These comedic adventures scored big on the original “Mickey Mouse Club” in 1955. The story is fairly straight forward; Marty (David Stollery) is a spoiled rich kid sent to a dude ranch for boys to toughen him up. Spin (Tim Considine) takes a dislike initially to the boy because of the dismissive comments that he makes about the conditions and the other kids. Eventually the two become buddies as Marty becomes accustomed to his surroundings and gives up his pretensions.

Image & Sound:

Shot in 1955 the show is presented in its original full frame and black & white images. The show has been cleaned up a bit and given the fact that it hasn’t aired all that much over the last thirty years, “The Adventures of Spin & Marty” looks quite good. Although the images are a bit soft at times, overall the show looks quite good.

Extras:

We get to revisit the Triple R with Stollery and Considine. They return to the location where the show was shot although very little of the original structures stand. While fans of the original show might not be surprised to see how much the duo have aged, kids being introduced to the show for the first time might be a bit shocked. The duo reminisce about the show. There’s plenty of clips intercut with interview footage of the two. Both point out that “Spin & Marty” might not have been popular because of the quality of the series (although it was well shot for its time) but because it was a live action adventure series representing every boy’s fantasy of being a cowboy. ***

Back in the Saddle with Harry Carey, Jr.” features Maltin interviewing Carey. Carey played Bill Burnett on the show. Carey discusses how he got involved with the show and his memories of working on it. We also get Considine’s screen test, behind-the-scenes stills and a section on the merchandising of the show. Maltin provides an introduction about the show discussing its popularity and how it impacted viewers. Maltin discusses director William Beaudine who directed all of the “Spin & Marty” shows.

Final Words: