Kojak - Season One
by Alex March, Allen Reisner, Charles R. Rondeau, Charles S. Dubin, Gary Nelson
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Dan Frazer, John Hillerman, Kevin Dobson, Lee Montgomery, Telly SavalasDirector: Alex March, Allen Reisner, Charles R. Rondeau, Charles S. Dubin, Gary Nelson
Brand: SAVALAS,TELLY
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-03-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Kojak - Season One
Movie Review: 5 Star Show, 3 Star Presentation
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been ordering TV shows that I liked but have not seen in awhile. I am part of the growing trend of the population that watches less TV (less than 4 hours a week live TV), but spends a lot of time with radio and internet entertainment, so when I saw I could get season one of Kojak (used) for about 20.00 I was all over that. I was on the young side when Kojak aired but it was filmned in the streets of New York City where I grew up and I actually saw them using my favorite pizzaria after school for an episode so it was like rooting for your home team for me to be a fan of Kojak. I just watched episode one Siege Of Terror and I was not dissappointed, the show holds up VERY well. I counted over 100 bullets shot, 3 wounded or dead people, realistic street scenes, realistic (to me) action, the things you can appreciate in a police action show. Also, the ending was not all happy and was actually sad, thats what good TV drama is all about in my book. So yeah for the price I paid I'm going to get all of my money's worth watching Kojak's 22 season one episodes. The show was great and won many awards, I guess it was a bridge between the Hawaii Five O/ Mannix type show and the next period which I think started with Hill Street Blues. Kojak was street smart like a Hill Street but didn't have much continuity from episode to episode just as the shows Mannix/ Hawaii 5 -0 didn't. You could watch an episode of Kojak in mid season and it was fine, where as if you missed the first half season of Hill Street Blues you'd have missed a lot of character development. So I guess thats why it didn't last past 5 seasons, but in TV years thats a long time. Great show 5 stars. *******Now about this Universal DVD set. After watching episode one on disc one, I checked the episode guide online and found out it was NOT the first Kojak made. There was a pilot episode that aired the TV season earlier as a TV movie. That is NOT on this set. Maybe Universal didn't make it and thats the reason why it's not here, but it is pretty major letdown. I found it on region 2 and will probably get it as I am always curious to see a good shows roots and how it's introduced to the audiance. There are also no extra's that I spotted like interviews and that stuff, I know Telly is gone but maybe his brother who was also on the show (if he is still alive) could have given the fans some stories about Telly, I think that would have been great to listen to. Fans of Kojak are undoubtably fans of Telly so something in the way of a commentary would have been nice. Other TV DVD sets have those extra's and I know Universal is not known for extra's but I'm just mentioning this for those who don't know these things. 3 stars for the packaging, 5 stars for the show. I've seen whole run's of Mannix and Barnaby Jones (!) among others being sold on the internet, I'll be looking for the rest of Kojak (even if it is old VHS transfers) since Universal has decided not to release the other 4 seasons on DVD (are you listening Universal?).
Summary of Kojak - Season One
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Telly Savalas is back as Lieutenant Theo Kojak, television?s greatest detective, in the unforgettable homicide series Kojak. He?s got style, street smarts and a penchant for lollipops, and he?s hitting the gritty streets of New York City in pursuit of some of television?s toughest criminals. Relive all his smart, edgy adventures in the mystery series that People Magazine raves is "a TV classic: slick, well-plotted and entertaining." And now, it?s an open-and-shut case with all 22 Season One episodes available on DVD for the first time ever!On the timeline of successful TV cop dramas, Kojak offered bold authenticity and paved the way for NYPD Blue. As immortalized by Telly Savalas, veteran detective Theo Kojak was introduced in the 1973 TV movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders (not included in this 3-disc set), a ratings hit that encouraged CBS and writer-producer Abby Mann to create a trend-setting series (based on a book by Selwyn Raab) that premiered on October 24 of that year. The Greek, bald-headed, snappily attired Kojak brought no-nonsense bravado to homicide cases in South Manhattan--a setting that lent a gritty, urban edge to intelligent plots that won the respect of real cops with an emphasis on diligent police work instead of overblown action and phony glamour. While working cases with his captain Frank McNeil (Dan Frazer) and closest colleagues Crocker (Kevin Dobson) and Stavros (played by Savalas's brother George, credited as "Demosthenes" for the first two seasons), Kojak had a knack for bending the rules (but never breaking them) if he knew it would solve a crime.
Kojak came at a perfect time for Savalas and cop dramas in general. The actor's career was slumping in the early '70s (he'd just appeared in the Italian horror film Lisa and the Devil), and he quickly put his personal stamp on the role with street-wise sarcasm and trademark lollipops (a perfect prop that Savalas adopted to quit smoking). Consistently well-written, the series was realistically rooted in a broad spectrum of New York City crime. These qualities attracted plenty of fresh and established talent, and these 22 well-preserved episodes include guest appearances by Harvey Keitel, James Woods, Richard Jordan, Hector Elizondo, John Ritter (in one of his first TV roles), Paul Michael Glaser, Dabney Coleman, Tina Louise, and a host of familiar TV veterans. For this debut season, Savalas won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Kojak ran for five well-rated seasons, followed by several TV-movie revivals in 1985, 1989, and 1990. The enduring popularity of Kojak was further proven when the show was revived yet again in March of 2005, with Ving Rhames in the title role. --Jeff Shannon
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