Longstreet: The Complete Series Coming 12/1/17 (1 Viewer)

[JohnHopper]

One episode entitled “One in the Reality Column” is the companion piece to
a season 6 episode of Mission: Impossible entitled “Blind” because of a particular scene (dementia scene)
and the use of the same composer (Benny Golson).

Oddly enough, it guest stars two guests from the same season 6 of Mission: Impossible:
Victor French (see "The Tram")
Tyne Daly (see "Nerves")

Back to Longstreet main features: the interior set of Mike Longstreet's home is recycled
in a season 7 of Mission: Impossible entitled "Break!" (guest starring Robert Conrad).
The pilot of Longstreet was scored by Robert Drasnin, another Mission: Impossible alumnus.
Supporting actors Mark Richman (see "Gitano", "My Friend, My Enemy", "Underground")
as well as Marlyn Mason (see "Crack-Up") appear on Mission: Impossible.
On the whole, we can pinpoint Paramount's backlots and sets in both shows.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

So finally, I got my set and I watched the good pilot and the first three regular episodes.
The prints are not restored it shows on the screen:

satured color (as opposed to neutral and well-balanced color)
blurry master shots
unsharped titles credits during the end credits.

On the positive note, they kept the original Paramount end vignettes and the episodes are watchable.

One episode entitled “One in the Reality Column” is the companion piece to
a season 6 episode of Mission: Impossible entitled “Blind” because of a particular scene (dementia scene)
and the use of the same composer (Benny Golson).

The “Blind” imdb file
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0649211/reference

John,

By "unsharped" do you mean sped-up 4 percent?

~Ben

 

[JohnHopper]

By "unsharped" do you mean sped-up 4 percent?

Ben,

I mean "ill-defined", "slightly blurry" letters. I think it is an "image resolution/compression" issue.

 

[JohnHopper]

Today, I watched another episode composed by Benny Golson that I recommended: "The Shape of Nightmare".
It's a tense prison narrative.
It features guest actors from Mission: Impossible:
Dana Elcar ("Flip Side")
Paul Koslo ("Double Dead")
William Smith ("A Ghost Story", "Encounter", "Movie")
Scott Walker ("Doomsday", "Invasion")

 

[JohnHopper]

Which of the two commercial break artworks do you like the most?
the house facade drawing
the yellow longstreet graphic

 

[Doug Wallen]

Longstreet and his dog.

 

[BobO'Link]

VEI is having a "New Year" sale. The email I received, and their site, have confusing wording. Basically:

10% off everything and Free shipping over $25.

BUT it's separate codes that I've not been able to stack to make the "and" part of the offer work.

10% Off - "New Year 10%"
Free Shipping - "New Year"

So... YMMV

Longstreet is still going for $28.99 and with the extra 10% plus free shipping would be a no-brainer purchase for me... but right now it's a choice of 10% off ($26.10) and pay $9.99 shipping or get free shipping but no 10% off...

I contacted them to see what's up since the offer wording is "and" and not "or"... I'll update if I hear back.

 

[Blimpoy06]

VEI is having a "New Year" sale. The email I received, and their site, have confusing wording

I placed an order today with VEI. I couldn't get both codes to work together either. However, when using the 10% off code, I did get free shipping with only a $5 handling fee. Still a good value. I picked up Longstreet, The Immortal, The Magician and Jake & The Fatman.

 

[RobertR]

I have a question for those of you who have the Longstreet set. I vaguely recall a scene with Bruce Lee where he was standing between two guys and took both of them out with sideways kicks. Does anyone know which episode that was?

 

[BobO'Link]

Here is is, almost a week later, and I've not yet heard back from VEI (not unexpected). The wording of the sale is still the same, and not true as the codes still do not stack so "and" is incorrect wording.

I did find they now have it listed on Amazon - for $29.99, Prime shipping, sold by VEI. You don't get 10% off - but do get free shipping whether or not you have Prime. In many respects this feels better. Amazon protection, free shipping (2-day w/Prime if you wish), no dealing with vagaries of Canadian Post-USPS service and no tracking (at least the last time I ordered direct from VEI there was no tracking).

