Zane Grey Theater: Season 2

Almost five years after VCI released the complete first season of Zane Grey Theater on DVD, Timeless Media has stepped up to offer fans the second season of this great western anthology series hosted by Dick Powell. And what a season it is! The 28 episodes feature Hollywood legends like Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan, Howard Keel and Hedy Lamarr, as well as future television stars like Michael Landon, Dan Blocker, Pernell Roberts, James Drury, and DeForest Kelley. As originally aired, the season also included the pilot for the popular television series "The Rifleman", here presented as "The Sharpshooter" (episode 2.21). Due to legal complications, this episode will NOT be included on the four-disc set. That's disappointing ... but there are still enough treasures here to qualify as five-star, "must-see" viewing. Thank you, Timeless Media! Here's hoping you won't make us wait another 5 years before you release Zane Grey Theater, Season Three! EPISODES INCLUDED: 2.01 - "The Deserters" - Margaret Hayes, Tom Pittman, Joe De Santis 2.02 - "Blood in the Dust" - Claudette Colbert, Jeff Morrow, Barry Atwater, Denver Pyle 2.03 - "A Gun is For Killing" - Edmund O'Brien, Marsha Hunt, Robert Vaughn 2.04 - "Proud Woman" - Hedy Lamarr, Paul Richards, Roy Roberts 2.05 - "Ride a Lonely Trail" - Walter Brennan, Val Dufour, John Zaremba 2.06 - "The Promise" - Tommy Sands, Gary Merrill, Whitney Blake, Carl Benton Reid 2.07 - "Episode in Darkness" - Dewey Martin, Anne Bancroft, Phil Pine 2.08 - "The Open Cell" - Dick Powell, Marshall Thompson, Steve Terrell 2.09 - "A Man to Look Up To" - Lew Ayres, Diane Brewster, Will Wright 2.10 - "The Bitter Land" - Peggy Wood, Dan O'Herlihy, Marian Seldes, Richard Beymer 2.11 - "Gift From a Gunman" - Howard Keel, John Dehner, Jean Willes, Michael Landon 2.12 - "A Gun for My Bride" - Jane Greer, Eddie Albert, Onslow Stevens 2.13 - "Man Unforgiving" - Joseph Cotten, Claude Akins, Johnny Crawford, Dan Blocker 2.14 - "Trial by Fear" - Robert Ryan, Harold J. Stone, Ed Platt, David Janssen 2.15 - "The Freighter" - Barbara Stanwyck, Robert H. Harris, John Archer, James Bell 2.16 - "This Man Must Die" - Dan Duryea, Carole Mathews, Karl Swenson 2.17 - "Wire" - Lloyd Bridges, June Vincent, Edward Binns, James Drury 2.18 - "License to Kill" - MacDonald Carey, John Ericson, Jacques Aubuchon 2.19 - "Sundown at Bitter Creek" - Dick Powell, Cathy O'Donnell, Nick Adams, Jeanne Cooper, Peter Breck, Tex Ritter 2.20 - "The Stranger" - Mark Stevens, Dan Barton, Denver Pyle 2.21 - "The Sharpshooter" - Chuck Connors, Johnny Crawford, Leif Erickson, Dennis Hopper, Sidney Blackmer, R. G. Armstrong (NOT INCLUDED) 2.22 - "Man of Fear" - Dewey Martin, Julie Adams, Arthur Franz 2.23 - "The Doctor Keeps a Promise" - Cameron Mitchell, Carolyn Kearney, Peter Breck 2.24 - "Three Days to Death" - Michael Rennie, Chris Alcaide, Earle Hodgins 2.25 - "Shadow of a Dead Man" - Barry Sullivan, Carl Benton Reid, Whitney Blake, DeForest Kelley 2.26 - "Debt of Gratitude" - Steve Cochran, James Whitmore, Walter Sande 2.27 - "A Handful of Ashes" - Thomas Mitchell, June Lockhart, Gene Evans, Dabbs Greer 2.28 - "Threat of Violence" - Cesar Romero, Lyle Bettger, Chris Alcaide 2.29 - "Utopia, Wyoming" - Gary Merrill, Joanne Gilbert, Pernell Roberts

