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I've always liked Peppard's work with his most famous films in the 1960s being Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Carpetbaggers and The Blue Max.
By the early 1970s, Peppard was appearing in less high profile films
and so, like many other movie stars of the era, he decided to do a
television series.
Actually, Banacek was the first of three TV series in which he appeared and, although he would be best remembered for The A-Team, Baneck will always be my personal favourite.
Banacek
combines a subtle sense of humour with complex storylines. Peppard
played Thomas Banacek, a suave Boston-based freelance insurance
investigator who solved seemingly impossible thefts collecting 10% of
the value of the insured property for his efforts. Banacek was less of
a tough guy than Peppard usually played in films (or even his later
character in The A-Team).
This
First Season boxset features eight episodes and all are standouts,
partially due to the impressive list of guest stars who appeared
throughout the season. With each episode running over 70-minutes, Banacek is great value and worth a look.
Guest
star Stefanie Powers is great in the conversation-heavy and
football-oriented "Let's Hear it For a Living Legend". The
top-notch guest star list in "Project Phoenix" includes Joanna Pettet
and William Windom (in a particularly good performance), although the
next episode "No Sign of the Cross” is a rather slow moving episode
with an unimpressive explanation of the heist.
In "A Million the Hard Way", guest star Margot Kidder makes a reference to Superman
well before she ever appeared in those movies. Guest stars Kevin
McCarthy and Brenda Vaccaro (at her peak) feature in "To Steal a King",
a convincing heist story which, with only a little stretch of the
imagination, could actually be pulled off in real life.
Stella
Stevens guest stars in "Ten Thousand Dollars a Page", and a bit more of
Banacek’s family history is revealed when a transport yard manager
talks about his father in "The Greatest Collection of Them All".
The
production team went to Boston to get plenty of on-location shots for
the final episode "The Two Million Clams of Cap'n Jack" (guest starring
Jessica Walter and Andrew Duggan), although there are still some
Universal Studio backlot street scenes used as in other episodes.
All in all, the Banacek DVD boxset is entertaining viewing and is a fine example of early 1970s US drama television. DVD Special FeaturesThe
major Special Feature is the 97-minute pilot "Detour To Nowhere" which
includes a backstory on the origins of Banacek's relationship with
several of the support characters. In this pilot, Banacek travels
to Texas to solve how an armoured truck has apparently disappeared on a
deserted stretch of highway.
Guest stars include Ed Nelson who doesn’t actually appear until the 49-minute mark!
There is also a great little Booklet with information on the series as well as an impressive Image Gallery. Conclusion: Episodes 90% Extras: 80%
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