Ripcord TV Series: Complete Season 1 (Gift Box)

RIPCORD SEASON ONE - AN OBSCURE SERIES COMING TO DVD
I am so thrilled to see "RIPCORD" is getting a released to the DVD format. I had all but given up and just assumed that it had dropped into oblivion never to be seen or heard from again. This was a series that ran for two seasons and starred Larry Pennell and Ken Curtis as "Ted McKeever" and "Jim Buckley" who operate an outfit called Ripcord Inc. - a skydiving school, but also spent a lot of time rescuing people out of untoward circumstances, and other recovery efforts which occasionally included some crime-fighting. The series ran for a total of 76 episodes in the black and white format from 1961-1963 in a 30 minute time slot. Each episode ran approximately 25 minutes. The sport of freefall skydiving was in it's infancy at that time and this show really helped bring visibility and increased interest. I also remember the action figure doll (with parachute attached) that was sold that could be tossed into the air and 'usually' would float (or 'spin' :o) to the ground.

Once...

Another Surprising Release
I remember watching this show with my father. It was a syndicated series and I believe it ran Thursday evenings at 7PM in New York on NBC. I believe it concerned two investigators or detectives. The thing that made the show interesting was the it showcased the then new sport of skydiving. We had never seen anything like this before and I remember watching it breathlessly.
Another thing that was interesting was that it co-starred Ken Curtis, Gunsmoke's Festus Haggen. After watching him in Gunsmoke, his father-in-law John Ford's westerns (including the classic The Searchers,) John Wayne's The Alamo, etc., it was nice to watch him in a totally modern role and it will be fun to see him again. The other star of the series, Larry Pennell, became a character actor on tv and appeared in tons of tv series.
Obviously, I haven't seen this series in about 50 years (although I still have the Dell comic book,) and I am greatly looking forward to seeing it again.

The Case of the Missing Episode
I received my Season 1 box a couple of days ago and it's great - or at least it could be ...

Picture and sound are very good for a show this old, so it should be 5 stars for every fan of the show.

Sadly, TGG or MGM made a huge mistake on disc 3: Episode 7 "Sentence of Death" is missing; instead the disc includes as Epidode 7 "Elogy for a Hero", also included as episode 1 on disc 5.

So this 5 star product looses 3 stars due to sloppy production. One can only hope the company will correct their error.

PS:

The episode listing on the DVD set is different from the one listed in the Amazon editorial review:

DISC 1:
The Skydiver
Air Carnival
Airborne
Chuting Stars
Colorado Jump
The Condemned
Counter-Attack

DISC 2:
Crime Jump
Darb
Death Camp
Derelict
Top Secret
Radar Rescue
Sierra Jump

DISC 3:
The Silver Cord
Thoroughbred...

Click to Editorial Reviews