Reviews (2)

And boy, don't forget to finish your homework
"The Rifleman" was No. 1 on television in the late 1950's, when 20 Western Oaters floated over the airwaves. ABC's genius was the casting of Chuck(Touch) Connors, former baseball player, as father Lucas McCain, Johnny Crawford as his son Mark, and veteran movie actor Paul Fix(long-time friend of John Wayne) as Micah, the town sheriff. Connors would go on to star, co-star, or narrate 5 more TV series. This Volume 4 DVD is one of the best, featuring 5 episodes. The first stars Robert Culp as a bounty hunter in a flimsy, slow story, with Culp mugging and hamming all the way. He would write the next episode, then move on to star in TV's "I Spy". Episode 2 stars Hollywood Rat Pack's Sammy Davis, Jr., as a flashy gunfighter with an agenda. His mock death-scene in the arms of Lucas McCain is nearly risible, with both actors on the verge of laughter. Episodes 3 and 4(perhaps the best) star TV veteran Vito Scotti as a Mexican bandit leader, with McCain and company stranded in a desolate ghost town. The 5th episode features Connors in a dual role, portraying McCain and his evil twin, hard-drinking Earl Bantry. Connors literally fights and talks to himself with the aid of an optical printer and trick photography. This marvelous DVD package is an enchanting window on a 1950's America that no longer exists. Then it was a simpler world. Good men were good. Bad men got shot. Everyone loved it. And in the end, there was America's favorite father counseling his son..."Boy, don't forget to finish your homework..."

Prime Chuck...
Chuck Connors stars as Lucas McCain, also known in some parts as "The Rifleman". McCain lives on a small ranch outside of the town of North Fork, New Mexico, with his son Mark (Johnny Crawford). His good friend is Marshal Micah Torrance (Paul Fix). This is the fourth collection of their adventures. Here are summaries and/or comments for the episodes in this set. Episode ratings are on a scale from one to five (best).

Man From Salinas (4): Lucas is acting marshal, when a bank robber drifts into town. McCain wounds the man when he attempts to escape, after robbing the town bank. The news that the man is badly hurt and expected to die, is telegraphed to Salinas, the town the man just came from. There, an unscrupulous fellow (Robert Culp), aware that there is a large reward on the dying man, schemes to come and claim the body. A suspenseful episode, featuring the acting of the charming, smooth-talking Culp.

Two Ounces of Tin (4): Sammy Davis Jr. guest stars as "Corey" a trick shooting gunfighter. Out to avenge the death of his father, he has a huge grudge against the lawmen of North Fork. Corey threatens to kill whoever wears the Marshal's (tin) badge. Unaware of this, Mark does the stranger a good turn, and in return he receives a jaw-dropping exhibition of lightning fast gunhandling and trick shooting. Lucas however is not impressed. As acting marshal, he is Corey's next target. Davis's fine performance as a lonely man with too much pride is both emotional and tragic.

Waste (4): This two-part adventure finds Lucas, Mark and Micah traveling near the Mexican border where they run into a gang of banditos in an abandoned town. Veteran character actor Vito Scotti, who specializes in portraying ethnic characters, is truly loathsome as the leader of the banditos (lovely dental work). They capture Lucas and Mark, and lead them to Micah who is buried up to his neck in the ground. Soon McCain is digging a hole preparing to join him in the dirt. Only Lucas's quick action saves them from the ruthless band of outlaws. McCain has all he can handle trying to save their lives, and is also called on to do an unexpected service, receiving feminine gratitude for his trouble. Mark is a real pain, not following his father's instructions and constantly asking questions. Micah is too injured to be of any help whatsoever. Of interest, is the fact that this tale was written by actor Robert Culp.

The Deadly Image (3): It seems almost every TV program from the 60's used this gimmick sooner or later, as Chuck Conners plays a dual role. "Earl Bantry" is a lookalike for Lucas McCain. When Bantry commits murder, a witness believes that McCain is guilty. The lookalike and his partner reach North Fork, causing a ruckus. Marshal Torrance gets careless, and winds up unconscious on the floor. Then the men head for the McCain ranch for more "fun". "Bantry" is particularly dislikable, and it is probably a safe guess that Conners enjoyed being the "bad guy" for a change.

The Rifleman Volume 4 is the best of the collections in this series so far. The stories are well written, and action packed. The guest stars are excellent, with depth to their characters. Justice is swift and McCain exceeds his average of one kill per episode. As usual, women are almost nonexistent. The transfer to DVD is excellent, the only complaint about this series is that there could easily be more than five episodes per disc. At this rate, it will take 34 DVD's to present all of The Rifleman episodes. Do you have the shelf space? ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Terrible
The themesong has been removed and the copy looks like it was shot from a video camera off TAGS playing on a tv set.

I figure the person that gave a five star rating was the owner of Madacy. Amazon really should not let the DVD distributors/owners rate their own products. This is the first and last Madacy product I will ever purchase. I'm really surprised to find big retailers carrying this [product]!

