The Mod Squad // The Complete Collection (39Dvd)

If you don't remember the premise, Captain Greer of the LAPD decides to give three bad kids – "a white, a black and a blond" (Pete, Linc and Julie) – a break by putting them to work as undercover cops. The show was pretty good for its time and probably holds up better than a lot of TV shows from back then.I've just finished watching the complete DVD set.Here are my random observations:• They didn't disguise street signs, so it's still possible to find some of the locations beyond the studio lot. Similarly, some of the phone numbers were "real" – not fake 555's. Many of the city scenes were shot on the same studio lot (Paramount), with generic business signs serving as poor disguises. (If you binge, watch for the mailbox and everything else will reveal itself.)• Cars back then (late 60s-early 70s) were aircraft carriers, and no one knew how to drive them. Even in situations with no urgency whatsoever, tires screeched. Seat belts? Nah!• Day or night, inside or outside, Pete and Linc were usually wearing sunglasses. What's more, they – and Julie (every 13-year-old boy's imaginary girlfriend) – were almost always wearing at least one piece of white clothing. Yet despite all sorts of night skulking and doing spectacular dives off balconies to tackle bad guys, they almost never got dirty.• Different story with interior walls, which were notably FILTHY – never washed or repainted, and with fingerprints everywhere. (Probably not as visible on tiny TVs back in the day, but very obvious on a big screen today.)• Cell phones would have made a HUGE difference in the stories, where characters often had to find a phone booth or were unable to make contact (let alone quickly Google something or use a GPS). The loudest noise in many episodes was the sound of a wired telephone ringing. Oh, and there were telephone booths all over the place – often serving as important meeting or spying posts. Amazingly, everyone always had a pocketful of change to make calls.• Security cameras would've helped a lot, too. Overall, security wasn't anything like it is today. Anybody could walk right to the gate at the airport. Locks sucked: everybody picked them all the time, especially Pete and Linc without warrants. Nobody ever bothered to ask who was at the door (or look through a peephole) before simply opening it – which rarely worked out well.• Before the Internet came along, the Captain simply knew stuff without looking it up. Consider this unlikely bit that came out of thin air: "Julie, there's more than 2,000 pharmacies in the West Valley!"• Somehow Pete, Julie, Linc and the Captain were always all able to finagle low-level jobs (waiters, parking valets, etc.) on very short notice, just to be on site when something bad was going to happen. The Captain's go-to undercover gig was downright absurd: selling ice cream from a truck.• Linc almost never smiled. It’s entirely possible that in some scenes, they simply used a cardboard cutout of Clarence Williams III.• Everybody except Pete, Linc and Julie smoked constantly, and ashtrays were everywhere.• You'd almost believe that everyone lived at Julie's apartment, including the Captain, because it was where they always gathered outside the office.• Clothes – bell bottoms, fringes, lots of colors – may have been accurate but were exaggerated for dramatic effect (hippies!). Neckties were large enough to park those huge cars on.• After five seasons, they finally ran out of never-before-mentioned best friends/lovers/close family members/cellmates who suddenly turned up in trouble and led Pete, Linc and Julie to follow leads over the Captain's objections - although inevitably the people turned out to be miraculously part of a case the Captain was already pursuing. What are the odds, in a city where the population was then roughly three million people?• People who became near and dear to the trio during an episode were pretty much never heard from again, although in one notable episode in the final season Julie had a flashback to a baby that she'd helped the previous season. (The baby itself was notable because in the original episode, it inexplicably tripled in size in mere hours – no doubt the result of an "any baby will do, so just wrap the kid in a blanket" approach by a casting director not worried about continuity.)• In general, the music was terrible but trying to be cool (bleating saxophones, bad surf guitar, cheap organ) and seemed overly influenced by Theme From Shaft. There was one remarkable exception: the CLOSING theme ("Theme From the Mod Squad" aka "Alone Too Long" by Shorty Rogers) was an amazingly moody fragment, way too good for the show itself, I thought. It changed a bit from week to week but was always a haunting instrumental. (Good thing, too, because the version released in 1968 by The MODernaires included vocals. Yuck.)• Remember how Mannix got shot every single week? Similarly, every Mod Squad episode included at least one huge fistfight, and more than a few shows ended with Pete and Linc leaving the perps abandoned in an unconscious heap with no sign of uniformed officers on the way to make actual arrests.• Night watchmen always patrolled with flashlights. Never, ever did they turn on the lights.• It rained much more often in Mod Squad episodes than it ever did when I lived in LA.• Guest stars included Andy Griffith, Bobby Sherman, Richard Dreyfuss, Tyne Daly, Yvonne Craig, Lesley Ann Warren, Carolyn Jones, Ida Lupino, Ed Begley, Richard Anderson, Vincent Price, Margot Kidder, Milton Berle, Carl Betz, Leslie Nielsen, Fritz Weaver, Robert Duvall, Tom Bosley, Dwayne Hickman, Ivan Dixon, Ray Walston, Jim Backus, Leslie Uggams, Vic Tayback, David Cassidy, Sammy Davis Jr, Stefanie Powers, Richard Pryor, Harrison Ford, Barry Williams (playing a kid selling newspapers on a street corner!), Ed Asner, Robert Reed, Cesar Romero and Sam Elliott – in some cases easily recognizable and in others not so much.• Pretty much every episode ended on a pier with Pete, Julie, Linc and the Captain all laughing at a very unfunny joke or solemnly talking about a just-finished case, with Linc often getting the last word: "Solid."

