"It Takes A Thief" is a bit dated and probably only of interest to those who recall watching it years ago. The 1968-1970 ABC show was inspired by Cary Grant's debonair jewel thief in the film "To Catch A Thief". Professional thief Alexander Mundy (Robert Wagner) gets an offer to work for the SIA (a covert U.S. government spy agency). Mundy does not simply dismiss the offer out of hand as he is doing time and the government is offering him limited freedom (house arrest confinement in a Washington mansion between missions) in exchange for allowing them to utilize his considerable skills as a thief.
While not on the level of classics like "77 Sunset Strip", the show's first two seasons followed the wonderful tradition of 1960's action/adventure/spy shows by casting a different hot "young" starlet in each episode (except episodes 1.12, 2.11, 2.12, 2.14 & 2.15). The show went strangely gay for its third and "final season", replacing this practice with evocative shots of Robert Wagner and in the process losing its original audience.
The set includes all 65 regular episodes and two versions of the pilot episode. Despite the complaints the packaging I received was not bad, much better the standard Mill Creek release. Each season has its own folder with individual pockets for each disc. Resolution is decent for the first two seasons, but since most older viewers first saw this as a grainy ABC broadcast, the resolution might cause an even more nostalgic reaction.
The resolution is much worse on the Season Three episodes but those episodes were staggeringly moronic and completely lacking in eye candy, so the poor film stock or whatever washed out the print did not ruin anything of any quality. The third season episodes are bad but not bad enough to work as mockfest material. Watch for the steady parade of ancient actresses with mega makeup, perhaps they provided the financing to keep things going for another week in exchange for the opportunity to take a working vacation at some exotic foreign location and a chance to encourage Wagner to unbutton his shirt a bit more. Fortunately the first two seasons provide enough entertainment to justify the price, even if you simply trash the third season.
DVD set extras are a booklet, a 4-piece coaster set (why?) and interviews with Robert Wagner (he is not asked if he killed Natalie) and with Glen Larson. Larson was associated with the series for its entire run, mostly as an associate producer but occasionally as a writer, particularly during season three. In fact, when you find a particular episode especially boring it is a fair bet that it is one that Larson wrote. It is believed that he was the Coen Brothers' model for the Digby Sellers character in "The Big Lebowski".
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
While not on the level of classics like "77 Sunset Strip", the show's first two seasons followed the wonderful tradition of 1960's action/adventure/spy shows by casting a different hot "young" starlet in each episode (except episodes 1.12, 2.11, 2.12, 2.14 & 2.15). The show went strangely gay for its third and "final season", replacing this practice with evocative shots of Robert Wagner and in the process losing its original audience.
The set includes all 65 regular episodes and two versions of the pilot episode. Despite the complaints the packaging I received was not bad, much better the standard Mill Creek release. Each season has its own folder with individual pockets for each disc. Resolution is decent for the first two seasons, but since most older viewers first saw this as a grainy ABC broadcast, the resolution might cause an even more nostalgic reaction.
The resolution is much worse on the Season Three episodes but those episodes were staggeringly moronic and completely lacking in eye candy, so the poor film stock or whatever washed out the print did not ruin anything of any quality. The third season episodes are bad but not bad enough to work as mockfest material. Watch for the steady parade of ancient actresses with mega makeup, perhaps they provided the financing to keep things going for another week in exchange for the opportunity to take a working vacation at some exotic foreign location and a chance to encourage Wagner to unbutton his shirt a bit more. Fortunately the first two seasons provide enough entertainment to justify the price, even if you simply trash the third season.
DVD set extras are a booklet, a 4-piece coaster set (why?) and interviews with Robert Wagner (he is not asked if he killed Natalie) and with Glen Larson. Larson was associated with the series for its entire run, mostly as an associate producer but occasionally as a writer, particularly during season three. In fact, when you find a particular episode especially boring it is a fair bet that it is one that Larson wrote. It is believed that he was the Coen Brothers' model for the Digby Sellers character in "The Big Lebowski".
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.