Any chance "The Wonder Years" could be put on dvd by the Shout Factory? I heard there was some problems with the music copyrights.

Wonderful show!

I think music is not essential to EVERY show that gets released on DVD.  For instance on The Greatest American Hero DVDs all music except the theme is replaced.  It didn't bother me becuase, A) the theme is still there (and that's most essential) and B) I don't even remember which songs were used on the show (other than the theme).  Same holds true for The Fall Guy.  As long as the theme is there I don't care much about actual song replacements in the show because it wasn't essential to the plot (at least to me).  Nonetheless, some fans are still crying bloody murder. 

Now take a show like The Wonder Years, where the actual songs used in the episodes are integral to the show.  Most of the songs have strong emotional meaning to the characters and thus to the viewer.  People remember which songs played during important scenes.  Even if most songs were included on a DVD release, there will still be some that won;t be cleared.  Who is to say which are more important?  In a case like this, it;s obvious that the expensive ones get left out no matter how intergral to the show.  This is what happenned with WKRP where songs were integral to the plot.  Whole scenes were cut.  Fans were and still are outraged.  Even though sales were still supposedly decent Fox has not released any more seasons due to fan outrage.  I don't think they're going to repeat that with The Wonder Years.

Even shows that air today can still have music cut from the DVD releases because of costs.  My Name Is Earl is a good example.  A lot of music was mising from the S1 DVD set.  Cold Case still isn't on DVD.  I really don't think The Wonder Years will ever make it to DVD.  Sure, some fans will be willing to spend upwards of $100 a season to have the music intact.  But obviously not enough to keep releases coming.  Hopefully the show will air again in repeats, but even in syndication some music is cut.

The music really never bothers me if it's in great if not I can live with it.Is it still the most requested show on tvshowsondvd.com?

There's a clip on youtube of the actress who played Winnie Cooper being asked about possible DVDs for this one (at an event where she was promoting her new math book, of all things). Apparently even she's constantly reminded by fans that it's a music licensing issue.
So, yeah, worst kept secret INDEED.
:-)

In regards to WKRP, I bought the first season set and would gladly buy the remaining three, edits and all.  Got tired of shaking my fist in anger over that one. Seemed silly. Aside from when popular songs were used as punch lines ("Thank Heaven For Little Girls" by Maurice Chevalier in the episode where Carlson finds out his wife is pregnant, for example), the song replacements aren't that contemptible IMO.
But to each his own, really.

tvfan it  was on ion and some of the music wasn't there I didn't think any scenes where cut but I get where you are coming from and respect your view.

Somebody just needs to take the time to negotiate royalities, but I think, if it has anything to do with the money part of it regarding royalities, they'd make it up in DVD sales for sure.

B Ward your the expert so I will take your word for it.

This is MY ALL TIME FAVORITE show...and I really don't say that about every show, "The Wonder Years" is always #1 for me, and everything else is second to it.  With that said, I do understand ENTIRELY why its not out on DVD...the music really is almost like another star in the show...without the music (at least most of it), it would be almost as big a loss as if all the narrations from Daniel Stern were edited out.  There was a 'Best of' release for TWY about 12 years ago featuring music substitution.  I did happen to acquire a copy on VHS (the DVD version is virtually unobtainable for anything less than $80...and this is for THREE episodes!), and it really isn't the same without the original music.  For example, in the series finale which is featured on the video, Kevin makes a reference, saying "This song is so stupid.  What is someone going to kiss an envelope or something?"  Anyone who has seen the episode on TV knows he's making a reference to the Brian Hyland song "Sealed with a Kiss" which was playing on the car radio, but on the video version the song is swapped out for some other completely non-related studio rambling that doesn't even sound close.

The only way this show will EVER come to DVD intact is if somehow all of the studios can form an alliance ("you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours"), but we all know that will never happen because big companies act like infants and can't get along enough to make it happen.  If only they could find some way to share profits or something (in other words all studios receive an equal portion of profits), this might work.  I also thought if possibly an independent company (not unlike Shout!, a company not tied CBS, Fox, Disney, Warner Bros., etc.; an innocent bystander not involved in their politics) could get a hold of this title, it would be a little more possible.  On the other hand, of course, those big companies have to deal with each other all the time, so maybe FOX could work an agreement like they do in Congress, and attach the the desired music clearance rights to another transaction when another company comes to bargain with them for something they own, saying "the only way we'll let you have the rights to '______' is if you let us have the rights to '_______' for use in 'The Wonder Years'." 

