Stuart Greig –
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.
Amazon Customer –
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 â This Is It (from Venus Rising)Boston â Donât Look BackChic â Le Freak (from Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide)The OâJays â Money (from The Contest Nobody Could Win)Derek and the Dominos â Layla (from the end of Johnny Comes Back) â 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 â ALL the songs from âHoodlum RockâBo Diddley â Bo Diddley (from The Doctorâs Daughter)The Doors â Light My Fire (from A Fish Story, after Johnny frustrates the policeman by getting FASTER while drunk)The Rolling Stones â Start Me UpForeigner â 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 â Old Time Rock and Roll (from part two of the pilot when Johnny remarks âIâve killed a lot of old people in my timeâ.)Bill Haley and His Comets â Rock Around the Clock (from The Doctorâs Daughter, when Johnny receives a letter from his daughter)Janis Joplin â Mercedes Benz (from Hold-Up)Bob Dylan â Like A Rolling Stone (from Hold-Up)Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers â Why Do Fools Fall In Love (from The Doctorâs Daughter)Buddy Holly â 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 â Land of a Thousand Dances (from the start of Dr. Fever and Mr. Tide)Greg Kihn Band â song near the beginning of An Explosive Affair Pt.1Tubes â Talk To You Later (from An Explosive Affair Pt.1)Bob Marley â unknown song from An Explosive Affair Pt.1Kool and the Gang â Celebration (from the first half of An Explosive Affair Pt.2)Carl Carlton â Sheâs A Bad Mamma Jamma (from the last half of An Explosive Affair Pt.2)Elvis Presley â Jailhouse Rock (from Baileyâs Show)Boston â Donât Look Back (from Baileyâs Show)Joe Cocker â Fun Time (from Turkeys Away)Van Morrison â Into the Mystic (from Johnny Comes Back)The Kinks â A Rock ânâ Roll Fantasy (from the start of I Want to Keep My Baby)Toto â 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 â 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 â 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 â short clip of a song from the second half of A Commercial BreakBlondie â 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 â Flight-Time (from Who Is Gordon Simms)…good mood music for the serious discussion that takes place during it.Chuck Mangione â 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 â Donât Let Go (from Sparky)The Durocs â Lie To Me (from A Family Affair)Joan Baez â The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (from A Family Affair) … Unfortunately, the song immediately preceding it in the same scene (âI Am Womanâ 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 â Tiny Dancer (from the end of The Americanization of Ivan)…an essential part of the episode, without doubt.The Pretenders â unknown song (from the start of In Concert)The Rolling Stones â Sympathy for the Devil (from the beginning of In Concert)The Sir Douglas Quintet â Texas Rock and Roll (from I Am Woman)SONGS (LIKELY) EDITED OUT (in no particular order):Michael Jackson â Donât Stop âTill 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 😛 ), 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 â The Long Run (from the end of The Doctorâs 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 â You Really Got Me (from Frog Story), a short clip in the middle of Lesâ âdiagnosisâ of Johnnyâs ailment.Della Reese â 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 wouldnât be a big loss…unless they are forced to include it because the credits are an absolute requirement.James Brown â Papaâs 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 â Come Together (from Jennifer and Johnnyâs Charity), where Johnny asks for a donation from Les.Ernie Watts â unknown song from the first 5 minutes of The Creation of Venus, which could cause the entire setup of the episodeâs plotline to be lost…but to be fair and honest, I DO NOT KNOW FOR SUREPink Floyd â Dogs (from Turkeys Away), featured prominently at the beginning of Turkeyâs 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 â Surfinâ USA (from the start and the end of Goodbye, Johnny)Hoyt Axton â 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 â 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 Andyâs 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 â Remembering the Rain (from In Concert)…not necessary, but a shame itâs 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 â Runaway (Live) (from Dirty Pictures Pt.1); not necessary to the plot, but Les does come in while itâs playing and ask Johnny to relinquish the board for a breaking news item…which turns out to be irrelevant, with Johnny they lighting Lesâ news page on fire as heâs reading from it…hope most of the scene remains intact.Sly & the Family Stone â The Same Thing (Makes You Laugh, Makes You Cry) (from Venus Rising), when âMaxâ the computerized DJ is revealed.The Flying Lizards â 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!
songe –
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.
Elizabeth A. Davies –
It’s dated, but it’s still funny.