Route 66 - Season 1, Vol. 1 (1960) Review

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(More customer reviews)Wow! Route 66 on DVD. Finally, we get to cruise America with Tod (Martin Milner) and Buzz (George Marahis).
What can I say to convince you it's a `60s B&W series worth watching? Well, the vette is one thing, but it never overshadows the stories. Despite all the adventure, travelogue, drama and poetry this duo gets into, the real subject of the series was the human condition. Tod and Buz acted as observers and mentors to broken-down prizefighters and rodeo clowns, sadists and iron-willed matrons, surfers and heiresses, runaway kids and people from all walks of life, forced by circumstances to confront their demons.
While we may only get Route 66 Season 1 in Volumes 1 and 2 as some reviewers have indicated, this is what we have to look forward to in the first year (October 1960 to June 1961):
Episode 1 -- "Black November" -- Car trouble strands Tod and Buz in a small town with a terrible secret.
Episode 2 -- "A Lance of Straw" -- Tod and Buz sign on to crew a shrimp boat, despite the objections of the female captain's boyfriend.
Episode 3 -- "The Swan Bed" -- Tod and Buz meet a girl in New Orleans during a parrot fever epidemic.
Episode 4 -- "The Man on the Monkey Board" -- Tod and Buz meet a Nazi-hunter and his quarry on an offshore oil rig.
Episode 5 -- "The Strengthening Angels" -- Tod and Buz try to help a migrant worker who is in trouble with the local sheriff.
Episode 6 -- "Ten Drops of Water" -- Devastated by drought, three orphaned ranchers need Tod, Buz and the Corvette.
Episode 7 -- "Three Sides" (aka Three Sides of a Coin) -- Tod and Buz get involved in family strife while working for an Oregon hop farmer.
Episode 8 -- "Legacy for Lucia" -- While working at a logging camp, Tod and Buz meet a girl from Italy, who insists she has inherited the state of Oregon from a local man.
Episode 9 -- "Layout at Glen Canyon" -- Tod and Buz act as bodyguards to fashion models at the Glen Canyon Dam construction site.
Episode 10 -- "The Beryllium Eater" -- Tod and Buz help an old prospector stake his claim after he finds beryllium ore.
Episode 11 -- "A Fury Slinging Flame" -- Tod and Buz meet a scientist (Leslie Nielsen) who intends to hide in Carlsbad Caverns with friends until an expected nuclear holocaust is over.
Episode 12 -- "Sheba" -- Tod and Buz work as cowboys for Woody Biggs (Lee Marvin), who isn't done with the woman he sent to prison.
Episode 13 -- "The Quick and the Dead" -- Tod becomes a race car driver as he and Buz get involved in a family controversy over whether an aging driver should retire.
Episode 14 -- "Play It Glissando" --Tod and Buz try to protect a woman from her jazz musician husband.
Episode 15 -- "The Clover Throne" -- Tod and Buz work for a date farmer (Jack Warden) who fights the highway department while he "waits out" his sexy ward, hoping she will marry him.
Episode 16 --"Fly Away Home (Part 1)" -- Tod becomes a crop duster for a struggling company.
Episode 17 -- "Fly Away Home (Part 2)" -- Tod and Buz get involved in a quandary over an extra-dangerous crop dusting contract.
Episode 18 -- "Sleep on Four Pillows" -- Tod and Buz meet a teenage girl who claims to be on the run from gangsters - but her family thinks she has been kidnapped.
Episode 19 -- "An Absence of Tears" -- Tod and Buz try to protect a blind widow from her husband's murderers.
Episode 20 -- "Like a Motherless Child" -- Buz and Tod split up over whether to return a runaway boy to an orphanage.
Episode 21 -- "Effigy in Snow" -- Tod and Buz try to stop a murderer who has left his latest victim in the snow at Squaw Valley.
Episode 22 -- "Eleven, the Hard Way" -- Tod and Buz meet a gambler (Walter Matthau), whom the people of Broken Knee have asked to save their town.
Episode 23 -- "Most Vanquished, Most Victorious" -- At the request of his aunt, Tod traces the life of his saintly cousin through the Los Angeles slums.
Episode 24 -- "Don't Count Stars" -- Tod and Buz get involved in a custody case over a 9-year-old heiress and her drunken, gambling "uncle."
Episode 25 -- "The Newborn" -- Tod and Buz protect a Native American girl and her newborn from their employer, who rules the land like a feudal baron.
Episode 26 -- "A Skill for Hunting" -- Tod and Buz are framed as poachers after Tod interferes with a real poacher's hunting.
Episode 27 -- "Trap at Cordova" -- Tod and Buz are coerced into teaching school children in rural New Mexico.
Episode 28 -- "The Opponent" -- Buz visits and inspires his boyhood hero, a former boxing great (Darren McGavin) who is now on the skids.
Episode 29 -- "Welcome to Amity" -- Tod and Buz meet a woman (Susan Oliver), who wants to bury her mother in a nearby cemetery. The people of Amity want to stop her.
Episode 30 - "Incident on a Bridge" --Tod and Buz board in a home with an abused, mute girl and her two jealous - and violent - suitors.
So, c'mon. Hitch a ride and relive these nostalgic vignettes of America and Americans. It's a great trip!
POST-SCRIPT (31 Oct. 2007):
I concur with subsequent reviewers, regarding the audio-video transfer quality to this DVD set. It could be better. Although the video is too dark, the brightness and contrast can be adjusted from your system. Audio varies from episode to episode, and I would have thought with today's technology this could have been improved. It is a pity because the packaging of this boxed set is well done. The menu of episodes, commercials and bio-film background are nice touches to a great, great series. Does this mean I regret buying this DVD set? Not one iota, considering its the best thing out there at the moment.

