In April 1965 an episode of
The Virginian called "We've Lost a Train" became the basis of a spin-off series that lasted two seasons:
Laredo. The 30-episode first season of the NBC series kicked off in mid-September of that year, and this past October the folks at the Timeless Media Group
released 15 of them as part of
Laredo - The Best of Season 1.
It looks like it's not going to be so much of a "best of" any more (except that these won't be on DVD in broadcast order): Timeless Media is releasing the rest of the 15 episodes from the first season on
March 25th, in a new 3-disc set titled
Laredo - The Best of Season 1, Part 2.
Running time is 738 minutes, and the cost is $29.98 SRP. However, there's no cotton-pickin' need to pay full price on that, when you can
pre-order it from Amazon right now for $20.99 after discount. Below is the studio description of the release, including names of guest stars like
Star Trek's DeForest Kelley,
M*A*S*H's Jaime Farr and
Hawaii Five-0's Jack Lord! Below that is a look at the special foil packaging:
Laredo, with its blend of western comedy and high drama, is one of the best television westerns to be found. Laredo premiered in prime time as an episode of The Virginian and was such a big hit, with its wonderful cast, gorgeous color photography, western ambiance and tight, serio-comic scripts, that it was immediately signed for a full season.
Laredo brings together three Texas Rangers with distinctive personalities, strengths and weaknesses, under the stern command of Captain Edward Parmalee (Philip Carey). Wacky Reese (Neville Brand), brawny Joe (William Smith) and smooth Chad (Peter Brown) are equally good at roughhouse humor as well as serious law keeping. Chad and Joe are particularly good with the ladies, something most westerns of the day shied away from. Quick in the saddle and quick on the draw, when these lawmen go after evil-doers, they always see justice done.
The show attracted many terrific guest stars, including: Lee Van Cleef (Quarter Past Eleven), Noah Beery Jr. (A Taste of Money), Jack Lord (Above the Law), Jeanette Nolan (It's the End of the Road, Stanley), Kurt Russell (Meanwhile, Back at the Reservation), Jamie Farr (That's Noway Thataway) and DeForest Kelley (Sound of Terror).
