The Fugitive – The Fourth & Final Season,
Volume One (1966 – 1967) + Gunsmoke – The Fourth Season, Volume One
(1958 – 1959) + Perry Mason – Season 5,
Volume 2 (1962/CBS DVD Sets)
Picture:
B-/C+/C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C/C-/D Episodes: B-
Continuing
our general look at classic TV from the CBS archives, we look at three shows
people still talk about and are well into finding their entire output on
DVD. For Gunsmoke and Perry Mason,
they ran so long that it will be a while before their entire runs make it since
there are so many shows, but the original Fugitive
is coming to its end. This coverage is
interesting as the last Fugitive
season was in color, so it is our first look at those shows. We have never covered any actual season of Gunsmoke, though we have covered other
episodes and TV movies and the series Perry
Mason continues to be far superior to the belated TV movie revival which is
nowhere as challenging on the level of a puzzle.
Here is
our previous Fugitive coverage:
Season One, Volume One
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5892/The+Fugitive+%E2%80%93+Season
Season Two, Volume One
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7272/The+Fugitive+%E2%80%93+Season
Season Two, Volume Two
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8461/The+Fugitive+%E2%80%93+Season
Season Three, Volume Two
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9401/The+Fugitive+%E2%80%93+Season
The
controversy about music being replaced for copyright reasons spoiled the fun of
the shows being issued, but that is not an issue here and this first half of
the final season of the show, Quinn Martin ramped up the suspense and though
they were not flush with money, had to spend more on the shows since they moved
to full color and it is as strong a season as the show would have all the way
to the record-setting ratings for the final episode that will conclude the next
and final set.
In the
case of this Season Four, Volume One
set, here are the episodes, including guest stars:
1)
Last
Oasis (Hope Lange, Peter Mark Richman, Arch Johnson)
2)
Death
Is The Door Prize (Lois Nettleton, Ossie Davis, Howard Da Silva)
3)
A
Clean & Quiet Town (Michael Strong, Carol Eve Rossen, William Bromley)
4)
The
Sharp Edge Of Chivalry (Robert Drivas, Eduard Franz, Madlyn Rhue, Rosemary
Murphy, Richard Anderson, Ellen Corby)
5)
Ten
Thousand Pieces Of Silver (Paul Mantee, Lin McCarthy, Ford Rainey)
6)
Joshua’s
Kingdom (Kim Darby, Harry Townes, Tom Skerritt, Walter Burke)
7)
Second
Sight (Tim Considine, Ned Glass, Ted Knight, Janet MacLachlan)
8)
Wine
Is A Traitor (Roy
Thinness, James Gregory, Richard O’Brien)
9)
Approach
With Care (Denny Miller, Dabney Coleman, Michael Conrad)
10) Nobody Loses All The Time (Don Dubbins, Ben
Wright, Herbert Ellis)
11) Right In The Middle Of The Season (Dean
Jagger, Nancy Malone)
12) The Devil’s Disciples (Bruce Dern, Lou
Antonio, Diana Hyland)
13) The Blessing Of Liberty (Julie Sommars, Ludwig Donath, Tony
Mustane, Noam Pitlik)
14) The Evil Men Do (James Daly, Elizabeth Allen,
Barry Russo, Tom Signorelli)
15) Run The Man Down (James Broderick, Edward
Asner, Val Avery, Roy Engel, Stuart Nisbet)
The shows
has to pick up the pace a bit and the producers knew this should be the last
season because David Janssen’s Richard Kimble could not run forever, but I
still think the show was in the spirit it began with and there is no doubt the
makers cared about the audience. Barry
Morse was still showing up in many episodes as Lieutenant Philip Gerard, obsessed
with catching Kimble certain that he had murdered his wife.
The show
holds up very well for its age and I look forward to revisiting its conclusion.
As for Gunsmoke, here is our previous coverage
of official copies of the classic series in its 50th Anniversary two
DVD volumes where I discussed the show and its origins:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3219/Gunsmoke+-+50th+Anniversary+-+Vol
There are
also the later TV movie revivals, which were thankfully limited:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1136/Gunsmoke+Movie+Collection
This is
amazingly the first time I have had the chance to see the arc of any season of
the very long-running show and when you watch it like that, you can see why it
was one of the bets and most successful of all TV Westerns, especially in a
glut of them. Part of it had to do with
the character focus, but there is another aspect that is never discussed about
ht success of the show because the fact that it never felt as forced as most of
its competitors. The show has different
eras (which goes beyond separation by decades of black & white versus
color) that form in chunks of every few seasons or so and that kept the show
going and so fresh for so long.
Then
there is James Arness, who was rarely equaled in the genre on TV as a lead,
such a natural in the role, it is remarkable to see today. Amanda Blake is also interesting as neither
the school teacher or bad girl split typical of old movie Westerns, but a
character who could have been either, but is a mature woman who will not let
her Miss Kitty be a victim or be minimalized in a man’s world. The camera likes both of them, they can both
act and they create a special chemistry that kept the show a step ahead
character-wise from the competition. In
the case of this Season Four, Volume One
set, it was hitting its early stride.
19
half-hour shows (the series was still under 30 minutes at this time, but
episode length does not necessarily separate my theory of eras for the show)
are all here and have their moments and surprises for an older series. And Dennis Weaver was here early on as Chester as well as
Milburn Stone as Doc.
Finally
comes Perry Mason, which we have
only covered limited episodes of here:
Season Four, Volume One
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8633/Perry+Mason+%E2%80%93+Season
Season Four, Volume Two
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9402/Perry+Mason+%E2%80%93+Season
That
means we missed the early seasons (due in part to strong early press demand,
understandably), but I have seen the earliest episodes (of course) and can say
the show was solid early on and only became more polished as it moved on. Picking up on Season Five, Volume Two, the 15 hour-long shows (over 4 DVDs) the
show definitely found its early stride and the shows move along smoothly,
written for an audience that more than likely read several of the actual novels
when viewers read more books back in the day.
The
spirit of the show respected the spirit of the books and though a few feature
films were tried of Mason prior to TV, they did not take hold because they did
not quite make the mark. The series did
and without two-parters. The later TV
movie revival never did capture the books or magic of this show, despite having
more screen time to work with. Only a
diehard fan of the books could tell us how much of a difference we have between
the TV and print versions, but the show certainly sold many more books. Some moments may be unintentionally funny
here, but these are very smart otherwise and worth revisiting for those who
like a challenge.
The 1.33
X 1 transfers are all top rate and about as good as you could expect for DVD,
though I want to give CBS extra credit for getting great prints and transfers
for their classic TV on DVD releases; credit they do not always get. Gunsmoke
and Mason are here in solid black
and white transfers, with some softness and grain you would expect for most
shows of the time (I Love Lucy and Twilight Zone were rare exceptions) and
some shots on each are very impressive.
That leaves the color shows on Fugitive
and though no lab is credited on screen, you can see from misalignment of some
footage (especially in between credits) that these are three-strip,
dye-transfer Technicolor prints. Though
there may be some softness at times and color can be off in some shots, these
prints and transfers are great and have never looked this good on TV before,
which will please fans of the classic and surprise those who have not seen the
show before. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on
all three shows are as good as they could be for the older sound in the older
digital format, but the newer the show, the richer it sounds. I would like to hear lossless versions
sometime, though.
Extras are
nowhere to be found on Mason, but Fugitive has a 10+minutes interview
with the great Dominic Frontiere on his career and scoring the show, while Gunsmoke adds an interesting set of
Sponsor Spots and a Season Two
episode entitled How To Cure A Friend.
- Nicholas Sheffo
