MovieChat Forums > Riverboat (1959) Discussion > DVD Buyer Beware

DVD Buyer Beware

posted 16 years ago by mack-29
4 replies | jump to latest

I recently got a dvd containing 5 episodes from this series. I was looking forward to seeing this show for the first time. I figured with Burt Reynolds and Darren McGavin there would be lots of action.

I was expecting this show to be like the Warner Bros. shows of the period such as Maverick and Cheyenne. But I have to be honest and say there are stretches in each episode that are tedious to watch. For whatever reason, the directors that Universal used on this series didn't seem comfortable with action sequences.

And a word of warning about the dvds. While all the dvds have photos of Burt Reynolds on the box art, he does not appear in all episodes. One dvd contains two episodes; The Two Faces of Grey Holden and The Quota. Reynolds is not in either of these episodes.

The musical score by Elmer Bernstein is really great.

I think Riverboat would have had a longer run if the talents of McGavin and Reynolds had been better used.

[–] Itsamoomoo 15 years ago

There does seem to be something lacking in this show. I, too, have just discovered "Riverboat."

[–] richard.fuller1 12 years ago

The complete series is now on DVD.

35 episodes. Over 40 hours. That's alot, I must say, especially if it isn't that good.

NOw I for one never cared for Maverick and don't know about Cheyenne. I never cared for cowboy town programming.

I obtained a Wagon Train set of about a dozen episodes, just wanted to see them. It only started getting on my nerves again when the story shifted from the wagon train to the farm.

I could take a very dull Riverboat with scenic shots, if nothing else. I anticipate some attire will be in the wrong time period. Hairdos probably.

McGavin as a riverboat captain to me is a stretch anyway. I wouldn't be interested in watching for Burt Reynolds, tho whatever he is given to do, I'm rather certain he would understand what is supposed to be happening more than McGavin would, tho who knows with McGavin?

[–] Gislef 12 years ago

I watched the first episode. While Aldo Ray isn't that interesting a character (he's basically Lennie from Mice & Men), and Burt Reynolds has very little to do, Darren McGavin is great as always. He handles the action okay at this age in his career. He pretty much has the same mannerisms he has down the road, so it's interesting to watch them evolve. Catch the cleverly written scene early on when McGavin's character cons a warehouse owner with mechanical apple peelers (??) into paying McGavin to haul them away. It's pure Kolchak.

I've posted some quotes to the episode, so they should be up in a few days from this writing. There is some clever writing but so far the impression is that it's almost an anthology.

[–] mls4182 7 years ago

A new DVD is on Amazon. The complete series for $20. I bought it mostly for the guest stars. I consider Burt Reynolds leaving during the first season to be a good thing.