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Marcus Welby, M.D.: Season 1
R1 - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (30th May 2010). |
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The Show
 “Marcus Welby, MD” ran for seven well-received seasons on NBC, from 1969 to 1976, and had long since been off the air, and most likely wasn’t even in syndicated reruns by the time I was born, so the first time I’d seen even a minute of the show was sometime last week when I began watching the series on DVD. The show follows Dr. Marcus Welby (Robert Young), an aging, but still spry General Practitioner, who in the opening minutes of the series 2-hour TV Pilot “A Matter of Humanities” (a “movie” which aired in the Spring before the regular series began in the Fall season) suffers a myocardial infarction – or, basically, has a heart attack. Much to his disliking, it’s recommended that Welby take on a second partner in his practice to help cope with the workload, as it will take sometime for him to be back in tip-top shape. The call for help is answered by none other than Dr. Steven Kiley (a dashing, young James Brolin), who accepts the position because he needs the money – but certainly not because he wishes to be a “family doctor” like Welby. No Kiley wishes to specialize. Elena Verdugo later joins the cast as the practice’s Nurse, Consuelo Lopez, in the first real episode of the series, “Hello, Goodbye, Hello.” There are very few other recurring characters and unfortunately, Marcus’ love interest from the pilot fails to make the transition to the series proper. I’ll admit that it surprised me, but I ended up liking this show quite a bit. The acting from the main cast is amazingly strong, and the writing, at least in its themes, characters and basic plots is great. Like many medical procedurals we even see today – but were particularly popular in the late 60's – the series has little continuity beyond basic character development, and instead favors a “disease of the week” format. This, however, is never detrimental. Just, at times, it can be curious or even laughably old fashioned. Some of the afflictions presented and cases discussed are approached from a mindset of a “simpler” time when medical, psychological and societal knowledge, was, lets just say, “limited” (picture Bones and his distaste for 20th century medicine in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986) – that’s somewhat my reaction to a great many scenes in this series). But, procedural nature be damned, I can love a medical show even if it’s repetitive and occasionally derivative, as long as it continually works – and tries to do something with it’s loose premise (case in point: I love “House, MD” (2004-Present) and that show is nothing if not both repetitive and derivative). Similarly – in fact, I think so similarly that I’d say House owes as much to Marcus Welby as he does to Sherlock Holmes; i.e. a hell of a lot – this series works because while it’s a loose construct of disease of the week nonsense, it has, at the core, a rather clever twist. You would expect – or perhaps had expected, had I not prefaced this with a mention of a “twist” – that Welby be the strict, by-the-books doctor that constantly has to keep the young Kiley inline, but it’s exactly the opposite. Marcus is the crazy, off the walls, “will try anything, as long as it works” foil to Kiley’s stoic, less brash persona. Gimmicky? Perhaps, but it definitely works (and seriously, does it not remind anyone of the dynamic between a certain Holmesian TV doctor and his “team.”) The real draw here for those not salivating at the chance to own “Marcus Welby” on it’s own terms is the inclusion of a rare early work of one Steven Spielberg. I’ll cop to that being this set’s biggest draw for me; Spielberg is one of my biggest influences, and all-time favorite directors/producers (although that last is like saying “I like candy” – most people do), so the chance to see one of his earliest professional works was exciting to say the least. Unfortunately, his episode, “The Daredevil Gesture” isn’t all that spectacular – and, really, didn’t have his mark in anyway. Talk about disappointing – sure, it’s an interesting curio, but I was hoping to see a master at work, and this episode doesn’t really deliver. On the upside, because it doesn’t bare his mark, it looks very much at home with the rest of the series and doesn’t screw with the visual continuity at all – which is good, because big name director’s coming in for a one off spin on an established series, and leaving their very distinct mark on a one (or two) episode run is one of my biggest pet peeves (love him, but see: Quentin Tarantino and “CSI” (2000-Present)). All 26 episodes and the 2-hour TV Movie from the first season are included on 7 discs. From what I can gather these are presented in the original unedited form – each