Jake And The Fatman The Complete Collection // All 5 Seasons

This is another show from the 80's-90's that I wasn't able to watch. Back then VCR's were still somewhat expensive and were just starting to come down in price. I worked a lot so this is one of the shows that I did not bother to watch. I enjoyed watching William Conrad in Canon and in Nero Wolfe, so I purchased Jake and the Fatman initially as they were release in Seasons 1 and then 2. Now VEI has released all 5 seasons. I watched them all on a CRT TV and both the picture and audio were sharp and crisp. No complaints. Season 1 started out slow with the classic who done it and Jake appearing to solve the crime in the first few minutes of each episode. After about 5 or 6 episodes, the show started to get more interesting. However, it was Season 2 where the show really took off and to me this is how the series should have opened. Hawaii was definitely a turn for the better for the show. In the story, JL was a cop in Hawaii before he became an lawyer and later a DA in LA. In Hawaii JL returns to help Joe and finds himself the PA (Prosecuting Attorney) with both Jake & Derek joining him. We also learn about JL’s son Daniel in the 5th episode of the short 2nd season which started after a long writers strike. Towards the end of the episode JL tells Jake that he wished Jake was his son. Jake and Daniel are opposites. Season 3 continues to be filmed in Hawaii, as well as the first half of Season 4 when the entire gang returns to LA. In one episode of Season 4 we meet Dr. Mark Sloan which turned out to be one of several pilots for Diagnosis Murder. JL's son would redeem himself in one episode and that must have been of some consolation to JL. Season 5 seemed to be a mixed bag as we saw less and less of both Derek and JL McCabe. Perhaps William Conrad’s health had gotten a little worse and it appeared that he was a little thinner in the latter half of the season. One episode that easily could have been a spin-off was the one with Nell Carter in which she had a singing career and turned into a bail bond shop. The episode ends with William Conrad singing a duet with Nell Carter. I enjoyed the series. I got a chance to see actors and actresses that were either very early in their career or near the end and no longer with us today.

Good show. Kind of more of Cannon. I like it

I really like this set. I'm a fan of Hargrove and Silverman shows like Matlock, Diagnosis Murder, and Father Dowling but had never watched this show. Cannon was one of my favorite shows in the seventies so buying this set seemed like a no brainer. Just to be sure I purchased a copy of season one volume two that was released by paramount. After seeing the disc count of this set and the number of episodes in the series I almost didn't purchase it, especially since there were some reviews criticizing the picture quality. When Amazon put it on a lightning deal I bit the bullet and purchased it and am glad I did. I compared Blues in the night on the Paramount release to the VEI release and the VEI release was improved in both audio and picture quality. The dialog is much clearer on the VEI set, less muffled and you can hear the voice inflections much more clearly, you don't have to strain to hear what they're saying. The picture quality is also improved from the paramount set with brighter color, and more focused images with skin tones and details much clearer. My home theater setup isn't high end by any means and consists of a 1080p Vizio M series TV, an older Sony home theater receiver, and a Samsung Blu ray player with 4k upsampling. I did recently by a 4K compliant HDMI cable for $12 to run from the player to the TV and it made a noticeable improvement. As far as the packaging goes, I don't worry about that too much since I keep a box of DVD jewel cases from verbatim on hand to store the discs in once they're removed from the original package. I've found that this is a good way to protect my investment. Once again I think VEI should be commended for releasing many of these titles that the studios don't want to bother with.

Loved this series. It wasn't a great series but Joe Penny was a star in the making. He is highly watchable and lights up the screen. Would have loved to see him in another series without the islands being involved. He was gold.

Nice boxed set with DVS individually wrapped and displayed like a booklet. Glad to see an old favorite on DVD as it isn't available elsewhere. Video quality is better than I expected as it was an old show. If you loved the show it's a must have to add to your collection. **** UPDATE. I finished the entire series and as a fan, I thoroughly enjoyed it. For those who are not pleased with the quality, each disc gives a disclaimer at the beginning so don't expect DVD quality. Unfortunately no close captioning for those who appreciate it. I don't remember watching Season 5 when it was aired, however, it was not very well written and I didn't like many of the episodes. William Conrad was ill and passed away several years after the last season aired. You could tell he had health issues in the episodes he did appear. Not sure why Alan Campbell was absent for many of the series-perhaps he was in other projects. Joe Penny was no longer written as one of the stars, but almost secondary roles in some cases. He was very popular at that time and his TV movie career was booming. And there may have been some contract disputes. Who Knows? Several episodes appeared to be setting up spin offs in season 5. So yes, that season was greatly disappointing, but overall, I was very pleased with the rest of the series, especially seasons 2 and 3!

I love the old shows that used to be on.. I find substance in them that is severely lacking in these shows today. I am a fan of mysteries and crime procedurals. This was a fantastic show in it's time and just as enjoyable again now. If you are a fan of crimes and mystery, you will love this. I found NO problems with the sound or filming. I give this a +10 out of 10. enjoy!

Started watching all the Dean Hargrove shows from before my time and I love every minute of it. The show had a formula but still managed to stay fresh and creative. We also got Diagnosis Murder!

Fond memories of this show. Fun watching it again.

bonne série, le passage de Los Angeles à Hawaii est bien, cela change un petit peu, bonne qualité de DVD, se lit sur region 2 mais il n'y a pas de sous titres

Can't go wrong with Jake and the Fatman. Nice to have the complete series, so you can binge as much as you like. William Conrad and Joe Penny are a great team, and it never gets old watching their "good cop, bad cop" routine on the suspects. They do pull the wool over on more than a few occasions, and then of course dont forget "Max"-nothing would get solved without him! Packaged well and shipped fast.

A timeless classic, watched it on my region 4 player even though it says region 1. A show that never get's boring.

leider lässt die Veröffentlichung zu wünschen übrig. Es fehlen englische Untertitel, sowie Inhaltsangaben der einzelnen Folgen.Daher nur 4 Sterne.

Arrived on time. A marvellous product and well worth the price. Great picture, sound and above all a great dvd to watch if you're a great fan of the 80s drama. I also give it 5 stars because the courier was also polite and very followed instructions. I would also like to say that Amazon were up to their usual standards of efficiency. Thank you.