great product enjoyed watching the series

Home use, THANK YOU

To quote Linc Hayes, I could sum up my review of The Mod Squad in just one word... "solid!" But I'll go a bit more in-depth than that. I'll review this set as seasons one and two first, then three, four, and five second, as they almost feel like two different sets, quality-wise. Read on, and this will all make more sense.First, seasons one are two are in superb, pristine condition. I viewed this set through an HDMI upconverting Blu-Ray player on a Sony LCD HDTV, and I was blown away by the video quality. Blemish-free and bright and sharp and crystal-clear. The audio was also top-notch. And thankfully, both the audio and video were presented as originally broadcast (mono audio and 4x3 video). I hate it when the studios feel the need to create a faux surround sound or widescreen version of a show that was not recorded that way. Give us purists the original audio and video, I say. And that's what we get with this set. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the episodes do contain English closed captions. This was not mentioned on the package. And lastly, the episodes all clock in around 51 minutes (accurate and complete for a show from the late '60s, early '70s), and once we're finished watching the episodes we get nice interviews with Peggy Lipton and Michael Cole.Now, we move to the remaining seasons. Things diminish a bit here, unfortunately. The image is noticeably lower in quality (though still better than some TV shows I've seen from the '80s and '90s on DVD) and a bit washed out. It appears to me as if these episodes might have been taken from videotape masters, as opposed to film. I also had to crank up the volume a tad more to hear some of the dialogue. Time-wise, most of the episodes clocked in around 50 or 51 minutes, but a few hovered around the 49-minute mark. This tells me that there was most likely a small scene cut out, but these are still (thankfully) not the syndicated versions, as they clock in around 45 minutes.There are no captions to be found for these seasons, unfortunately.Despite the shortcomings of seasons three through five, I'm still giving this set five stars for three reasons:1.) It's The Mod Squad, as full and complete and high-quality as we're likely ever to get,2.) They actually went through the trouble of assembling most of the surviving cast members for interviews, something which very few studios do for vintage TV shows on DVD, and3.) The packaging is very... dare I say... solid! Each season's box and DVDs are a different color, and whole presentation is very top-notch and professional. Kudos to VEI for a job very well done!

An excellent DVD Box Set. It is well packaged with each DVD in an individual sleeve within a box that shuts tightly. The series is of its time and takes me right back to that time - when things were free and easy. Good storylines, great characters/actors and best of all they are like real people!

This show is WAY under rated and ahead of it's time. The BLACK LIVES MATER movement don't even know it exists, with one of the best TV and Movie actors of his day Clarence Williams 3rd starring in EVERY episode. Peg Lipton was a FOX and Mike Cole rounded out an awesome trio of actors that brought the messages of the day, out in the open! They don't make em like this anymore. Add that to the most amazing Organ/Trumpet theme music and ON THE DISCS, and you can't go wrong! Solid man........SOLID!

This is a wonderful series that has definitely stood the test of time. Still entertaining, still relevant...Love the clothes, the sets, the stories, the cast...as one reviewer here put it, people seemed nicer, kinder then...it is a lesson to learn. Being civilized, being considerate, all things that still count and still make the world a better place.I am so glad I bought the whole set.Well packaged. Includes some interviews too.Don't skip this one.I loved it as a kid, even more so as an adult. Solid!!!

I really appreciate what VEI has done for this boxed set of The Mod Squad. The clam shell case is a nice thick plastic; reminiscent of the clam shells that VHS tapes used to come in. The set has high quality graphics on the cover as well as the DVDs, themselves. And, I like the soft PVC sleeves that hold the discs.VEI has done a nice job with this release of The Mod Squad. It's a really nice addition to the collection.

This is a great show!1. The quality of the images is very good!2. The plots are excellent, especially how the characters work together on their assignments.3. The studio did a great job with assembling of the cast. The only thing they could have done differently was have an latino/latina as part of the cast then they would have cover all aspect of US culture