The Deputy: The Complete Series

A partial release of The Deputy came out awhile ago, so I was very happy to receive my Amazon recommendation that this new, all-episodes collection had come out. We've been going through these episodes several at a time, with regular TV so frequently weak. The episodes are short but well acted, produced, and filmed. One pleasant surprise is that the sound is fine, too, and with a series this old, that's a real accomplishment for the restoration team. Stories are almost all serious; you don't see the characters thrown into silly, weak attempts at humorous episodes as happened so often with Bonanza or Laredo. Sometimes a story suddenly wraps up, but that can happen with any show. It's not The Henry Fonda Show, if that's what you're looking for, but he's in almost every episode, spending several minutes on screen as the Chief Marshall guiding his shopkeeper sidekick and deputizing him to solve the task of the day. It's the only show I can think of where the shopkeeper is portrayed as equal to the task of tackling the bad guys; usually that's reserved to grizzled, bar-busting gunslinging tough guys, occasionally overwritten to be superhuman. There is one small drawback, not the fault of the writers so much as of American portrayals of Western culture at that time: that's the Gabby Hayes/'Detective' Watson buffoon sitting sheriff, who's generally just in the way, getting bumped aside (wisely) so Henry and his real (part time) deputy can restore order. As a writer's gimmick to lighten the mood, he's a minor irritant, like fuzz on the screen, easily disregarded in the context of the storyline. Today we watched eight episodes in a row, enjoying the entire stretch. I highly recommend this set for fans of Westerns.  The Deputy - The Complete Series - 76 episodes! 12 DVD Set!

This is a really good western series.

They don't make tv like this anymore !

I WANTED to give The Deputy - the Complete Series 5 stars so bad....the video & audio is very good & I have no complaints here. My only complaint is that I have found two episodes in Season 2 that chopped off the credits of the show, and I have to ask Timeless Media Group WHY??? However, don't let this deter you from adding this series to your collection, it is an EXCELLENT show & I treasure having it in my classic TV show library.Update: I emailed Timeless Media Group about the above concern & they replied as follows: "For many of the archival films we release, the most problematic elements are the program opens, commercial breaks and closing credits. If there is significant damage to a film, it usually is present in these areas. For the open, we can usually use a clean copy from another episode and that will suffice, but the closing credits are specific to each episode, so we can't just swap them around."

i choose the rating because 1 i like westerns its narrated at the beginning of every eposode by henry fonda explaining abit aboutwhat he has been up to and abit about how they plan to catch the bandits ,the black and white gives it such a great affect seeming like its from that eraif you like westrens this is a great one plus henry uses his wits in a funny way to always seem to con the store keeper allen caseinto deputising him for catching the bad guys. while he has to go else where overall fantasic funny good acting family fun always an adventure plus they are fast with there six shooters and rifles if towns need law and order the deputy is a must to see

Nice series. Good storylines. Talented famous actors. Was on tv from 1959 and 1961. Black and white. Comes in clearly, but sound is a bit muffled. I need to turn it up to 65 or 70 to hear it well. My only complaint is about the background music. Yuch!!! Horrible sounding music. Similar to the kind used the spaghetti westerns. But if that doesn't matter to you, go for it. No way to take that away unless you mute the sound...

I want to rate this tv series 5 star but the music does not fit this western tv show. I love Henry Fonda and Allen Case complimenting each other thoughout the series. What sounds like mexican style music in the background takes away from the show. If you can ignore the music, the series is worth getting.

Henry Fonda and Allen Case. Fonda is Marshall Simon Fry while Case is his part time deputy (until his store is burned) who is reluctant to use a gun unless he has to. When he does look out. Fry and Clay McCord (Case) have somewhat of a father/son mentor/mentee relationship. The marshal sometimes tricks Clay into coming to work for him. Clay's sister, Fran, is seen in the first season only. Character actor Vito Scotti appears as townsman Jose occasionally.

This brings back a few old memories, nice quality recordings, well presented, worth adding to any collection.

Best

Interesting series - 12 Discs 76 episodes. Henry Fonda is a U.S. Marshall and his friend played by Allen Case is thestore keeper and part-time Deputy. The store keeper wants a peaceful life , but is forever being tricked or cajoled into helping out.He runs the store with his sister as the writers must have realized that no wife would tolerate him running off every week tochase the bad guys. Episodes are well done , writing is creative despite the inevitable good vs. bad theme , end the music isof particular interest. The electric guitar was probably fairly new so it plays a major part , sometimes twangy , sometimes a littlejazzy. List of guest stars is a who's who of journeyman stars crafting thier craft ; Marie Windsor,Clu Galager,Denver Pyle,StacyKeach,James Coburn,Richard Crenna,Robert Redford,Lee Van Cleef,Alan Hale Jr.,Vince Edwards,and more.Another example of very much still watchable and entertaining older series.

I like it,it is interesting to see Henry Fonda in tv series instead of movies but he is as great as always,if you like old time westerns I recommend this

A good series, congrats on all the work done to release it. Picture quality is very good considering the age of the original footage. The quality of the DVD packaging is poor. DVD do not stay and place and there is two DVD's inside each thin cheap case. Would have been nice if a booklet about the show was produced but you can't have everything. Overall well done. The sound track, Jack Marshall and Howard Roberts guitar, is terrific!!