Customer Reviews

The Streets of San Francisco: Season Two, Vol. 1

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You cannot fault the series itself, I love it and am so glad to be re-visiting "Streets".
I think I will have to reconsider buying anymore volumes due to the disgraceful tactis used by the studio to sell the dvds. I could not believe that Season TWO Volume ONE has only ELEVEN episodes. Why the volumes one and two when there are so few episodes in the season.
For goodness sake increase the price by 10.00 and sell it as a complete season.

I recently finished watching the entire first season of THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO and the episodes were even better than I remembered them. Karl Malden and Michael Douglas work wonderfully together and every story has the mark of a high-quality production, with beautiful location scenery and top-notch guest stars.
As with HAWAII FIVE-O, the second season of STREETS isn't quite up to the level of the first year, but there are still quite a number of outstanding episodes. Highlights include HAREM, where former teen idol Rick Nelson plays a boyish pimp who lures teenage girls into prostitution; A WRONGFUL DEATH, in which Inspector Keller is accused of shooting an unarmed youth; and BETRAYED, featuring Martin Sheen as an ambitious businessman who uses every tool he can think of -including robbery and murder- while climbing the ladder of success.
Looking ahead, the good news is that the best is yet to come: the third season of THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO is the finest year of all. Meanwhile, don't pass up this latest collection of exciting police stories in The City By The Bay. You won't be disappointed.

In Karl Malden's autobiography, he wrote that the series really started to click with season 2. In season 1, they did the indoor scenes back in LA and the outdoor scenes in the city by the bay--they were always tired from all the flying! In season 2, they did all the shooting in San Francisco.

One thing I like about season 2 is that the detective duo is getting more screen time. In season 1, the show was such a showcase for the guest stars, that Stone and Keller actually seemed absent from much of the show. There's better balance in season 2. There are still more scenes with guest stars only than in a modern show, but we get to see a lot more of the great partnership then we did previously.

The stories are fairly routine for the 1970s, but this is just such a great looking show. Malden and Douglas are great together, the acting is excellent, and the city looks fantastic. The long tracking shots of two actors talking while walking through the streets of San Francisco with no cuts are a real hallmark of this series.

The Streets of San Francisco is part of the legacy of Quinn Martin, who was one of television's alltime most successful producers, responsible for some of television's most popular action/adventure series. Martin was the producer for such popular series as The Untouchables, The FBI, Cannon, and Barnaby Jones.

The Streets of San Francisco followed the pattern of most of Martin's shows. There were divided into three acts and an epilogue, and the guest stars were introduced at the beginning of each episode. The show feature veteran, Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden (who during this time starred in a series of popular commercials for American Express credit cards) and Michael Douglas, son of Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas.

Malden played veteran SF homicide cop Mike Stone, who was newly paired with rookie detective Steven Keller, played by Douglas. Following the Naked City model of police dramas, Stone showed the green Keller the ropes of policing the city while Keller used his criminology decree and understanding of modern technology to balance the equation. Darleen Carr has an occasional role as Stone daughter and Keller's eventual love interest.

This was a solid, enjoyable series and the teaming of Malden and Douglas was an excellent one. This show is one that is still entertaining almost forty years later.

It's great to see what San Francisco looked like nearly 40 years ago when Union Square had the old stores like Roos Atkins and the old San Francisco ride at Fisherman's wharf. I miss seeing those from when I was a kid. It's nice to take a trip down memory lane and see Karl Malden and Michael Douglas work together. I just wish that they would release the entire season and not split it up. It would be nice if there were some extras included too like they did in the first season volume one.

One reviewer stated that if it weren't for the cars and clothes you wouldn't know that this was filmed 35 years ago. How true, For my money this is one of the best series ever filmed. Kudos to Karl Malden one of the greatest actors ever. He totally owns this role and is unshakeable even after taking alot of verbal and physical abuse on the seies. What is interesting is that Maldens character can so easily connect with the city's working class characters. The city is populated with Runyonesque characters and great storylines. I heard that they were making another version of this show. I am not interested in seeing a bunch of rich yuppies and their problems. This show will forever be a classic

The 119 hour-long episodes of this police drama were originally broadcast on ABC from 1972 to 1977. This DVD contains 12 episodes (570 minutes) of the 23 episodes from the second season. All the second season episode titles and their original air-dates are detailed below.

Quinn Martin ("The Fugitive" and "The F.B.I.") stayed with his favorite genre and enhanced it by using the city made famous for its crime by "Bullet" and "Dirty Harry". The production is classy but the stories are not particularly interesting or original.

The show's real claim to fame is as the best ever pairing of a veteran cop with a young hunk rookie. While this is an overused concept it works particularly well in this series because the actors (Karl Malden as Mike Stone and Michael Douglas as Steve Keller) shared much the same career dynamic as their on-screen characters. Veteran actor Malden ("On the Waterfront" etc.) plays a blue-collar 23-year veteran of the force and acting novice Douglas a college-educated newcomer interested in new methods of crime solving.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

A Wrongful Death: 13 September 1973, Betrayed: 20 September 1973, For the Love of God: 27 September 1973, Before I Die: 4 October 1973, Going Home: 11 October 1973, The Stamp of Death: 18 October 1973, Harem: 25 October 1973, No Badge for Benji: 1 November 1973, The Twenty-Four Karat Plague: 8 November 1973, Shield of Honor: 15 November 1973, The Victims: 29 November 1973, The Runaways: 6 December 1973, Winterkill: 13 December 1973, Most Feared in the Jungle: 20 December 1973, Commitment: 3 January 1974, Chapel of the Damned: 17 January 1974, Blockade: 24 January 1974, Crossfire: 31 January 1974, A String of Puppets: 7 February 1974, Inferno: 14 February 1974, The Hard Breed: 21 February 1974, Rampage: 28 February 1974, Death and the Favored Few: 14 March 1974

The Streets of San Francisco is a true walk down memory lane, with none of the boring projector slides and dusty photos in a shoe box. Each episode in this volume is packed with thick plots, great acting, and a bit of humor. The chemistry between Mr.Malden and Mr. Douglas is secret ingredient that really what makes this whole series groove. That and the endless array of guest stars. In what other series could you see Tiny Tim, Tom Bosley, and Patty Duke?

If you are hungry for a good, old cop drama served up with a smear of nostalgia, this will not let you down.

Ecellent remastering job on this series! If it wasn't for the classic cars and leisure suits, I would have thought it was shot in 2008!

It is a great DVD. Good stories, good acting. Also, it is amazing to see San Francisco as it was 35 years ago.