Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5495 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-09-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Color, DVD, Restored, Full Screen, Collector's Edition, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 528 minutes

Customer Reviews

This DVD is a good start but Lassie fans deserve much more
Here is a list of the episodes of this DVD collection for those who might want to get the single disc editions that contain other episodes. Unfortunately, a number of the shows in this collection are edited. The episode numbers below follow the production/syndication order; the DVD booklet numbers them by the order they were aired, although they must be skipping "The Frog" from 1956 (which was not aired by CBS but is in syndication) as the episodes starting with "The Runaway" are off by 1. What's funny is the discs follow the production order.

---------- Jeff years ----------
1) #1 - The Inheritance (ALERT: this version is edited, missing segement where Lassie unties her rope to Jeff's bed)
2) #5 - Lassie's Pups
3) #10 - The Lion (the DVD book incorrectly puts this episode after "The Inheritance")
4) #53 - The Journey (the Jeff episode, not the Timmy episode with the balloon)
5) #104 - The Runaway (introducing Timmy)
6) #116 - Transition (the Martins take over the farm)
---------- Timmy years ----------
7) #173 - The Camera
8) #180 - Peace Patrol (the Lone Ranger)
9) #184 - The New Refrigerator (not "The Refrigerator" as named in the DVD booklet)
10) #202 - The Space Traveler (not "Space Invader" as named in the DVD booklet)
11) #269 - Lassie and the Eagle (the DVD book incorrectly puts this episode after "The Odyssey")
12) #275 - Lassie's Protege
13) thru 15) #277-279 "Lassie's Odyssey" (Part 1 thru 3)
(note: episodes are missing re-caps of previous episode plus previews for the next one, so they run shorter than the normal 25.5 minutes)
16) #290 - Lassie and the Tiger
17) thru 18) #330-331 - The Treasure (Parts 1 and 2)
---------- Ranger years ----------
19) thru 20) #476-477 "Holocaust" (Parts 1 and 2) edited down to 22.5 minutes each
---------- alone years -----------
21) thru 22) "For the Love of Lassie" (Parts 1 and 2)
severly edited down to 20.5 minutes each
---------- Holden years ----------
23) thru 24) "Run to Nowhere" (Parts 1 and 2) edited down to 22.5 minutes each

It's still a great collection to have. "The Odyssey" itself makes it worthwhile. And seeing Jan Clayton, Tom Rettig, June Lockhart and Jon Provost together on stage is one of the greatest TV moments!

Not Bad...But Could Have Been Much Better
I had high hopes for this DVD collection and seeing it was created and released by two well known companies (Classic Media & Sony) it should have been better. This collection contains several "Lassie shows" starting with "Jeff's Collie" in 1954 all the way up to the "Holden Ranch" episodes in 1974.
Classic Media & Sony apparently had the blessing of the "Lassie Organization" so why couldn't they have acquired the original negatives and struck new prints ?? While the episodes included are watchable, many have visual artifacts (scratches) and a grainy quality. Fresh prints would have been more in order with a release such as a 50th Anniversary DVD collection. For example, every "Timmy and Lassie" episode in this collection opens with the 1959 opening, even if it was a 1960 or 1962 episode. Did they think diehard babyboomer fans of this show wouldn't notice ?? Also, the opening of one particular "Jeff's Collie" episode, looked very rough. The closing music on many episodes of Jeff's Collie" had a wavy or unbalanced sound. The color episodes which were the newest and should have looked the best, were of poor quality. Again with mismatched opening titles and actual episode years. They looked to be second or third generation copies...even the older B/W episodes looked better.
It would have been nice if surviving cast members could have done some narration discussing behind the scenes shooting or favorite episodes.
There ARE some good things to say about this DVD collection. The episodes chosen were some of the best. The booklet by Ace Collins describing the Lassie story is very informative and this set is packaged very nicely. The extras such as the recent "ninja" Lassie G.E. commercial and other noteable Lassie appearances are fun to watch although again, the quality of some of these clips varies.
This DVD collection had such great potential and although I'm glad I bought it, I expected so much more...Lassie fans deserved it and so did Lassie.

Not for Ral Fans
If you're a fan of "Jeff's Collie" and "Timmy & Lassie," stay away from this DVD collection. Most of the Jeff/Timmy episodes included here were released in single disc sets earlier this year and you may have already purchased them (I did). This is a pretty skimpy collection (20 episodes) when you consider how long each of the Lassie series ran. They need to fast forward to "Complete First Seasons" of both Jeff and Timmy.