 

[Blimpoy06]

no dealing with vagaries of Canadian Post-USPS service and no tracking (at least the last time I ordered direct from VEI there was no tracking).

I received my order I placed with VEI during the 10% OFF sale today. They provide tracking thru USPS. I was notified by email when the package was shipped and delivered. Overall, I'm satisfied with the service provided. I ordered 4 titles, and paid only $5 to ship them all. I still saved over retail price with free Prime shipping.

 

[Doug Wallen]

I have a question for those of you who have the Longstreet set. I vaguely recall a scene with Bruce Lee where he was standing between two guys and took both of them out with sideways kicks. Does anyone know which episode that was?

I believe that is how Longstreet meets Lee's character (Li Tsung) in the series premier episode. Longstreet is walking to his home and is attacked by some Longshoreman/Teamster types and Li intervenes. Great opening for the episode and excellent introduction to the characte of Li.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S 1. Ep. 2 - A World of Perfect Complicity

In the last few months, there have been eleven burglaries at Bel Gardens, an upscale apartment complex, the latest the first where there has been a fatality, the victim Albert Duval, the resident being robbed. Mike figures that the burglars are either led or assisted by someone on the inside, namely a tenant. Duke is not enthralled with Mike's plan if only because of the cost: that he and Nikki go undercover as new residents, husband and wife Edgar and Edna Elliott, they who are to be as ostentatious as possible to be too big a lure for that tenant.

James Broderick, Douglas Henderson (Wild Wild West), Fred Beir (Mannix), Josephine Hutchinson, Geoffrey Lewis (Any Which Way You Can, 'Salem's Lot)

Each time I watch an episode, I get so caught up in james Franciscus' portrayal of blindness. He makes me believe he is blind. It is there in his almost imperceptible hesitation, foot searching for footing, the tilt of his head as he is listening and the moments of frustration when he is unable to do what he used to. I find his performance mesmerizing. This was a very intriguing "undercover" episode. i like the chemistry the three leads have and how believable they seem together as they work to solve cases.

I enjoyed the dramatics of the parking garage shootout, but not sure I believe it could happen.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S 1. Ep. 3 - One In The Reality Column

Mike believes the man who has come to get him is the cabbie scheduled to drive him to the Institute for the Blind where he has been requested to make a presentation. In reality, the man is one of three people, two men and a woman, who kidnap him. Drugging him with a hallucinogen, they leave him to die on an abandoned cargo ship in dock. Nikki, Duke and Mrs. Kingston eventually learn that he is missing when the Institute tells them that not only did Mike not show up, but that they never made the request for the presentation. Fifteen hours later, Mike escapes and is able to make his way home.

Victor French (Little House on the Prairie, Highway To Heaven), Tyne Daly (Cagney & Lacey), Med Flory, Wesley Lau (Perry Mason)

I like how in each episode, Longstreet is allowed to do what he is able to do by those who know him. It is different to see him being treated with respect and dignity even though blinded. Nobody coddles him. We see him walk through the streets of New Orleans with Pax as anyone with a seeing eye dog probably would. That ability was on display in this episode as he escapes from where he is placed. Another good entry for this series.

 

[Jack P]

S 1. Ep. 2 - A World of Perfect Complicity

In the last few months, there have been eleven burglaries at Bel Gardens, an upscale apartment complex, the latest the first where there has been a fatality, the victim Albert Duval, the resident being robbed. Mike figures that the burglars are either led or assisted by someone on the inside, namely a tenant. Duke is not enthralled with Mike's plan if only because of the cost: that he and Nikki go undercover as new residents, husband and wife Edgar and Edna Elliott, they who are to be as ostentatious as possible to be too big a lure for that tenant.

