Ironside Season 1

Ironside proved to be so popular that it ran for an incredible eight seasons. Of course, Raymond Burr was already a popular film and television actor (particularly with long-running series 'Perry Mason') so the initial interest was going to be high, but it obviously delivered the goods. Season 1 is a great place to start (obviously) because it kicks off with a feature length pilot episode that puts the tough wheelchair-bound cop into some context.



At a mere 46, Robert Ironside is the youngest Chief of Detectives in the history of the San Francisco Police Department. A dedicated workaholic, we learn that he hasn't taken any leave for over two decades. He's a tough guy who gets the job done, and he's also a pragmatic, slightly cynical realist who spends much of his time putting people off joining the force, despite the fact that he has given it his life.



Commissioner Dennis Randall (Gene Lyons), persuades Ironside to take a few days leave at the Commissioner's chicken farm in backwater Sonoma. Whilst sipping on some whisky on the front porch, he is brought down by a snipers bullet. With 25 years under his belt, he has made a few enemies along the way and whilst lying in bed recovering, he starts the tough business of getting an investigation underway to find his would-be assassin.



When he is told by a doctor that he will be unable to walk, Ironside takes it like a man - even telling the doctor to get on with it, like a grumpy James Robertson Justice. 'I'd hate to imagine how long it would take you to tell a man he's dying'.

Now wheelchair bound, and officially off the pay-roll, relying now on a small disability pension, he somehow gets around the rules and gets permission to continue to investigate the crime against him. He recruits a helper in the form of a tough black street kid who would otherwise be following a life of crime, commandeers an unused room (quite a sizable one!) at police HQ and makes it all wheelchair safe. Filling it with tins of Chilli, he brings in a bed, a cooker and a few and some elements to allow him to lift himself from his chair.
And so the series begins.



Ironside was very much of its time. This first series was shot and released in 1967 and oozes the era from every frame. There's a cool Quincy Jones soundtrack and frequent cultural references that reflect the groovy free-love craziness that seemed to abound. Actually, the stoic, cynical Burr (himself an icon from the fifties) is quite an antidote to this - and generally hippies, yippies, artists, musicians and beatniks are portayed as idiots.




Then there are the sidekicks. In this case, despite officially being off the force, as a Consultant he negotiates for the aid of serving Police Officers, Detective Sergeant Ed Brown (Don Galloway, Arrest and Trial) and policewoman Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson, Mission: Impossible).

Season 1 runs across 8 discs (offering up some 25 hours of period entertainment) and its packed with famous faces from the period. One of the more surreal appears in the pilot; Tiny Tim (doing his weird 'Tiptoe through the tulips' thing with another song) but you'll also get to see Kim Darby (Rich Man, Poor Man), Kathleen Freeman (It's About Time), Kent McCord (Adam-12), Barbara Barrie (Barney Miller), John Rubinstein (Crazy Like a Fox), Lee Grant (Peyton Place), Quincy Jones (who composed the theme song), William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show), Don Stroud (Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer), John Saxon (Another World), Norman Fell (Three's Company), Bruce Lee, John Sebastian, Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch), David Hartman (Good Morning America), Bernie Hamilton (Starsky & Hutch), a very young Harrison Ford (Star Wars), Ed Asner (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Susan Saint James (Kate & Allie), Pernell Roberts (Trapper John, M.D.), Nicholas Colasanto (Cheers), Lorraine Gary (Jaws), Kiel Martin (Hill Street Blues), Marion Ross (Happy Days), Vera Miles (Psycho), Dwayne Hickman (The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis), Gavin MacLeod (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), and Gary Collins. Whew!



Though there is nothing special about the transfer here, it's just fine. And the same could be said of the audio tracks. This is vintage 60's TV and looks like it. Which is actually all well and good as it will not be a set that will appeal to newcomers to the series.
Recently I've devoured several period Season sets (including Columbo and Kojak) and I have to say that 'Ironside' stacks up well. It's very entertaining, and Burr is always good value. If it occasionally looks a little 'Police Squad' like, well, that's entirely forgivable. TV had a very distinctive style and format at the time.

I can't remember how the series managed to maintain its momentum through the following seven series, but it certainly does so throughout Season 1. If you were a fan then, you'll remain a fan now and this set is well worth picking up.