Customer Reviews

On the Road With Charles Kuralt: Set 2

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CHARLES KURALT is travelogue-perfect in this Set 2 OF "On the Road"; the Emmy-winning series which lasted over 20 years. Kuralt's CBS Evening News segments put the average, off-highway, common, American, "on the map" as well as defining the reporter's "lifetime achievement." Although this is a nostalgic look at life from 1967 to 1987; the episodes are as interesting and American for today as they were when originally filmed. Nothing on TV has matched it since. This is a MUST-OWN set (along with Set 1) for every public and school library.

This MEGA MEAL DEAL set includes Lonnie's Diner to Jerry's Deli; horseshoe tossers to a Russian dentist; an 80-horse titch to Harper's Ferry; with tobacco & toys for dessert.

You'll be awed, laugh, heart-warmed, and thoroughly entertained. The set has SUBTITLES. It's unrated, but super family friendly. 3 DVDs include 378 minutes [that's over 6 hours or equal to 4 feature-length movies], 18 episodes, 86 segments.

And for those who like EPISODE details:
1: Cloggers, Lady Pilot, Blackie, Spivey Family, Michigan: Wheels & Machines
2: British Graves, Lula Watson, Canoe Maker, Pumpkins, Ohio: The Golden Lamb
3: Moonshiners, Indiana: Poet James Whitecomb Riley, Friendship Between Man and Falcon
4: Totem Poles, Waynesburg Rain Day, Johnny Appleseed, Swings, Tennessee: A rough and Tumble Past
5: Ball of String, Fiddlers, Delaware: The Du Pont Family, Ferry Boats, Corn-Pipe Factory
6: Jump Rope, Chicago Fire, Hood Ornaments, Bottle House, New Jersey: G.W. Crossing the Delaware River
7: Toy-Fixing Man, Skipjack, Jerry's Deli, Billy Jones Railroad, S.Carolina: Spirit of a City
8: Alabama: Freedom through Knowledge, Steam Whistles, Mule Doctor, Norwegian Blind Skiers, Auctioneer
9: Homesteading, Horseshoe Throwing, Mail Boat, Barber Poles, Arkansas: The Louisiana Purchase
10: Oyster Shucker, Driftwood, Wild Mustangs, Trailers, Oklahoma: American Indian Alphabet
11: Poet, Chewing Tobacco, Arizona: The Trading Post, Christmas Toys, Professor Turned Janitor
12: National Road, Bald Eagles, Sandcastles, Rafts, Oregon: The Columbia River
13: Swanee River, 40-Horse Hitch, Old-Time Religion, Construction Crane, Washington: Narcissa Whitman
14: Wine Harvest, Linnie's Diner, Trading Day, Traffic Cop, Texas: cowboys' Romantic Myth
15: Coffee Club, Lighting, McKinley Pilot, Weeds, Hawaii: Early Days
16: Parolees, Bell lady, Rodeo Old-Timers, Bird Lady, Connecticut
17: Maryland: Chesapeake-Ohio Canal, Peppers, Spring, Sod Houses, Gold Leaf
18: Russian Dentist, Bean-shooter Man, West Virginia: Harpers Ferry.

Be sure to check the listing for "On the Road with Charles Kuralt Set 1" also highly recommended.
And now there is a SET 3, more of Kuralt, who spent 20 years perfecting what he did. This third set is simply more of the magic that this man created and aired for 2 decades (late 60s to early 80s). Good for all ages.

We bought this for my father. He enjoyed the first set, and he was very excited to get the second set. I'm sure he will want them all.

This looks like another great collection, and how could it be otherwise with Kuralt at the helm. The presence of the Russian Dentist story alone is worth the price of the whole set, it is a standout piece of journalism and you won't regret owning it.
There is an old Twilight Zone episode where a movie star from the past walks up into the screen showing one of her films and stays there, prefering to live in that world. I kind of feel that way watching Charles Kuralt. However, the real lesson of `On The Road' is that these stories are around us all the time. We just need eyes and ears like Charles Kuralt to recognize them.
Please keep these sets coming!

Nice video quality, informative content! We love all three sets! We borrow them from the library, watched, then decided to buy as a gift for our grandparents. They like them too!

Beginning in 1967 and stretching for over two decades, in his `On The Road' reports, CBS journalist Charles Kuralt (1934-1997) brings attention to people, places, stories, and events, that take place primarily in small town rural America. Travelling around the country, often driving down the back roads in a motor home, Kuralt specializes in reporting on the quaint, rustic, or generally unknown. As long as there is a kernel of human interest present, there were probably few stories too small or insignificant for Kuralt's special attention, as he brings the unheralded and arcane to the attention of the American public. Many times Kuralt's tales give you cause to think about the way you live, and the things you may take for granted, and perhaps reflect of how much the world has changed.

A history buff, Charles Kuralt's love and appreciation for the genteel lifestyle of rural America is evident. He never talks down to people, and treats everyone and everything with respect. Kuralt doesn't seems to have any political axe to grind, and prefers not to dwell on the negative. Only on rare occasions does he even broach anything controversial. Looking back, the span between those times and now, seems even more expansive. So very much has changed in the last half century or so, and much of what is presented, perhaps no longer exists. People have changed as well, and while we can never go back to the past, we can certainly appreciate things that were, and try and learn something from it.

Kuralt occasionally reports from a big city, but more often he is in some obscure rural location. Among the variety of stories, there will probably some that touch or amuse you, be it the hot pepper eating contest, Rufus Hussey the bean shooter man, the horseshoe throwing champions, Jerry the pushy deli owner, the diner robbed 170 times, the Russian dentist who was a POW, the crane of the top of a building, the real history of Hawaii, the millionaire jump rope maker, the Whitman massacre, and historical retrospectives of Tuskegee Alabama, and one of America's greatest bargains, the Louisiana Purchase.

Although the image quality of a few of the reports are poor, they are still mostly watchable. The vintage nature of the presentation, mostly serves as a reminder of how long ago these reports were done. Kuralt's stories were originally complied for broadcast on The Travel Channel, and this second set of the series contains 18 of those half hour episodes, on three single sided DVD's. The episodes are subtitled, with a combined runtime of about 376 minutes.

The stories presented in On The Road are from another time, and some may be too mundane for many in the current generation to relate to. These often trivial tales, probably have more meaning for those who actually have some personal knowledge of the time period. Thanks to Charles Kuralt, for some sweet, mostly feel-good memories.

What a wonderful collection to take "On The Road". I love it and can't wait to receive Set 3. I wish there were more!

Bought as a gift for my Father. Enjoys watching it with his brother. Easy perfect gift that provides hours of enjoyment.

I own both Set 1 & 2 and recommend them both. These individual clips were remembered when they were first broadcast and that is why they were purchased.
My wife and I have traveled via automobile through 45 states and have 'hit' not only the 'tourist' spots but the small 'On The Road' type spots as well.
'nuff said.