COMING SOON (MAYBE)

• Honey West: Season One
  A legal, licenced edition, with yummy Anne Francis starring as G.G. Fickling's Honey West, the sexy head of a high-tech private detective firm. supposedly coming soon from VCI.

July 2008 DVDs and Videos

• Cannon: Season 1, Volume 1....Buy this DVD set
  William Conrad IS Cannon, a tough, expensive, overweight southern California PI with a taste for fine food and win -- and the hero of one of the best P.I. shows of the seventies. Some of the best writers and directors were involved in its production, and the guest star list is a veritable who's who of Hollywood at that time.
  
  
• Jake and the Fatman: Volume 1, Season 1 ....Buy this DVD set
  William Conrad shows up again this month, as the Fatman of the title, but this time he's a DA. in Los Angeles, not a private eye. Joe Penny (previously of Riptide) plays Jake Styles, a brash, hip young special investigator.

June 2008 DVDs and Videos

• Burn Notice: Season One....Buy this DVD set
  The one rock-solid P.I. show of 2007 makes it to DVD (and a second season!). Michael Weston is a spy who's been burned by the CIA, and he wants to know why. But until then, he's working as a P.I. in Miami...
  
  
• Mannix: The Complete Season One....Buy this DVD set
  The first -- and some argue the best -- season of the archetypical hard-boiled private eye show from the sixties finally makes it onto disk. But be forewarned: this isn't the "classic" Mannix we all recall so fondly, with two-fisted Joe and her ever-faithful (and much-kidnapped) secretary Peggy by his side. Nope, this is the first season, where working class Joe works for a large, high-tech detective agency and regularly clashes with his boss (Joseph Campanella) and the powers that be. So, is it the best? We'll see. I haven't seen these episodes for forty years -- they were never part of any syndication package.

April 2008 DVDs and Videos

• Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition ....Buy this DVD set
  For those who aren't (yet) fanatics, here's a great solution: this 50th anniversary set collects a dozen episodes, and fills out the set with a the 1985 TV-movie revival, Perry Mason Returns, screen tests, assorted interviews with Barbara Hale, producer-director Arthur Marks and CBS executive Anne Nelson, and Raymond Burr, plus promo clips and a photo gallery. It won't be enough for dedicated fans, still seething over the glacial-like release schedule of the complete series, but it's a good introduction to the series.

March 2008 DVDs and Videos

• Magnum, P.I.:Season Eight....Buy this DVD set
  Left for dead at the end of the previous season, Magnum returned, cheese intact, for one last go-round Gosh, he even had Carol Burnett drop in for a very special episode.Includes a bonus episode of The Rockford Files with Selleck as Lance White.
  
  
• Nancy Drew...Buy this DVD
  No, really. Not a P.I., but definitely a gateway drug. And this version, which tries to update the frnchise by tossing in a good dollop of Mean Girls isn't too bad, all things considered. Still, for Nancy's first big-screen appearance in nearly 70 years, it's a bit of a letdown to have Nancy uprooted to Los Angeles. Surely part of the original's charm was the small town ambience of River Heights.But hey, if it sparks a new generation of mystery readers -- and more than a few tweenagers seem to really dig this flick -- then I'm all for it. And while she's no Bonita Granville, Emma Roberts (Julia's niece, Eric's daughter) makes for a likable enough heroine.

February 2008 DVDs and Videos

• B.L. Stryker: Season One....Buy this DVD set
  The 1989-1990 series of wildly uneven but amusing TV movies starring Burt Reynolds as a smirky, slacker Palm Beach eye who was a constant thorn in the side to his ex-wife, social-climbing Rita Moreno and local Police Chief McGee. Only 12 two-hour episodes were produced in all, as part of the very-short-lived ABC Monday Mystery Movie which rotated with Lou Gossett as Gideon Oliver and yet another revival of Columbo.
  
  
• The Equalizer: Season One... Buy this DVD
  Possibly hoping to cash in on the inevitable buzz to be created by the new big bucks adaptation (currently being scripted by our pals Terrill Lee Lankford and Michael Connelly) the 1980s' update of Have Gun, Will Travel hits the DVD circuit. Equalize? More like eliminate.
  
  
• Gone Baby Gone...Buy this DVD
  Whew. It's been a long time a-coming, but we finally have a great P.I. film. And I don't mean "pretty good" or "not bad" -- i mean "great." Ben Affleck makes his directorial debut, stepping up to the plate and knocking it out of the park. This is an almost perfect film, from the razor-sharp cast (inluding Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, the deservedly Oscar-nominated Amy Ryan, and featuring Michelle Monaghan and Ben's kid brother Casey's as P.I. couple Angie Genarro and Patrick Kenzie) to the bravura adaptation of Dennis Lehan'e novel, which cuts all the fat off, and gets right to the story's dark, black heart.. A measure of this film's success is the anger some have expressed at the film's ending. Not that they didn't believe it, but that they didn't agree with it. Morally ambivalent, brooding, bittersweet -- this one will pierce your heart. Guaranteed. It's not Chinatown or The Maltese Falcon, but it's not far behind. This is the sort of film that reminds me why I love detective fiction. Highly and heartily recommended.