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Now available on DVD for the first time, Route 66 has been digitally transferred from the original masters. The television series, which aired 1960-64, is one of the most brilliant dramas to emerge from the '60s, famous for its catchy Nelson Riddle theme song, intriguing characters, top-drawer writing and stellar guest appearances. The original "road trip" drama, this classic television series was one of the most highly rated of the era, establishing the Corvette as an American icon.

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Medic, Volume 1 (TV Series) (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are someone interested in early television, "Medic" is worth your time and investment. I used an episode of the series when I taught a "History of Television" college course. The show represented a programming trend in the 1950s of featuring a docudrama approach to medical subjects, much in the way police work was treated in "Dragnet". The show's creator James Moser managed to have many of the show's segments filmed in actual Los Angeles-area hospitals and clinics. The show also intercut actual surgery footage in the realistic depiction of medical procedures. The show also became embroiled in censorship battles. For instance, one show was to feature a cesarean birth (including the incision). However, the New York Archdiocese protested and NBC forced the elimination of the footage from the episode. Another show dealing with a Black doctor struggling with whether he should return to the South to practice medicine led to an uproar from Southern TV affiliates, and NBC again buckled and rejected Moser's demand that the episode be aired. The show is also noteworthy for featuring Richard Boone as Dr. Konrad Styner, who served as the show's narrator and an occasional character in the show's anthology-style episodes. Boone would later make a more indelible mark by starring as Paladin in the landmark western series, "Have Gun-Will Travel" (also worth your time and monetary investment).

