Kojak – Season Two (1974 – 75/Shout! Factory DVD Set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Episodes: B
Many
great TV shows that were significant hits and that arrived on DVD that you
would think would have been big hits and all their seasons would have quickly
followed. Classics like Maude, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Welcome Back Kotter, One Day At A Time and others got stuck,
while some other huge hits (Alice
and Eight Is Enough) have not seen
any season releases. Kojak did see a Season One release many years ago, but it was not the hit it was
expected to be, was awkwardly promoted and then it was haphazardly tied into a
revival series with the likable Ving Rhames in the title role that made no
sense and was quickly axed.
Now, many years later, we have Kojak – Season Two arriving, but it is Shout! Factory picking it up
and it may just be a record between the releases of the first and second season
of any show (longer than say, Barney
Miller). By this time, the show was
a red hot hit and Telly Savalas made the transition from tough guy character
actor to the internationally successful New
York police detective after a long run of critical
and box office success. The show was a
huge hit.
All 24 episodes (all one hour, save the season opener, which
is an even longer telefilm) are here over six DVDs and the fine writing and
thought out crime scenarios continued. I
had not seen some of these shows for decades, but I was impressed how well they
held up and how good Savalas really was here.
Guest stars and familiar faces (even if you can’t name all of them) for
this season include Abe Vigoda, Michael Constantine, Sheree North, Tige
Andrews, Milton Selzer, Robert Ito, Val Bisoglio, John Randolph, Paul Anka,
Ja’net DuBois, Andrea Marcovicci, Ruth Gordon, Mark Stevens, Kathleen Quinlan,
Carmen Zapata, Ji-Tu Cumbuka, Julie Gregg, Paul Benedict, Francine York, Gordon
Jump, Harrison Page, Roger E. Mosley, Margaret Avery, Martin Balsam, Richard
Eastham, Daniel J. Travanti, Victor Campos, David Doyle, Normann Burton, Leslie
Nielsen, Antonio Fargas, Alex Rocco, Richard X. Slattery, Erik Estrada, Eugene
Roche, Bruno Kirby, Thaao Penghlis, Thayer David, Elaine Joyce, Stephen
Elliott, John Glover, Jack Ging, Brad Dexter, Robert Loggia, Dick O’Neill, Rose
Marie, Carmine Caridi, Michael C. Gwynne, Liam Dunn, Cynthia Harris, Dick
Balduzzi, Helen Page Camp, Tracy Reed, Richard Carlyle and Andrew Robinson.
Joining Kojak zipping around the Big Apple in his brown
Buick when it was a more exciting car are Kevin Dobson, Dan Frazier, Mark
Russell, Vince Conti and George Savalas, often identified in the credits simply
by his middle name: Demosthenes.
The 1.33
X 1 image transfers are better than they might first appear. The show was shot on location in New York and this included
interior and nighttime shooting that was far less common in the show’s
time. As a result, you will get more
grain and noise than most TV of the time, yet it would also be similar to may
crime dramas hitting movie theaters at the time. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also good for
its age, especially considering the location recording, all very professional
for the time, so they have done a good job on these discs. There are unfortunately no extras, but maybe
next set.
- Nicholas Sheffo
