Ironside Season Three (1969 70/Shout! Factory DVD Set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: B
Note: This DVD set is only available
exclusively from Shout! Factory at their on-line website store. You can find the link to that site below.
Ironside continued to be a huge hit for
Universal Television and Season Three had as much money and talent in it as the
first two, which we previously covered at these links:
Season One
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5404/Ironside+%E2%80%93+Season+One
Season Two
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6290/Ironside+%E2%80%93+Season+Two
If you
are unfamiliar with the show, start with those.
The amount of guest stars this season are so many, I am skipping the
titles and know that the following guest cast list may even miss a few great
character actors. The very impressive
and include Alan Reed Jr. Pat Priest,
Joseph Campenella, Bea Richards, Vera Miles, Cloris Leachman, Philip
Carey, Slim Pickens, Dane Clark, Murray MacLeod, Clu Gulager, William Smith,
Louise Latham, Gail Bonney, Steve Forest, Fred Lerner, Dana Elcar, Virginia
Gregg, Jackie Coogan, Don Red Barry, Robert Alda, Bo Svenson, Frank Wilcox,
Norman Fell, Audrey Totter, Walter Reed, Vito Scotti, A Martinez, Anne Baxter,
Herbert Anderson, Dick Latessa, Frank Aletter, Milton Selzer, Robert DuQui,
Norma Crane, Shelley Novack, Greg Mullavey, Dana Wynter, David Cassidy, Alan
Oppenheimer, Barbara Rhodes, Ann Doran, Bruce Kirby, Tina Louise, Charles
Aidman, John Ericson, Ruth McDevitt, John Marley, Tiffany Boiling, Bernard Fox,
Larry D. Mann, Alan Napier, Alan Caillou, John Saxon, Fritz Weaver, Henry
Corden, Ralph Manza, Robert Lipton, DeForest Kelley, Stephen McNally, Michael
Conrad, William Shatner, Nancy Malone, Kenneth Tobey, Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., Mitch
Vogel, Bradford Dillman, Wesley Addy, Marsha Hunt, Leo G. Carroll, Belinda
Montgomery, William Smithers, Lorraine Gary, Linda Galloway and Bill Bixby.
The show
had hit a rare stride, becoming the flagship hit for Universal Television and
everyone wanted to be on it and was on it in a way that had not been seen since
the Adam West Batman. In addition, the reputation of Perry Mason still loomed large and that
made Raymond Burr one of the biggest stars on TV which is something many
forget. By this time, TV was huge in a
way it never had been before and this show is one of the reasons why. This 7-DVD set has all 26 hour-long shows and
the writing is top-notch. While some
aspects of the show are dated, so much of it holds up that even you will be
surprised.
Cy
Chermak (CHiPs, Kolchak: The Night Stalker) was working as a producer on the show
at this time and this is among his best work.
He is among the many great producers, writers and behind-the-camera
talents that made this show such a huge hit.
Even against the many such series that followed, this remains a peak of
the genre.
The 1.33
X 1 image is pretty good throughout and all the shows were shot in 35mm in
color. The prints are not always
consistent and you can get a share of soft shots, but there are also some fine
shots throughout and it is always a pleasure to see a high-quality series hold
up this well. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
is consistent and at a healthy volume throughout, though it can show its age
here and there. There are no extras.
To order,
go to this link:
http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/
- Nicholas Sheffo
