When I saw I could get season one of Kojak (used) for about 20.00 I was all over that. I was on the young side when Kojak aired but it was filmed in the streets of New York City where I grew up and I actually saw them using my favorite pizzeria after school for an episode so it was like rooting for your home team for me to be a fan of Kojak. I just watched episode one Siege Of Terror and I was not disappointed, the show holds up VERY well. I counted over 100 bullets shot, 3 wounded or dead people, realistic street scenes, realistic (to me) action, the things you can appreciate in a police action show. Also, the ending was not all happy and was actually sad, thats what good TV drama is all about in my book. So yeah for the price I paid I'm going to get all of my money's worth watching Kojak's 22 season one episodes. The show was great and won many awards, to me I guess it was a bridge between the Hawaii Five O/ Mannix type show and the next period which I think started with Hill Street Blues. Kojak was street smart like a Hill Street but didn't have much continuity from episode to episode just as the shows Mannix/ Hawaii 5 -0 didn't. You could watch an episode of Kojak in mid season and it was fine, where as if you missed the first half season of Hill Street Blues you'd have missed a lot of character development. So I guess thats why it didn't last past 5 seasons, but in TV years thats a long time. Great show 5 stars. *******Now about this Universal DVD set it has been released on. After watching episode one on disc one, I checked the episode guide online and found out it was NOT the first Kojak made. There was a pilot episode that aired the TV season earlier as a TV movie. That is NOT on this set. Maybe Universal didn't make it and thats the reason why it's not here, but it is a pretty major letdown. I found it on region 2 and will probably get it as I am always curious to see a good shows roots and how it's introduced to the audience. There are also no extra's that I spotted like interviews and that stuff, I know Telly is gone but maybe his brother who was also on the show (if he is still alive) could have given the fans some stories about Telly, I think that would have been great to listen to. Fans of Kojak are undoubtedly fans of Telly so something in the way of a commentary would have been nice. Other TV DVD sets have those extra's and I know Universal is not known for extra's but I'm just mentioning this for those who don't know these things. 3 stars for the packaging, 5 stars for the show. I've seen whole run's of Mannix and Barnaby Jones (!) among others being sold on the internet, I'll be looking for the rest of Kojak (even if it is old VHS transfers) since Universal has decided not to release the other 4 seasons on DVD (are you listening Universal?).
Kojak
(1973–1978)
Groundbreaking Police Drama From The 70's, Telly Savalas is Great
30 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers