If you think he sounds tired you should hear James Arness on the Gunsmoke commentaries. We should probably just be thankful that we are still able to get commentaries from them.
Bob, I think most of the problematic DVD's from Mexico were of the double-sided DVD-18 variety. I haven't heard of any real issues with single sided disks from Mexico, as the WWW ones are. I haven't actually received my copy yet (it's still in transit from CH DVD club), so I can't say for sure, but I do have several other Paramount sets that were manufactured in Mexico, and aside from the occasional mishandling in packaging (ie - scratches and scuffs, which are quite annoying in themselves), I haven't noticed any manufacturing defects.
I am finishing up disc number 4 and have had absolutely no problems with this set at all. They look and sound excellent. I am suprised by how fast I am going thru these. At the rate I'm going, I'll be thru by this weekend. It is just great to finally have these on disc.
As I said earlier, my Columbia House / CBS Video DVDs of WWW look and sound great too. The only drawback is not that they're missing Conrad's audio commentaries, but that they take up just a bit of extra space (9 discs of the black & white first season episodes Vs. 7 discs in this new CBS Video / Paramount re-release). I need to do is buy a small box that can hold these 10 DVDs, because my 10th disc of WWW is the first 3 episodes of the second season.
I didn't get to purchase the next 5 volumes of 2nd season shows because Columbia House discontinued the series. I will definitely buy the next set of these to come out (if that happens).
I hadn't watched the show in decades, and I was startled by how imaginative and surprising the pilot episode was. No wonder the show sold to CBS. I'm going to have a field day enjoying this box over the next week or so. The video quality is superb.
I understand Robert Conrad is not in the best of health right now (I was told he was in a nursing home at least part of the time now), so his weakened vocal condition was not a surprise to me.
Sorry to learn Bob Conrad may be in ill health. Very best wishes to him.
Although it's too late to put on the season one set, I would love if they could get as many of the guest leading ladies to give audio commentaries for their specific episodes. Among action series, this show probably had the greatest number of the most beautiful actresses of all time, including Yvonne Craig and Barbara Luna in season one. There was one episode with Lana Wood in season three that I would love to hear her comment on while viewing it. Or maybe for some episodes the guest actress teaming up with the guest villain to give commentary on, although most of the latter have passed away by now, I'm real sorry to say.
Just finished up Season 1. Cannot believe how well this show holds up.
I thought the extra features were great, enjoyed the Conrad intro's and was thoroughly excited to see Dr Loveless again.
Wonder how well this sold, I really hope to see the next sesaon very soon.
First this, then Brisco, what a great summer.
Btw, did anybody else notice the use of various Barkley ranch sets popping up in these episodes. The interior of the house, the exterior of the house, even the barn and stable house. I would not have noticed ut I finished watching The Big Valley right before watching West and co.
This appears to be selling like hotcakes. It was sold out at 4 Best Buys I stopped at earlier this week. I finally ordered it from Amazon and it's been in their top 100 since release! Not bad for a 40 year old TV series.
The marketing department a Paramount certainly thinks this is going to be a bestseller. They don't usually put much effort into extras for their older series (unless it's Star Trek). So for them to outsource the extras package to renowned DVD producer Paul Brownstein shows the faith and expectations they have in sales.
I grew up with this series via early morning showings on cable station TBS. The over-the-top and fantastic energy on display immediately caught my attention, and I've been a fan since. Having this set is a real treat because I've never seen any of the B&W episodes. Hopefully other season won't be far behind.
I just picked S1 up (along with F Troop S1) and I highly recommend WWW Season 1! I'm not big on westerns especially these days, but I am a big 60's Spy tv/movies buff! It was neat to see the "EverReady" commerical on this set.
It sounds like Paramount really wants more than just the one season on dvd LOL. You know how it is with these things nowadays---one season comes out and that's the end of it.
For guest stars, I know Charles Davis did a few minor roles in season one. He's still around...he just turned 80 and he just directed and starred in a play. I don't know who he played in WWW though. Lana Wood is still around...she was a casting director not too long ago. Met them both!
Charles Davis played West's butler Tennyson, but only in about 5 of the earliest episodes including the pilot. I guess his contract wasn't renewed beyond that and he became a casualty of the first season WWW turmoil (several changes in producers).