WKRP the way it should be

As you may know if you've been following my blog for a while, I'm a big fan of WKRP in Cincinnati, and I was so happy to learn it was coming out on DVD. Music rights were an issue, but they said they'd gotten many of the rights to what was on the original broadcast, and the show's creator, Hugh Wilson, had seen the lightly edited episodes and given his approval.

Then it came out that the episodes weren't lightly edited. Most of the song rights couldn't be (or flat out weren't) acquired, so most of the music is generic rock, and some scenes are taken out altogether.

I think I'll still buy the set - there's some great writing and acting that shouldn't be forgotten - but it's such a disappointment to not get to see the shows the way they were, particularly in the bits where music played an important part.

Such as this moment, where Johnny Fever's playing "Dogs" by Pink Floyd...



...and this one, where Les prepares for a date with Jennifer to the tune of Foreigner's "Hot Blooded."



NOTE: I've gone through the archives and added labels to all my entries, whether the links are live or not. This is a first pass - if it works for you, let me know; if you think a category should be given that isn't, let me know that too.