Peter Gunn: The Complete Series [DVD]

THE SHOW: I'll write a more in-depth review later. Peter Gunn is an excellent series, a hidden gem of the late 50s and early 60s crime television genre. Peter Punn definitely has a noir ambience to it, with most of the action happening at night, frequent car chases, cat-and-mouse surveillance, and shoot outs.Craig Stevens is the leading man sleuth Peter Gunn, with his girl, sexy and elegant night club singer Edie Hart (Lola Albright at his side. Gunn solves a series of crimes, usually murder-related, and his style is reminiscent of LAPD Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) on Dragnet 1951-59, with the same "just the facts, ma'am" straight-man attitude. Albeit, Gunn has a ladies-man side to him as well, akin to Robert Mitchum (His Kind of Woman, 1951), (Out of the Past, 1947), (Angel Face, 1952.) The chemistry between Gunn and Edie is quite convincing from the very first episode, an incredible feat, since usually in television it takes a few episodes for the actors to develop a believable vibe. Gunn's ally and friend Lt. Jacoby (Herschel Bernardi) is a no-nonsense, hard-nose, by-the-book type cop, and so he and Gunn clash over investigative methods and procedural decisions. Still, they have each other's backs, with Jacoby frequently being a valuable department source for the PI Gunn. Some episode plots are better written than others, but what is distinct about this show compared with 90s TV and on is its classic non-linear format. Basically, you don't need to know much (or anything) about what happened in the previous episode to watch them, though episode 1 does set the stage for "a-case-per-week" style programming by introducing you to the main characters. Sometimes the guilty culprits are obvious and it's a matter of figuring out how to get them to slip up so they can be arrested. Other times there are many suspects and it's a matter of process of elimination to determine the guilty party.I can get lost in Peter Gunn for 25 or so minutes since the episodes are no longer than that (just like the early Gunsmoke (James Arness as Matt Dillon!) episodes. Since the episodes are low-time commitment, I can watch one while making breakfast, turn it off, go about my day, and return to it while making dinner, as opposed 45-60 min TV shows, which I tend to avoid since it just takes up too much time. I do not binge watch TV, got a life to live. There's so much more to Peter Gunn; suffice to say that the story and series of Peter Gun itself gets a 4/5 star review from me.I watched all the episodes with Dad some years back on one of these on-demand, internet-based television providers, and decided I had to have it. I couldn't be bothered to watch most programs on television, most are trash from a cinema/story line perspective, all marketing and no plot. Peter Gunn combines gripping private I story lines with breathtaking black-and-white cinematography--what can be done with fog and light in black-and-white is truly amazing. And did I mention the music is by Henry Mancini, who composed the scores for Pink Panther (1963) starring Peter Sellers?THE PRODUCT: 12 DVDs, 114 episodes, the whole show, start to finish. No false advertising there. The remaster is by Timeless Media Group, owned by Shout Factory (a privately held group,) and for the most part I'm pleased with the outcome of their efforts. Some reviewers have made some remarks about receiving discs that were not new. That's unfortunate. I've included pictures above to demonstrate that mine came brand new in the wrapper. A careful viewer will notice one of the discs is missing from the first case in the picture where I have all the seasons laid out on the counter--that's only because the disc is in the DVD player. Too bad the series isn't on BLU-RAY, though I recognize it would be very difficult to remaster the series to 1080p, and that the demand for that is lower because this is a niche audience compared to, say, The Twilight Zone (1959-64), which is considerably larger.There is inconsistency in the picture and sound quality depending on the specific episode, which is a little aggravating. The series arrived in the mail only yesterday, so I haven't had the opportunity to check all the episodes on each disk. I will say that on the first disk, the first episode is fairly clear in terms of picture and audio (at least standard 480p. Whereas with episode 2, the jazz musician murder episode, the quality of both picture and audio is lacking, with fuzzy picture at or below 200p and very poor audio, specifically, hissing. That inconsistency tells me that when the engineers remastered the production, they were sloppy--too bad. Then, in the third episode about the dog, the picture and audio are at least as good if not better than the first episode. So, be aware that you are going to get this inconsistency in picture and audio reproduction. So far, no episode is unwatchable, though I'm only three episodes through these disks. If you have an HDMI cable, as I do, you can upscale the picture quality somewhat (I think the DVDs are 480p,) however, that doesn't hold true for the musician murder episode (episode 2); again, the picture is very grainy, so there are limitations to upscaling.In terms of packing, you'll see in the pictures I took with my phone what to expect. There are 12 DVDs, four per a case (slip), and all of the cases fit into a decently constructed cardboard box. I like to take a knife and just remove enough plastic to get each slip (case) out of the box, while leaving most of the plastic around the box, since it preserves the box, which is otherwise prone to scratches and scrapes. The pictures I took and posted show the product completely unwrapped as it was when it arrived. One very disappointing feature of this version of the series is that there is no episode list with an original air date and three sentence synopsis in the cases themselves, nor is there a little booklet with that information. This means that if you have a favorite episode but forget the title, you don't have a synopsis to refer to. What you do get is better than nothing, which is a list of the episodes embossed on each disc. This is slightly disappointing if you spent $64.00 on the entire complete series of a television show. That said, it isn't a deal breaker in the sense that if I had know it beforehand, I would still have made the purchase. The cases are plastic, and fortunately, instead of having some cardboard insets that the discs go into, there are actual plastic clips that hold the discs in place. Be very gentle when removing a disc from a slip, since the plastic is cheap and easily busted off and can't be glued back. Putting the disks back in their clips is considerably easier. I give the product itself a 3/5. Perhaps we'll see a BLU-RAY complete overhaul of the series, but I'm not holding my breath, and I'm happy to this great piece of noir cinema history on my shelf to watch when I please.

