Jeff*H
Premium
STONEY BURKE: The Complete Series arrived on my porch today from Amazon. Nice set from Timeless, who disappointed me a little recently with their lackluster-quality GRIZZLY ADAMS and HARDY BOYS Season 3 sets.
It's 6 discs, 32 episodes for the complete series (5 episodes to a disc except for discs 5 and 6, which have 6), and the case is a little on the flimsy side (I had a floater when I opened it, but it played fine), however the episode transfers themselves are VERY nice. It looks to me like these transfers were probably relatively recently, they don't appear to be from videotape masters--more likely these were transfers from 16mm.
Watched the first show, "The Contender", and it's fun seeing Jack Lord in a bit of a 'lighter' role and appearing to have a little fun. His charisma seems to shine through right off the bat, because while the story was fairly standard and light on plot, what makes it work is his portrayal of Burke. He's the glue holding it all together. The supporting cast (Bruce Dern, Warren Oates) doesn't seem to have a lot to do, but they're pleasant enough to watch. It's interesting how the show seems to have been conceived as a Western for the 'modern' era (at the time, anyway)--it fits in nicely with other B&W Western shows of the era like Bonanza, Gunsmoke and Rawhide. I read somewhere that even after the show was cancelled, Lord toured the country making appearances at county fairs 'in character', as the character seemed to have been fairly popular despite the show's low ratings. By 1968, of course, all that changed, as Lord shot to stardom in HAWAII FIVE-O. (Side note: in 1962, the year BURKE premiered, Lord also made his first and only appearance as Felix Leiter in the first Bond film, DR. NO).
All in all, I think this is a nice set, and it's great to have a complete run of this show, worth the $35 from Amazon (it may also be sold at retail in stores like Walmart and Sam's). I'll probably slowly work my way through this set in the days and weeks ahead.
This is a must-have for Jack Lord fans, and fans who like shows with a Western flair may want to check it out once the price drops in a year or two.
It's 6 discs, 32 episodes for the complete series (5 episodes to a disc except for discs 5 and 6, which have 6), and the case is a little on the flimsy side (I had a floater when I opened it, but it played fine), however the episode transfers themselves are VERY nice. It looks to me like these transfers were probably relatively recently, they don't appear to be from videotape masters--more likely these were transfers from 16mm.
Watched the first show, "The Contender", and it's fun seeing Jack Lord in a bit of a 'lighter' role and appearing to have a little fun. His charisma seems to shine through right off the bat, because while the story was fairly standard and light on plot, what makes it work is his portrayal of Burke. He's the glue holding it all together. The supporting cast (Bruce Dern, Warren Oates) doesn't seem to have a lot to do, but they're pleasant enough to watch. It's interesting how the show seems to have been conceived as a Western for the 'modern' era (at the time, anyway)--it fits in nicely with other B&W Western shows of the era like Bonanza, Gunsmoke and Rawhide. I read somewhere that even after the show was cancelled, Lord toured the country making appearances at county fairs 'in character', as the character seemed to have been fairly popular despite the show's low ratings. By 1968, of course, all that changed, as Lord shot to stardom in HAWAII FIVE-O. (Side note: in 1962, the year BURKE premiered, Lord also made his first and only appearance as Felix Leiter in the first Bond film, DR. NO).
All in all, I think this is a nice set, and it's great to have a complete run of this show, worth the $35 from Amazon (it may also be sold at retail in stores like Walmart and Sam's). I'll probably slowly work my way through this set in the days and weeks ahead.
This is a must-have for Jack Lord fans, and fans who like shows with a Western flair may want to check it out once the price drops in a year or two.
