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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
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“Kojak:
Season One“
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Reviewed
by: |
Wayne A. Klein |
| Genre: |
Crime drama
|
| Video: |
1.33:1 Full
screen |
| Audio: |
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
| Languages |
English |
| Subtitles |
English,
Spanish, French |
| Length |
18 hours
|
| Rating |
NR |
| Release Date |
3/27/05 |
| 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:
|
None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Telly Savalas,
Dan Frazer, Kevin Dobson, George Savalas, Vince Conti, Harvey
Keitel, James Woods, John Ritter, Dabney Coleman |
| Written
By: |
Abby Mann,
Donald P. Bellisario, Ray Brenner, Steven W. Carabatsos, Oliver
Crawford |
| Produced
By: |
Abby Mann,
Jack Laird, Chester Krumholz |
| Directed
By: |
Richard Donner,
Jerry London, Daniel Haller |
| Music:
|
Billy Goldenberg
|
| The
Review: |
Before
“NYPD Blue” offered us naked backsides or “Hill Street Blues”
offered the street at its nastiest, “Kojak” was the cutting
edge cop show that set the stage. Teo Kojak first appeared
in the successful TV movie “The Marcus Nelson Murders” written
and produced by the talented Abby Mann. The TV movie based
on the book by Selwyn Raab introduced an unusual hero in the
form of chrome dome plated Telly Savalas as the most unlikely
hero TV had introduced at the time. Tough, fair and always
well dressed, Kojak and his crack crew of colleagues Stavros
(George Savalas), Crocker (Kevin Dobson) and his captain Frank
McNeil (Dan Frazer) went about solving crimes not by breaking
the rules but b twisting them into pretzels. This is the complete
first season although it’s missing the ground breaking TV
movie “The Marcus-Nelson Murders” which should be part of
this set. The guest roster is a who’s who of 70’s and 80’s
TV with Dabney Coleman, Harvey Keitel (!), John Ritter, Paul
Michael Glaser and Tina Louise among the many guest stars
that showed up over the years. This doesn’t have the more
rapid fire pacing of more modern shows so please keep that
in mind. ---
|
| Image
and Sound: |
A surprisingly
sharp and blemish free transfer, the only major flaw is that
the transfer is unusually dark. There’s occasional debris but
it’s pretty mild and the master used for the transfer here is
in really good shape. The audio comes through crystal clear
for the most part. |
| The
Extras: |
Sorry,
it would be nice to report some extras but this is bare bones.
This is where “The Marcus Nelson Murders” would have been
appropriate. Why not a retrospective featurette particularly
in light of the new version of the series featuring Ving Rhames?
What about a lollypop? Unfortunately, this is typical of Universal's
M.O. when it comes to older TV shows. ---
|
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Final
Words: |
A terrific
series finally sees the light of day on DVD. It’s a pity there’s
no extras but the nice transfer will certainly make up for some
of that. As to why “The Marcus Nelson Murders” isn’t included,
I’m at a loss. Perhaps Universal couldn’t provide a decent master
in time for this release. They’ve been pretty good about including
pilot movies/episodes with the boxed sets they’ve released over
the last year or so. |
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