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Tales of the Gold Monkey: The Complete Series

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At a glance

Condition
New
Format
DVD June 8, 2010
Dimensions
0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 in; 9.6 oz
Language
English
MPAA rating
NR (Not Rated)
Director
Virgil Vogel
Run time
16 hours and 48 minutes

Description

Broadcast on ABC in early 80s, the series became a massive hit following the success of Indiana Jones’s ‘Raiders of The Lost Ark’. This 22-hour long series is set in a backwater corner of the South Pacific a young American adventurer and his ragtag group of friends become involved in death- defying hi-jinx, transporting people-on-the-run in a well-worn Grumman Goose seaplane. Set in 1938, this series captures the ambiance and character of a mysterious romantic era. Directors: Harvey S Laidman, Virgil W Vogel, James Frawley, Winrich Kolbe, Ray Austin, James Fargo. Stars: Stephen Collins (Private Practice, 7th Heaven, Blood Diamond), Caitlin O’Heaney, Roddy McDowall (Planet of The Apes), Jeff Mackay (JAG, Magnum PI, Black Sheep Squadron.) Show Created by: Donald P Bellisario (Magnum, Airwolf, Quantum Leap, JAG, NCIS). Stephen Collins heroically tries to keep up with the (Indiana) Joneses as rakishly charming soldier of misfortune Jake Cutter, who works as a pilot for hire on the South Pacific island of Boragora in 1938. Comparisons with Raiders of the Lost Ark are inevitable, but according to the series retrospective included as a bonus feature on this six-disc set, producer Don Bellisario (Quantum Leap, Magnum P.I., and NCIS) pitched this to the networks before Indy ever cracked his whip. It was only after Raiders became such a colossal hit that ABC saw gold in Monkey. Alas, this series never really took off, but nearly 30 years later, it's a grandly entertaining bit of escapist fare that packs old Hollywood Saturday matinee thrills and adventure into every episode. The colorful characters include Corky (Jeff Mackay), Jake's trusty (when he's not drunk) mechanic and sidekick; Bon Chance Louie (the peerless Roddy McDowall), the ethically questionable French liaison and governor, and owner of the disreputable hangout the Monkey Bar; and Sarah Stickney White (Caitlin O'Hearney), chanteuse and spy. Stealing nearly every scene he's in is Jack, Jake's one-eyed dog, always good for a comical cutaway. You can't beat the Nazis for villainy (check out John Hillerman's outrageous accent in the feature-length pilot episode), but Monkey steps over the PC line with deadly dragon lady Koji (Marta Du Bois) and her samurai henchman. These Tales are told mostly tongue-in-cheek. Expensive for its day, the series nevertheless has a B-movie look, which enhances its hokey charms. In addition to the newly filmed interviews with cast and creators, the bonus features include five immersive audio commentaries, as well as detailed character bios and a series "fact file." Virtually unseen since its original broadcast, Tales of the Gold Monkey is of more than nostalgic interest. Stephen Collins fans will surely be in--wait for it--7th Heaven. --Donald Liebenson

Specs 14

Genre Action & Adventure/Television, Television
Format Box set, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, Multiple Formats, NTSC
Contributor Ahmed Kalane, Caitlin O'Heaney, Conrad Bachmann, Greg Elliot, Jeff MacKay, John Calvin, John Fujioka, Leo the Dog, Les Jankey, Marta DuBois, Roddy McDowall, Stephen Collins, Virgil Vogel
Language English
Number Of Discs 6
MPAA rating NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 9.6 ounces
Item model number 7305456

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Top Amazon Reviews

Yes, soild Gold Indeed!
