The Alaskans: Complete Series Blu Ray Review (Warner Archive Collection)

The Alaskans is a 1959 adventure television series produced by William T. Orr (77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye, Mister Roberts, Hank, F Troop, No Time for Sergeants, Cheyenne, Lawman, Maverick, Colt .45, Bronco, and The Dakotas). It was directed by Herbert L. Strock (Gog, The Devil’s Messenger, and The Crawling Hand), Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, The Comedy of Terrors, The Leopard Man, and I Walked with a Zombie), William A. Seiter (The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna and Three Blind Mice) , Leslie H. Martinson (Batman: The Movie, Wonder Woman, The Green Hornet, and Mission: Impossible), Joseph Lejtes (12 O’Clock High, Sugarfoot, and Adventures in Paradise) , George Waggner (The Wolf Man, Man Made Monster, Horror Island, The Veil, and Batman TV series), Lew Landers (Terrified, Devil Ship, The Return of the Vampire, The Raven, and Colt .45), and many others. When gold was found in the Yukon in the 1890s, so many ambitious prospectors headed north at a shot of being wealthy. The quickest way to the Yukon is through the small Alaskan port town of Skagway. The town takes advantage of these outsiders trying to cash in. Adventurers Silky Harris (played by: Roger Moore from the James Bond franchise, The Quest, The Naked Face, Curse of the Pink Panther, Shout at the Devil, Ivanhoe, The Saint, and The Wild Geese) and Reno McKee (played by: Jeff York from Old Yeller, Fear in the Night, Johnny Tremain, and Savage Sam) finally set up a plan hoping to make their fortunes from this long waited mystery. They are not mining for gold like everyone else, they con the hard-living miners for whatever they can as they fail trying to discover the hidden treasures!!!!!Before Sir Roger Moore was the legendary James Bond, he was The Alaskan in this late 50’s television show. This early Western vibe of a series only lasted 37 episodes. The Alaskans was very different from all the other Warner Bros television projects at the time. It was more comedy based than action but it still had a good amount of that during it’s short run. Roger Moore as Silky Harris is great in this. I personally think The Alaskans helped him launch bigger roles in cinema like his Bond films. His character always thought he was smarter than everyone else and he was always scheming something for money. Jeff York as Reno McKee had excellent chemistry with Moore here. They made a good team which made every story more interesting. His role kinda fell in the background towards the end of this production. Dorothy Provine (The Great Race, One Spy Too Many, The Roaring 20’s, and It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World) as Rocky Shaw steals the entire show in her role. She’s the best thing about The Alaskans. She was very beautiful and you couldn’t keep your eyes off her when she was on screen. She had a great voice when it came to singing. She ran the saloon where lots of chaos took place on the show. The rest of the supporting cast included Ray Danton (The Longest Day), Michael Forest (King Kong Lives), Frank DeKova (The Mechanic), Rex Reason (The Roaring 20’s), John Dehner (The Right Stuff), Andra Martin (Colt .45), Julie Adams (Creature from the Black Lagoon), Leonid Kinskey (Casablanca), Lee Van Cleef (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), and Ted White (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter). TV has changed so much over the years, this is that classic time where almost everything was at a high quality. It had a nice balance of comedy, drama, western, adventure, and action. It’s still very fun and always entertaining so it has solid replay value after all these years. It’s a shame that The Alaskans didn’t last longer on television and it’s kinda forgotten at this point. It’s been buried in the Warner Bros vaults since it’s original broadcast except for maybe a few episodes. Hopefully, this brand new home video release from the Warner Archive Collection resurrects it to a whole new audience for it. RECOMMENDED!!!!Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from the Warner Archive Collection! These 1080p (1.33:1) transfers on all 37 episodes are from brand new 4K restorations from the original camera negatives. They looks way better than expected for it’s blu ray debut on home video. Black and White always shines for their upgrades to HD. It has English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks for all 37 episodes on this 8 disc set. It has English SDH subtitles. There’s no extras on this complete series set. The Warner Archive Collection has been killing it lately when it comes to some of Warner Bros forgotten television shows from the past. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!