|
“Dragnet
1967-Season-1“
|
 |
Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Police drama
|
| Video: |
1.33:1 Full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
1.0 (mono) |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English |
| Length |
Approximately
380 minutes |
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
6/7/05 |
| Studio |
Universal
Home Video |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
None |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
CD with 1954
Broadcast of the radio show “Dragnet” |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Jack Webb,
Harry Morgan, Don Ross |
| Written
By: |
Richard L.
Breen, Robert C. Dennis, John Randolph (Jack Webb) |
| Produced
By: |
Jack Webb
|
| Directed
By: |
Jack Webb
|
| Music:
|
Miklós Rózsa
|
| The
Review: |
Many people believe that “Star Trek”
was the first franchise series with multiple series. That
honor would go to “Dragnet” which began life as a radio show
and spawned 3 TV series and 2 movies and 1 TV movie. Jack
Webb makes playing a police stiff an art form in the series.
The best of the three series had to be the 60’s revival featuring
Harry Morgan as Joe Friday’s partner Officer Bill Gannon.
None of these characters had personality nor did they have
a home life that we truly saw much less a fantasy life. The
60’s series had a touch of humor to it that made it more memorablethan
the original 50’s version. ***
Universal has issued the first
season of “Dragnet” (called “Dragnet 1967”) sans the 1966
TV pilot movie that aired prior to the first 17 episodes of
the series. We do get the first season here in all its stiff
glory to enjoy. ---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
There is
a considerable amount of dirt and debris which probably was
unavoidable with this series. However, Universal could have
cleaned these up a bit for their DVD presentation. The colors
are, for the most part, quite vivid considering the age of the
series. The picture quality varies quite a bit from time to
time with some scenes sharper than others. Any stock footage
looks the worse for wear. The mono sound isn’t bad considering
the age but the fidelity could be improved a tad. --- |
| The
Extras: |
Universal
has included a CD of a 1954 radio broadcast of the series
as an extra here. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
No commentary
tracks --- |
| Final
Words: |
This will
probably be the only transfer this series receives to DVD so
it is a bit disappointing that Universal didn’t clean this series
up a bit more. It doesn’t look as good as “Baa Baa Black Sheep”
or even “Airwolf” by comparison but it’s not a complete disaster.
Fans will be happy to have the series at all although it’s strange
that Universal issued this on a two disc set. Both appear to
be double sided but the second disc has nothing on the second
side. |