I apologize right away for the cliché subject line, but as Madeline Kahn says in "Young Frankenstein" : "It's true! It's true!" Gold Monkey is pure gold! Like another reviewer said here, I too am a sucker for 1980's TV. Maybe not as fanatical for "short lived" series, but just for the shows of that time. I've noticed in looking at my collection, that most of the things I have bought and reviewed are of that era, and interestingly also, that a lot of the same names both in cast and production come back again and again. Sort of like six degrees of Kevin Bacon, it seems that the good actors, writers, producers, etc., all kind of worked in a great big family. And when I find something I love to watch, you see the same names appear in the credits. A lot has to do with the fact that Universal Studios at the time had a slate of something like twenty hour-long shows they were producing at once, and that allowed them to keep a huge stable of contract talent that they could funnel onto the shows. Both their talent, and all the experience shows. I mean, right now there are about a dozen shows from that era that are either being re-made as TV shows (even Hawaii Five-O, for God sakes!), but as movies (like "The A Team", "Magnum PI", etc.). That says something. Why is Hollywood going back to these shows of twenty to thirty years ago? Because they hold up. Better than most anything these days. I even looked at the few shows I liked in the 1990's and beyond, and sure enough, you will find some of the same people that were active in the 1980's are involved. I think a lot of it is due to the fact that they couldn't rely on computer EFX and new technology, and had to actually depend on story and strong characters. Some people have made note of the less that stellar production values in "Gold Monkey", but in a way, isn't that the point? A stock shot of a China Clipper (in black and white yet!) is almost an after-thought, since the story was more important than the shot itself. I must say that I didn't even notice some of the stock footage until it was pointed out by the commentaries on this DVD set, which are all first rate, and on the "Making of" bonus documentary, which is equally terrific. That says something. Something wonderful. And something wonderful is what "Gold Monkey" is all about. I too had not heard of it when it first came out, but I'm always searching for shows that have some of the same cast and crew as my favorites - since it seems everything now is coming out on DVD. So this came up on my Amazon search. I read the reviews, recognized a lot of familiar creative people, saw that it was 1980's TV, and bought it. I have been glued to my TV ever since. This could be one of the all time best of those 1980's shows. The culmination of what made them so great. An innocents, a desire to entertain, to tell a story, to create strong characters, to involve the audience. You can see that the people both in front and behind the camera love what they are doing, not only from watching the shows, but also from the bonus material on this box set. I can't remember seeing such joy and love and passion for something, especially something that happened so long ago. It has stayed with all these people after all these years. And it shows. Somehow I get the feeling that TV now is more of a meat-market. A chore. A job for job sake. You can feel the stress. A lot of it is phoned in. A lot of it is done only for the money. I know that sounds like a big dose of naïveté, and I know politics and stress were a huge factor back then as well, and in fact, both in the commentaries and in the "Making of", the cast and crew are all very open about that. But there's something different here. When you were working for a studio that had so much work. When there was a sense of family, of everyone helping everyone else out, then you had a different kind of feeling about what you were doing. And it was also a time when the people involved had come from a school of learning that was literate. They grew up on great books, classic movies, art, music, Shakespeare and the like. You know this by the references in the dialogue and in the kind of story-telling. Now, everything is derivative. Almost incestuous. Writers and producers of today grew up watching nothing but other TV, which in turn was derivative of the TV shows before then. The begat begats the begat! Like Royal Cousins in a Russian family tree inter-marrying. And we know what that does to the gene pool! But "Gold Monkey" came from one of the last group of talents who both cared and loved their work. In this case, it seems they cared so much that the Executive Producer of Gold Monkey may have pulled the show rather than let it become less than he wanted. Anyway, for those of you who knew the show and loved it, you won't be disappointed. In fact, I'm sure you will be overjoyed at the look of the show. It's so beautiful to look at, even with