Rating: Not Rated
Starring:
Gary Sandy as Andy Travis
Richard Sanders as Les Nessman
Howard Hesseman as Johnny ‘Dr. Fever’ Caravella
Gordon Jump as Arthur ‘Big Guy’ Carlson
Loni Anderson as Jennifer Elizabeth Marlowe
Tim Reid as Venus Flytrap
Frank Bonner as Herbert ‘Herb’ Tarlek
Jan Smithers as Bailey Quarters
Special Features:
All 22 Season One Episodes
Audio Commentary by Creator and Cast
Exclusive DVD Featurettes That Include All-New Cast Interviews: “Do My Eyes Say Yes?” “A ‘Fish Story’ Story”
Other Info:
Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Dolby Digital Mono Sound
Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 532 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“We’re on the air! ‘WKRP In Cincinnati,’ classic TV’s wildest, funniest, rock ‘n’ roll sitcom is here at last on DVD. Join WKRP’s hilarious staff – program director Andy Travis, deejays Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap, neurotic newsman Les Nessman, sultry receptionist Jennifer Marlowe and the rest – both on and off the air, as they take their floundering station from hard times to hard rock. So, set that dial for ‘WKRP In Cincinnati’… and turn it up, man!”
“WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete First Season” is not rated.
Mini-Review:
I used to watch “WKRP in Cincinnati” when I was a kid, so it was cool to be able to revisit it on DVD. Out of the 22 episodes, I’ll never forget “Turkeys Away”, the now classic episode where a Thanksgiving promotion goes horribly wrong. Les Nessman’s commentary and the line “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly” are TV classics.
I don’t claim to be a “WKRP” authority, but die hard fans have been upset about this DVD release because some of the episodes have been trimmed on the running time and the original music has been changed in many cases. So some of the classic songs featured in the episodes are no longer present thanks to budget reasons. The voices of the original actors have even been replaced by impersonators in some of those scenes. But casual fans will probably never even notice the difference.
The bonus features are a little light. There are two commentaries one for the pilot episode and one for “Turkeys Away”. Loni Anderson is the only cast member joining in along with the creators. The featurette “Do My Eyes Say Yes?” highlights Anderson and her character on the show. Howard Hesseman, Tim Reid, and Frank Bonner take part in that featurette. They also participate in “A ‘Fish Story’ Story” which covers an episode where the creators tried to thumb their noses at the television executives but inadvertently created one of their most popular episodes.
While this DVD set may not be the definitive edition that “WKRP” purists wanted, it is a good opportunity to see a true TV classic.
