We've been telling you
since December about VCI's upcoming DVD release of
Burke's Law - Season 1, Volume 1, featuring the first half of the first season of the classic series starring Gene Barry (
War of the Worlds). A few weeks ago we
updated you with a possible release date of March 4th, and two possibilities for the box art.
Now we appreciate that VCI has very nicely sent over their final info for this 4-DVD package. It reveals that the smaller box picture shown previously will be the final packaging used for the set. They provided us with a nice high resolution look at that case, plus the 4 individual disc-holding cases which slip inside of it. Both are seen at the bottom of this story. Each disc case will be individually wrapped and sold together inside of the outer slip case, for a nice cost of just $29.99! And it gets better, because the Amazon link below - even though it wrongly says "Season 1" instead of "Season 1, Volume 1" (we've informed them of the error) - will let you lock this in at just $20.99 as of this writing!
This contains 16 episodes, full of guest stars (we gave you a detailed list in our original report) and digitally restored for both audio and video. VCI says that each episode is complete, with no commercial interruptions, which may sound strange because that's the way TV-DVDs usually are, right? Well, it's important to note here because among the bonus material are some Vintage Commercials! Other extras include Burke's Lawisms, "Adlets" (previews of other DVDs, we believe) and a Special Collector's Booklet with write-ups by Joel Blumberg and Clifford Weimer (we've
reported about the latter).
Will all this be ready early next month, as previously indicated? We're sorry, but it won't be. VCI has given us a finalized street date of
April 29th for
Burke's Law - Season 1, Volume 1. Here is the studio description of the show, followed by the promised look at the packaging:
Burke's Law was a detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965. Gene Barry starred as Amos Burke, the suave millionaire Chief of Detectives for Los Angeles who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Silver Cloud II Rolls-Royce. The series featured stylish settings, strange twists on homicides, and legendary guest stars. During the opening credits, as the opening title burst on screen, and a woman’s voice was heard seductively saying "It's Burke's Law!" The title also reflected Burke's practice of providing wisdom..."A smart policeman never mixes business with vermouth - Burke's Law."
Each episode had the title 'Who Killed...' followed by the victim's name. The opening of the show revealed the murder, but not the murderer (that was left for Captain Burke to discover.) The show would use a blend of wit and drama, as Burke would sort through a suspicious assortment of shady characters. Each suspect was questioned by Captain Burke and his fellow detectives, Rookie Detective Tim Tilson (played by Gary Conway) and Sergeant Lester Hart (played by Regis Toomey), until the guilty party was identified.
