Peter Gunn: The Complete Series
Although the first 32 episodes from season 1 were released on DVD back in 2006, this is the first time all 114 halfhour shows have been packaged as one onto 12 discs. “Peter Gunn” was a trend-setting, black-and-white private-eye series created by Blake Edwards. When it debuted on NBC, it got not only high ratings but also unusual attention for Henry Mancini’s jazz scoring, which set new standards in the industry. The LP release sold millions. Suddenly soundtrack albums were looked upon with greater respect. “Gunn” was actually a redesigned version of radio’s “Richard Diamond, Private Detective,” which Edwards had written and directed (1949-52). Taught a love for jazz by the show’s star, Dick Powell, Edwards carried that musical craving with him to Universal-International, where he began directing TV and movies. He met Mancini, until then a low-profile studio composer who had done piecemeal work on “The Creature From the Black Lagoon,” “This Island Earth” and countless other genre movies. Together Edwards and Mancini designed the concept for “Gunn,” with Mancini’s scores winning an Emmy and two Grammys. Most episodes are set at Mother’s, a waterfront jazz club where Gunn (Craig Stevens, suave and always well dressed) hangs out to watch his girlfriend, singer Edie Hart (Lola Albright), and then engage in double-entendre dialogue backstage. It’s here he often meets clients who draw him into noirish crime and mystery plots. Other main characters were heavyset, hard-as-nails Mother (Hope Emerson the first season, Minerva Urecal thereafter) and Lt. Jacobi (Herschel Bernardi), a hard-edged, wisecracking cop. The one bonus is great: a CD of Mancini’s best jazz pieces for “Peter Gunn.”