Wagon Train rollin' in on October 7th (2 Viewers)

[Bob Gu]

Doug, I did not notice any missing bits while I was watching the episodes. I decided to check the run times on the color episodes when after reading the cast list at the end of one episode I saw the name of western character actor I.Stanford Jolley and realized I had not seen him in that episode.

I watched a few more color episodes and checked the rest and found only two more in the 76 minute range. So that's only 3 of 32 color episodes that are uncut. The three all start with a Wagon Train Chris Hale filmed bumper and a pre-credit sequence that runs about six minutes. That's probably the main part that's been lopped off the 70 minute episodes.

 

[silverking]

Well thats disappointing. I have bought both sets but haven't viewed yet.
From memory I do recall Wagon Train having a trailer for the next episode every week which would account for two or three minutes of missing footage.
I will check the monochrome episodes against the Columbia House tapes where there is a overlap. WT also ran the first 80 episodes uncut here in the UK in the 90's so I will check there also & report back.

As for the 'Guns of Will Sonnett' this was horribly cut as is 'Branded'. I believe they were both reruns on some channel as 'The Chuck Conners Theatre' which was probably the source of these prints. Laredo on the other hand is uncut.

My worry now is 'Laramie', particularly as they are going with the colour episodes.Think I may wait for reviews.

 

[Paul Mavis]

I've been asked to no longer post my reviews on HFT.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Paul,

Thanks again for another outstanding review! 1st-rate read at DVDTalk. Also, for mentioning one of the "aces" here, Bob H. Bob's given me a lot of great tips & info on classic TV/DVD sets.


That sums it up for me. I remember the show when Dad never missed watching it at our house. This one will be a tough call for me mainly due to the video transfer Q. Edited eps don't excite me, but I think I would get the set regardless of that one. I think I'll have to wait for a deep sale to get the set.

 

[Gary OS]

I also want to thank Paul for another great review. I bought this set from the Barnes & Noble online site recently because they have a phenomenal deal on right now with Timeless sets. I got mine for under $49 and it's waiting for me at my P.O. Box as I type. Can't wait to dive into this set.

Gary "thanks again, Mr. Mavis, for another vintage TV review" O.

 

[Stephen Bowie]

I can't add much to this, except that I pulled out some tapes from the color WAGON TRAIN's run on Lone Star and can confirm that they ran 70-71 minutes. So I guess the Timeless release is as good as it gets. I thought I'd remembered that these were uncut on Lone Star, but I was incorrect (I believe THE VIRGINIAN did run a full 76 minutes on LS, but maybe my memory is faulty there, too).

I'm told the WAGON TRAINs were edited for their run on CBN in the mid-80s, so that's when these tape masters date back to.

 

[DeWilson]

I'm just glad they had access to the color shows - edited or not.

 

[Jeff Willis]

I watched the "Fort Pierce Story" today with Ronald Regan (!) and John Ducette. Great episode. John Ducette is one of my all-time favorite character actors, When I see that guy in anything, it always reminds me of that small part he had in "True Grit" and the bigger part in "Big Jake".

Thanks to Gary for talking me into getting this set.

Jeff "RIP Mr President" W.

 

[Bob Hug]

Jeff, if you like John Doucette (as I do), be sure to check out the series "Lock Up." Doucette absolutely steals the show from series star Macdonald Carey. Unfortunately, there are no official releases of "Lock Up," but you can view public domain episodes from companies like Timeless Media, Mill Creek and Alpha. For a change, he plays a good cop in this series and plays the role with a knowing sense of humor. "Lock Up," as a series, plays sort of like a cut-rate version of "Perry Mason," though I can't recall ever seeing Carey's character actually in a court room.

 

[Mr. Ed]

If the Wagon Train isn't led by Ward Bond then I'll sit at the station until the next Wagon Train passes through. Amen!

 

[Jeff Willis]

Bob,

Thanks for the recommendation. That's another show I'd not heard of from that era.

 

[smithb]

I have to concur. While I've only seen one episode of Wagon Train and it didn't even focus on Bond's character but instead the scout (with the guy from Mannix), I'm a big fan of Bond's. I hope someday they will release at least some of the episodes from the first few seasons.

 

[smithb]

Ok...Amazon has a good price on this set currently @ about $48, so how badly are these episodes cut and how does the video quality compare to other similar releases?

