The Cisco Kid: Carrier Pigeon
Originally broadcast on Tuesday, December 18, 1951 in first-run syndication.
Plot: Cisco and Pancho unravel the ingenious plot behind the theft of a diamond necklace with the help of a girl insurance investigator.
Analysis: One must remember here that the plots written for syndication are rarely going to be as strong or well constructed as network or sponsored programming. As a result, while the plot here is actually really interesting, it seems done in quickly by time constraints. We have an edit about midway through the episode that has me wondering how the crooks figured out so fast that they were in trouble as well.
Visually, to recreate the original 1951 broadcast, you will need to turn the color off on your set as the show was broadcast in color, but with few color sets available as yet, most of the United States saw Cisco in black and white. There are occasionally vertical lines in a few close ups, but otherwise the show is tolerable.
It is worth commenting, if I have not before, that while Cisco was originally put into syndication by ZIV Productions, what we are seeing is another distribution into syndication after it originally aired. This time the distributor is Walter Schwimmer Productions, which would date the print to sometime in the 1960s. This may also explain both the slightly diminished quality and the occasional additional edit.
The Bottom Line: I have to admit, the episode is a bit of a disappointment. The plot is there and it's a good one, but either time or budget doomed this episode to mediocrity. Even a last minute curve ball at the end cannot really save the episode from being just okay. In the end, if I am pushed, it's OK to watch if you happen to have it on, but not something to go out of your way for.
Carrier Pigeon is included on Collection 3 of The Cisco Kid with nineteen other episodes of the series (http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Kid-Collection-3/dp/B00024JAL4/ref=sr_1_8?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1405113745&sr=1-8&keywords=the+cisco+kid). If you are on a budget, it is also packaged in with thirty-four episodes of the show in The Best of The Cisco Kid (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Cisco-Kid-35-Episodes/dp/B001072DFM/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1405113745&sr=1-1&keywords=the+cisco+kid). Finally, the episode is also available for streaming on Hulu Plus.
Next time, we return to future-past with another Tale of Tomorrow.
Originally broadcast on Tuesday, December 18, 1951 in first-run syndication.
Plot: Cisco and Pancho unravel the ingenious plot behind the theft of a diamond necklace with the help of a girl insurance investigator.
Analysis: One must remember here that the plots written for syndication are rarely going to be as strong or well constructed as network or sponsored programming. As a result, while the plot here is actually really interesting, it seems done in quickly by time constraints. We have an edit about midway through the episode that has me wondering how the crooks figured out so fast that they were in trouble as well.
Visually, to recreate the original 1951 broadcast, you will need to turn the color off on your set as the show was broadcast in color, but with few color sets available as yet, most of the United States saw Cisco in black and white. There are occasionally vertical lines in a few close ups, but otherwise the show is tolerable.
It is worth commenting, if I have not before, that while Cisco was originally put into syndication by ZIV Productions, what we are seeing is another distribution into syndication after it originally aired. This time the distributor is Walter Schwimmer Productions, which would date the print to sometime in the 1960s. This may also explain both the slightly diminished quality and the occasional additional edit.
The Bottom Line: I have to admit, the episode is a bit of a disappointment. The plot is there and it's a good one, but either time or budget doomed this episode to mediocrity. Even a last minute curve ball at the end cannot really save the episode from being just okay. In the end, if I am pushed, it's OK to watch if you happen to have it on, but not something to go out of your way for.
Carrier Pigeon is included on Collection 3 of The Cisco Kid with nineteen other episodes of the series (http://www.amazon.com/Cisco-Kid-Collection-3/dp/B00024JAL4/ref=sr_1_8?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1405113745&sr=1-8&keywords=the+cisco+kid). If you are on a budget, it is also packaged in with thirty-four episodes of the show in The Best of The Cisco Kid (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Cisco-Kid-35-Episodes/dp/B001072DFM/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1405113745&sr=1-1&keywords=the+cisco+kid). Finally, the episode is also available for streaming on Hulu Plus.
Next time, we return to future-past with another Tale of Tomorrow.
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