Highway Patrol: Season 1

I have watched Amazon for many months hoping Highway Patrol would become available. I remember this program when it first came out on TV back in the 1950'sand it is one of my most memorable programs.The Amazon description of this item indicates that the DVD's are duplicated ( individually burned ) on DVD R discs. Any blank or recorded DVD R Discs I have ever bought or have seen usually have a light purple color on the recorded side. The ones I recieved with this set do not have that but instead are silver color which indicates to me they may very well be factory " replicated " ( professionally manufactured ) Discs just like the ones you get with most popular DVD's.I have watched several of the discs so far and I am very impressed with the picture and sound quality. It is possible that some enhancement technique has been applied when the transfer from the archived films to the digital mastering of these programs. You might be surprised that it is more than possible the picture quality you get from these discs could be better than the picture quality of the original broadcasts of these appeared on your TV back in the 1950's ! There have been a lot of improvements in TV's since then and those improvements come through even when watching original programs like this that were made in " Glorious Monochrome " ( Black & White ).Although you can not expect full range stereo sound from these DVD's as you would with todays movie DVD's, the sound quality is quite good and faithful to the original. There is no noticable squelching of silent spots in these programs as you may have heard on digital reproductions of early films and poorly stored original movies and tv programs.Speaking of silent spots, the primary thing I remember about Dan Matthews was " 10 - 4 " LOL. I did not remember his fast talking and rapid fire telephone calls, I guess they had to squeeze as much information and dialog into the time alloted for the program. I never noticed it back then but of course I was much younger.Concerning the playability of these DVD's, I have tried them on a budget $29.95 DVD player and a $179.95 DVD player that I must have bought about 10 years ago. They both play these DVD's just fine. Out of curiousity I also tried these discs on 2 different PC's and they play just fine there too !For anyone having the desire to have this set of Highway Patrol DVD's I would not hesitate to recommend them.I seldom spend this amount of money for a DVD set of old TV Programs but this is one that I was waiting for so it is well worth the price to me.I don't have to go into the story plots, etc. as I feel anyone reading this or the many other favorable reviews here can well remember Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford. The Original " 10 - 4 " guy !Many thanks to MGM and Amazon for making these available.I'll give this item a " Big 10 - 4 "

Item as described

I've waited a long time for this release. You could say over fifty years, from when I played with my Dan Matthews plastic gun and sported an enamel Highway Patrol badge. But I didn't know about DVDs back when I was eight. My parents had no TV then and I had to stay with my grandparents to see Superman, Sea Hunt, Highway Patrol, etc. So I was pleased to see the show finally available on amazon and ordered it over two months ago when dispatch was promised in less than two weeks. The idea of made-to-order DVDs seemed a good idea for items where demand may be unpredictable, and I was happy to see reviews from those who had actually RECEIVED the set to reassure me that the picture quality was from 35mm masters.Since then I have responded three times to amazon's e-mails apologising for delays and asking me to confirm that I still wanted it. Yes, I certainly did. The latest, today, tells me that I can now expect delivery by November 22. Let's hope.A polite personal note from amazon a few days ago apologized again for the delay but offered no explanation for why a so-called "manufactured-on-demand" item should be delayed so long. I might have suspected some sort of problem with rights or quality issues with the original being copied but some lucky customers have received theirs already. The guy with a DVD-writer can't have been on vacation that long. What is going on?I look forward to posting a positive review when it arrives. Ten-four.UPDATE: Good news - less than twelve hours after I posted this review I got an e-mail advising the item had been dispatched.

Highway Patrol Season 1  Well worth the price. The packaging is excellent and easy to use and keeps the discs safe. The quality of the videos was excellent. The picture was sharp and clear. In one episode, "Retired Gangster," there is a scene where you can actually see a small bug walking across the camera lens.BC was one of my childhood heroes from the fifties. To my young friends and me, Dan Matthews was a bigger hero to us than Superman or Tarzan.Dan Matthews was a 'believable' hero. He was a down-to-earth cop who went after the bad guys, comforted the victims, and heaven help anyone who threatened a child on his watch!And, as children, we saw right thru that 'rough, gruff, bull-dog' exterior... barking out orders. woof woof woof... and saw a heart of gold. We loved him unconditionally and didn't care that he had a broken nose, a bit of baldness going on, a big pudgy tummy, or a huge dented scar on his forehead that looked like something left from a childhood accident.BC also taught us to know the difference between himself and his character as he always ended his show with, "This is Broderick Crawford, see you next week." And he always gave us a safety tip. (To this day, I have never gotten a ticket for speeding.)What is neat about those old shows now is that they show parts of California the way they were back in the fifties... unfinished highway, open undeveloped land and other things.... and it is fun to notice the prices of things... .69 cents for steak, 12,500 for a home, or .16 cents for men's shirts. I also understand that some of those buildings used in the show still exist today.It is also fun to watch sometimes because of all the young actors who appeared on various HP episodes and went on to be stars, plus some of the scripts were written by various people (Gene Roddenberry for one).I just wish that MGM could be persuaded into cleaning up and releasing the rest of the seasons.

Great series better than most programs shown today

This show was a ground breaker. Crawford was a real character and his personality drove the intensity of the show. Certainly, when you think of CSI this programme the cops in this show use very simple techniqes and the plots are simple. But if you remember this show fondly, you will love seeing it again.

Always wanted to have this series on disc. Excellent.

I love "Highway Patrol" season 1, as well as the releases of seasons 2, 3, & 4. One of my all time favourite shows. Season 1 is very pricy as DVD-R but all my discs play great. 5 Stars

I cannot recommend this company for this set of DVDs. In the past I have tried two different companiesto try and get season 1 of this show and all with the same result....the dvds will only partly play or not at all on my Sony blurayplayer. I have ordered all the other seasons and they are fine but am beginning to wonder if it possible at all to get season one of this show. Not in the least happy.Suggest if you want this season of this show to buy it from someone local if you can find it. Forget Amazon.GLENN