the few stock clips!. And for those just discovering Gold Monkey for the first time, you will love the "family" , and the world it creates. We have nothing like this now. How many CSI's are out there to clone? How many dead bodies on a freeway underpass can we look at? How we hunger to be time-machined back to the paradise of Gold Monkey, the island, the people, the sensibility. Some have had problems with sound or picture. As I said before, I find the picture stunning. And the sound, though not like "Avatar" is easy to listen to. Hey, this is a transfer for a TV show in a time when everyone had speakers the size of an Ipod! So I was actually quite pleased with what came out from these new transfers! Bravo to all involved in this show! And for the people who packaged it with such loving care. They had to know that this wasn't going to sell like "Friends" DVD's, and yet, they gave it the Rolls Royce treatment. Like the show itself, it's more about what you love and what you love to do, not what you make doing it! PS: I did some research before publishing this and discovered that actually this Box Set is selling very well and most reviews over the blogosphere are raves! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2010 by Julius Forte
Tales of the Monkey worth its price (in Gold)
When The Tales of The Gold Monkey first aired in 1982 I was in 9th grade. I remember the opening credits very well, especially the clip from the 82 minute pilot where Sarah Stickney White (the very appealing Caitlin O’Heaney) has her hands-tied in complete damsel-in-distress mode, on a tropical island (pretty good stage set, complete with waterfall) turning to scream, afraid of the man sized ape (makeup mask borrowed from a Planet of The Apes sequel extra?) approaching menacingly. At the time, there had been something about Tales of The Gold Monkey that made me want to watch, but for some reason I didn’t continue to watch; and when I heard the show had gone off the air after just the one season (21 episodes including pilot with Ron Moody from musical Oliver) I remember talking to my older brothers; and a friend from school that the show had seemed pretty good. So, 40 years later, with the help of a couple of heartfelt reviews on Amazon convincing me to buy, I can honestly say The Gold Monkey tales were better than I expected (despite the thought of ‘just being another show from the 1980’s…’) That said I will get my one complaint out of the way: despite not being burned discs I was forced to watch another DVD for about 10 minutes (actually, used Barney Miller DVD) so that my player could warmup to ‘read’ The Gold Monkey discs. That’s the only complaint. Once DVD plays I can watch as many of The Tales of The Gold Monkey episodes in a row without flaw. There were 4 episodes (including pilot) that I remembered watching when I was 15: one of the Episodes, The Black Pearl, contains a glowing device that has killed some island natives. No wonder the nazi Germans wish to experiment with ‘the glow’ in their underground chamber circa 1938. This is the episode that truly reminded me of Raiders of The Lost Arc when watching in 1982 (don’t open the canister!). Apparently, it was the famous Indiana Jones movie the tv network wished creator Donald Bellisario would always make Gold Monkey resemble. That and not enough Monkey Island story lines helped to cancel this promising show before its time (a handful of episode commentary and interview extras worth checking out, too, for backstory tidbits). So, I also believe the sometimes pretty involved, fast paced story lines may have lost me a bit back in 1982 (and with no rewind—gasp!) as well as the accent of German Reverend Boom (John Calvin) and the Frenchman played by Roddy McDowell (took over for Ron Moody) as Bon Chance Louie the Magistrate of Boragora also causing me some listening, understanding difficulties. But that is not a flaw of the show. The actors do a good job. It was just me … at 15. But, another episode I remembered was Sarah White’s fear of the Anubis in the Trunk From The Past (Episode 6). There are tombs, a pharaoh’s curse, and particularly the ghostly spectre of Sarah’s, pipe smoking father that I remembered the most from this episode. ‘The Trunk’ story reminded me of a good Hammer (Mummy) production with an ending that appeared to be headed towards an Indians Jones action climax but it instead concluded rather anti-climactically with an intended chuckle led by Jake Cutter’s one-eyed dog Jack. I must add Jack the dog gives a great performance through the 21 episode run. Seriously. It’s impressive just how humorous Jack is with the one bark or two, (no or yes) as well as the occasional barking to simulate dialogue: woof woof = ‘uh oh’, for one example. But, check out extras also. Stephen Collins (Jake Cutter) gives a very good recollection and Caitlin O’Heaney is very bubbly (if not quite as entertaining and informative