Another great series resurrected and provided with new life
thanks to the folks at Visual Entertainment Inc. (VEI). One can only offer
sincere thanks to companies like this who have found new life for series that
some may have forgotten and others have sought out with little hope of ever
seeing them again. Now those of us who are fans of older TV series can rejoice
that they’ve found yet another gem. This time around the series is LONGSTREET
and it’s still as enjoyable as it was the first time around.
As with their release THE IMMORTAL this one began as a movie
of the week that then transformed into a series. Though short lived (just one
season) the series was innovative with its premise and the inclusion of a guest
star for 4 episodes who went on to larger fame. That single season meant the
series would never be part of a syndication deal and that is why it’s been lost
all this time. No longer.
James Franciscus stars as New Orleans insurance investigator
Mike Longstreet. In the pilot he and his wife are celebrating his latest
success when she opens a bottle of champagne left for him while he gets
glasses. The bottle though was a bomb that explodes killing her and leaving
Mike blind. The pilot goes through his learning how to deal with his
disability, developing the senses he’s been left with. Unwilling to be a victim
Mike uses those senses to find the killers responsible for his wife’s death and
his blindness.
The series picks up with Mike still working for the
insurance company helping them solve various cases in ways no one else can.
With the help of braille teacher and friend Nikki (Marlyn Mason), white German
shepherd guide dog Pax and friend and insurance company man Duke Paige (Peter Mark Richman) Longstreet continues to take on
those cases.
He also realizes that it’s going to
take more than just his senses to exist in the world. In the first episode
after being attacked by a group he’s investigating a stranger comes to his aid.
Realizing he needs to learn self-defense he hires this man to train him. The
man in question is Li Tsung and he’s played by the legendary Bruce Lee. As I
stated earlier, Lee was in 4 episodes of the series and this has been another
reason why it’s been sought after for so long. Now fans of Lee and the series
can add it to their collection.
Murderers, thieves, staged suicides and
more became the focus of various episodes in the series. In addition to that it
featured some fairly high end guest stars of the time as well including Brock
Peters, Leif Erickson, Claude Akins, Neville Brand, Lee Meriwether, Shelly
Fabares and Bernie Casey to name a few. Why the series only lasted a single
season is beyond me but at least we have that to enjoy.
VEI once more releases the series with
no extras but includes the pilot and every single episode to enjoy. One thing I
didn’t mention in my review of THE IMMORTAL but will here is the image quality.
Some might be concerned that the quality of image doesn’t match that of series
being made today or restored series that have been released of other shows.
That’s not something that should be held against anyone offering series like
these. The quality is based on what is available, not what we are now used to.
If the original negatives or prints of a series are high end then they are
likely to reflect that, but not all shows were shot that way. That being said
these series may look much like they did in the past so expect that. It doesn’t
reflect poorly on VEI or the series themselves. Step back in time to how they
looked then and enjoy them as they were.
As with THE IMMORTAL this series is
priced low enough that I for one was stunned. Here again the complete series is
just $22.99. When you consider that a single movie being released these days runs
that same suggested retail price then you can tell what a tremendous bargain
something like this is. A TV movie AND 23 full episodes for that price? Take
advantage of it and make sure you pick up this fantastic series worth watching
once again.
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