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By WAYNE KLEIN
I'm surprised that this
Quinn Martin production has come to DVD with so
many other Martin shows ("The Invaders", "The
Fugitive) left in limbo. I'm going to give this 4
stars for the series, 3 for the extras and 2 for
only giving us half a season. I don't want to
discourage fans from buying it because studios
usually release these half season sets to gage
whether or not it will sell well enough to keep
putting it out.
Regardless, "Streets" was a fine series and
introduced Michael Douglas to many people. The
real star here though is Karl Malden who LIVES in
the skin of his character of Lt. Mike Stone.
Actually shot on location in San Francisco, the
show may have aged a bit but the performances,
writing, guest stars and deft direction by a
parade of TV veterans keeps the show entertaining
despite the passage of time.
The show looks pretty good here with nice colors
and image quality. Some of the shots look a bit
soft here and there but overall the show continues
to look very good. The original mono audio sounds
clear as well. I still love that propulsive
opening theme music.
We don't get any featurettes or commentary tracks
(a pity because it would be interesting to hear
Douglas' assessment 30 plus years later of his
performance and that incredible hair). We go get a
nice vintage interview from 1972 with Douglas and
Malden on the set of the show. We also get a
"pilot presentation" reel.
Although lacking in new special features, the
vintage ones are quite good for this set.
Paramount/CBS unfortunately has taken the strategy
that Fox has with many of their vintage shows and
decided to release this (along with "The
Untouchables") in half season sets which will be
frustrating for fans of the show. I just hope it
doesn't discourage too many fans from purchasing
this set as they are no doubt looking at sales to
gage the release of the rest of the seasons of the
series. |
