Streets of San Francisco: Season Five - Vol. 1 & 2 - Two Pack

Oh what joy! Here we are with the final season of STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO. While the scripting for this season was still very good, with Richard Hatch (as Det. Dan Robbins); somehow the show didn't have the same feel to it as it did with the long-standing partnership of Karl Maldon and Michael Douglas (departing after episode two) that made the show so famous. Nevertheless, it was still a very enjoyable year for the show and it will be wonderful to finally have the entire series on DVD. Here is a preview of what we will have to look forward to with this October 30, 2012 release:

The special guest stars will be:

Patty Duke, Susan Dey, Norman Fell, Jim McMullan, James Shigeta, Dick Van Patten, Joseph Wiseman, Anthony Geary, Ron Glass, Marion Ross, Barry Sullivan,
Tom Bosley, Lisa Eilbacher, Dabney Coleman, Parker Stevenson, Eugene Roche, Maureen McCormick, James Olson, John Karlen, Desi Arnez Jr., Jessica Walter,
Harry Guardino, Dorthey Malone, Don Johnson, Gerald McRaney, Pat Hingle, Pat Crowley, Lee Purcell, Bob Hastings, Gary Lockwood, Francine York, Archie Hahn,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mark Hamill, Johnny Weissmuller Jr. and many more!

The episide list is as follows:

1. THE THRILL KILLERS: PART 1 - Four terrorists seize a busload of jurors involved in the trial of two additional terrorists; in the process Keller is badly wounded and Mike Stone's new aid, Inspector Dan Robbins, must step in in Steve's stead.
2. THE THRILL KILLERS: PART 2 - Mike Stone & Dan Robbins track down the gang that kidnapped jurors; at the same Steve Keller decides to leave the SFPD.
3. DEAD OR ALIVE - A millionaire puts out a public contract on the man who raped his daughter.
4. THE DROP - Mike gets dragged into a ransom drop.
5. NO MINOR VICES - A 16-year-old prostitute learns her father is killing her customers.
6. IN CASE OF MADNESS - A singer's producer is found dead.
7. TILL DEATH DO US PART - A bookie's wife turns state's evidence.
8. CHILD OF ANGER - A clothing designer's daughter confesses to a murder - one she didn't commit.
9. HOT DOG - Mike and Dan must go after a biker gang.
10. CASTLE OF FEAR - A policeman is shot on another man's property.
11. ONE LAST TRICK - A former prostitute seeks out a killer.
12. MONKEY IS BACK - In the 1950's a high school kid committed a crime to earn a spot with a local gang; 20 years later he hunts down the former gang members.
13. THE CANNIBELS - A mobster's son steal from his father, then turns into a witness against him.
14. WHO KILLED HELEN FRENCH? - A wife beater's wife disappears.
15. A GOOD COP...BUT - A policeman and an informer are the only witnesses to a cop-killer's crime.
16. HANG TOUGH - A crooked cop is outed by a stoolie.
17. INNOCENT NO MORE - When teen members beat the rap in juvenile court, Mike Stone gets them tried as adults.
18. ONCE A CON - A prison inmate in a special study program is accused of killing a co-ed.
19. INTERLUDE - A man in a mental institution escapes to find the killer of his wife.
20. DEAD LIFT - A body builder is dangerously thin-skinned.
21. BREAKUP - An ex-con goes after the prosecutor who sent him to prison.
22. LET'S PRETEND WE'RE STRANGERS - Dan Robbins falls in love with a public defender who managed to get a guilty man freed.
23. TIME OUT - Four "model" prisoners escape.
24. THE CANINE COLLAR - A smuggler hides diamonds in a dog collar, and now must find it.

Looking forward to this final season release, and more importantly to completing the collection!

If you want to enjoy tv from the past, I suggest you try Streets. The plots are easy to follow and the Stone/Keller team really makes the show. Pair this with the talented guest stars, and you will get many hours of enjoyment out of each set. I am also interested to see the Keller replacement in this season. Looking for a gift for that person who has everything? I'll bet they don't have this. Maybe a parent, sibling, or friend who grew up during the 70's.

I write this review totally unbiased and without nostalgia as I never watched this show during its original ABC run so this series is completely new to me. I bought this because two of my favorite actors of this era had guest spots on this volume. Max Gail ("Barney Miller") plays a rapist with a half-a-million-dollar price tag on his head thanks to the wealthy father (Howard Duff) of his latest victim. Gary Lockwood ("The Lieutenant") shows up as a vengeful ex-con who spent 20 years in prison for a gang initiation gone awry.

While I initially only bought this for those two episodes, the show's sharp writing and impressive guest-star roster drew me in. The installments featuring Jessica Walter and Desi Arnaz Jr. are equally good.

Never a Michael Douglas fan (too smug) or Karl Malden either for that matter, I find Richard Hatch much more engaging even if the scripts give him little to do except deliver exposition. I didn't care much for the Don Johnson episode only because it spends too much time dealing with Mike Stone's (Karl Malden) personal interests as his daughter (Darleen Carr) figures largely into the plot. I've now seen enough episodes to know I don't care for the ones that deal with Stone's home life. I remember seeing Darleen in "Battle of the Network Stars" and she came across as very likeable there, but her character here seems too sweet, even if she is meant to contrast the violence of her father's cases. The episode where she dates motorcycle cop Don Johnson is relatively dull IMO.

The awesome "Who Killed Helen French" episode is one of those episodes that could only have been made in the '70s and has so many intriguing twists and turns you'd swear it was a two-hour episode. Other highlights include the Arnold Schwarzenegger appearance in "Dead Lift"; the gay-themed "A Good Cop...But" and "Once a Con". Even when the stories are less than excellent, the guest star performances make up for it, as in "Let's Pretend We're Strangers" with Linda Kelsey or "Hang Tough" featuring Ned Beatty.

The video quality of these episodes is excellent and I only wish Richard Hatch had been afforded more time on the series.

FIVE STARS. An addictive slice of '70s crime drama with more grit and reality than those from the Spelling-Goldberg stable.