As a child I well remember "Sky King and Penny". I was ecstatic to find this complete series DVD Box set. My memories were only of the later shows using the Cessna 310B (Songbird II). I was thrilled to discover that I had never seen the first 39 episodes using the Cessna T50 as the original "Songbird". I didn't know that the first season (19 episodes) also had "Clipper" Penny's brother (played very well by Ron Hagerthy). Even though "Clipper" worked very well with "Sky" (Kirby Grant) and "Penny" (Gloria Winters), it was obvious as that first season progressed that Kirby and Gloria really clicked with each other with a warm, affectionate, genuine chemistry, so no surprise that the last 3 seasons were "Sky King with niece Penny". Nonetheless, I really liked the character "Clipper", and consider the 19 Episodes of Season 1 to be very special, due to Ron Hagerthy's wonderful way of bringing the character to life.
I expected (as so often happens with young memories) "Sky King" to be not quite as good as my long ago childhood remembrances. However, I was pleasantly surprised. A fun reason is that there are many familiar faces of heavies and bad guys from TV's "Golden Age" passing through as guest stars. But the main reason is because the show holds up very well and I feel would entertain even 6 to 13 year old children of today. As a 64 year old adult, I too, find the show interesting and entertaining. Admittedly, part of the reason is because it allows a "gray-haired-old-geezer" like myself to step back into the world of the 1950's dimly remembered from my early youth! Seeing brand new 1951-to-1959 Chryslers, Dodges, Fords, etc. in pristine condition on screen, almost takes my breath away. Equally fascinating is to see how people dressed, spoke and interacted in the 1950's. I imagine that even many in the younger generations will be as fascinated as I am in time-traveling back to the 1950's.
I rate the show a solid 10 for its superb writing, plot development, character development, and excellent production values for the time. Many of the episodes at first seem too complex to resolve in the short 25 minute Episode frame. But time and again, through superb use of character dialog, the episode advances well and resolves perfectly. Sadly, the image quality averages roughly 6 or 7 out of 10, and I wish it could be much better for such a good show, but we should consider ourselves lucky that such an early TV show survives at all!
The quality of this Boxed DVD set is very good. The small book is informative and the quality of the video/audio is as best as can be expected from an early TV show from the 1950's. Video quality ranges from "good" at best, to watchable-but-substandard, with most being OK. There are about 5 episodes where the source quality was obviously bad, and the remastering at least made those episodes watchable. Sadly, as mentioned earlier, that is all we can expect from the early pre-video-tape TV era.
At the date of this review, Ron Hagerthy is the last surviving member of cast/crew of "Sky King". Kirby Grant was killed in a car accident in 1985, and Gloria Winters passed away of natural causes in 2010. In an interview given shortly before her passing, Gloria spoke very affectionately of Kirby, saying that the two of them had kept the warm Uncle/Niece relationship for the rest of their lives, always in contact and always visiting each other.
As with most "Sky King" fans, "Penny" for me, was one of the more fondly remembered elements of "Sky King". Now after having watched the entire series, I think the real key for "Sky King" success was the genuine affectionate, chemistry between "Sky" and "Penny", backed up by the consistently excellent solid plots and writing, and excellent-for-the-time production values. Yes, the show is dated, and yes it is black and white. However, Sky and Penny will pull you into their world, make you glad you came for a visit, and feel very sorry that the 72nd episode is the final adventure.
I expected (as so often happens with young memories) "Sky King" to be not quite as good as my long ago childhood remembrances. However, I was pleasantly surprised. A fun reason is that there are many familiar faces of heavies and bad guys from TV's "Golden Age" passing through as guest stars. But the main reason is because the show holds up very well and I feel would entertain even 6 to 13 year old children of today. As a 64 year old adult, I too, find the show interesting and entertaining. Admittedly, part of the reason is because it allows a "gray-haired-old-geezer" like myself to step back into the world of the 1950's dimly remembered from my early youth! Seeing brand new 1951-to-1959 Chryslers, Dodges, Fords, etc. in pristine condition on screen, almost takes my breath away. Equally fascinating is to see how people dressed, spoke and interacted in the 1950's. I imagine that even many in the younger generations will be as fascinated as I am in time-traveling back to the 1950's.
I rate the show a solid 10 for its superb writing, plot development, character development, and excellent production values for the time. Many of the episodes at first seem too complex to resolve in the short 25 minute Episode frame. But time and again, through superb use of character dialog, the episode advances well and resolves perfectly. Sadly, the image quality averages roughly 6 or 7 out of 10, and I wish it could be much better for such a good show, but we should consider ourselves lucky that such an early TV show survives at all!
The quality of this Boxed DVD set is very good. The small book is informative and the quality of the video/audio is as best as can be expected from an early TV show from the 1950's. Video quality ranges from "good" at best, to watchable-but-substandard, with most being OK. There are about 5 episodes where the source quality was obviously bad, and the remastering at least made those episodes watchable. Sadly, as mentioned earlier, that is all we can expect from the early pre-video-tape TV era.
At the date of this review, Ron Hagerthy is the last surviving member of cast/crew of "Sky King". Kirby Grant was killed in a car accident in 1985, and Gloria Winters passed away of natural causes in 2010. In an interview given shortly before her passing, Gloria spoke very affectionately of Kirby, saying that the two of them had kept the warm Uncle/Niece relationship for the rest of their lives, always in contact and always visiting each other.
As with most "Sky King" fans, "Penny" for me, was one of the more fondly remembered elements of "Sky King". Now after having watched the entire series, I think the real key for "Sky King" success was the genuine affectionate, chemistry between "Sky" and "Penny", backed up by the consistently excellent solid plots and writing, and excellent-for-the-time production values. Yes, the show is dated, and yes it is black and white. However, Sky and Penny will pull you into their world, make you glad you came for a visit, and feel very sorry that the 72nd episode is the final adventure.