The Snoop Sisters Return...

After a long wait, The Snoop Sisters finally hit DVD this past week (available from AmazonCA, and in June from AmazonUS) and it was worth the wait. I hadn't seen the series since its short run of five episodes (one TV movie and four 90 minute episodes) on the Wednesday Mystery Movie on NBC back in 1973-74, so I wasn't entirely sure how it would hold up. Pleased to say it was still quite a bit of fun.

The transfer on the DVD is sparkling, crystal clear. However, the discs will not play on some older DVD players. They make a a terrible rumble and simply won't access. On a more recent player they looked pristine and played perfectly. I've had the same trouble with the MacMillan and Wife Season 3 discs and some cheap horror movie sets. Maybe someone reading can tell me why this happens. Guessing it is some kind of weight issue. Fortunately, they are not double-sided discs, as were the first season of Mac and Wife discs, which had an annoying freezing problem in many players.

The show starred Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick as two elderly sisters, Ernesta and Gwendolyn Snoop, one an author of mysteries, who solved murders. They're lovable and irascible at the same time. The pilot also starred Art Carney, who was unfortunately replaced when the regular rotation with Banacek, Faraday and Company and Tenafly began (replaced with Lou Antonio), and Bert Convy. They drove around in a 1940s Lincoln and rarely listened to their police lieutenant nephew or driver, Barney.

One of the most memorable episodes involved a Devil worshipping cult that guest-starred a very young Alice Cooper (the title said "Introducing Alice Cooper," though pretty sure he was already recording before that.) Another guest-starred Vincent Price as an eccentric and fading horror actor accused of killing his rich wife.

This series preceded Murder, She Wrote by years, and I have to wonder of the latter more successful show didn't owe a lot to this brief yet charming series. Natwick won an Emmy for her role, but it could have easily gone to Hayes, who was perfect in her role.