as Collins). They are not the only two to talk about their experiences on Tales of The Gold Monkey almost 30 years (2010) after the show was cancelled, basically, because Donald Belissario did not wish to copy Raiders anymore than he already had. Plus, budget restrictions. Yes some of the matte work is obvious and cheap and the repetition of fake volcano eruptions super imposed, and yes cheap, but over all the show was well written and generally well done. Other highlights: The best fight scene is in the Boragora or Bust episode Directed by Ivan Dixon. Kim Cattrall pops up as a college friend of Sarah White. Just about anytime Marta Dubois (Euro-Asian princess Koji) appears, looking to get rich(er) or get Jake Cutter into her hot tub (or whatever they called them in 1938) with her relentless, innuendo laden flirtations. Also, that is Apollonia Kotero appearing as an island girl being ‘blessed’ by the German ‘Reverend’ Boom’s running joke. She’s credited as Patty Kotero. This is about 2 years before Prince movie Purple Rain; and Nia Peeples (Walker Texas Ranger) passes for an extremely cute, 18 year old native girl in an episode involving a barnstorming, ex New York Yankee who is Babe Ruth except by name, Gamble Rogers, who lives by the motto ‘BB&B’ (Baseball, Bourbon and Broads). He even hit 714 Home Runs in his career. Another episode mixes fact with fiction with an actor appearing as General Douglass McCarthur—complete with corn cob pipe. Jake gets a great piece of historical dialogue in an episode explaining how he not only flew for China against Japan (this explains why he is basically still stuck in South Pacific, still proudly wearing his Flying Tigers jacket) but also fought in Spain’s Civil war against Franco: ‘Republicans’ fought against the fascist Nationalists in 1930’s Spain. My how times change. 4.5 stars for an entertaining tv show ride with a mind of its own, even if the Mike Post/Pete Carpenter music is very similar to Tom Selleck’s Magnum P.I (music) which had completed one full season by the time Tales of The Gold Monkey started. 21 Episodes are on Six discs and I’m on disc 3, second time around, as I finish this review. Well worth the Gold Monkey experience … brass or no brass? 😀😉 ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2022 by a walther
Rollicking Adventures in the South Pacific
I loved this series when it first appeared on television in 1982, and was dismayed when the series was cancelled. In all the decades since, I've continuously thought about and missed this show. Often my wife and I would share fond recollections of the fun adventures. Searching the web for images or any news about the old series turned up very sparse results for years, so I was delighted when this set of DVD's appeared on Amazon. It's as much fun as I remember the old series being; perhaps even more! Being a television show from the 1980's, it's as unpolished as you would expect and a bit melodramatic in spots, but less so than most shows of the period. This was before the terrible decline of quality in network television storytelling that began in the 1990's and has continued to this day; there's none of the mindless political baggage or sociopathic behavior that dominate today's television shows. It's just grand adventure and noble heroism throughout. Tales of the Gold Monkey is not historically accurate, and really does not attempt to be. While the characters, sets, and equipment are all accurately from the late 1930's and early 1940's, the events appear to be taking place in the uncomfortable period when the United States had an antagonistic relationship with the Empire of Japan and the Third Reich of Germany, but had not yet declared war; yet the heroes' back story had them battling Japanese fighters at a time when, to the best of my knowledge, no American pilots were in the war against Japan. The episodes run about 45 minutes each, except the first one (the pilot) which is twice as long. All 21 episodes are on the six DVD discs in the package. After watching 21st century movies on Blu-ray, it took a while to get my head around the much lower video quality and 4:3 aspect ratio of NTSC television, but some time during the first episode, I no longer noticed. The menus on the discs were a big confusing to navigate. I expected that the brightest text would be the item I had selected, but eventually I realized that when you select an item, its text turns dark. Oh well. It's all part of the entertainment, folks! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2015 by Gregory Bennett
Recommended IF you liked the series when it was on TV
For people who saw it when it was new. I like it, kind of hokey, but fun. The picture is full screen, quality of audio and picture are very good.
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2026 by G. Pierce
Fun, fabulous series! Not so fabulous DVD set, ironically from a company named...Fabulous.