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The Shield - The Complete Fourth Season (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)At the end of the third season of FX's the Shield, crooked cop Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and his strike team split up. As the fourth season opens, the Farmington precinct meets their new captain in Monica Rawling (Glenn Close), and it's not long before she makes herself noticed. With Aceveda (Benito Martinez) on his way to political office, Rawling makes her presence felt re-organizing the force with Vic as her right hand man, and they both put their sights on charismatic drug dealer Antwan Mitchell (Anthony Anderson). In the meantime, Vic's ex-partner Shane (Walt Goggins) works vice, and gets in way too deep with Mitchell, which leads to the reformation of the strike team in an effort to save Shane, and themselves, before it's too late. Sub-plots throughout the season include Aceveda discovering a dark side he never knew he had, Julian (Michael Jace) looking to be transfered as he opposes Rawling's approach to the seizures, and Dutch (Jay Karnes) finding romance with Vic's ex-wife (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) while trying to get both his partner (CCH Pounder) and himself out of the doghouse with the DA. Many agree that the third season was a step down compared to the landmark first two, and the fourth season delivers firing on all cylinders. Glenn Close is perfect casting as the no-nonsense new captain, while Michael Chiklis is excellent as always as crooked cop Mackey, who this season, appears to be searching for redemption. The Shield is back on track, and it's once again the best original drama on cable TV. By the end of the season, there is a big change for all the main players, and it will leave you salivating for what's coming next.

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Heart-pounding. Intense. Gripping. Keeping the streets safe has never been more brutal. Season 4 introduced Glenn Close in a leading role and was the highest rated season yet. Live the suspense with THE SHIELD SEASON 4 on DVD!

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The Shield - The Complete Third Season (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Shield" seems to up it a notch with every season. I remember watching the very first season and thinking to myself that there was no way this show could get any darker, more intense or more outrageous. I was proven wrong when I saw the second season, but yet again I made the wrong assumption and thinking there was no way in the world that the next season would be more devastating and brutal.
After seeing Season 3, I have finally learned my lesson and will no longer make that silly assumption. This is because "The Shield: Season 3" takes you even further down the rabbit hole that is this amazingly dark and take-no-prisoners cop drama that pretty much breaks all of the rules. You are given some deeply flawed characters... and yet, we still want to learn more about them and even care what happens to them.
After successfully robbing the money train, the heat is on the Strike Team more than ever. Vic needs to keep his team in line until the dust settles, but that proves to be an impossible task as emotions and paranoia run high among the other participants. Captain Aceveda is still trying to maintain his political career while taking care of The Barn, but something horrific will happen to him that will leave him never being the same again. Claudette is still striving for the position of the "top dog" at The Barn and doesn't make things easier for Vic when she decides to include a Decoy Squad, while keeping a close eye on Vic and his team. Still, Vic has other problems to deal with, and I'm not even talking about his family issues. The Strike Team is in constant danger of being the latest victims of the Armenian Mob, who is willing to kill anyone involved with the whole money train robbery. This is only a small part of the fun that lurks in this explosive third season.
The show is still extremely dark and brutal at times, but it still gets in a lot of the ironic humor in it as well. Fans of the first two seasons will most likely enjoy this new season, as each episode is engaging and addicting. The great writing and execution is still there and by the time you finish these 15 episodes, you'll want more. Michael Chiklis does an excellent job of playing "Vic," and even though there are times you really hate him, there are also times where you cannot help but root for him.
This show is not for those who get offended easily or are extremely sensitive. Just like the other two seasons, these guys pretty much get away with ANYTHING (the only exception I've seen is the usage of the F-word). This is definitely something you'd think you would catch on HBO. There's a lot of violence, language, disturbing situations and content, and there is a pretty horrible rape scene... but it's not what you would think. Anyways, just be cautious. If you can handle the first two seasons, then you shouldn't have too many problems dealing with Season 3. Extras included are commentary on selected episodes, deleted scenes and a making-of documentary.
"The Shield: Season 3" delivers the goods when it comes to addicting and mesmerizing TV. All of the episodes are highly entertaining and you will find yourself having a hard time putting the DVDs away. Once you start, it is VERY hard to stop watching. If you haven't seen the other seasons, then I'd recommend checking those out first, although it is possible to get the gist of what's going on without doing so. "The Shield" has definitely kept its edge, and Season 3 proves that big time. -Michael Crane

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"The Shield" made history with the most Emmy nominations ever for a basic cable drama.It won a Golden Globe for Best Drama Series and star Michael Chiklis won the Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Get ready as this hard-hitting, award-winning cop drama returns with a vengeance for a pulse-pounding third season.

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