Luckily I found the set in a junk bin for [money].
I thought about giving the set to someone for Christmas, but it is so bad I would be embarresed to give it as a present. I guess I'll just donate it to charity and write the loss off on my taxes.

TAGS watchers, do not waste your money!
This series of 5 CDs contains only 2 episodes per CD. The video quality is very, very poor and "The Fishin' Hole" theme song has been removed. If Andy Taylor knew about the poor quality of these CDs, Barney definitely would "be allowed to arrest somebody!". If it were my company (Amazon.com), I would warn the prospective buyer of this CD set. If you are a devoted TAGS rerun watcher, I can safely rest assured that you will be disappointed and irritated with these CDs. Madacy is the name on these CDs.

I feel cheated
Not what I had hoped for. The opening theme is missing, The transfer to DVD is poor and there are only 10 episodes on 5 discs...2 per disc! I would not but this if I knew then what I know now...This is in spite of the fact that I now live and work in France and felt like I really needed a Mayberry fix to get me in touch with my roots....

Avoid.

Disappointed Andy Griffith Fan
Well, I just received this DVD 5 pack in the mail today and am I ever disappointed. I watched about two minutes before deciding to return this DVD set. But, according to the return policy, DVD must be returned unopened, so I guess I'm out of luck. But I can at least warn you to lower your expectations in regards to old shows/movies released in the DVD format. So far I have ordered Abbot and Costello and Andy Griffith DVDs from Amazon, and was hoping for a picture a least equal to broadcast quality. However, in both cases the picture is horrendous. These Andy Griffith DVD versions contain only two episodes per DVD, and the theme song has been deleted (as stated in a previous review). The pictures have not been cleaned of dust, etc, and they obviously aren't using the first generation master prints. I think my plan now will be to buy a DVD recorder when they become available, and tape the Andy Griffith shows off of TV Land, minus commercials. That seems to be the only way to get a great picture, no commercials, the episodes you truly want, and more than two episodes per DVD! As stated in the other reviews, these DVDs are a rip-off. I don't know what that one guy was thinking when he gave these DVD 5 stars. Unfortunately, that was the only review available when I made the mistake to order this DVD set.

Not what you would expect
This collection does contain the Andy Griffith episodes it states, however the consumer is short changed in several ways. First, the official (whistling)opening music is omitted for whatever reason. Second, the quality of episodes is suspect. Third, considering what they are charging for this set, one would expect more episodes. I highly recommend not buying this item. I would wait until other Andy Griffith DVD's are released containing the same episodes. As a matter of fact there are several episodes in this set that are on other Andy DVD's. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Best of Andy Griffith? I've seen better episodes than these!
First of all, there are supposedly 16 episodes in the public domain of "The Andy Griffith Show". I don't know how they became so, or whether it is possible to release more, but this collection is certainly not the best of the Andy Griffith Show. It seems like they randomly chose some of those public domain episodes, and put them on a DVD. Now, a true DVD of the "Best of the Andy Griffith Show" would be all of the Ernest T. Bass episodes, Barney's First Car, The Big House and a few others worthy of being 'the best'. This is just a cheap mix of rather un-funny episodes being called 'best' to get more sales.

Duped!
I ordered BOTH the Andy Griffith marathon AND The Best of the Andy Griffith Show. Didn't you say, "customers also buy...."
All 3 shows (yes, only 3) are already on the marathon package!
Obviously, not enough product information is given....
This DVD will be sent back.... Do I even want to consider ordering more of these DVD's? How many episodes were there anyway? OK, let me take a stab in the dark here......more than 15 maybe?????

What About Complete Season DVD Boxsets?
The Andy Griffith Show is a great sitcom, funny and enjoyable. I think the other reviewers made valid points in stating that the lack of the original music is a let down. When you buy one of your favorite TV shows on DVD you want every thing intact, the episodes, the music, etc. This show has a great cast of regular and recurring characters, Andy Taylor and his son Opie, Barney, Gomer, Goober, Otis, Ernest T. Bass, the Darlings etc and the actors are all good, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, etc. I'm glad they put some episodes on DVD but 3 episodes per DVD is not enough and I would really like to see complete season DVD boxsets with the original theme music included! I say just pay the royalty fee and use the original music! Try to make some kind of deal with the person who owns the rights to the music. A compromise maybe?

Very Disappointed
No theme music. "Best of" is a joke. Only 3 episodes. Would have been much better to watch the reruns on TV. Not at all collector quality.