FIVE STARS for the series itself, "Tales of the Gold Monkey" - in fact, I'll give it TEN STARS! I remember this series airing when I was a kid and it looked like it might be fun to watch. But for whatever reason, I didn't get to see much of it - and in the blink of an eye it was gone, despite its high popularity at the time. The ratings were solid and the network (ABC) actually wanted to do more. However, creative differences between the network executives and the show's creator, Don Bellisario, doomed the show's return. The network wanted Indiana Jones on TV and Bellisario wanted it to be what it was created to be: a 1930s Pacific island and arial drama with stories that, while adventurous, were thoughtful and deeper--more 1930s noir than 1980s camp. And to a large degree, Bellisario, achieved that despite constant network pressures to dumb it down. The series, even then, has often been unfairly cited as a “Raiders of the Lost Ark” rip-off, which is patently untrue. Bellisario had actually created the series BEFORE “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was made and released. He based it, not on “Raiders,” but on noirish high sea adventure films and serials of the 1930s and 1940s, as well as his own military experience—bringing an unusually authentic feel to his creations. Indeed, if anything, the character of 1930s seaplane pilot, Jake Cutter, is by far much closer in tone, style, and function to Han Solo than he is Indiana Jones. Jake Cutter is no archeologist or tomb raider. He’s a pilot! He flies people and cargo around Pacific isles on the eve of World War II, in which his destination usually lands him in the arms of a beautiful woman and the crosshairs of a bad guy, whom he accidently pissed off simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I can only recall two episodes out of twenty-two, including the pilot, which even regard a search for some artifact. The rest of the series’ episodes are World War II-era spy capers, murder mysteries, and villains of the week, but all raucously entertaining, full of action, beautiful ladies, aerial excitement – and with an awesome heroic theme by Mike Post, the kind of regularly recurring hero themes you don’t hear anymore – and it was popular. When the network asked Bellisario to do another season, everyone was shocked when it was Bellisario himself who said, “No.” It was all because he wanted to do the show his way, the way he intended and NOT become an Indy knockoff. And I’ve got to say, watching this series in total for the first time has been some of the most fun I’ve had watching any series in years. (Well almost…) The DVD set is a problem. It was after I ordered the box set (released as a partnership between Fabulous Films and Shout! Factory, under license by Universal) that I noticed an actual warning banner by Amazon itself that this box set was frequently returned due to some kind of manufacturing defect. Customer reviews frequently rated the box set poorly, citing disc defects. I thought “uh-oh!” So, when I received the package, I didn’t wait. I immediately opened it and watched the entire series as quickly as I could. I breathed a sigh of relief when the first disc (which was a disc specifically cited as problematic) played through flawlessly, as did all those that followed (up until the final disc). For awhile there, I thought I had dodged a bullet. Everything was playing smoothly, the show was incredible, the box set packaging was nicely arranged with an accompanying booklet with helpful information – and my only minor complaint was that the transfer or picture quality wasn’t the best I’ve ever seen, but it was certainly decent enough. I was quite happy with my purchase and having the time of my life watching it. But then it happened…. On the final DVD… I was down to the very last episode (the series finale!!!) when it started pixelating—badly. To its credit, it didn’t stop playing. Typically, whenever I’ve seen a DVD pixelate like that, it just hangs and stops playing and then that’s it. In this case, the audio continued, even though the picture had stopped, and I ended the series essentially listening to an audio-only radio drama, but at least I got to HEAR how the story ended. The special features, which include some fascinating interviews and facts about the series was also interesting to LISTEN to. It’s just too bad I was unable to see much of it due to the disc’s manufacturing defects. I highly recommend you find a legal way to watch this incredible classic series, however buy this particular DVD set at your own risk. Shame on Universal, Fabulous, and/or Shout! for allowing this to happen to a great piece of television history – one that has become something of a rare find as far as legal ways to view it. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2024 by Moonjumper
See you in the Monkey Bar!
