The Good
An interesting show with an even more interesting concept.
The Bad
No extra features at all.
While I doubt that a show about women being essentially sold so that a group of brothers can entice their workers and raise morale would get made today, I was impressed with how Here Come the Brides: The Complete First Season somewhat sensitively handled the issue at the time. Starting in 1968 and only running for two seasons, this show chronicles the Bolt brothers exploits as they try and make the best of their situation. A lot is on the line for them because if one of the ladies leaves (the show is set in Seattle in the mid-nineteenth century), then the brothers will lose their mountain to the man who has backed them.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Okay, of all the shows from the 1960s that I have reviewed, I have to admit that Here Come the Brides: The Complete First Season is probably the worst. There just doesn’t seem like there’s really anywhere to go with this concept. Sure, they got two seasons out of it but I am honestly not surprised that it went off the air.
Or, maybe I just don’t understand the logging business?
Features
No extras came on this DVD.
Video
1.33:1 - Full Screen. These shows may be older and may not be as technically advanced as a lot of the shows made today, however, I’ll take the look of Here Come the Brides: The Complete First Season nine times out of ten over many of the current TV shows that are on today. If you have read any of my other reviews, while I really like western themed TV, I find that too many shows today don’t look like westerns. They feel like films where a camera crew has been assembled and actors cast, and yet amidst that nothing feels authentic.
Audio
Dolby Digital. English - Close Captioned. At 1345 minutes this six disc packs a lot of audio onto all of these discs. Considering that they didn’t try and go the double sided route makes this all the more impressive. Sure the acting and the delivery of the lines is a bit melodramatic, overall, I was impressed with how good the sound was. While a great deal of this show seems like it was shot in the back of studio lots (and maybe even on a soundstage or two), the audio always gives off the impression that we are just where we think we are.
Package
The Bolt brothers are featured on this front cover alongside two of the more prominent actresses on the show. Behind them is the vast landscape of the Pacific Northwest. The back cover gives us another shot of the brothers, a well written description of this show and some technical specs. All of the six discs come snugly housed inside three cases (the packaging is of the digipack variety), with different shots of the logging town landscape on each cover. On the back are listings and descriptions of each episode as well. Truthfully, this six set feels a tad heavy but it does contain 26 episodes.
Final Word
The relationship between the three brothers Robert Brown (Jason Bolt), Bobby Sherman (Jeremy Bolt) and David Soul (Joshua Bolt) is the glue that holds this show together. In fact, of all the things about this show, I found their relationship to be the most sincere and genuine. Also, I think that it reminded me a little bit (both in how they acted and how this show looked) of the Cartwright brothers on Bonanza.
While I think I found my first casualty in my growing love for older TV on DVD, I am happy to have Here Come the Brides: The Complete First Season in my DVD collection. If nothing else, the episodes that make up the show certainly look good.
Here Come the Brides was released .
