Customer Reviews
Good news! - By: S. A. Bollongino, 26 Feb 2010 
This series is superb, such attention to detail & the pairing of Pete Duel & Ben Murphy is golden.
Universal should be releasing Seasons 2 & 3 this summer, at least in America, I read on a message board yesterday. Season 2 has the last Pete duel episodes before his untimely death. I think Roger Davis took over as Hannibal Hayes but the magic was gone. Hopefully there will be some good extras on the new seasons DVD's & they will also be available in Europe.
For myself, I would have preferred that only the Pete Duel episodes were released on DVD but maybe that is not possible. He loved playing Hannibal Hayes & it shows, RIP Pete Duel.
Alas it has dated very badly - By: George Robinson, 23 Feb 2010 
I remember following alll these episodes when they were first aired in the 1970s, & thinking how cool these two guys were. Everything about it was a tonic... the theme music, the 'buddy' cameraderie between the two appealing lead characters - back then it was an unmissable treat, and, in my memory, light years ahead of the rest of the TV output at that time.
When I saw that a DVD box set was out, I thought: "Great! Got to have that!" & duly forked out the full price of £30 for this, the first series... only pausing slightly to wonder why it has barely been aired anywhere since.
We have Sky channels full of the same old dross churning round & round like washing in a machine... Only Fools And Horses, The Good Life, Last Of The Summer Wine. Even my hero Columbo's starting to pale as I see him take on Robert Culp & Patrick McGoohan for the 100th time. So how come Alias Smith & Jones never got repeat airings?
Sadly, the reasons become painfully apparent as you grind your way through each episode.
Obviously inspired by the then hugely successful Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, the series kicks off with a pilot that's actuallly not bad, with a bit of a budget behind it & a good rollicking storyline establishing the characters & setting everything up nicely.
But then the Hollywood sausage machine factory conveyor takes over. The budget savings start to kick in... the scripts get ever weaker... whole episodes seem to drag for hours, even though they are only 50 minutes long. The stories are so thin they become tortuous. There's one episode where our heroes are trapped in a stagecoach resting post surrounded by outlaws, where the entire episode is pretty much a series of long, loud, ridiculous gun batttles, where nobody gets even wounded. It just goes on & on & on... & then just ends, with our two heroes simply riding off on their way. Nobody gets hurt, nothing much happens, & everyone's alll smiles at the end as plinky-plinky music plays in the background. All's well with the world.
And that's one of the problems. You never feel they are ever in real danger, or that anybody's going to get hurt, or that there's going to be anything of any substance happening. It's like one long series of souffles, so lightweight you think your TV set might just float away.
Pete Duel is on record as saying he hated the show for pretty much the same reasons above, but as a naive young actor he had signed a seven-year deal & couldn't get out of it to try some more serious acting. In the end, as everybody knows, he ended up blowing his brains out at the peak of the show's success.
It says a lot about Universal Studios that on the actual day of Duel's death, they went straight out & hired the dismal Roger Davies as an instant replacement, & just carried on filming. But without Duel's charisma & acting talents, the show just as quickly fell out of the ratings & was junked a few episodes later.
It could have been a classic, but today, it's a piece of nostalgic lightweight froth. You might get a kick out of seeing the two boys in their prime, & perhaps one or two wry smiles, but that's about alll. As for enjoying Western thrills & spills, you'd be far better off watching... well, just about any Wild West movie.
remember this - By: A. Schofield, 14 Feb 2010 after watching this alll most 40 years ago i was delighted to find it on dvd & even the fact that its alll those years old i fell in love with it alll over again realy enjoyed seeing it again.
You're Really those Two Notorious Outlaws, Heyes and Curry! - By: Paul Mason, 09 Feb 2010 
The Alias Smith & Jones Series 1 boxset consists of 4 discs with one 90 min & fourteen 50 min episodes. There is a commentary from creator/producer Glenn Larson on the pilot episode. The series starts well with a cracking pilot that sets the situation beautifully. The next two or three episodes are excellent with twisty, complicated plots, great dialogue & situations & starry support from veteran & reliable actors. Pete Duel & Ben Murphy are likeable attractive actors playing the most loveable outlaws ever created. They may have been bank & train robbers but their chivalry & sense of fair play are exemplary. With alll this it is sad to report that the series gets weaker as it goes on. Duel & Murphy are very dependent on their scripts & carelessness sets in with some slow, unlikely plots lacking humour & action. Some mediocre acting from the younger supporting actors also appear & there is some "lyrical" photography & music very typical of the late 60s & early 70s. Here are two lists of the good & the mediocre episodes that may help:
GOOD;
Pilot (Susan James, Earl Holliman, James Drury)
The McCreedy Bust (Cesar Romero, Burl Ives, Edward Andrews)
Exit from Wickenburg (Susan Strasberg)
Wrong Train to Brimstone (JD Cannon, William Windom)
The Great Shell Game (Sam Jaffe, Diana Muldaur)
A Fistful of Diamonds (John McGiver, Sam Jaffe, Michelle Carey)
Stagecoach Seven (Keenan Wynn)
The man Who Murdered Himself (Patrick MacNee, Juliet Mills)
The Legacy of Charlie O'Rourke (Joan Hackett, JD Cannon)
MEDIOCRE:
The Girl in Boxcar #3
Return to Devil's Hole (Fernando Lamas)
The Root of it All (Judy Carne)
The Fifth Victim
Journey from San Juan (Susan Oliver)
Never Trust an Honest Man
The good episodes outnumber the mediocre 9 to 6 & even the mediocre are watchable if not exciting. The picture & sound are good.
Series 2 & 3 are not yet available.
Brilliant - By: Andrew S. Finel, 06 Feb 2010 I loved this when it first came out (in the 70's?) & it is still good to watch. 14 episode plus the 2 part pilot. Pete Duel & Ben Murphy worked so well together. It's a tragedy what happened to Pete Duel he was such a talented actor. The western was very popular in the 60's & 70's. In my opinion this was the best. The quality of the DVD picture is excellent (as long as you set your TV to 4:3!!).
