Young Riders - The Complete First Season (DVD, 2006, 5-Disc Set)

"The Young Riders" is one of my all-time favorite shows. It's really an updated Western, with a likeable cast of actors who bring the Old West to Life.

The set of characters adds a lot to this show. You've got "The Kid" who represents Everyman -- heading west to seek adventure and a dream. Lou, the girl disguised as a boy to make a better life for herself. Ike, the one who can't speak -- but whose heart speaks much louder than words. Buck, the half-Kiowa rider who's struggling to find his place in one of the two worlds his blood entitles him to. And then there are the two "historical" characters -- Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody. Although the actual historical facts between these two characters and the events of the show are pretty much non-existent, the episodes do offer some interesting touches. Hickok's reputation for being fast and deadly with a gun, and his acquisition of the "Wild Bill" nickname, are explored, and Cody's future on stage gets several previews.

The station manager, Teaspoon Hunter, is one of the great series characters ever. At once caring and crotchety, he has a world of experience and knowledge to share with his young charges. (Kudos to Anthony Zerbe for his dead-on portrayal!)

Actual ties to the history of the Pony Express are few and far between. In fact, several episodes don't even pay lip service to a mail run. But it provides a good excuse to have this diverse set of characters in one place. And they find plenty of other ways to wind up with adventure.

The setting also gives an opportunity to explore the Civil War time period. The Pony Express started in April, 1860, by which time the North-South tensions were already running high. The war was already raging by the time the Express shut down in October 1861. The show got to explore this, offering several episodes touching on slavery, southern raiders, army recruiting, and appeals to the young men about the "glory" of war.

The show also dealt with the American Indian situation of the times -- and did so more intelligently and realistically than many of the earlier westerns. The Indians weren't just ignorant savages -- their point of view was explored, and often shown to be right. Having a main character, Buck Cross, who was half white and half Kiowa, really helped this. Buck was actually my favorite character on the show because of the complexity of his world. So many times he was caught between conflicting emotions -- his Indian past on one side, his white Pony Express family on another. (Gregg Rainwater did an excellent job of bringing this conflict to life as Buck.)

Season 1 has been released on DVD, and in many ways it's the best of the three seasons. The writers gave us more episodes featuring the whole cast in the first season, and that's really when the show was at its best. (We're still waiting for seasons 2 and 3 to be released -- hopefully soon!)

This show was an awesome historical series about the late 1800's and the beginnings of the Civil War and the Pony Express prior to that. It featured a large cast of characters. Most were fiction, but two were actual legends in our country: Buffalo Bill Cody & James Butler Hickok (aka: "Wild Bill Hickok.") I was interested in the Pony Express when this show came on because my father was a retired Rural Mail Carrier and I was researching the beginnings of mail delivery in our country. This show was perfect. It showed how dedicated these young folks were to keeping our mail safe. Most of them were orphans because it was such a dangerous job, they could be killed at any time. In this series, there are episodes dedicated to each of the six riders at the one Way Station where it takes place. More of the shows focus around "Cody" and "Hickok" than the others but they were the real ones living at the time. Although Hickok never was a real Express rider, the series producers have made some interesting points regarding his life that could be taken into consideration. This is a great entertaining western. There is language and violence in most of the episodes, so may not be good fro young children. What I want to know is, why hasn't seasons two and three been brought out on DVD yet? This is now 2009, and this set was released in 2006. I hope enough people will request the last two seasons.

I have loved this show from the first time it premiered on TV, it was fresh, and it didn't have foul language, it did have violence with the gun fights, but that was apart of the Old West. I enjoyed all of the characters from the egos to the quiet of Ike, and the romance of Kid and Lou, and the outrageous Teaspoon.

When I first found out that The Young Riders was out on DVD, I did some research and most stores wanted close to $60.00 for the set, that is a little more then I can afford on one DVD set, so I checked out ebay hoping someone would have it listed, and I got it for a reasonable amount, alot less then $60.00.

The Young Riders is a show that if I had kids, I would feel safe letting them watch, even watching with them, because there is history in the show, The Pony Express was from our past, and there was a great deal of risk for the riders, that is why they used orphans.

The only thing I miss on the DVD set is interviews with the cast members, it would be interesting to hear their take on the show, what they loved about making it, and what they didn't like about making it, well maybe that will happen on the next season DVD set.

I love the semi-historical nature of this box series. It's all about the pony express riders of sweetwater and their various cowboy adventures. I remember how much I enjoyed watching this show as a kid and I've always hoped it would come out on dvd. My little sister's first tv crush was on "Kidd", so The Young Riders was a never miss at our house. Quality tv being at a minimum of late and what is "quaility" being very repetitive, I let my 9 year old watch it with me. She loved it! This is a program from the time when parents and kids could watch tv together. It's definately worth the price.
For parental control: I'd say the language is minimal d@&* and h#%% are the only curse words in the tv show. There is no sex to worry about it's great.

If you were a fan of The Young Riders TV show you will enjoy watching this DVD.

Season 1 has my favorite episode "Then There Was One" where Teaspoon Hunter comes out of the closet, so to speak, being a former Gunfighter/Texas Ranger.

There's so much garbage on TV these days, it's nice to have this video as a refuge to settle in and enjoy some programing that's not the "in your face" current day style.

The video quality of the DVD is excellent and is not one of those "unauthorized copies" being pawned off on people... like the Season 2 and 3 DVD's. Those episodes have yet to be put on DVD officially, which brings me to my dislikes.

Why not FOX Home Entertainment??? All one has to do is Google "The Young Riders" to see all of the people clamoring for Seasons 2 & 3.