This show was just a little bit before my time, and so I didn’t watch it when I was a kid. But I certainly heard about it, and I’m a huge Henry Mancini fan and so I’ve been familiar with the theme music for many years. The price on the set was affordable, and since the reviews were generally favorable, I decided to splurge. But I am disappointed by the show, and I’ll tell you why.First, the conversations are all very quiet. I don’t know if this is a technical issue with the audio, but I was constantly having to turn the volume up to hear what people were saying. Then the music would come on, and I’d have to turn it down again.Second, everyone was smoking in almost every scene. To me it was very detracting; it wasn’t stylistic or atmospheric. It just seemed carcinogenic.My main complaint, however, is that virtually every episode seems the same. There is very little diversity in the series. If you’ve seen three episodes, you’ve seen them all. There is some diabolical intrigue, Peter Gunn gets hired to investigate, then gets beat up, then the bad guy gets killed. My favorite scenes were at Mother’s, the bar where Peter hangs out, and his conversations and kissing with his beautiful girlfriend. But even those scenes all look the same after a while.As I got towards the end of the first disc I noticed that my family was no longer around in the living room. They are normally very tolerant, but they confronted me with the sad truth: After the first couple of episodes, these were all the same.This flaw is so vivid, that I doubt if I will watch any more of the episodes. I made it through the second episode on the second disc. By then the atmosphere and the storyline had become so repetitive that it was almost unendurable to watch anymore. And even the famous theme song gets really tiresome after a while.

If you grew up during the early to mid 1960's everyone saw Peter Gunn. The classy P.I. who also worked well with police Lt. Jacobi on some cases. I have not had time to watch all these yet but I can say the picture quality is the best I have seen to date compared to earlier releases on other disc sets and tapes and the sound quality is better too. Also to own every episode made in this set is a definite plus. I always double-check episode title listings and seasons against the ep guides episode listing sheets-they are definitely all here. Being a half hour detective show means these stories move quickly and have plenty of action, style, and romance throughout the series. Be aware this show was on tv in 1958 through 1961 the era where the crime shows and westerns ruled the networks. The difference in this show is that Blake Edwards created the style of Peter Gunn very well played by Craig Stevens, the stories are fast-paced, and the music is the best plus done by Henry Mancini. If you grew up in that time zone and only saw a few shows, you need to buy this set. As a whole you will not be dissapointed in this episode set. My only one dissapointment is that there was one Peter Gunn Movie made and it was in color simply called "GUNN...NUMBER ONE" done in the late 1960's starring Craig Stevens who did this after the series ended for the movie theaters and it also starred Ed Asner, Albert Paulsen' and Sherry Jackson and this movie is not included in this set.I only hope that it becomes available in the near future. That movie score was also done by Henry Mancini. Another one shot picture of Peter Gunn was made for tv several years later that starred Peter Strauss as Gunn but that was it. Still I rate this set a 5 for it's quality, pricing, completeness of episodes and many exciting shows with a great cast.

Arrived 29 April, watch Peter Gunn 60 years ago on TV a great piece of NOIR drama for TV plus Henry Mancini's music

テレビ・ドラマの「ピーター・ガン」のコンプリートボックスです。１２枚のｄｖｄが４つのボックスに入っています。発売が米国のTimeless Media Groupなので、あまり期待はしていなかったのですが、ところが画質が非常に良い。リージョン・フリーなので日本のプレイヤーで再生可能です。見ていて、アバン・タイトルのあとにタイトルが出て、ヘンリー・マンシーニのお馴染みのテーマ曲が聞こえてくるのが懐かしいですね（白い紙袋に入った、このテーマ曲のCDも添付されているのは親切！）。最後のクレジット・タイトルまで収録されているのも嬉しいですね。字幕のサブ・タイトルは入っていないですが、３０分ものなので、ストーリーはわかり易いです。私はマーケット・プレイスで３８８円で買ったので、これは本当に嬉しい買い物でしたよ。

Peter gunn will help you out for a 1000 bucks, just meet him at mother's bar and night club where his girlfriend sings. Intrigue and romance and his tenuous relationship with lt. Bernardi make for some movie magic, even though this is 1958 and on.

This is an objective product review, if you are looking for a review of the program itself seek out the likes of Leonard Maltin, for the musings of the masses check out IMDB.This product was viewed on a Samsung 40" HD Smart TV, a most unforgiving TV that demands an exceptional source material.To invest so much cash on a half century TV program, no matter how much I enjoyed it's original premier, was certainly a risk after being burned in the past with hastily prepared material resulting in poor transfers from shabby sources. Case in point: 'The First Of The Few' an abominable rip-off of the classic 'Spitfire' which Amazon has refused to delete from stock.The folks that put this astonishing offering together state they've done their best to find the best material possible, and I believe! All but a few of these episodes have very pleasing audio and video, many are simply eye-popping, much better than I remember the original broadcasts! In all candidness only one failed to make the high grade these folks set for themselves, not bad considering there are 114 episodes.If this wasn't enough I also found a bonus CD containing all the music preformed during this series and the sound is fantastic! Like the TV, the CD was played on unforgiving equipment: Sony 508 ESD Player, Luxman R-1050 Receiver and 4 Paradigm Speakers.Bottom Line: Simply the best product of it's kind that I've purchased in the past 50 years - enjoy!

For Peter Gunn and Henry Mancini fans. Mancini at his best -- walking bass, lietmotifs for each of the main characters, plenty of variety. I would like a little more info about who was playing in the bands both in Mothers and the other clubs. The story, with its straight and counter-culture themes was ahead of its time -- you name it -- sensitive but often tongue in cheek treatment of gays, beatniks, beach boys, gurus, detectives, vamps, thugs, little persons, and heroes. Peter Gunn is, after all, impossible to shoot and wins almost every fist fight.