just watch it!

An absolute waste of money

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

I see people wanting copies of this program. They are available on DVD. I scored season two, three and four with a total of 6 DVD's per season. There's a total of 72 episodes. I got mine through some small catalog that comes to my mail box a couple times a month. I don't know what/where it is right now. They get tossed after leaving my "bathroom library". With some on-line research, I'm sure they could be found. I love looking at the vintage vehicles although most are new at the time of filming. Ones that stand out are a 1956 Chevy Nomad wagon, lots of Wedge & Hemi-powered Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler products, a vintage small block powered model 'A' hot rod w/a '32 grill in the episode titled "Hot Rod", and others.Kind of funny that the first season used the same white Ford pick up truck for multiple episodes and different locations. Limited budget I guess. In the "Hot Rod" episode, two "youths" use the car for a fast getaway after armed robberies. After 1 robbery, they "peel out" and are going about 100mph down a rural highway. The driver accidentally hits a granny lady who's standing in the road watching her husband change a flat tire. I mean, he hits her dead on and the next scene shows her lying next to the car with one shoe lying next to her, and she's not bleeding and in one piece. Even her hair is still in place. I laughed out loud! Why? Had she been hit at 100mph, they'd be picking her out of the orchard trees with a stick and a spoon for a 1/4 mile down the road! (not to mention the car would have been totaled!)Another bit of fun is the tire spinning. These guys, cops and perpetrators alike, cannot seem to start off without "scratching out", usually on dirt. This is where the vintage vehicle fans like me go, "Look! It's got the optional limited slip rear end!" Fun stuff and highly recommended.

Although I often watch this show because I remember watching it as a little girl and still enjoy the plots and acting, my husband watches because he enjoys seeing all of the 1950's cars. He drools over them because they are in pristine condition, a condition that is impossible to find even at car shows. He especially likes the the late 50's Chrysler Corporation cars. He also enjoys seeing the Los Angeles area locations, especially Griffith Park where so many of the chases take place. He also enjoys all of the train stations. Many of them are no longer there, and the ones that remain aren't in the beautiful condition they are in this show. Surprisingly quite a few shows have people getting on and off passenger trains. I would recommend this show if you enjoy police procedural and 1950's ambiance.

There has been much fun made of the part played by Broderick Crawford---and much denigration accorded the show in general. I have a complete collection of the series. I watch them when I need a fix from the current workaday world of crime now overwhelming law-enforcement...and the courts allowing it to happen. Crawford, whose mom and dad worked the Vaudeville circuit, was a very talented and forceful visage in "Highway Patrol". One didn't have to look like Clark Gable in order to portray a dedicated cop. No, he wasn't pretty. Yes, he looked like an unmade bed. But, that just added authenticity to the show in my 15-19 year old (at the time) eyes.I would have hated being interrogated by him even if I hadn't done anything wrong. Think about how much more latitude the first line of law-enforcement had during that show's time. It started four years before the passage of the Miranda Act. Folks who got too chirpy with "the law" in those days, learned a pretty good lesson before they even got locked up. Wish it still held true. Buddy Buchanan

Even when this series made it's first run, I laughed at it. The stories had the Highway Patrol doing EVERYTHING except what the Department's charter called for. I don't think I EVER saw a CHP in the show write a simple ticket-but they DID solve bank robberies, murders, kid-nappings and sundry other crimes, normally assigned to other law enforcement agencies. It is also obvious that Crawford had a serious drinking problem during the show's filming-he often would flub or mumble his lines, or deliver them with little or no conviction, sometimes he even appeared to be stumbling. I once met a CHP Officer that claimed he arrested Crawford for DUI, said it was the toughest thing he ever had to do...he claimed the actor sat in the backseat of the patrol car hollering "TEN FOUR!!" all the way to the station.