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The best thing about DVDs is that the right one, carefully chosen to fit your mood, can take you on a journey to another place, time, and/or frame of mind. When Julie Barnes (Peggy Lipton) asks, "What's your trip, man?" the question speaks volumes to underscore a way of thinking that defines the late 1960s in America. Last night, my son - absolutely a child of the new millennium - crinkled his nose at me when I suggested he put his Wii wand down and settle next to me to watch The Mod Squad  . "What's that?" he asked peering under bangs that could have covered the face of an extra in the series of which he had never heard. Handing the case to my newly-arrived, much-anticipated, Season One, Volume One, four-DVD boxed set, I was amused to note his initial chagrin. "They're models," he mused with an air of superiority that I cannot quite explain. Then he read from the back cover, "MEET PETE, LINC, AND JULIE...THREE VERY DIFFERENT COPS KEEPING IT REAL."Inside, I was smiling a little to consider his observation. The three police officers on the cover were an unlikely bunch. Pete Cochran (Michael Cole), Julie Barnes, and Lincoln "Linc" Hayes (Clarence Williams III) were an awfully pretty squad, but I remember, too, an emotive quality behind each of those pretty faces that revealed a truly dramatic soul. "They're actors," I replied as I clicked the magic button that allows escape from our much-loved, over-exercised Wiii. "It's a police show." Now David' s curiosity was piqued. At nine, he is allowed few police shows. The extent of his knowledge of the mysterious lot of them is taken more from commercials and an extremely active imagination of his own than from personal experience. Convinced that he should participate in this viewing, he made the popcorn and I mixed the drinks (Crystal Light with Cranberry Juice). The first disc was the clincher for David; now he's a hooked fan of the show like I was when it was in syndication in my childhood or like my mother was when my sister was a baby and the rest of us were twinkles in my mother's eyes. And I am pleased to have a chance to share with David those things that contributed to my childhood. Watching The Mod Squad with David is like serving him a tasty, anachronistic piece of pop culture. When Captain Adam Greer (Tige Andrews) commanded the squad to "bridge that [generation] gap," I heeded the call, too.Whether you settle onto your sofa to relive memories of your own or to seek insight into a bygone era, you will not be disappointed with this set. To delve straight into the '60s background, just consider the episode titles: Disc One: |
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