Alias Smith and Jones: Series 1 [DVD]

Although AS&J was intended as a quick cash-in on the popularity of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, it is one of the best Western series around, in my opinion unmatched until the wonderful 'Magnificent Seven' series starring Michael Biehn, Anthony Starke et al.AS&J's great strength - and it's great luck - was the perfect chemistry between Pete Duel (Hannibal Heyes) and Ben Murphy (Kid Curry) which carried some of the weaker episodes (not that there were that many). Also, unlike other Westerns, the dialogue contained humour and banter instead of relentless dourness and/or perpetual moralising; it also had strong, positive female characters like Clementine Hale (Sally Field) again a contrast to such as "Bonanza Woman" (any woman who appeared on that Western, or such as High Chapparal tended to be killed, die of disease or leave within two episodes). The show also featured elite guest stars such as Cesar Romero, Don Ameche, Patrick McNee amongst others such as genre veterans Slim Pickens and Keenan Wynn.Not that AS&J was fluff - many of it's epsiodes were written by Roy Huggins (1914-2002) who could make serious points and intriguing, engaging plotlines. His best was "The Bounty Hunter" episode in 1972, guest-starring Lou Gosset Jnr as the eponymous BH who was black; that single episode did more to highlight the stupidity and monstrousness of racism than any other TV show before and for many years after.The suicide of Pete Duel, caused by alcoholism and severe depression, was also the death knell of the series, not helped by the insensitive reaction of the studio to shoehorn Roger Davis into the role; lacking that vital chemistry with the grieving Ben Murphy, Davis was also burdened with the network's desire to maximise profit without expense - for several episodes of Season 3, the opening credits still clearly showed Duel, a constant reminder to viewers reluctant to embrace Davis in the role just who he was replacing.My main bugbear is the wait - AS&J wasn't released in the UK in Region 2 format until 2007, despite it's huge popularity, and we are now entering 2009 with no sign of Season 2 - please can someone get their act together, particularly as they have to know how much of a guaranteed seller this will be?

I'd give this six stars if I could. I was fifteen when Alias Smith and Jones first hit BBC2 and the memory has stayed with me ever since. It was an instant success and the cheerful, self-effacing style of AS&J was irresistable. (I read somewhere that at its height the BBC was receiving 5,000 letters a week demanding more episodes and rapid re-runs).For the first time we had a Western series that featured two amiable rogues as the lead characters. The level of scripting and the storylines were, for the most part, very original and highly intelligent, but what carried the series was the free-wheeling approach of the late Pete Duel (as Hannibal Heyes) and Ben Murphy (Kid Curry). Some of the stories involved quite sophisticated "stings", making it almost a Western version of the present-day Hustle, and clearly AS&J was closely modelled on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (and a good premise at that).Watching the pilot episode is just so uplifting and reminded me just how good some US television can be; it's not all about designer suits and hairdos. And essentially, unlike many old TV series, AS&J has not dated. It looks great, it's funny, uplifting and so fresh in its approach. I'm not sure that anything's come near it since. The only negative point is that the sad and untimely death of Pete Duel cost the series a key player after he'd filmed around 32 episodes. The dozen or so that followed were of a similar quality but it wasn't easy to replace him, although Roger Davis made a gallant effort.I could start quoting memorable one-liners or dialogues from the series. I'll resist the temptation and just affirm that this is, without reservation, an excellent series. Buy it and enjoy it!

When I bought this it was because we'd been talking about old series that me and my mates used to love. I've bought other old stuff which when watched has dated but still been interesting to watch on those terms. Alias Smith and Jones however hasn't dated in the same way. I don't know why, possibly because they're designed as humourous stories with a little bit of adventure, but they still work well at keeping you engaged and entertained. This is also probably due to the fine casting of Ben Murphy and Pete Duel who work as well as a partnership as any two actors you've seen. Their friendship looks genuine. definitely worth buying

All of the 3 episodes we have watched so far have poor image quality. All shades of green and grey. We sent the first set back, but the next set was exactly the same. It's a real shame as we enjoy the series. It really shouldn't be sold without some warning of this and also not at a comparable price to good image quality DVDS. The series is 5 stars, the image quality 1 star, so went for a 3 star review. Since writing this review we have tested the DVD on another TV - and the colour is fine. The first TV we used is a 'smart' telly, but obviously not that smart. The series is excellent and we can enjoy it in full colour, on the right TV. It's a bit odd as we have a box set of original Colombo and haven't found the same problem. The image quality of Colombo is the same quality whichever TV we watch it on.

The picture quality in the Fabulous set is terrible!!

A quality product, and in very good condition, arrived very quickly, product as described thank you

This series is superb, such attention to detail and the pairing of Pete Duel and Ben Murphy is golden.Universal should be releasing Seasons 2 and 3 this summer, at least in America, I read on a message board yesterday. Season 2 has the last Pete duel episodes before his untimely death. I think Roger Davis took over as Hannibal Hayes but the magic was gone. Hopefully there will be some good extras on the new seasons DVD's and they will also be available in Europe.For myself, I would have preferred that only the Pete Duel episodes were released on DVD but maybe that is not possible. He loved playing Hannibal Hayes and it shows, RIP Pete Duel.

I love this western. The stars of the show Ben Murphy and Pete Duel are what made this show so much fun to watch. They had such great chemistry.

Fast delivery, and good quality DVD

Beeldkwaliteit van DVD 4 disc (Alias Smith& Jones Season 1) is prima. Echter, in tegenstelling tot de vermelde productgegevens, is er geen ondertiteling beschikbaar. Ik versta Engels, maar een (Engelse) ondertitel heb ik toch wel nodig.Slechts een halve aflevering bekeken; 2 sterren voor beeldkwaliteit en snelle afhandeling retour door Amazon.

Es ist wirklich schön, die Originalstimmen von Pete Duel und Ben Murphy in diesen Serienfolgen zu hören. Sicher kennt jeder Fan, die ersten Folgen dieser Serie, "Ein Jahr Galgenfrist"-der Pilotfilm, ";Mc Creedys Büste" u.s.w.Da es diese Serie soweit ich weiß, einzeln nicht in deutscher Sprache gibt, (nur komplett, 1. u. 2 Staffel, wahrscheinlich auch schon als Sammelpackage , Staffeln 1-3, habe ich mich entschlossen, jede Staffel mit Pete Duel einzeln zu kaufen, denn er war lt. meiner Info, komplett in der ersten Staffel dabei und in der zweiten Staffel nur für 4 Folgen. Schade. Roger Davis, der Pete's Part übernommen hatte, kann ihm lange nicht das Wasser reichen. Wirkt gegen Pete Duel unscheinbar.Bonus Feature gibt es nur zum Pilotfilm ein Audiokommentar von Glen Larson, dem Produzent u.s.w.Es ist nur in englisch aufgenommen, ohne Untertiteln 4 DVDs. DVD 1 enthält den Pilotfilm und zwei Folgen.DVD 2-4 jeweils 4 Folgen.Die Qualität ist ansonsten gut, wie im Fernsehen, eben.Ich bin froh, das ich diese DVDs gekauft habe. Für Interessenten, die mehr Ausstattung einer DVD-Box erwarten, wie z.B. Booklet, oder HD-Qualität etca. wäre hier nicht zufrieden. Wem es nur um die beiden Schauspieler geht, englisch versteht, empfehle ich diese DVDs weiter.

Arrived On Time Great Old Show.