Search - TV Classic Westerns - 4 DVD Set - Over 15 Hours! on DVD

Interesting Collection of TV Westerns

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 02/03/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Essentially, this is simply a four disc repackaging of Timeless Media's larger six disc set titled The Classic TV Western Collection - EMBOSSED COLLECTOR'S TIN! which includes two additional discs of licensed TV Westerns from NBC Universal like LARAMIE, WAGON TRAIN, and others. Even the discs in this set are numbered three through six, despite the fact that the description on the back of the clam case indicates discs one through four.



In some respects, this is a fairly typical packaging of TV Westerns as you'll see some episodes that have appeared on other DVD collections from different DVD companies. Notable examples include "Day of the Hunter" from THE RIFLEMAN and "Return of the Canary Kid" from SUGARFOOT, among a few others. These are episodes that have fallen into the public domain and anyone with copies of public domain episodes can release them. But there are some rarities on this disc, including the entire fourth disc titled "The Lost Westerns" that, to the best of my knowledge, have not been previously released on commercial DVD. So, in that respect, this set is worth owning for fans of TV Westerns. I had not seen YANCY DERRINGER since I was a child, so it was great to see the show again, even if it was just a single episode. Beware of the HIGH CHAPPARAL episode (possibly making its commercial DVD debut), as it is presented here in black & white and not in color as originally filmed.



For the most part, audio/visual quality is about what you would expect for a set of mostly public domain episodes. There are a few bright spots on the set like THE TEXAN, but most of the episodes look to have been sourced from tape and, while watchable, are far from pristeen evidencing no restoration work whatsover. Still there's enough here to keep fans of classic TV Westerns happy.



I recommend this set with some reservations, primarily based on audio/visual quality. Here are the shows on each disc (one episode per show):



Disc 1

Western Heroes of the Small Screen



BUFFALO BILL, JR.

ADVENTURES OF KIT CARSON

THE CISCO KID

ANNIE OAKLEY

THE LONE RANGER

RED RANGER

ROY ROGERS

TATE



Disc 2

Life in the West



THE HIGH CHAPARRAL

26 MEN

RANGE RIDER

SUGARFOOT

THE TEXAN

THE RIFLEMAN

FRONTIER DOCTOR



Disc 3

The Legendary Lawmen



THE TEXAS RANGERS

BAT MASTERSON

YANCY DERRINGER

JUDGE ROY BEAN

COWBOY G-MEN

DEATH VALLEY DAYS

SHOTGUN SLADE



Disc 4

The Lost Westerns



DIAMOND JIM

TUMBLEWEED

WICHITA TOWN

FRONTIER

JOHNNY MOCCASIN

NIGHT RIDER

STORY OF A STAR

ADVENTURES OF RICK O'SHAY









"