Fine with me
First of all, I am ticked off at all the other reviews. You don't buy a DVD to just hear the theme song. You buy it for it's content (the show itself). They didn't include the original theme because the creator of it wanted too much royalties to use it on the DVD. Anyway, the DVD contained 3 episodes, "Dogs, Dogs, Dogs (#93, where eleven stray dogs end up in the courthouse)," "High Noon in Mayberry (#80, where an ex-con comes to settle something with Andy)," and "Aunt Bee's Medicine Man (#87, where Aunt Bee gets drunk from 'medicine')." The bonus features are only interactive menus (on all DVDs) and scene access (also on all DVDs). But like I said before, you buy it for the show and nothing else. The running time is 75 mins, and it is formatted for worldwide use. The picture was great, and the Dolby 5.1 surround sound was awesome. Highly recommended.... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good? Ok. Great? No.
First of all, the famous theme song is NOT played at the beginning of each episode. They play some other music that doesn't fit. Also, on one of the episodes, part of it is cut out, so the end doesn't make sense. These are all good episodes, my favorite being The Big House. However, this probably isn't the best TAGS DVD you can buy. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

The Original and BEST of the West!
Never mind 1999's theatrical version--this is the original we're talking about! Robert Conrad and Ross Martin set the standard for spies with spurs in the ABC action series which ran from 1965 to 1968. Brilliantly interweaving the 60's spy craze (including "Mission: Impossible", "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." and "Get Smart") with the equally-popular Western genre (ala "Bonanza", "Gunsmoke", and "Rawhide"), it was truly James Bond in the West. Conrad's well-tailored, silver-tongued James West, and Ross Martin's theatrical chameleon Artemus Gordon faced the most eccentric villains ever to grace the small screen (actually, I take that back--that accolade belongs to "Batman". But still....if you've seen the show, you know what I'm talking about). Appearing often was the short-statured Michael Dunn as Dr. Miguelito Loveless. Just classic stuff.

So, here's what we're calling for: 4 (four) season-by-season boxed sets containing all 104 episodes, as well as documentaries with any available living cast and/or crew members. Consider the other television series who've been digitally cast in DVD format: "Mary Tyler Moore", "M*A*S*H", "Star Trek"....lovers of this show will agree that "The Wild, Wild West" belongs amongst these classics.

Another vote for the release of the series on DVD!
The Wild Wild West, starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, was a truly unique blend of science fiction and western. The stories were especially dynamic during it's fourth and final season. With all the TV series being released on DVD (like Green Acres of all things) it stands to reason that Wild Wild West would be popular enough with the buying public to make it worth the studios while to produce the entire series, hopefully with some nice added features. The series was originally produced by Paramount. If they still have the rights, that's who we need to contact. Here's my vote.

More great things in Wild Wild West
Yes agree but there was even more to the show. At the beginning of each episode they would show four pictures, in fact a still view of the ending of each section of the each chapter of the episode.

You would start wandering what each still ment, but of course couldn't. Then when you watched the show you got the context.

I have never seen this method used since in any TV show; but it gave an even more mysterious feel to this great show this great work of art.

Sigmar, Iceland

(...)

A show Ahead of It's Time
Why this isn't being released in season sets is beyond me. Forget the fact that I love the show. From a purely business perspective this would make a killing in sales. Just go to the TV section in any Best Buy or Circuit City and you'd be shocked at some of the obscure older TV shows that are being released. The Wild Wild West has a huge fan following - not to mention the fact that it still holds up today and would probably hook a whole new generation. I'm hoping this one gets made soon.

It is impossible for a TV Show to be more fun than this!
One of the most creative, imaginative and purely fun shows in TV history stands waiting for DVD release, and I'm really hoping Paramount or whoever owns this series does the right thing. From the brilliant and resourceful production design and Heschong's inspired art direction (combining to realize a fantastic world of Victorian sci-fi wonder) to the colorful array of villains brilliantly portrayed by Michael Dunn, Carroll O'Connor, Lloyd Bochner and others, to the exciting music of Drasnin, Shores and Markowitz et al, to a long list of great directors and writers, WWW was a once-in-a-lifetime TV coup. And not least of all come the fight scenes: film students should be studying the perfectly-tuned editing, the use of wide and medium shots (minimal closeups) that pull you in to the precision choreography, creating the most visceral and supercharged blend of music and action ever on the tube, with the cool Conrad always at its center. Round it all off with the amazing Ross Martin's gallery of infinite rogues and you have as satisfying an escapist viewing experience as one could wish for. Bring it on! ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Please. Please, Please, put the SMDM on dvd....
Oh Man, how long have I waited for this. I loved the SMDM back in the day. I guess I was around 9 or 10 when it first came on. From the pilot episode to the last one, I was hooked. Did you know that the UK and other parts of Europe already have the SMDM and also the Bionic Woman on dvd? My question is, Why havent we got these classic shows on dvd already? These are American shows. We should have gotten these first. Dont get me wrong, I have nothing against our British friends for having them, but why neglect us here in America? I just hope that Universal wakes up and discovers that there IS an American market for these classic shows to be put on dvd format. If they can put CRAP like Friends and Celebrity Mole, and other lame shows on dvd, why not great, classic shows like the SMDM on dvd? Im still waiting....

The Six Million Dollar Man Will be Reincarnated
I am 14. I know 14 is a little young to know about thes series, but I saw a few reruns on tv. I really hope the studio will release this title on DVD. I would like to see Steve Austin ( Lee Majors ) in the crash and be turned into a machine. The Stunts are outstanding. I am also of interest of The Bionic Woman. Unfourntaly None of these titles are released on DVD yet. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

above average
If you're a die-hard Andy Griffith fan and havea dvd player its a must, it has some of the greastest black&white episodes ever made. ... Read more