With shows like Miami Vice and Moonlighting finally getting a DVD release some 20 years after their original airing, one critically acclaimed series has always been conspicuous in its absence from the ranks of the digital revolution. I speak, of course, of WKRP in Cincinatti.
Now, after years of speculation, we get the official word that we're unlikely to get DVDs of WKRP any time soon, if ever (via Fark):
WKRP in Cincinnati was one of the most popular television shows of the late '70s and early '80s, but it is unlikely ever to be released on DVD because of high music-licensing costs.
The show, which centered on a fledging[sic] radio station with a nerdy news director and wild disc jockeys, had a lively soundtrack, playing tunes from rock 'n' rollers like Ted Nugent, Foreigner, Elton John and the Eagles.
For many TV shows, costs to license the original music for DVD are prohibitively high, so rights owners replace the music with cheaper tunes, much to the irritation of avid fans. And some shows, like WKRP, which is full of music, will probably never make it to DVD because of high licensing costs.
"The indication from the studios is that we may never see (WKRP in Cincinnati) because of all the music that would have to be licensed," said David Lambert, news director of TVShowsOnDVD.com, a clearinghouse of information on TV shows released on DVD. "As the DJ spins the record as he's talking to Loni Anderson, if there is music playing even for a couple of seconds, then the people producing the DVDs would have to license it."
Hardly surprising. Reruns of the show on Nick at Nite and elsewhere have featured some of the most grotesque and hilarious musical filler instead the original songs that were played. This is a problem for a number of older shows whose DVD releases have been marred by music changes (Quantum Leap and Northern Exposure, for example, and both also mentioned in the article).
Fox Home Entertainment wouldn't provide an official release date for DVDs of the show.
"It's not totally dead in the water, but there is a huge obstacle of music licensing," said spokeswoman Shari Rosenblum. "It's being looked at and it's on the radar."
I have no idea how big the market for WKRP DVDs would be. The show was #11 in the Nielsen ratings for 1979-80, but doesn't appear in the top 20 after that. I wouldn't mind seeing the original, unaltered shows again, but probably wouldn't devote any rapidly shrinking shelf space to the discs themselves. Part of me thinks Fox is just being cheap, and part of me wonders if they'd actually make a profit once they shelled out for all the licensing fees.
And part of me wants to run off to Rio with Bailey Quarters.
Second dat, Drew. I would personally vote that Cat Scratch Fever be replaced with something public domain, or maybe Les Nessman reading the farm report, but with reverb.
I'd be very in for the DVD set of WKRP. Underrated show, in my opinion -- one of the funniest of its era.
And yes, Bailey Quarters was far hotter than that tramp Jennifer Marlowe. She had that librarian look about her - quiet on the outside, but...
I'm sorry, were you saying something?
I'd spring for the DVDs of WKRP in a heartbeat, however much they cost. Back when I was studying for the Missouri Bar exam (early '80s), WKRP was running in syndication in the weekday late afternoon slot on KSD-TV in St. Louis, and it was a necessary stress relief to religiously catch every airing of the show I could. It kept me sane; I may even owe the show my life. :-)
And definitely Bailey. No contest whatsoever. Jan Smithers is simply one of the sexiest women who ever lived.
I wanna know what the hold up is in releasing 'Dr. Katz' on DVD.