episode runs about 50 or so minutes. Also, there are no notes anywhere in or on the packaging that mentions the use of edited content (and Shout Factory is usually good about making such information available). The series includes the following episodes: - "A Matter of Humanities" - "Hello, Goodbye, Hello" - "The Foal" - "Don't Ignore the Miracles" - "Silken Threads and Silver Hooks" - "All Flag's Flying" - "Echo of a Baby's Laugh" - "The White Cane" - "The Vrahnas Demon" - "Madonna with Knapsack and Flute" - "Homecoming" - "Let Ernest Come Over" - "The Chemistry of Hope" - "Neither Punch Nor Judy" - "Diagnosis: Fear" - "The Soft Phrase of Peace" - "Fun and Games and Michael Ambrose" - "The Legacy" - "Dance to No Music" - "Go Get 'Em Tiger" - "Nobody Wants a Fat Jockey" - "The Other Side of the Chart" - "The Merely Syndrome" - "Sea of Security" - "The Daredevil Gesture" - "Enid" - "The Rebel Doctor"
Video
“Marcus Welby, M.D.: Season One” sports a surprisingly decent, but not terribly consistent image. The show retains the look of a production from 1969, with slightly muted colors (somewhat unusual, because color television was still relatively new, and it wasn’t uncommon for shows of the era to sport bolder palates (see: “Star Trek: TOS” (1966-1969)), healthy amounts of grain, and lots of soft-focus photography. The show also features, at times, unexpectedly strong, defined edges and details. The episodes are occasionally a little dirty, some of the scene transitions waver in contrast, sharpness and colors, and, particularly at commercial bumpers, a slight gate-weave is present from time to time. Still this is a genuinely suitable presentation, and Shout! Factory’s standard-def DVD rendering is free of signs of DNR, edge-enhancement and other nefarious electronic tools. True, the series as a whole is much less polished and impressive looking than the pristine restoration of another series from around the same time – see the remastered “Star Trek: The Original Series” (1966-1969) DVD's and Blu-ray discs – but I was more than satisfied with the results on “Marcus Welby, M.D.: Season One”, particularly because it didn’t receive the type of care and remaster that Kirk and crew did.
Audio
Shout’s English Dolby Dual 2.0 mono mix presents the series in its original single channel format. Typical for TV of the era this is a pretty limited experience, but dialog is nearly always intelligible and that’s what matters. The source is largely free of hissing, pops and distortion – but not completely – and, especially music sounds compressed and thin. Leonard Rosenman’s theme is unexpectedly worn, as are certain moments of the series’ other audio elements. Volume annoyingly fluctuates between episodes (and sometimes between scenes). Sorry “Marcus Welby, M.D.” fans, this DVD features an unimpressive, not really passable soundtrack. No subtitles are included.
Extras
The packaging claims the 2-hour pilot as a bonus feature, but I’m hard pressed to call it a supplement, as it’s basically required to understand the rest of the series. Yes, technically it isn’t part of the first production season, airing in the spring before the regular show began, but it’s not exactly an extra. If we were to consider the pilot TV movie an extra bonus than I’d have to do the same for something like the “Battlestar Galactica” miniseries (2003) included on the season one Blu-ray – which, very obviously, I wouldn’t. This TV movie is part of the series proper plain and simple, the menu and disc layout even treat it as such. DISC ONE: The only extras on this disc are a series of pre-menu bonus trailers for: - “Father Knows Best: Season One, Two, Three and Four” on DVD. 50 seconds. - “Adam-12: The Complete Season Sets” on DVD. 43 seconds. - “Rhoda: Seasons One and Two” on DVD. 1 minute 10 seconds. DISC TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX & SEVEN: No bonus material is included on these discs. There is also a 12-page booklet included, which, like most from Shout! Factory is a proper, well put together thing. No other extras are included.
Packaging
The 7-disc set comes packaged inside an extra thick keep case with the discs mounted on flipper hubs. A 12-page booklet details the series, featuring an episode guide, as well as offering information on the cast and crew.
Overall
“Marcus Welby” holds up surprisingly well, particularly it’s 2-hour pilot. Yes, some of the series is quite dated – it’s bound to be, it’s from the same year we first landed on the moon for chrissakes – but the themes, plots and characters are pretty much universally applicable, even some 40 years out of context. Shout! Factory’s DVD of the first season presents all 26 episodes with relatively solid (if somewhat troubled) video but relatively dull, dated, audio and unfortunately no extras. Recommended for lovers of classic television.
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