Having not watched a lot of syndicated TV for a while I had not realized the extent of cuts that could be made. For example, the Little House on the Prairie DVDs are abruptly cut in places but the stories appears pretty well intact. Branded has some really bad cuts where complete scenes can be missing.

From those that have watched this Wagon train set. Is it really obvious where the cuts happened with really abrupt breaks in the story? Is it apparent that scenes must be missing based on story continuity or character involvement? How would you compare the cuts in this release to other TV show releases for comparison?

Same with the video quality. I watch on a 92" 16x9 projected screen but I''m pretty lenient for quality content. I've been watching the Texan and M Squad which should show the extent I can go for content. I wouldn't expect Rawhide or Gunsmoke quality, so what other series on DVD would you compare the video quality of Wagon Train?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jack P]

I took advantage of the discount to $48 and I plan on watching the B/W episodes first to get context for the show. The first one in the set from the first season with Nina Foch the principal guest looked good to me, and clearly came from a tape master from the original film elements and not a 16mm print. I'm assuming that the 16 B/W episodes in the set are the same ones that would have been transferred to tape for Columbia House video release way back when? At any rate that makes them look much much better than "M Squad" which is drawn entirely from 16mm sources.

I can't judge yet on whether story content will be affected on the edited color shows but I would think since these are drawn from video masters from the 80s or thereabouts that they would have been more dilligent in the editing by then.

 

[smithb]

Thanks Jack.

This CBS/P sale has already taken an almost $300 bite out of the wallet, so I've been on the edge as to whether to add one more purchase to the mix.

 

[Gary OS]

Brad, I have both the mega Timeless sets (WAGON TRAIN & M SQUAD) and can echo Jack's comments. The WT set looks much nicer than the uneven M SQUAD one. No doubt the source material given to Timeless was in much better shape and it shows. I'd highly recommend the WAGON TRAIN set for that price.

Gary "you've spent a good bit this week but knowing what you've bought I feel confident in saying that you'll find it was well worth it" O.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Brad,

Gary beat me to the post

but as he said, you'll be happy with this set. After talking to Gary before buying it, he made the deal for me based on the transfer Q. I have found the xfr Q's to be easily "watchable" for me. As some probably know on the Bd, I'm probably more on the "require good xfr Q's" for TV/DVD's than others here but I don't require pristine prints to buy a show. I'd place Wagon Train at the same level as the B/W Image sets of "Dick Van Dyke" or "Combat!" in picture Q. I've seen some TV/DVD sets from shows produced in the 80's that have worse xfr Q's than Wagon Train.

Regarding the edited episodes, since I'm not a Wagon Train expert, they didn't seem to bother me much at all. I could tell where a few of the edits were made but imo, they didn't "break" the storylines for me. I imagine the Wagon Train fans would see the edits differently than those that hadn't seen these since their original broadcasts. I hadn't seen any of these episodes since I watched them with Dad in the 60's.

 

[Bob Hug]

Interesting, as I was "pulling the trigger" this morning at Amazon on the megaset of "Wagon Train," I noticed a message for Timeless' "forgotten" DVD release of "Wagon Train: Going West," a smaller, 3-disc release of 12 episodes (different from those offered on the megaset). The notice said "This item has been discontinued by the manufacturer." A check over at Timeless' site, however, indicates that it's still in their catalog.

Wagon Train - Going West

Anybody know what's going on with this set?

 

[smithb]

Thanks all. While I'm not usually an impulse buyer at BB anymore due to usually better online pricing. I did happen by there yesterday and picked up the Wagon Train - Going West set for just under $20 to try out the series. I'll try it out tonight to see how I like them.

It seemed like it might be getting discontinued, as Bob suggested. It's funny, the Going West doesn't seem available in many places and I noticed a discontinued status on Amazon before but now I see another matching item that says it is available. Maybe Timeless came up with some more copies.

 

[Bob Hug]

DVD Pacific, which normally carries all of the Timeless Media releases, doesn't even show the "Going West" set anymore, only the megaset and a public domain release of the series, so it makes me wonder. Of course, as you say, Timeless could have more of these sets on the way or, perhaps, maybe they'll re-package these episodes on another release of the series in the future.