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WKRP In Cincinnati: Season 1
Imagine for a moment that you have just finished eating dinner with the family and everyone begins to migrate their way to the living room. The kids find their favorite spots on the couch and you put in a DVD that is considered by most in the radio industry to be the epitome of radio broadcasting! Upon pushing play we were transported back to the late 70’s with a neurotic newsman, a shy journalism graduate, a sultry receptionist, a Program Director that has big dreams and a couple of deejays that would have hard time being anything else but. Let us not forget about the General Manager who pretends to operate this crazy little AM radio station known as WKRP in Cincinnati.
For the first time ever since its television debut on September 18th of 1978 you can now relive all of the wildest, funniest, rock ‘n’ roll moments on this “Complete First Season” three-disc set.
Before we go much further let me share with you that I have been a “deejay” now for well over a decade working everywhere from classic rock formats, Christian talk, “strip” clubs, Christian rock and currently Christian praise & worship. This first season of WKRP in Cincinnati can fit all genres mentioned and then some as far as what happens behind the scenes at your favorite radio station. That is not to say that this is a “Christian” show nor is it anti-Christian. It is all about the late 70’s lifestyle and the rock ‘n’ roll that went along with it!
So here, we go with the review…
We start off with part 1 of the 2 part Pilot premiere as the new Program Director Andy Travis shakes things up a bit at this floundering radio station with a format change from “beautiful music” to hard driving rock ‘n’ roll. The one scene that sticks out most to me is when Andy unrolls a giant KISS poster to hang on the wall of his new office. The one complaint I have with this episode along with this entire series is that due to music royalty issues none of the original music is played. All the classic songs that were on the original series have been edited out and replaced with studio tracks. This may not seem like a big deal to anyone who may be viewing these discs for the first time but I think it is a big deal for those of us who followed the series without fail. Part 2 of the Pilot finds our new PD in a crisis when angry listeners for the format change confront him. All five of them including a cute little gray haired woman that finds her way into the control room and begins to beat the turntable with her umbrella. If you do not know what a turntable is, ask an old person in your neighborhood. Overall, this Pilot is what launched a series of real life scenarios that kept America entertained for the next couple of years, got me hooked, and gave me the dream to get into the business!
There are 20 more episodes that come in this package and each one of them is hysterical. Everything from a unique radio holiday promotion involving live turkeys being dropped out of a helicopter (FYI turkeys do not fly!) to an ‘on-air’ contest nobody could win. Each one of these episodes has qualities that will make you talk about it around the water cooler at work. Each one of these episodes also has certain elements that would make you blush to even think about talking about around that same cooler.
Remember at the beginning of this review… Upon pushing play we were transported back to the late 70’s with a neurotic newsman, a shy journalism graduate, a sultry receptionist, a Program Director that has big dreams and a couple of deejays that would have hard time being anything else but. Let us not forget about the General Manager who pretends to operate this crazy little AM radio station known as WKRP in Cincinnati. When we finished watching all 22 episodes the only person left on the couch was my thirteen-year-old daughter and I. Not bad out of a family of five and one of those five is 3! We had a GREAT TIME with this DVD set and I look forward to doing it again when they come out with the 2nd season.
CAUTION: There are scenes that could definitely lead to Bible discussions and other scenes that you would be like… “I’m not sure the Bible covers this issue”. There are sexual innuendos, drug references, religious dogma, parenting issues and a pig fighting a carp. If you are offended by the word ‘booger’, you may want to skip the first episode. [Fox Video] Jeff Collins
This DVD review is an "online exclusive."
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