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The Future of PERRY MASON (Season 6 & beyond) (1 Viewer)

Richard Gallagher

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Originally Posted by Darby67
There is a huge sale on Perry Mason going on at Amazon right now!
Movies & TV: TV Deal of the Week - Perry Mason
This week only, save up to 64% on individual volumes of Perry Mason. Offer ends January 12, 2013.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=pe_196050_27628120_pe_button/?docId=1000946611&ie=UTF8
Darby
That's good news. I have found that with the Perry Mason series if you wait long enough, the prices drop to reasonable levels. I don't recall the original prices, but the two volumes for Season One are now $10.99 each.
 

FrancisP

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In the "Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition" set, Perry Mason Returns" was one of the extras that was included. As I recall, the movies were done under the Viacom banner in which Paramount is a part of. I would see no reason as to why the movies could not be released.
 

FanCollector

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The movies were Hargrove/Silverman productions distributed by Viacom. Matlock, Diagnosis Murder, Jake and the Fatman, and Father Dowling Mysteries were all produced under the same circumstances and all of them are now distributed by CBS/Paramount. I think releasing them would just be a marketing choice; there shouldn't be any rights issues.
 

HunterMan

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FanCollector said:
The movies were Hargrove/Silverman productions distributed by Viacom. Matlock, Diagnosis Murder, Jake and the Fatman, and Father Dowling Mysteries were all produced under the same circumstances and all of them are now distributed by CBS/Paramount. I think releasing them would just be a marketing choice; there shouldn't be any rights issues.
Yeah, I knew that Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman produced the "Perry Mason" TV movies (as well as the other shows you mentioned). However, I didn't know if the movies airing on another network (NBC), other than CBS, mattered or not? Does CBS/Paramount own the rights to the TV movies too, even though they originally aired on NBC?
 

Mike*HTF

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These sets rarely ever go on sale...can a complete collection announcement be far behind?
 

FanCollector

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HunterMan said:
Yeah, I knew that Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman produced the "Perry Mason" TV movies (as well as the other shows you mentioned). However, I didn't know if the movies airing on another network (NBC), other than CBS, mattered or not? Does CBS/Paramount own the rights to the TV movies too, even though they originally aired on NBC?
Yes, CBS still has the rights to them. The shows were licensed to NBC for one or two broadcasts, but there is no extended ownership rights associated with airing them. Matlock and Father Dowling never aired on CBS, but they still went to CBS/Paramount with the rest of the Hargrove/Silverman stuff. It's like many shows today...House, MD was, for example, a Universal (affiliated with NBC) production that aired on Fox. How I Met Your Mother is a 20th Century Fox production that airs on CBS. The studios will often give their affiliated TV networks first look at a show, but it doesn't really matter who ends up airing them with regard to ultimate ownership.
 

HunterMan

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FanCollector said:
Yes, CBS still has the rights to them. The shows were licensed to NBC for one or two broadcasts, but there is no extended ownership rights associated with airing them. Matlock and Father Dowling never aired on CBS, but they still went to CBS/Paramount with the rest of the Hargrove/Silverman stuff. It's like many shows today...House, MD was, for example, a Universal (affiliated with NBC) production that aired on Fox. How I Met Your Mother is a 20th Century Fox production that airs on CBS. The studios will often give their affiliated TV networks first look at a show, but it doesn't really matter who ends up airing them with regard to ultimate ownership.
This is true...the 70's detective show "Vega$" (with Robert Urich as Dan Tanna) was originally aired on ABC and was an Aaron Spelling production, but CBS/Paramount was the one who distributed it to DVD...so I'm assuming they now own the rights to it too. If CBS/Paramount has the rights to the "Perry Mason" reunion TV Movies...then maybe there's hope they will eventually start releasing them to DVD too! :) They could go on releasing them in the "Volume" format...with say 3 movies, or so, a volume. But...that may be wishful thinking. ;) Who knows...
 

Matt Hough

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I have watched all of the TV movies on Encore Suspense, some more than once. Some are really good mysteries, but I felt most of them suffered from padding out to movie length. Anyway, for completists, I do hope they're eventually remastered and boxed for sale. The versions I've watched on TV look soft. Was that glamour photography or do they need a face-lift?
 

FanCollector

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I think the Hargrove/Silverman shows were all shot on film and edited on video to save money. The Mason movies were probably done that way too, which would account for the visual softness.
 

Professor Echo

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Are those later Mason movies any good? I recorded them all from the Encore Suspense Channel last year, but haven't watched any yet. Seeing parts while I was recording them I can't say they looked all that great. Are they?
 