"Tales of the Gold Monkey" is an easy show to make fun of. It is full of worn-out clichés, embarrassing stereotypes, stupid dialogue, needless narration, bad blue screen effects, cruddy matte paintings, ill-fitting stock footage, archaic costumes, cringeworthy acting, fake sets and utterly preposterous plots. When people try to defend this series, they often begin by pretending as if this isn't so, and thus fatally weaken their argument. I would never make the case that "Tales" was great television. I would actually start by acknowledging that in many ways it was terrible television...and then explain just why that doesn't make (hardly) any difference. "Tales" is a series which even in 1982 was a rare breed: the action-adventure show. It recreated a period in history (the last period in history, actually) when vast areas of the Earth were still unconquered, and thus adventure and exploration still possible. We forget it now, but there was a time within the living memory of some people when a large portion of this planet still slept in the pre-industrial era, and wandering too far off the map could get you eaten by cannibals, devoured by wild beasts, or plunk you down amidst the ruins of a lost city. When men and women who lived on the edge of that map literally straddled the line between civilization and savagery, the known world and the deep blue. It was an era of explorers, treasure-hunters, missionaries, smugglers, sailors, silk-scarfed pilots, drunken storytellers, one-eyed traders, pirate, crooks, spies, unscrupulous businessmen, and empire-builders. And that is what "Tales of the Gold Monkey" was all about. That brawling, half-tamed lawless time when half the world was an unknown quantity and wonder was still possible. Think "Magnum P.I." train-wrecked into "Indiana Jones" (with just a little "Land of the Lost" sprinkled on top) and you have "Tales Of The Gold Monkey." The premise was dead simple. An ex-Flying Tiger named Jake Cutter (Stephen Collins), his drunken, memory-challenged sidekick Corky (Jeff Mackay), and their one-eyed dog Jack (Leo the Dog) operate their seaplane, Cutter's Goose, out of the fictional island of Boragora, somewhere in the Marivellas Islands of the South Pacific. When they are not flying supplies, mail or passengers to this or that far-flung outpost in the French or Japanese mandates, they are belly-up at the Monkey Bar, which is operated by the island's enigmatic magistrate Bon Chance Louie (Ron Moody in the pilot, Roddy McDowell in the series). In the bar are likely to be found Sarah Stickney White (Caitlin O'Heany), a redheaded lounge singer and American spy; the Reverend Willie Tenboom (John Calvin), who is also a spy, albeit for Germany; and Gushie, a crippled ex-member of the Foreign Legion (Les Jankey). Pushing through the saloon doors every now and again are the villainous but charming Japanese princess Koji (the super-lovely Marta DuBois) and her grumpy samurai henchman Todo (John Fujioka, in full samurai rig). With a group like this, where nearly everyone is hiding secrets from each other and unknowingly working at cross-purposes, you just know all sorts of wacky adventures are going to ensue, and believe me, they do. Over the course of the season (sadly, the only one the show ever produced), Jake & Co. come up against slavers, spies, cultists, boys raised by apes, treasure hunters, giant octopi, rebel insurgents, angry mobs, and pretty much anything else you can think of. It's incredibly silly, cheesy, clichéd and outlandish, ripping off from just about every old movie and Western you can think of, and often looking as if it were shot entirely on dusty old sets on Universal Studios backlot...but it's also great, great fun. "Tales" is a show that made up for in heart and good, clean adventure what it lacked in other places. Though it was shot in 1982, it was essentially the product of a much earlier era, the era of the adventure tales written for boys and young men back in pulp magazines the 20s, 30s and 40s, which Bellasario undoubtedly grew up on, and that sense of lighthearted, fistfights are fun, don't-worry-it's-just-a-flesh-wound heroics percolates all throughout the series. The age we live in is cynical, and cynicism is the opposite of wonder. Kids nowadays sit in front of first-person shooter video games, YouTube and Facebook with glassed-over eyes, and seldom get a chance to flex the adventure-muscles that are every child's absolute birthright. If you're a parent of a youngish kid, "Tales" is as good an antidote for today's world as anything out there. And if you happened to be growing up in the early 80s, it's a fabulous flight down memory lane. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2011 by M. G Watson
Great hidden gem to find!
