Route 66 was the first series to co-star a car. While the Corvette didn’t talk or drive itself like in Knight Rider, it steered the stories. Tod Stiles (Martin Milner) and Buz Murdock (George Maharis) rode around America, working various gigs and helping those in need. They were the safe version of the Beats found in Jack Keroac’s On the Road. Thankfully they weren’t into spreading their poetry at every stop. They merely wanted to make enough cash to fill the tank on the Corvette for their next random destination on Route 66 and surrounding highways. Route 66: The Complete Second Season delivers 32 more asphalt adventures with major guest stars.
“A Month of Sundays” has the boys hooking up with Anne Francis (Honey West). Buz falls hard for her, but she has a dark secret for returning to her hometown. “Blue Murder” makes the boys deliver a stallion to a rancher. The guy is found dead with the horse being the prime suspect. Suzanne Pleshette (The Bob Newhart Show) and Claude Akins (Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo) guest star in this horse whodunit mystery. “How Much a Pound is Albatross” speeds in Julie Newmar (Catwoman on Batman) on a motorcycle. She’s got plenty of issues starting with the fact that she’s lacking a license and her bike doesn’t have plates. But who cares about asking those things to Julie?
Jazz fans will get a buzz out of “Good Night, Sweet Blues.” The boys are enlisted by a dying singer (Ethel Waters) to reunite her band for a final performance. Tenor saxophone great Coleman Hawkins needs convincing for this Last Waltz moment. “And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon” has James Caan quitting his gang. Martin Sheen takes over the leadership of the delinquents, but won’t be happy till he claims Caan’s girlfriend. Who will win in the battle of future Francis Ford Coppola all-stars? The guest star action on this second season rivals The Love Boat. There’s Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, John Astin, Harold Gould, Ed Asner, Peter Graves, Slim Pickens, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Burt Reynolds and Cloris Leachman.
Even though Route 66 lasted four seasons, this second season is the last full run for Buz and Tod. George Maharis got sick only appeared in half of the third season episodes. They kept finding guest passengers for the Corvette. Vietnam vet Linc Case (Glenn Corbett) replaced Maharis for the final season. Linc didn’t work for me. He always seemed like a hitchhiker that just needed a lift further up the road instead of a true passenger. Buz and Tod worked so well off each other on their cross country journey. Route 66: The Complete Second Season captures them on their last uninterrupted ride.
The Episodes
“A Month of Sundays,” “Blue Murder,” “Good Night, Sweet Blues,” “Birdcage on My Foot,” “First Class Mouliak,” “Once to Every Man,” “The Mud Nest,” “A Bridge Across Five Days,” “Mon Petit Chou,” “Some of the People, Some of the Time,” “The Thin White Line,” “And the Cat Jumped Over the Moon,” “Burning for Burning,” “To Walk with the Serpent,” “A Long Piece of Mischief,” “1800 Days to Justice,” “A City of Wheels,” “How Much a Pound is Albatross,” “Aren’t You Surprised to See Me?,” “You Never Had It So Good,” “Shoulder the Sky My Lad,” “Blues for a Left Foot,” “Go Read the River,” “Even Stones Have Eyes,” “Love is a Skinny Kid,” “Kiss the Maiden All Forlorn,” “Two on the House,” “There I am, There I Always Am,” “Between Hello and Goodbye,” “A Feat of Strength,” “Hell is Empty, All the Devils are Here” and “From an Enchantress Fleeing.”
The video is 1.33:1. Enough people complained when Season One, Volume Two came out with 1.78:1 anamorphic transfers that the distributors went back to the original full frame image. Unfortunately this means they went back to a lesser video source. This is not the same quality images in detail and sharpness as the 16:9. The audio is Dolby Digital Mono. The sound levels seem to vary depending upon the location. Remember that this was a series that existed on the road so they didn’t have the same post-production support as a studio based series.
None.
Route 66: The Complete Second Season takes us to the most scenic part of Tod and Buz’ journey across America. The guest stars and stories are high octane. The Corvette never looked better. You could easily see why these two guys would give up on the career oriented 9-5 till you get a gold watch world. The made it look really good to hit the highway in search of adventure and kicks. What better kicks could there be than Julie Newmar on a motorcycle?
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Infinity Entertainment presents Route 66: The Complete Second Season. Starring Martin Milner & George Maharis. Boxset Contents: 32 episodes on 8 DVDs. Released on DVD: November 4, 2008. Available at Amazon.
