Customer Reviews

Ultimate TV Westerns - 150 Episodes

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

ULTIMATE TV WESTERNS - 150 EPISODES consists primarily of 1950s cowboy shows-- some famous, others obscure. Reported running time for this set is 80 hours-- however, other sources list it as "up to 70 hours" with one specifying 68 hours total.

Regardless, this is a treasure trove of old oaters that's certain to please fans of 1950s TV programming and westerns alike.


COLLECTION CONTENTS--

The Adventures Of Champion - Barry Curtis (1 episode)
The Adventures Of Jim Bowie - Scott Forbes (6 episodes)
The Adventures Of Kit Carson - Bill Williams (6 episodes)
Annie Oakley - Gail Davis (6 episodes)
Bat Masterson - Gene Barry (2 episodes)
Bonanza - Lorne Green (10 episodes)
Buffalo Bill Jr. - Dickie Jones (6 episodes)
The Cisco Kid - Duncan Renaldo (12 episodes)
Cowboy G-Men - Russell Hayden (5 episodes)
Death Valley Days - Sterling Hayden (3 episodes)
The Deputy - Henry Fonda (2 episodes)
Frontier Doctor - Rex Allen (3 episodes)
Fury - Peter Graves (3 episodes)
The Gabby Hayes Show - Gabby Hayes (6 episodes)
Hawkeye And The Last Of The Mohicans - Lon Chaney Jr. (3 episodes)
Hudson's Bay - John Clark (3 episodes)
Judge Roy Bean - Edgar Buchanan (6 episodes)
The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp - Hugh O'Brian (1 episode)
The Lone Ranger - Clayton Moore (15 episodes)
Northwest Passage - Buddy Ebsen (6 episodes)
Pistols 'N' Petticoats - Ann Sheridan (3 episodes)
The Range Rider - Jock Mahoney (6 episodes)
The Rifleman - Chuck Connors (3 episodes)
The Roy Rogers Show - Roy Rogers (15 episodes)
Sergeant Preston Of The Yukon - Dick Simmons (5 episodes)
Shotgun Slade - Scott Brady (2 episodes)
Stories Of The Century - Jim Davis (6 episodes)
Twenty-Six Men - Tristram Coffin (2 episodes)
Wagon Train - Ward Bond (3 episodes)

There are numerous TV Western collections out there on the dvd praire and all showing real signs of age and neglect. However here is one thats sure to delight anyone who grew up playing cowboys & indians in the 1950's and 60's. Again, the quality isn't too bad considering they haven't been really professionally restored the way most movies are. But remember, when we first used to see them on TV at that time, the TV picture via the old aerial, wasn't always too great either. TV stations before tape, showed these episodes via telecine, that is they physically ran 16mm prints on special movie projectors. Even though the exspensively produced "Bonanza" was the first TV Western to be aired in color, thanks to those RCA sets which the show did so well at selling. The first show to be shot in color was "The Cisco Kid". Years earlier and on a shoe-string budget and with 16mm cameras. The producers were smart to predict that color was coming and gave that particular show an even longer life in syndication. At their height in 1959, there were 48 westerns on the air, mostly half hour shows of course, but they dominated our living rooms morning, noon and night.

Let's face it for the money, this collection is a better steal than anything ever taken in one of those endless stage or bank robberies, these oaters are always depicting. And for anyone who grew up after their intial runs and even the many years of syndication, these shows are an education. A look at a perceived simpler time with simpler values!

Oh! one other thing pardner -try to get hold of a copy of TV's Western Heroes hosted by Will "Sugarfoot" Hutchins. It's the perfect companion to this set, as not only profiles the shows, but shows the very classic commercials that inter-rupted them. That plus network promos and bloopers. HAPPY TRAILS!

Ultimate TV Westerns is a collection of 150 episodes from 29 different Western TV shows from the days when Hollywood knew how to make great Westerns on both the big and small screens. I paid $21.99 for my set and considering that you can pay $5 and higher for just 4 episodes of one of these shows, you cannot complain about the price. The reason why you can get so many episodes for such a low price is that all of these shows are in the public domain. The quality of the prints used in this collection vary, but overall you will get a fairly decent picture on your screen.

The really great thing about this collection is that it is not limited to the usual suspects, that is shows such as Bonanza, Cisco Kid, Jim Bowie, Lone Ranger & The Rifleman that are quite easy to find and obtain. The collection also includes such shows as Cowboy G-Men, Hudson's Bay, Pistols & Petticoats and Bat Masterson.

You need to be informed that this DVD Box Set has been combined with Ultimate TV Westerns - 150 Episodesin a large DVD box set called Classic TV Westerns 300 Episodes.

You really only need to buy and should buy the larger DVD box set that combines the two 150 episodes DVD box sets. YOu can save money by doing this instead of buying the two DVD box sets seperately.

Another DVD box set that you might also want to look into is another 150 episodes set put out by this company called Essential TV Western 150 Episodes.

if you get these two DVD box sets Classic TV Westerns 300 Episodesand Essential TV Western 150 Episodes, you will have all the episodes that appear in all these other classic tV western DVD box sets. The other DVD box sets are all basically smaller sets that contain some of the episodes that are in the above mentioned two large DVD sets.

So if you get those two DVD box sets, don't get the others or you will only end up with duplicate episodes.

I received this as an early Christmas present this year and needless to say, with 150 episodes on 12 double-sided DVDs, this is going to take SOME time to get through them.

What I've noticed so far was that, even though the stories aren't quite as "superb" as we all remember them to be, they bring back a lot of great memories and are a lot of fun to watch. In fact, I'm having more fun with the "obscure" episodes, then I am with the more popular ones. For example, I've never watched an episode of the Adventures of Champion about a horse and the boy who loved him (oops, sounds like a Fury rip-off, doesn't it?). Maybe that's why it's so obscure. But even though the storyline was everything I expected, it was just fun to watch.

Another "oldie" that I DID see when I was growing up was one called Buffalo Bill Jr. All I remembered was that it was a Saturday morning western aimed at us kids, and BBJ had at least 2 or 3 fistfights in every half-hour episode! Sure enough, it's what I remembered. Like I said, the storylines aren't that great, but the action brings back a lot of fond memories. I forgot that Bill had a little sister named Calamity and they were adopted by an old "judge" in a small town. I also didn't realize that the music during the action scenes was the SAME generic music used by many other TV shows in the 50's, The Adventures Of Superman being one of them.

Speaking of music, it seems they may not have the rights to SOME of the music. The familiar BONANZA theme song is nowhere to be found, replaced by some forgettable tune instead.

But for the price of all of this, how can anyone complain? Even if you only got around to watching a fifth of these episodes, you'd get your money's worth.

Picture quality is better than I expected, although not up to "new DVD release" quality. Again, you can't complain. What you see is no worse than what you watched way back on that old small TV you had back in the 50's.

Buy this and check it out. A lot of bang for the buck...so to speak.

5 Stars I am in TV Cowboy 1950s heaven.
The print quality varies from mint to poor with each episode.
There are some faults,the first two eps. of "The Gabby Hayes Show' are the same, "The Lone Ranger" part 2 is the second half of part 1 but with the missing bit included. and One of the Cisco Kid eps has the wrong title. and Sterling Hayden is not in "Death Valley Days" as listed on the back of the box.
buy this you will love it.

You won't find TV's best western shows here--no Gunsmoke, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel or Wanted Dead or Alive, but there's plenty of watchable stuff.

Bonanza holds up very well after 40 years, as does Wagon Train and Death Valley Days. I never heard of many of the shows here, like Northwest Passage, Hudson's Bay, or Cowboy G-Men. The writing and acting are pretty crude in some of them, obviously geared toward kids.

Still, if you're a diehard western fan like I am, you'll enjoy most of the shows in this collection. When the snow's blowin' outside and the TV networks are serving up their usual crappy reality shows, this box of DVDs will be worth its weight in gold!

OK, dim the lights, sit back, and return to those "thrilling days of yesteryear". Black and white TV when men were men, and women were women. Smoking six guns that could fire 50 shots without reloading. 150 episodes for about 17 cents each. How could you go wrong?? I remember watching these when they first came out, and they're as great as ever. It's a shame they only allow a rating of 5 stars!! Mill Creek has done it again.

The quality of the writing in these western episodes from years ago are not up to, say, "Lonesome Dove," the best TV western ever. In fact, the stories on these disks are more than a little shallow and the acting is no better. But writing and acting are not what make these fun. The Lone Ranger never won any awards. Nor did Roy Rogers or the Cisco Kid. That said, I enjoy these immensely, and I'm hard pressed to say exactly why. Perhaps it is because I am young again as I see these often grainy black and white and smeary color "reruns." If you want a little nostalgia, these disks will provide it. If you're looking for art, look elsewhere.

this set surprised me.i've bought these dvd theme sets that have a million movies for $20,and they've all disappointed me.this set gives the classic tv western fan quite a few shows that are actually good(the rifleman,cisco kid,bonanza,and a few more).over all,the collection is pretty good,and i do recommend this set for purchase.