January 2008 DVDs and Videos

• Banacek: Season Two... Buy this DVD
  The second (and final) season of television movies starring the high-flying Beantown insurance investigator. If you ask me, these are some of the best "impossible" crimes ever presented on the tube. Will include the previously unreleased pilot, "Detour to Nowhere."
  
  
• The Rockford Files: Season Five... Buy this DVD
  The fifth season of what many consider the greatest private eye show of all time. Jim, Rocky, Angel, Denis... and Lance! 'nuff said.
  
  
• An Unsuitable Job for a Woman... Buy this DVD
  Contains all four episodes of the PBS/ITV series featuring the exploitss of P.D. James' landmark female private eye, Cordelia Gray, arguably the first "modern" female gumshoe. The role of Cordelia is a tough one -- in the books, she's complex, moody, introspective, idealistic and inexperienced, yet Helen Baxendale nailed it, although some of the more soap operaish plotlines in the latter episodes may take fans of James' by surprise.

November 2007 DVDs and Videos

• The Jack Nicholson Collection: Chinatown/The Two Jakes....Buy this DVD set
  The greatest and most powerful one-two punch in the history of P.I. films, finally brought together in one set. In Chinatown (arguably his most effective role ever) Nicholson as jaded private eye Jake Gittes tears into the guts of corruption, treachery, greed and pure evil in mid-20th century Los Angeles and can't forget. Neither will viewers. And then he reprises the role and brings it all home in The Two Jakes, one of the finest sequels ever made. Solid proof that film noir doesn't have to be in black and white.
  
  Also available separately
  Chinatown ..Buy the DVD
  The Two Jakes....Buy this DVD
  
  
• Man with a Camera: Complete Collection....Buy this DVD set
  This 4-disk set captures all two seasons of the late fifties show, starring Charles Bronson as former combat shutterbug turned New York City freelance photographer Mike Kovac, in all its black and white glory. Say "cheese."
  
  
• Perry Mason: Season Two, Part Two....Buy this DVD set
  Perry, Della, .Paul... what's not to love?
  

October 2007 DVDs and Videos

• The Best of Checkmate: Season One...Buy this DVD set
  At last, one of the great and sadly forgotten P.I. shows of television's early years come out on DVD. Sebastian Cabot (MR. FRENCH!!!), Doug McClure and Anthony George (who?) star as three San Francisco gumshoes whose aim is "to thwart crime and checkmate death (by) stopping the slide downhill to tradgedy." They use all sorts of high tech (for the time) scientific doo-dads and techniques to achieve this, an early precessor to CSI et al. But don't hold THAT against them! Created by Eric Ambler and featuring the talents of such primo writers as Jonathan Latimer, Helen Nielsen, Leigh Brackett and William P. McGivern, the music of John "StarWars" Williams and an A-list of guest stars, this was a quality production all the way.
  
  
• Eliot Ness: An Untouchable Life....Buy this DVD
  Another indie project form the House of Collins, a film version of Max Allan Collins' one-man play of the same name about the life of Ness, the bootleg-busting G-Man, starring Collins' actor buddy Michael Cornelison.
  
  Hardcastle and McCormick ...Buy this season on DVD
  The third and final season. For those who thought Rockford didn't have enough car chases, this is the P.I. show to get. Vroom-vroom!
  
  
• Magnum, P.I.: Season Seven....Buy this DVD set
  This was going to be the final season of the show, and so a lot of loose ends were supposedly tied up. Jessica Fletcher from Murder, She Wrote even dropped by for a "very special" crossover episode.
  
  
• Veronica Mars: Complete Third Season...Buy this DVD set
  The third and final season of the cult fave finds tart-tongued, wise-cracking gal sleuth Veronica attending Hearst College (with Logan in tow), and discovering college isn't much better high school -- the same lies, betrayal, secrets and (of course) murder abound. And an on-campus serial rapist is tossed in for good measure. "Chinatown meets Heathers" is how creator Rob Thomas once heard it described, and that's about right. Or maybe Nancy Drew with hormones.

September 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Las Vegas: Season Four ...Buy the DVD
  Just in time for the new season to begin, this is the last comlete season with James Caan, whose scenery chewing and cranky older guy grumbling duties will be taken over by Tom Selleck. The glamorization of this pathetic and tawdry town continues, though -- about as soulful and convincing as a silicone implant.

August 2007 DVDs and Videos

• The Dresden Files: The Complete First Season.. Buy on DVD
  Torn between helping the innocent and watching his own back, wizard turned P.I. Harry Dresden battles Chicago's true dark side to crack shocking cases the cops can't handle and science won't explain. Uh-huh.
  
