The Mod Squad – Season Two, Volume Two (1970/CBS DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: B-
As few
sets later, CBS DVD continues its entertaining rollout of the Danny Thomas/Aaron
Spelling hit The Mod Squad. They are issuing the hour-long show in
half-seasons and we covered the very first one at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6327/The+Mod+Squad+%E2%80%93+Seas
To recap
the show, the team consists of Pete (Michael Cole,) Julie (Peggy Lipton) and
Linc (Clarence Williams III, in a role being rediscovered and celebrated all
over again) are criminal kids turned undercover cops who have to train to take
on the new dangers in the streets new freedoms and new radical politics can
create. The show was on a roll at this
point and had found its way, but there were more than a few episodes that
recycled older episodes by being flashback and revisiting of cases episodes
that were happening way too soon in the series.
That hurts the writing and turns the show more into formula than it
should, but it is still very watchable and entertaining.
Despite
this, there are still some fine shows here and guest stars across these 13
shows include Nehemiah Persoff, Jay Novello, Martine Bartlett, Dennis Patrick,
Noel Harrison, Tom Stern, Ford Rainey, Gregory Sierra, James B. Sikking, Sammy
Davis, Jr., William Smithers, William Daniels, Lee Grant, Richard Dreyfuss,
Lynn Loring, Bert Freed, Maria Grimm, Richard Eastham, Gloria Foster, Ivan
Dixon, Jason Wingreen, Karl Swenson, Margot Kidder, Mark Goddard, Anita Louise,
Frank Converse, Edward Asner, Paul Stewart, Norman Alden, Linda Marsh, Diana
Muldaur, Charles Aidman, Frank Aletter, Jordan Rhodes, Marion Ross and David
Cassidy.
The 1.33
X 1 image again looks really good across all the episodes as shooting in 35mm
for TV pays off yet again with good depth, vibrant (not oversaturated) colors
and solid picture performance throughout that puts more than a few feature
films today to shame. Even more
impressive are some shots that are even sharper and clearer at times that are
demonstration quality down to the color which is some of the best color from
this era you will see on DVD. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is again about the same on all episodes, though it may seem a
tad more compressed on the pilot, but all sound good. This time, there are sadly no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
