Texas Rangers Rule!
Laredo used to be one of my favorite television programs growing up. You can imagine my excitement upon discovering the complete series available on DVD! I have watched every one of the 56 episodes already, some of them twice. It is a joy to watch the comedic interactions between the talented actors. Their delivery and timing is excellent. I must say, the casting is perfect! I, too, would have preferred to have the pilot, We've Lost a Train, included in this boxed set. I didn't have any problem with the quality of the picture or audio in these DVDs. Although it was difficult to select a certain episode from the menu when I played them on my Blu-ray DVD player, I had no such problem when watching them on my regular DVD player. All in all, I am quite satisfied with this purchase.

Laredo Complete Series a big disappointment
In 2007 when "The Best of Laredo: Season One" came out - I didn't buy it - I very seldom buy a "best of" anything as I want complete seasons with episodes in the order they were originally seen so I can enjoy the series the same way I did when it first was aired. Eventually they released most of the episodes in multiple "best of" sets but I didn't but any of them because I wanted complete seasons with episodes in the order they were first aired. When the complete series came out I was excited about it and finally got it - what a disappointment - first of all it is not the complete series as the pilot episode is not included and second is the fact that these are the very same discs that were in the "best of" sets - the discs even have labels that say "best of" - so the episodes are out of order along with the missing pilot episode. How the Timeless Media Group can get away with calling this the Complete Series is a mystery to me. Very disappointing...

Wonderful!!!
I used to watch this series when it was on tv. I am so enjoying going back and watching the entire series again as an adult. This was one of my favorite westerns and I am so glad I was able to get this to watch again and again. It still remains one of my favorites.

Good; Could Have Been A Little Better
This set collects in a nice slipcase the four half-season sets previously released by Timeless Media from October 2007 to January 2009. The 12 DVDs are exactly the same as the originals. The six individual slimline cases are exclusive to this set. Each holds two DVDs and has "The Complete Series" and disc numbers printed on the spine. The video quality of these DVDs is very good, probably the best of Timeless' western releases of the past few years. The color is bright overall and shows very little, if any, fading. I'm not sure if the shows were ever remastered but they looked pretty good on Encore Westerns in the mid-90s and these appear to be from the same source. The back of the slipcase states that the series is "faithfully reproduced from the original NBC masters". For whatever reason, the show looks good for 45 years old.

The first six discs, covering the first season, play the show's opening credits only as part of the menu. The second season's six DVDs all play the opening as part of each episode, which is the way it should be and the way the first DVDs should have been done. The sound quality on all is very good and in most instances comes blasting from my TV's speakers. It would have been nice to have more extras. The only extra here is a recent interview with co-star Peter Brown. It's interesting but covers most of his career and not just Laredo. I would have liked for the series pilot, at the very least, to be included in this set. The pilot was actually the final episode of the third season of The Virginian, titled "We've Lost A Train". Timeless has recently released the first two seasons of The Virginian, so maybe there's hope for the third season and the elusive Laredo pilot.

On the back of the slipcase is one misstatement and one glaring error. Claude Akins is stated as having joined the series in its second season, while Robert Wolders made several appearances. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. In the bottom right corner, we read: "Contains Exclusive Interview With Robert Fuller". Robert Fuller?? Robert Fuller's interview is on the Wagon Train Seventh Season Set. As I stated previously, the interview on Disc 10 here is with Peter Brown. Someone at Timeless did a poor job of proofreading.

If you're bothering to read this, you probably already know about the show. I will merely add that I've found it to be a nice blend of western action and comedy, with some occasional drama. The stars play well off each other. If you haven't seen it, think of the comic episodes of Bonanza mixed with the jocularity of Alias Smith and Jones, and including enough gunplay to please any western fan. Give it a try. You should find at least a few episodes to your liking.

Update: The Laredo pilot, "We've Lost A Train",an episode of The Virginian, is scheduled to be shown on the Encore Westerns Channel on May 10, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, 3:30 Central. This is a good chance to get a quality copy uncut and commercial-free, and Timeless Media hasn't stated for certain that they will release further seasons of The Virginian on DVD.

Western for people who hate westerns
This was a favorite show of mine when I was growing up, but I'd quite forgotten it until the first DVD set was released a couple of years ago. I'm so glad that it's back in circulation. This light-hearted, funny take on classic 60s westerns has plenty of action, but also plenty of great give-and-take among the three Texas Rangers who are the main characters. It doesn't take itself seriously at all. Neville Brand is the heart of the show--usually typecast as a villain, but with great comedic chops as the goofy but lovable Ranger. You'll also see a few great character actors and even a future movie star or two. Even if you're not very fond of westerns, I'm betting you'll like Laredo quite a lot.