I’d never heard of this series and found it for my dads bday- we all love it, classic western stories with a more personal side vs shoot ‘em up cowboy perspective. Interesting story lines too, not so run of the mill. Nice for the whole fam

I just received my copy yesterday and must say the picture quality, while quite good, is not quite as crisp and sharp as season one (released by VCI). The two bonus features make up for the small difference in picture quality and the absence of the episode that was the pilot for "The Rifleman" tv series because of legal reasons. The bonus features are: A bio of Zane Grey narrated in part by Zane Grey's son. A copy of the rare early (1933) Randolph Scott western, "Man Of The Forrest". This print is sharp and pristine. From what I've read the only DVD of this film has terrible picture quality. It's a pretty good western, making this DVD set a terrific buy.

This series was a special pleasure in my youth. I was sorry to see that they were unable to show the episode which was the beginning of "The Rifleman" series. I was also disappointed because so many of Dick Powell's pre-show monologs were deleted. For me, they were great entertainment. And their ideas of what a sodbuster's house or kitchen might look like was unintentionally funny. Despite all these problems, the shows are still a pleasure to watch. Established stars and character actors showed why they were the cream of their crops, and it was fun to see actors who would later become much better known in some of their earliest roles. I'd forgotten that Robert Vaughn had been suck a scary, grinning homicidal maniac and he carried it off well. As far as I'm concerned, "Sundown at Bitter Creek" was worth the price of the collection. It wasn't as marvelous as I remembered it, showing its age in a few ways, but it was still a very touching story of a gunfighter condemned to be a sort of Flying Dutchman. Nostalgia might not be what it used to be, but it was still a pleasure seeing the old shows again.

Got acquainted with this show several months ago on the "GRIT" channel, I'd never heard of it before but found the stories very interesting. Each episode is introduced by Dick Powell relating some interesting old west/historical facts. Many of the episodes are based on actual events, but most have some interesting ironical twist that make the stories pop. Quality of the DVD was good, and did not seem to cut off bits as I still had many of them in memory from watching them recently.

Did not include the Rifleman original story

More superb stories narrated by Dick Powell from the first program created by his Four Star Productions. Hopefully, Timeless will release the rest of this series, as well as the dozen or so other TV shows currently unreleased on disc that were produced by Four Star for all 3 networks from the late '50's through the mid '60's. As mentioned, The Rifleman pilot, The Sharpshooter, is missing from this set, though it is the first episode on the season one DVD set of The Rifleman, and does appear in The Rifleman reruns on television. This is different than the case of Hawaii Five-0, where a second season episode, Bored, She Hung Herself, from 1970, was omitted from the season set and later, the complete series megaset, for legal reasons, but was not commercially available for viewing elsewhere, and is not rerun in syndication.

Brought back happy memories of childhood and enjoyed watching shows I had or hadn't seen. Had a variety of stars in the shows and the stories told were great. I would recommend this show to all western fans and to the kids of this and other generations to come for showing.

Great collection of Cowboy stories, all self contained. Starring many people wel known during that time. It is very easy to keep watching one episode after another as they are all pretty good.

Purchased for my Dad- he's happy with the product. No issues!

For those of you who love drama of the highest quality, acted by some of the most accomplished actors of the day, you will not go wrong in purchasing this DVD! Savouring one episode/day, I just finished viewing Season 2, a truly satisfying experience! Luckily I own Season 3, so my 'withdrawal symptoms' can be postponed for a while yet. May I heartily urge the release of the Seasons 4, 5 & 6 post haste! In the meantime, my fellow connoisseurs of THE GOLDEN AGE OF TELEVISION, rest assured that the purchase of ZANE GREY THEATRE is money well spent!

this is the second volume very enjoyable - exactly as expected from the genre and era it was made in

I bought this series because of Barbara Stanwyck, and I wasn't disappointed. It is one to own, especially if you like old cowboy programes from the 1950's.