Thrilling Days of Yesteryear

“That’s about the size of it…”

At the end of yesterday’s post—yes, the same post in which I stupidly committed the fox paw of dubbing My Three Sons “the longest running live-action family sitcom in the history of the medium”—I mentioned that faithful TDOY reader/commenter BobH gave me a heads up regarding a possible “Best of” release of the 1960-62 cult mystery series Checkmate.  His information (as always) is pretty darn reliable; Amazon.com has a listing for a September 18, 2007 release (priced at $20.99) and while the details are still sketchy (Could this be the start of a series of subsequent releases—and is it possible that my Checkmate post influenced their decision?  Okay, “nah” to that last one) the listing does reveal that it will be brought to DVD by Timeless Media Group, a company that’s also brought us the complete runs of shows like Branded and The Guns of Will Sonnett (albeit the syndicated versions…boo…hiss).

But that’s not the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey might say.  Bob, working in tandem with his fellow Home Theater Forum detective BrianC, has done some truly impressive investigative work that would make Joe Friday and Frank Smith put in for early retirement.  Here are five additional series that will see disc action from Timeless on the same date (and listed, like Checkmate, at Amazon at the same price):

Cimarron City – A short-lived NBC western that lasted from 1958-59 (and later turned up in reruns on the same network in the summer of 1960); George Montgomery is the star of this oater, playing cattle baron-Mayor Matthew Rockford in a small Oklahoma town during its boom years in the 1880’s.  TDOY fave Audrey Totter also appeared on this series as boarding house owner Beth Purcell, and City also included regular appearances from John Smith (as the sheriff), Addison Richards, Claire Carlton, and a pre-Bonanza Dan Blocker as “Tiny Budinger.” (Not to be confused with Cimarron Strip, a 1968-69 sagebrush saga starring Stuart Whitman—an attempt by CBS to duplicate the success of rival NBC’s long-running The Virginian.)

Laredo – A big favorite of mine as a kid, Laredo was a comedy-western that centered on the rib-tickling exploits of three Texas Rangers during the post-Civil War era: veteran ranger Reese Bennett (Neville Brand), retired gunslinger Joe Riley (William Smith), and former soldier Chad Cooper (Peter Brown).  Much more serious (and a half-hour longer) than the similar F Troop, Laredo also ran from 1965-67 and the mere presence of it on DVD gives me a glimmer of hope that some of the series mentioned on yesterday’s list might see the light of day on disc as well.

Restless Gun – Former 20th Century-Fox song-and-dance man John Payne starred in this two-season western (1957-59) as a loner traveling through the Southwest after the Civil War who tried to keep to himself but often found himself resorting to his talent with a firearm (shades of Jimmy Stewart’s The Six Shooter).  A very popular show in its first season (it ranked #8 during the 1957-58 season according to A.C. Nielsen), Gun’s appeal took a dive during its sophomore year, and it ended up in weekday reruns on ABC from October ’59 to September ’60 (and on Saturday mornings from November of 1959 to March of 1960).

Riverboat – An opportunity to catch a young Burt Reynolds in one of his early attempts to pay the rent; he played sidekick Ben Frazier to Darren McGavin’s Grey Holden, a jack-of-all-trades who had won a sternwheeler called the Enterprise (does this mean McGavin was the first captain of the Enterprise?) in a poker game and paid his bills hauling freight, passengers and what have you.  Reynolds didn’t stay very long on this show; he was written out in mid-season and when Riverboat began its ill-fated sophomore year (the series got cancelled in January of 1961) he had been replaced by Noah Beery, Jr. as Bill Blake, a pilot who wound up with 49% of the Enterprise and was constantly looking for ways to get controlling interest.  (Timeless Media has previously released a Riverboat episode in a compilation entitled Classic Television.)

The Tall Man – Before Clu Galager began punching a time clock at the Shiloh Ranch on The Virginian, he kept pretty busy on Saturday nights on NBC for two years (1960-62) playing notorious gunfighter William H. Bonney, better known to all and sundry as Billy the Kid.  Barry Sullivan co-starred as his pal, Deputy Sheriff Pat Garrett, who loved Billy like a son despite the fact that they were on opposite sides of the law.  The title of this oater refers to Billy’s nickname; Mr. Bonney was apparently a forthright and honest individual despite his propensity for robbing banks and randomly killing people.  (“He killed my brother in cold blood…but at least he was honest about it.”)

So there you have it: six classics from the good ol’ days of television, and at the risk of sounding like someone on public TV pushing tote bags, please consider purchasing one or two of these sets to let Timeless Media Group know there is a market for this sort of material among classic TV fans.  And if not for that…well, then, think of the children.  FOR GOD’S SAKE, WON’T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!!!

- Posted by Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. - 10:36:50 PM - comment []