Ironside - The Complete First Season (1967)

"He's not a man in a wheelchair. He's Ironside in a wheelchair." Yes, and while TV cop shows come and go, there was only one Ironside, which makes its first appearance on DVD with this eight-disc boxed set, containing 28 episodes from the show's first season (1967-68), along with the pilot that preceded it in '66. The series is like others of its ilk and time, in ways both good (snappy dialogue and very cool, jazz-inflected music, including a theme song by Quincy Jones and scoring by the great composer-arranger Oliver Nelson) and mediocre (slow pacing, and a thoroughly square take on the mid-'60s counterculture). But what sets this one apart is the presence of Raymond Burr in the title role. Just a year removed from Perry Mason, Burr is outstanding as a former San Francisco chief of detectives who returns to the force as a consultant following the shooting that leaves him wheelchair-bound (illuminated in the 90-minute "world premiere"). His Robert Ironside is gruff, acerbic, free of self-pity (told by a doctor that he'll never walk again, he replies, "Is that all?"), and always ready with a sarcastic quip ("Are you brother and sister, or do you just cross-pollinate?" he says to two self-described "flower people"). He's also a policeman who's not shy about bending a rule or two as he relentlessly pursues the bad guys. And while his team (Don Galloway and Barbara Anderson as young cops and Don Mitchell as the African American delinquent who becomes his driver and caretaker) often chafes under his, um, iron hand, he's also a sympathetic mentor skilled in the art of tough love.

Story-wise, Ironside is pretty typical: murder, robbery, car theft, and a smattering of more contemporary issues like drugs and the Cold War. While there are occasional chase scenes and gunfights (most of them less than gripping), the focus is on a facts-first, conclusions-later approach to crime solving; "the chief" relies on the dry, meticulous gathering of evidence and factual minutiae and an almost Sherlock Holmesian attention to logic and detail to win the day. The result: Ironside may be crippled, but he's not lame. The DVD transfers are crisp and clean, but the boxed set contains no bonus material. --Sam Graham Amazon.com

Great DVD Transfers But....

Well i gave it 4 stars because.Every episode is not crystal clear.There are quite a few episodes on here that are blurry.See for yourself.Other than that I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 July 7, 2008

Burr's sterling performance is distracted by too many leads

Raymond Burr was one of our finest actors. He could have kept our attention for an hour just reading addresses from the phone book. As nine years on Perry Mason attest to, audiences loved him in the part. "Ironside" brings him back as detective confined to a wheel chair. Essentially, an arm-chair detective, no doubt inspired by another fictional detective, Nero Wolfe. As such, "Ironside" suffers from the same problems as its predecessor, particularly that Ironside must delegate the legwork to others. Ironside is far less likable than Perry Mason. He's so rude to his staff, one wonders why they would put up with the abuse? William Conrad, who played a similar role as "Canon" managed to balance the hard boiled detective with a man who also had a heart. Ironside seems to have a perpetual chip on his shoulder, which makes him less likable. The show also suffers from the "too many cooks" syndrome, there are four principals in the lead, Ironside, with a female and male police assistant and a caretaker, all in fairly stereotypical roles. The female officer is seen doing all of the cooking and cleaning around the office, for example. The shows seems remarkably similar to "The Streets of San Francisco," which offered far better chemistry between the two leads, Karl Malden and Michael Douglas. In contrast, Ironside has too many people standing around in scenes, waiting to get their share of lines in. This also makes for clumsy dialogue, where lines are passed from player to player to give them something to say. That said, the character of Perry Mason was always more interesting when he played detective, so on that score, we get to see Burr at his best. June 5, 2008

Grouch solves crimes

God Raymond burr is so good in this series.The grouchy crime solver,I love him.He rarily uses a gun, but has his man friday(Mark Sanger)as his fists and legs. If you are a fan of this time 60's tv, this is a must have.Thank you "Shout Factory" for this release.Burr is especialy grouchy in the pilot,and you have never heard "Tiny Tim" sing higher.What a trip with lots of good writing. April 28, 2008

Mom loves Perry Mason...

I bought this for my 88-year-old parents. They love the Perry Mason series but have them all, so decided that Ironside, with Raymond Burr, might be enjoyable for them as well. They do like the episodes they've watched so far, but Mom misses Della Street. April 28, 2008

A Great Show!

Ironside had always been one of my favorite detective series when growing up. I found the shows still as interesting and exciting as when I last saw them on regular TV about 15 years ago. The set is designed nice and the disk cases are well constructed. The only real drawback to this set is the commercial type introduction for the company that produced the set that shows up every time the disk loads. The company name escapes me at the moment but it is kind of annoying to have to see that every time you load the disk. I still give it a 5 star because the episodes are so good and the set is top quality. I'm looking forward to collecting all the seasons and hope they will be produced soon. Ironside was a full 8 seasons and officer Eve Whitfield was in the first 4 seasons followed by Officer Fran Belding who served with the chief for the final 4 seasons. February 10, 2008

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