Customer Reviews

Route 66: Season Three, Vol. 2

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alas, George Maharis, after giving us two and a half seasons worth of Emmy-caliber performances as Buz Murdock, has hit the road. Or rather, he's "unhit" the road, leaving his less flashy but more reliable co-star Martin Milner to go it alone. Yes, Buz is gone for good, never to be so much as referred to on screen again. And if you're a Maharis/Buz fan who just can't stand the idea of Route 66 without your favorite character, perhaps you'd do well to halt your collection after Season Three, Volume One. Those of you who do decide to stick along for the rest of the ride, you'll be rewarded with many more memorable moments still ahead on the journey.
Season three of Route 66 was marked by a turbulent upheaval such as few television programs have to suffer. It actually seems almost like three completely different seasons in one - first there was the show we'd come to know and love, featuring Tod and Buz in some of their greatest moments. Then the abrupt departure of Maharis, leaving Tod to go it alone. And then the final third part of the season, in which Tod meets Lincoln Case and a new partnership develops with a new set of adventures.
Each one of those three parts of season three of Route 66 had its own separate dynamic. Stage One was the classic Route 66 we've come to expect, a polished program which had settled into and was thriving in its format and the rapport between its two leads, turning out some of its best episodes such as "Man Out of Time" or "Ever Ride the Waves in Oklahoma?". The sudden departure of Maharis brought that to a skidding halt. Then came stage two, in which Tod wandered the road alone, the show becoming more and more like a genuine anthology series as Milner's character, as well-developed as it was, clearly needed a foil to realize its full potential. Although many of the Milner solo episodes display the excellence we've come to expect from this series (such as the delightful "Suppose I Said I Was the Queen of Spain", with Lois Nettleton as a woman who puts on and discards personas like clothes), others come across as somewhat muddled and underdeveloped. For example, Stirling Silliphant apparently intended "Shall Forfeit His Dog and Ten Shillings to the King" (in which Tod joins an Arizona posse searching for a pair of killers) to be a condemnation of the vigilante mob mentality; but this is undermined by the direction which turns the episode into a standard tale of frontier justice in which the good guys and the bad guys are clearly designated. In this context, Tod's denunciation of his fellow posse members at the episode's conclusion makes little sense.
It was obvious that Milner needed a new sidekick. Names such as Robert Duvall and Burt Reynolds were considered, but finally, in March 1963 America was introduced to Glenn Corbett as Lincoln `Linc' Case, an Army Ranger recently returned from the Vietnam `'conflict'. Making that war a pivotal element of an American television series at a time when it still wasn't making front page news on US headlines marks another historical first for the series.
Glenn Corbett has gotten his fair share of criticism from Route 66 afficianados, mainly for not being George Maharis. But Corbett and his episodes have to be and deserve to be taken on their own terms. No Route 66 fan mourns the lamentable loss of Buz more than I do, but at the same time I recognize that some of Route 66's finest stories came with Corbett in the passenger seat, and that some of those perhaps could not have been done they way they were with Maharis. One example is "What a Shining Young Man Was Our Gallant Lieutenant", which represents a highwater mark in Corbett's tenure in terms of his performance.
The third season concludes fittingly enough with the patched-together "Soda Pop and Paper Flags", itself emblematic of the chaos under which the show was laboring. It was originally intended to be a Buz Murdock episode, but Maharis said his famous "see ya later" just as filming on the show was beginning in St. Louis. Milner went ahead and filmed his own scenes in anticipation of an eventual new co-star. "Soda Pop" was not completed until a couple of months later in Florida, when Corbett filmed a few scenes of his own to finish the show. One thing this episode is notable for is featuring a young Alan Alda in surgical whites - a decade before the premiere of M*A*S*H and his career-defining role as Dr. "Hawkeye" Pierce.
Marc Scott Zicree once wrote of the fifth and final season of the original Twilight Zone that "if the series had faded, it had faded only in comparison with itself." The same can equally and truly be said of Route 66 after the departure of George Maharis.

With Volume 2 we our see gritty friend from 'Hell's Kitchen' Buz Murdock depart from the series (with no explanation) after the first episode on disc one. After a few solo episodes for Tod we meet newcomer Lincoln "Linc" Case played by actor Glenn Corbett. Corbett's character is quite interesting as a moody returnee fresh from Vietnam (great foresight for returning 'Nam' Vets) by writer Stirling Silliphant.

As for the quality of the set, the audio is crisp and the video is sharp and clean with all episodes running close to ~50 minutes each. I'm not sure but I always feel as if there is missing footage on each show; just my humble opinion. Meanwhile, both volumes of Season 3 make for great viewing!

UPDATE: 10.05.09

I'm having the same rumbling sound on start-up; at least with disc one, just as I had with Route 66: Season 3 Volume 1. A new set is on the way from Amazon; hopefully that will be the cure. Curious if anyone else experienced the same problem.

UPDATE: 10.11.09

After receiving the replacement set from Amazon, it took some juggling of discs between the two sets to get a working set. Here's hoping Season 4 will be trouble free! And out soon too:)

I don't know what happened, but the quality control of these discs sure is lousy. First I bought the complete Season 3 from a local store and they were encoded improperly and recalled. so, instead I bought the season in 2 parts. Both Vol. 1 &2 made incredible rumbling noises in my dvd player, so I got replacements which did the same thing. Apparently Infinity got a batch of warped blank DVD's or something. Anyway I had to send it back to Amazon a second time, and at that point they would only refund my account. I bought them again at another store, they made the rumbling sound, but worked in my player for the most part. Now, I bought a blu-ray player, and only half of the discs will play in it, so I am stuck again with a bad season! I love the show, but I'm not fond of the quality of the company putting them out. 5 stars for the show, 1 star for quality control. Once they play discs look and sound great, it has nothing to do with the quality of the transfer, just getting them to play is difficult!

After the tremendous quality of Route 66 Season 3 Vol 1, I expect no less of the 2nd volume of this season. Let's hope we get Season 4 entirely released in 2010 so we can have the complete set of a great TV series. Thanks, Infinity!!!

Update after purchase:
The quality of this DVD is VERY good. Bring on Season 4, Infinity!

One of my favorite TV shows all time. In 1964 I bought a "62 Vette and still have it. This show brings back great memories. Wish they would have included interviews with George Maharis and Martin Milner. The theme music was perfect for the show. Would love to see a CD of the music. DVD is a must for "route 66" fans.

Just finished watching season 3 volumes one and two and they played great. After the best buy disaster I was really worried, these are worth the money. Not having a episode list was annoying but you can go to wikipedia and they list the episodes in order which helps when you don't use the play all feature.

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As with season one & two, season three should have been sold as a complete package. Hopefully it will be in the future.

Every episod is all about "Good Old America"
I am very happy to see them again after forty some years later.