FrancisP

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The tv movies were alright. Certainly Raymond Burr was as good as ever. However the shows were somewhat padded. The stories became formulaic with the extra time being taken up by the hunt for the hired assassin. I would have loved to see the extra time taken up by filling out the story more. For example, in "The Case of the Careless Cupid", Mason must find his client after she skips out. In "The Case of the Calendar Girl", there are two trials. When Mason exonerates his first client, he defends the model that he points the finger at in exonerating his first client. "The Case of the Lucky Loser" had a much more interesting way of getting Mason involved. He is hired by a young woman to observe a hit and run case. The original series didn't have time for these subtleties. The movies did and they ignored it. The only non-Mason part of the movies that were interesting to me were the movies which Alexandra Paul and William R Moses appeared in. They were actually entertaining to watch with their characters playing off of each other.
 

Greg Chenoweth

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I liked the TV movies but not as much as the original series. In every movie Paul Drake or Ken Malansky is having to run after someone in a chase to try to get information. It's like Mason's case hangs in the balance if that "one person" is not confronted. I wish that the producers would have had the forethought to adapt other Erle Stanley Gardner novels that were not used in the series. They could have been adaptable for an aging Perry Mason and Della Street.
 

HunterMan

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Greg Chenoweth said:
I liked the TV movies but not as much as the original series. In every movie Paul Drake or Ken Malansky is having to run after someone in a chase to try to get information. It's like Mason's case hangs in the balance if that "one person" is not confronted. I wish that the producers would have had the forethought to adapt other Erle Stanley Gardner novels that were not used in the series. They could have been adaptable for an aging Perry Mason and Della Street.
As with the original series, I loved most of the TV Movies! The movies are somewhat different from the show...but it was 20-30 years later...it was at that time modern day. So, they had to try and appeal to a younger crowd with the Paul Drake, Jr. and/or Ken Malansky action and chases...along with appealing to the older generation who remembered Perry and Della. I loved all of it! :) The only movies I didn't like or care for were the ones made after Raymond Burr's death...with "supposed" friends of Perry defending the accused. :( I really hope that CBS/Paramount decides to start putting the movies out on DVD too!! :tu:
 

Professor Echo

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Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad I recorded them from Encore onto DVD-Rs, but who knows when I'll make time to watch them. I would enjoy watching the original series all the way through first. But Burr and Hale are so good it will be great to see them years later. Question: Why did Hale's son, William Katt, leave the cast?
 

Greg Chenoweth

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Professor Echo said:
Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad I recorded them from Encore onto DVD-Rs, but who knows when I'll make time to watch them. I would enjoy watching the original series all the way through first. But Burr and Hale are so good it will be great to see them years later. Question: Why did Hale's son, William Katt, leave the cast?
That's what I'm doing is watching the original series all the way through. I have collected all the sets on the day that they have been released and after they are done with Season 9 I'm going to start watching them all over again from the beginning.
 

stevelecher

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Wait until you get back to the beginning again. Those first seasons are so excellent compared to seasons 7, 8, or 9. There's an intensity in the early ones that is lacking in the later, still satisfactory, episodes.
 

HunterMan

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Professor Echo said:
Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad I recorded them from Encore onto DVD-Rs, but who knows when I'll make time to watch them. I would enjoy watching the original series all the way through first. But Burr and Hale are so good it will be great to see them years later. Question: Why did Hale's son, William Katt, leave the cast?
I would start with the original series and work your way clear on through the TV Movies. I did this a year ago and it was awesome! :D William Katt, Barbara Hale's real-life son who played Paul Drake, Jr. in the first several TV Movies (supposedly the son of William Hopper's character of Paul Drake from the original series) ended up leaving the TV Movie series to do other projects and some directing. He actually still had some input with storylines and scripts of the later TV Movies, even though he was no longer acting in them. They then brought in actor William R. Moses to play Ken Malansky...who then became Perry's leg-man and investigator.
 

Greg Chenoweth

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:cool: I got an e-mail today from DVDEmpire.com that my copy of Perry Mason Season 8 Volume 2 has shipped and is now on its way to my house. Hot dog! Now all I need are the DVDs for Season 9 when it gets released, hopefully this year, and the collection will be complete. :cool:
 

stevelecher

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Does anyone agree with me that the series started fading in S7, and kept going down in S8 and really dropped in 9? After I have the first 8 seasons, I won't care that much about getting season 9, other than to complete the set. Comments? Thanks.
 

Greg Chenoweth

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stevelecher said:
Does anyone agree with me that the series started fading in S7, and kept going down in S8 and really dropped in 9? After I have the first 8 seasons, I won't care that much about getting season 9, other than to complete the set. Comments? Thanks.
I have never seen the remaining Season 8 episodes nor Season 9. I'll comment further after having watched all the sets. However, from the Season 8 Volume 1 set I found half the episodes very well done and the other half mediocre. My favorites continue to be the ones adapted from Erle Stanley Gardner's books.
 

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