  
• The Smiling Man....Buy this DVD
  An indie short starring nobody you ever heard of that follows beat-down shamus Nick Chambers through the oddly empty (and very clean) streets of post-WWII San Francisco in search of a man only identified by a photograph, on behalf of a smug, enigmatic client who knows more than he's letting on. Short on thrills, but long on mood, this low-budget but engaging headscratcher is an enjoyable little spin-off from last year's equally enjoyable Fog City Nocturne collection.

July 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Darwin Awards... Buy this DVD
  Don't get too excited. This flick, starring Winona Ryder as an insurance investigator and Joseph Fiennes as a forensic specialist looking into a suspiciously bizarre death, bounced around for a while and then vanished. Supposedly it's a romantic comedy. On the other hand, it's also been billed as very black, a sort of "noir comedy." We'll see... no actual official release date was ever confirmed, and now I see that it's coming out on DVD July 31st.
  
  
• Pulp Fiction Art: Cheap Thrills & Painted Nightmares.. Buy on DVD
  Documentary filmmaker prowls pulp art historian Robert Lesser's vast collection of pulp art, and lives to tell the tale, offering an in-depth look at the world of pulp fiction cover art and lives to tell the tale.
  
  
• Vincent: Season One.. Buy on DVD
  Quirky but very well-received P.I. show from the U.K. starring Ray Winstone now out on DVD stateside.
  

June 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Monk: The Complete Fifth Season.. Buy on DVD
  Is there no stopping this man? Antiseptic towelettes for everyone!
  
  
• Psych: The Complete First Season.. Buy on DVD
  More inept cops and another sharp -- but quirky -- eye to set them straight.
  
  
• The Original Nancy Drew Mystery Collection....Buy this DVD set
  Collects the four classic black-and-white Nancy Drew hour-long flicks (Nancy Drew, Detective, Nancy Drew, Reporter, Nancy Drew, Trouble Shooter and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase) from the late thirties directed by William Clemens and starring Bonita Granville as you-know-who, with John Litel as Carson Drew and Frankie Thomas as Ted Nickerson. Still surprisingly effective kiddie pulp. Get spunky.
  
  
• Perry Mason: Season Two, Part One....Buy this DVD set
  You mean they actually used to have real honest-to-goodness mysteries on television?
  

May 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Banacek: Season One... Buy this DVD
  You think Spenser's smug? You oughta check out this George Peppard as the freelance insurance investigator
  
  
• The Rockford Files: Season Four... Buy this DVD
  And now the deluge.Season four follows close on the heels of February's Season Three release. Too much of a good thing? No way, man -- this is Rockford! Even better, there's a sneak peek at the fifth season, with an episode featuring Tom Selleck as Lance White, plus a clip from Sleuth TV's "America's Favorite Sleuths," featuring various talking heads expounding on what made Rockford so great.
  

April 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Kidnapped... Buy this DVD
  It was smart, clever and entertaining so, surprise, surprise, NBC cancelled it before it really had a chance, bouncing it around the schedule until everyone gave up. Still, they get points for rounding up all thirteen episodes, including the unaired ones and releasing them on DVD. It should be worth checking out -- it was an ambitious potboiler with a surprisingly strong cast that follows the abduction of a teenage boy and the efforts of his wealthy New York parents, Conrad (Timothy "Nero Wolfe" Hutton) and Ellie (Dana Delaney) Cain, to get him back. those efforts include hiring Knapp (Jeremy Sisto), a freelance investigator with a troubled past and an abrasive manner who specializes in rescuing kidapping victims and negotiating ransom demands.
  
  
• L.A. Dicks... Buy this DVD
  Man, they really are dicks.
  

March 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Michael Shayne Mysteries, Volume One... Buy this DVD
  Cool beans! At last they're releasing these! Not great art, maybe, but great fun, with Lloyd Nolan starring as Brett Halliday's insanely popular redheaded sleuth. Includes four pulpy classics: Michael Shayne, Private Detective, The Man Who Wouldn't Die, Sleepers West and Blue White and Perfect.
  

February 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Magnum, P.I.: The Complete Sixth Season... Buy this on DVD
  Generally considered the weakest season of the show, but still essential viewing for fans.
  
  
• The Rockford Files: Season Three... Buy this DVD
  Now we're talking! This is season three of arguably the greatest TV P.I. show of them all (Harry O is the other; Magnum doesn't even come close). By the third season the writers, producers and cast were all firing on all cylinders. A pure treat for P.I. fans.
  
  
• Shock to the System... Buy this DVD
  Second TV flick from the here! Network ("Gay television. No apologies.") featuring hard-boiled Albany P.I. Donald Strachey, based on the popular series of novels by Richard Stevenson. In this one, Strachey looks into the alleged suicide of a client, an apparent victim of aggressive "gay conversion therapy."
  

January 2007 DVDs and Videos

• Michael Shayne Detective.. Buy this DVD
  Aiming to cash in on the imminent release of the box set , Critics' Choice offers up this budget-priced set containing two episodes from the short-lived fifties TV show starring Richard Denning.