Search - TV Classic Westerns - 4 DVD Set - Over 15 Hours! on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 6/2/2023...

Roy Rogers - The picture and video quality are so bad that it takes away from the solid old school plotline.

Interesting Collection of TV Westerns

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 02/03/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Essentially, this is simply a four disc repackaging of Timeless Media's larger six disc set titled The Classic TV Western Collection - EMBOSSED COLLECTOR'S TIN! which includes two additional discs of licensed TV Westerns from NBC Universal like LARAMIE, WAGON TRAIN, and others. Even the discs in this set are numbered three through six, despite the fact that the description on the back of the clam case indicates discs one through four.

In some respects, this is a fairly typical packaging of TV Westerns as you'll see some episodes that have appeared on other DVD collections from different DVD companies. Notable examples include "Day of the Hunter" from THE RIFLEMAN and "Return of the Canary Kid" from SUGARFOOT, among a few others. These are episodes that have fallen into the public domain and anyone with copies of public domain episodes can release them. But there are some rarities on this disc, including the entire fourth disc titled "The Lost Westerns" that, to the best of my knowledge, have not been previously released on commercial DVD. So, in that respect, this set is worth owning for fans of TV Westerns. I had not seen YANCY DERRINGER since I was a child, so it was great to see the show again, even if it was just a single episode. Beware of the HIGH CHAPPARAL episode (possibly making its commercial DVD debut), as it is presented here in black & white and not in color as originally filmed.

For the most part, audio/visual quality is about what you would expect for a set of mostly public domain episodes. There are a few bright spots on the set like THE TEXAN, but most of the episodes look to have been sourced from tape and, while watchable, are far from pristeen evidencing no restoration work whatsover. Still there's enough here to keep fans of classic TV Westerns happy.

I recommend this set with some reservations, primarily based on audio/visual quality. Here are the shows on each disc (one episode per show):

Disc 1
Western Heroes of the Small Screen

BUFFALO BILL, JR.
ADVENTURES OF KIT CARSON
THE CISCO KID
ANNIE OAKLEY
THE LONE RANGER
RED RANGER
ROY ROGERS
TATE

Disc 2
Life in the West

THE HIGH CHAPARRAL
26 MEN
RANGE RIDER
SUGARFOOT
THE TEXAN
THE RIFLEMAN
FRONTIER DOCTOR

Disc 3
The Legendary Lawmen

THE TEXAS RANGERS
BAT MASTERSON
YANCY DERRINGER
JUDGE ROY BEAN
COWBOY G-MEN
DEATH VALLEY DAYS
SHOTGUN SLADE

Disc 4
The Lost Westerns

DIAMOND JIM
TUMBLEWEED
WICHITA TOWN
FRONTIER
JOHNNY MOCCASIN
NIGHT RIDER
STORY OF A STAR
ADVENTURES OF RICK O'SHAY




"