The one thing about this episode I didn't like was that it seemed as if as a series they were going to disregard the pilot film element of Longstreet having been married and his wife being killed in the same explosion that blinded him. I would have thought having to pose as a married couple with Nikki would have been an occasion to at least reference that in some small way (and the credits montage that shows him before he's blinded also doesn't show the wife). But this changed within a few episodes when the wife was acknowledged again.

 

[jperez]

This series was a blind buy for me... all around.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S 1. Ep. 4 - So, Who's Fred Hornbeck?

A penniless man named Fred Hornbeck approaches Mike asking him to find a murderer for him. Just released from prison, Fred served ten years for the murder on October 31, 1959 of Richard Kingman, a sugar baron, he says he did not commit, but which happened outside where he was living at the time with the murder weapon being his gun. He and Richard knew each other their entire lives despite their divergent paths. Fred admits that at the time he was a drunk, a womanizer and a squatter, making his conviction expedient for all concerned except him. Mike initially brushes Fred off, especially as Mike is not a detective, but decides to help Fred when in Mike's presence, someone tries to kill Fred by running him over.

Victor Jory (Mannix-Mannix's dad, Manhunt), Martha Scott (Dallas, The Bob Newhart Show), Michael Ontkean (The Rookies), Leonard Stone, Lynn Hamilton (Sanford & Son), Len Wayland

I really enjoyed this episode. Nice to see that Mike is remembering his wife ("Mr. Longstreet, have you truly been in love?") and allowing us to see his flashbacks. Good to see mannix's dad in this episode. The ending was pretty well defined when they discussed a character's name change, still all in all a good episode.

 

[Doug Wallen]

S 1. Ep. 5 - Elegy in Brass

Entering the deserted offices of the Crescent City Jazz Society looking for its director, Charles Doucette, to discuss an insurance matter, Mike instead finds him dead, and a smashed-in empty display case that housed two valuable instruments previously owned by now deceased jazz greats, Jimbo Rollins and Jojo Miller, valued at over $100,000. Also missing is one of the society's record collections valued at only $200, while more valuable collections remain untouched.

Brock Peters (To Kill a Mockingbird, Star Trek IV, V & VI, DS9), Janet MacLachlan, Robert DoQui, Logan Ramsey, Berry Kroeger

Another episode where the criminal seems pretty well known, but I am enjoying these episodes because we see Longstreet work out the solutions. This is different from Columbo and Murder, She Wrote as those always seem to hang on the flimsiest of threads (entertaining though they are). I like to watch the process play out in these episodes.

Very interesting to see another sighted individual playing blind. Brock Peters is always interesting to watch Great music in this one. I am really getting into the Louisana flavor for this series. Another very strong use of flashbacks to flesh out Longstreet's marriage relationship. i liked the trigger used, the cassette recorder. I used to record things like that when I was much younger. I received a cassette around 1970 as a Christmas gift and drove everyone crazy recording them. The mic was hand held so the recordings varied greatly in quality. So many memories are being awakened by viewing this show.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Ep. 6 - Spell Legacy Like Death

Mike receives a telephone call from an unidentified man demanding $500,000 in two hours. The police believe the man set off a bomb at a power station, the bomb which Mike could hear at the other end of the telephone line. They assume he will set off another bomb in the city if Mike doesn't comply with his demands. Mike also assumes the man is an ex-client holding a grudge against him. In addition to the usual suspects assisting Mike - namely Nikki, Duke and the police - Mike's old martial arts friend, Li Tsung, who was giving Mike another martial arts lesson when the call came through, wants to be of any assistance he can in the matter.

Barry Nelson (Airport, The Shining), Louise Latham (Marnie), Anthony Caruso (Star Trek), Bruce Lee (The Green Hornet), Paul Mantee (Robinson Crusoe on Mars)

Good cast and a well thought out story. Interesting thought that Longstreet didn't "see" him when he had eyesight. Makes you wonder how many people we really "see" every day.

Found it interesting that the bomb built by the "villain" was the exact same kind that Longstreet practiced disarming .

 

[Doug Wallen]

This series was a blind buy for me... all around.

Just curious, have you watched any yet. Do you have an opinion to share? Again, just curious?