I just recently discovered this series, as much as I love classics I don't know how this got by me, but better late than never. This dvd set is very nice, I haven't watched the extras yet but it has several and even includes a nice booklet explaining each episode along with the cast list, it also includes a commentary on five of the episodes, the booklet tells which ones. My one complaint is that they did not include the episode disc list, so I am including it in this post. DISC ONE PILOT * SHANGHAIED * BLACK PEARL DISC TWO LEGENDS ARE FOREVER * ESCAPE FROM DEATH ISLAND * TRUNK FROM THE PAST * ONCE A TIGER… DISC THREE HONOR THY BROTHER * THE LADY AND THE TIGER * THE LATE SARAH WHITE * THE SULTAN OF SWAT DISC FOUR APE BOY * GOD SAVE THE QUEEN * HIGH STAKES LADY * FORCE OF HABIT DISC FIVE COOKED GOOSE * LAST CHANCE LOUIE * NAKA JIMA KILL * BORAGORA OR BUST DISC SIX A DISTANT SHOUT OF THUNDER MOURNING BECOMES MATUKA EXTRAS THAT INCLUDE THE MAKING OF THE SERIES, BIOGRAPHIES, SYNOPSIS, CONCEPT, FACT FILE, GALLERY, AND CREDITS ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2026 by Sandy
Action, Adventure and Espionage in the Pre-World-War-II South Pacific
The DVDs in my media cabinet prove that I'm a sucker for short-lived television series. With few exceptions, any series that I think is good gets the axe after only one or two seasons. Here are some cases in point. "Firefly," the outstanding, cerebral sci-fi series, lasted less than a season. "The Lone Gunmen," an X-Files spinoff, bit the dust after 13 episodes. The superb "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," was ignominiously cancelled by shortsighted Fox bean-counters after a season and a half. The edgy, groundbreaking "Dollhouse" fared no better. There are other examples, but you get my point. So I had high hopes for "Tales of the Gold Monkey: The Complete Series," which ran for one season of 21 episodes in 1982. I don't know why, but I never watched it when it originally aired. I never even heard of it until I saw this DVD set. But the description pressed all my buttons. Everything about the series seemed calculated to fire up my interest. It takes place in 1938, on the eve of World War II, a time period that I find endlessly fascinating. It features action, adventure, international intrigue and exotic locations in a backwater corner of the South Pacific. It has a cast of interesting characters who would fit right in with Indiana Jones. And, best of all, one of the "stars" is a well-used Grumman "Goose" amphibian (okay, "seaplane"). It's a real airplane, with genuine noisy, temperamental, smoke-belching radial engines, and it really flies--there's no CGI here. What's not to like? Having now watched some but not all of the episodes, I have mixed feelings. First, the quality of the DVD set is outstanding. The six single-sided disks are securely packaged in a sturdy case on hinged partitions that protect them from damage. Inside is a glossy 24-page booklet with a short overview of the series and synopses of all the episodes, with credits and a small color photo from each one. Extras include a 36-minute "Making of..." documentary, audio commentaries on five episodes, cast and character biographies, stills galleries and a few other items. But what about the episodes themselves? Here I think perhaps my expectations were too lofty. The stories are okay, but the production values are a bit lacking and the pacing is fairly slow some of the time, especially in the 1-1/2-hour pilot, which seems padded by about 15 minutes. I do enjoy watching the episodes, but they're not the best thing I've ever seen. I'd call this series "typical '80s television," with all that the term implies, both good and bad. My most serious issue is with the soundtracks. The dialogue is so quiet that I have to crank the volume way up, but then the music comes in so loud that it almost blows out my speakers. A little level equalization would have been nice. So, if you fondly remember watching "Tales of the Gold Monkey" when it aired, I'm sure you won't be disappointed with this set. If, like me, you were not familiar with the series, it's still a good purchase, as long as you keep your expectations in line with the time when it was made. I think the decade of the '80s was a transition period for television in many ways. It was neither "classic" nor "modern," but something in between. There are very few shows from that time that I find worth owning. "Tales of the Gold Monkey" is a rare exception. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2010 by Terry S
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