DVD Review: The Streets of San Francisco - The Second Season, Vol. 1

July 2, 2008

Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Michael Douglas, Karl Malden
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: July 1, 2008

The second season was an exciting time for the cast of The Streets of San Francisco. The show was finally being recognized at this point. The ratings were going up, nominations were pouring in, and life was pretty decent. It’s fairly safe to say that Streets was destined to be a hit. Not only does it include Michael Douglas, it was also produced by Quinn Martin Productions. While the name probably does not sound familiar now, this group was credited with producing popular shows like Cannon, The Invaders, The Fugitive, and Barnaby Jones.

This is actually my first encounter with Streets. That is not to say that’s a bad thing, it’s just that I had no clue that the show existed before it hit my desk. What I found was a fairly basic cop drama. Set in San Francisco and actually filmed there, the show offers a realistic setting and some interesting storylines. Most of it isn’t life changing, but if I have some time to kill and need something to do, I could easily see myself watching this to fill that time gap.

Release Information:
The Streets of San Francisco was on the air for about five seasons and a total of 119 episodes, from start to finish. No one was quite sure how the show would fare, when it started its run against two popular shows, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show. After the first season, the show moved from Fridays to Thursdays. The first volume of the second season of The Streets of San Francisco was released on July 1st, 2008.

You should be able to find The Streets of San Francisco - The Second Season, Vol. 1 just about anywhere that TV box sets are sold. If you are shopping online, Amazon is offering it for $29.99, which includes free shipping.

The The Streets of San Francisco - The Second Season, Vol. 1 Plot
When it comes to The Streets of San Francisco what you have is a pretty decent, albeit standard crime drama. The acting is good, the storylines are well thought out, and there is some good old fashioned police work at play, more often than not. This isn’t a CSI based show where there is some essential mystery to figure out. In fact, I don’t recall one mystery-based episode in this entire set. Instead, the cops work the beat and eventually catch their bad guy. No fuss, no muss.

Even the character line in this series is something that has been done a million times before. The main character, Lieutenant Mike Stone (Karl Malden) is the veteran on the force, with twenty years under his belt. His partner, a college-educated rookie, Steve Keller (Michael Douglas) is an interesting choice for this opposites attract match. Keller is hip and with the times, and with some college under his belt he seems smart enough to know when to take risks and when to follow orders. The men work together to solve the crimes of San Francisco. When it comes to season two that means they handle some robberies, some prostitution problems, and a few other things that vary in excitement.

One of the best things about this show was the guests that appeared on the show for one reason or another. Season two, or at least the first half, was a star studded event, with visits from Martin Sheen, Tom Bosley, Vic Morrow, Henry Silva, Michael Constantine, John Kerr, Leif Erikson, Darlene Carr, Rick Nelson, Leslie Nielsen, Jessica Walter, and Mariette Hartley, to name a few.

After some time, the show can offer a predictable feel to it. The main problem is that the show is so structured that it becomes obvious what methods the writers will take. Good acting makes up for this though and the show remains enjoyable overall. I think for this reason I enjoyed the episode “Before I Die” the most. This was one of the few episodes that were harder to predict. In fact, I didn’t see the twist coming to change the course of the episode.

Some other good episodes include “Harem”, which has Stone’s daughter (Darleen Carr) helping to break up a prostitution ring and “The Stamp of Death”, where a man ends up being murdered over a stamp collection. “Betrayed” includes a younger Martin Sheen that steals money from the company he works for and eventually robs a bank to put the money back. Unfortunately, the robbery goes wrong and people get hurt. All of these episodes were well crafted, and though at times predictable, they were some of my favorites in this set.

The eleven episodes in this Season Two, Volume One box set include:

A Wrongful Death
Betrayed
For the Love of God
Before I Die
Going Home
The Stamp of Death
Harem
No Badge for Benjy
The Twenty-Four Karat Plague
Shield of Honor
The Victims

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The Streets of San Francisco: Season Two, Volume One is shown with an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. This is standard for any television drama, but could cause some problems with shows that are older in years. Surprisingly, there weren’t many problems visually to report. The video was sharp and the colors were good. There were some age specs and the occasional bout of noise, but it was really much better than I expected it would be. Compression artifacts occur every now and then, but the result of this trip to DVD worked out quite well.

The audio, on the other hand did not fare as well though still was not a complete waste. More than anything, the audio is guilty of being plain. The sound came through remarkably well. However, it suffers from being incredibly standard. Rather than offering a dynamic sound, all the dialogue, music, and other sounds are meshed into one mix, using only the center channel. Of course, that is pretty standard for Dolby Digital Mono. The track is available in both English and Spanish. Subtitles are also available in both languages. While disappointing, it shouldn’t bother the average viewer too much, and certainly doesn’t remove enjoyment from the show.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Bonus features are completely absent from this three disc set.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
The Streets of San Francisco: Season Two, Volume One is one of the better crime dramas of its generation. While there was plenty of entertaining competition, Streets managed to hold its own, thanks to good acting, and tons of guest stars. This eleven episode set is just a small taste of Season Two, but if you’re a fan it will be a taste well worth the purchase. If you’re new to the show, but like Cop Dramas, you should fare pretty well. Starting with season one is recommended, though if you don’t you won’t have any problem figuring what is going on in this set. If you have not seen the show, I highly recommend renting it first. Otherwise, fans will likely want to pick this up.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Movie, DVD Review, TV on DVD, Cop Dramas, CBS, Paramount, Michael Douglas, Karl Malden, The Streets of San Francisco, Season Two, Volume One

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