So I guess it IS possible, but just not likely...the planets would have to re-align or something.  Ah well, I guess all those individuals making money on the bootleg copies will just continue to have a steady cash flow for the time being.

Sorry, Johnny, that no one has responded in two months, lol.

Although I am not an industry insider, I am an avid 'Wonder Years' fan, and have read all that I could find as to why the series will likely never land on DVD...or at least...not in its complete original form.  What follows is put in the way I understand it to be from what I've read or otherwise learned in college (I was a theatre major and took a few television productions classes...I even wrote a ten page scholarly essay on this very topic!). 

I believe Brian knows what he's talking about as far as saying that a DVD producer is most generally given a flat price for the song, and no negotiation takes place, but rather the DVD studio either pays what the rights holder wants, replaces the song, or otherwise, doesn't release the DVD at all.  Unfortunately, what you are asserting is actually kind of backwards, I think...the problem is that there AREN'T any laws to help control musical clearances for TV-on-DVD releases, if there were, and music prices were more regulated, maybe we'd have a fighting chance.  As it is now, music owners can charge whatever they want to DVD producers, which makes attaining the rights a rather confusing, daunting, time consuming, and otherwise troublesome task.  It is particularly difficult for older shows like "The Wonder Years" that were produced long before putting complete TV seasons on DVD was even thought of.  The series producers, who originally negotiated the broadcast rights during the shows original run, did not have the foresight to also negotiate home video rights, because releasing complete series on DVD was completely unheard of (even companies like Time Life and Columbia House that DID release certain shows like "All in the Family" and "Little House on the Prairie" in VHS collections only released select "best of" episodes...never until the 2000s were complete series released, with maybe one or two exceptions!). 

One thing that is kind of a slap in the face to the shows is that many times, using a song in a particularly popular TV series (as TWY was) is basically the same as an advertisement for that song...many of the songs used in TWY in particular had noticeable spikes in sales when the series was originally airing.  So basically, the song producer gets free advertising, and gets paid by the show's producers for broadcast rights, and now wants another payday to put the songs on the DVD.  Shame on them...it really shouldn't be that way!

In any event, current TV series that use a lot of music ("Glee", "One Tree Hill", etc.) are now all the wiser for older series downfalls in the music rights department, and now the DVD rights are negotiated right along with broadcast rights, and if a music owner won't give a TV producer a fair price, the music simply isn't used at all, and the producer gets rights to another attainable song.  Other shows, like "Dawson's Creek" and "Everwood", for example, which just happened to be produced just before the TV-on-DVD concept became popular, have actually went to great lengths to make music replacement "okay" by having the TV series' original producers or music consultants go back through every single episode and pick new songs [I guess it some how makes it better if the same person(s) who picked the original tunes, pick their replacements!].  This is met with some success/failure, however, on a case-by-case (or episode-by-episode) basis.  However, even though these programs used a great deal of music, they still didn't depend on it to define the entire setting and era as TWY did, so the changes aren't as recognizable or felt.

I personally feel that the music of "The Wonder Years" really is integral to the quality of the show...to me, to replace ALL of the music would harm the show as much as if they were to go back and have someone else replace Daniel Stern's poignant narrations...or otherwise remove them from the show all together.  It just wouldn't be the same.  However, I'm not saying that it wouldn't be feasible to replace at least SOME of the music...there were a few songs that were only used for 10 seconds or less...most of those could definitely be interchanged if necessary to trim the cost (especially considering that, in most cases, you pay the same for 10 seconds as you would if you used the entire song!).  So...would I buy the DVDs if SOME of the music was replaced?  Yes!!!  Would I buy them if MOST of the music was replaced...especially the infamous end-of-episode, fade-to-black ones (lol)?  Probably not.

BTW, I most definitely think there's one song in particular that really needs to be included on the DVDs, and that is (obviously) the opening theme, Joe Cocker's "With A Little Help From My Friends".  This is one that really might make or break it for me...they did release a 'Best of' DVD over a decade ago with a studio rendition replacing Cocker's version, and it was poorly done in a "karaoke country/western style" that just doesn't set the same mood at all.  I wouldn't mind if they used the original only sparingly and included it only on the first episode of each disc or something, but to replace it all together with that crummy re-make just wouldn't do.

I do believe there is at least a chance we will finally see it on DVD in some form, at least (especially given its long-running status as the #1 most requested unreleased TV show!)...my guess is sometime around the show's 25th anniversary in 2013 (or the 20th anniversary of the landmark series finale...depending on how you look at it, lol).