The Future of PERRY MASON (Season 6 & beyond) - Page 2

I'm just hoping; who knows what their future release plans are. I'm hoping they don't give up on retail DVD altogether.

Netflix has the Perry Mason movies unforunately you can only stream them there, they are not on disc.

Gary, what does your crystal ball say about CBS/Paramount releasing the ill advised, ill fated, PERRY MASON revival of the early 70's that starred Monte Markham as Mason?

I would like it to have all the episodes in one package, not split,  uncut, with original music, remastered, audio commentaries from surviving cast and crew, new introductions by Markham and Harry Guardino, who played Berger, original coming attractions, show promos, a newly produced Making Of documentary, a newly arranged for the DVD filmed tribute to the series with all cast and crew at the Paley Center, archival behind the scenes footage, text extras of all studio correspondence related to the series, original press reviews, an actual size reproduction of the complete Fall Preview TV GUIDE when the show premiered, packaged in a deluxe gold box shaped like a gavel and personally autographed by Erle Stanley Gardner's ghost.  And on Blu Ray. For $12.95 MSRP.

Come on, Gary, don't let me down here! If you say it isn't on the schedule, I am going to boycott CBS/Paramount and start an online petition for Criterion to release the series! And post everyday on the Shout boards that millions of fans, perhaps even a dozen of them, are clamoring for this series on DVD!

Great post, Professor Echo!   I'd buy that set :)

One small addition for the set:  such a set would have to come with its own crystal ball if we are truly going to have episode intros from Harry Guardino

A somewhat easy trivia question:  what actor provides a common link between the original Mason, the Markham Mason, and the 80s/90s movie of the week Mason?

Richard Anderson!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack P 

Richard Anderson!

Great job, Jack! 

Richard Anderson was seemingly in everything during the 60s/70s and into the 80s,   There were various things that bugged me about the liberties taken with the Mason canon for the 80s revival and one of them was Anderson's appearance in the first movie.  He went from being a Mason S9 regular to quite a different role in PM Returns.  Then again, he appeared in the original series (sans toupee) in an earlier season playing a different character so perhaps he just came full circle.

Just wishing the lovely Barbara Hale, the only surviving Mason multi-season Mason regular, a happy and healthy 89th birthday.  She was born this date (April 18) in 1922.  From what I've been told by someone who knows her, she's doing well and is every bit as delightful and wonderful in real life as she was on camera.  Let's not forget she was an RKO girl and brightened many a RKO picture (I love her work in the Falcon films for example).

Steve

PS - For those interested, we do have two surviving single season regulars....Richard Anderson was Lt. Drumm in S9 and Karl Held was David Gideon in a handful of episodes in S5 (following a one off appearance to set up the character at the end of S4).

I don't think the bible website is up-to-date because the last addition was December 10, 2010 and the last updated info on Perry Mason is from 2006!

Just saw     The Case of the Bullied Bowler from November 1964, Season 6, in beautiful remastered print on local MeTV.  It is clear that CBS is indeed remastering later episodes.  Curiously, the closing titles these last few nights of Season 6 are in rough shape, but the entirety of the story segments are very obviously pristine remasters.  So there MUST be hope for the best TV series ever, the inspiration and precursor to the excellent, long-lived Law and Order series.  In the 50s and 60s CBS invested heavily in Perry Mason ($170,000 per episode right from the pilot, the equivalent of over 1 million today), the most expensive series on TV.  They cared very much about the show.  Why abandon it now, when it was the impulse for so many modern imitations?  Mason, Drake, Street, Burger, Tragg....none better.  Ever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Chenoweth 

I don't think the bible website is up-to-date because the last addition was December 10, 2010 and the last updated info on Perry Mason is from 2006!

Hi Greg, maybe there is conflicting info onthe Bible,but the last Mason update is from August of 2010 which was to update the info on S5.  Please be sure to look under the "Perry Mason (complete)" page.

Hi John,

Great post that provides some much needed hope.Bullied Bowler is actually a season 8 episode which is even more hopeful.   Does ME-TV (which has yet to debut in my area) show the episodes uncut or are they edited for commercials, etc.?   

Yes, I absolutely agree with your "none better. Ever." closing comment.  The 1960s in general were the high mark for TV writing in my opinion with so many excellent dramas and comedies that have stood the test of time and are still popular today.

Hi Steve....

the episodes are not cut.  Some earlier TV syndicate shows had fake superimposed video wipes or fade-outs to cut out or reduce time in certain longer scenes or expositions.  These have none of that and look like they were turned off the lab development reels just yesterday.  Commercials are pl;aced exactly as designed in the original episode edits.

 I am a day late but I also wish to follow up on the post of another HTF member to toast the 89th birthday of Barbara Hale, the best example of a confidential, loyal secretary in her portrayal of Della Street.  I should be so lucky to have a work colleague like Della!

Thank you, John.  This is great news and makes me even more anxious for ME-TV to enter my market (which it will soon).

CBS/P should at least get kudos for taking care of the Mason 35mm negatives all of these years; they all do look spectacular. 

Good news! Perry Mason, Season 6, Volume 1 will be released on October 4, 2011; with Volume 2 to follow before the end of the year!

I had contacted CBS Home Entertainment after seeing a rumor about the October 4 date on Amazon.com, and they confirmed it. I expect they'll soon issue an official press release or an update to the Perry Mason Facebook page. (Or maybe HTF's own CBS/Paramount insider would care to chime in.)

I hope this means we can take Perry Mason off the "stalled series" list once and for all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berkshires 

Good news! Perry Mason, Season 6, Volume 1 will be released on October 4, 2011; with Volume 2 to follow before the end of the year!

This is good news! I am glad to hear that we will have more Perry Mason's this year.

-Rodney

Bob - thanks to you for breaking this wonderful news.  And thanks to Gary for confirming (in another thread) that the crystal ball shows the two headed coin landing with Raymond Burr's face up :)

I had given up on this show getting released and now I'm feeling much better that we may actually see more seasons.  I just hope that CBS/P doesn't repeat the S5/S6 gap with S7. 

The CBS/P Syndication Bible is due for an update within the next month or so (it'll be a half year since the last update next month) so hopefully we'll get some idea of what else may be in the offering for 2012.

Steve, I was glad to share the news. You and Gary have provided many scoops over the years, and I was happy to do the same.

And thanks for the info about the CBS/P Syndication Bible updates. I hope we'll learn that seasons 7, 8 & 9 have been mastered in HD as well.

Marvelous news; thanks!

We're almost caught up here viewing Perry Mason; look forward to having a "backlog" again.

Could there have been issues with the original masters or something that led to S6V1 being delayed (as has happened to Shout's Ironside s5 release), or was it just some weird circumstance that led to CBS/P reversing their decision to stall the show?

Either way, I'm glad S6 is coming, especially of the entire season will be out by the end of the year.

     Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Jessup 

Marvelous news; thanks!

We're almost caught up here viewing Perry Mason; look forward to having a "backlog" again.

Same here.  This is one of the few shows in my collection where I have to pace myself with it so I don't run out of viewing before the next release.
 

great news! was hoping the delay was so they would release a full season set, but Volumes are still ok.

Keep in mind, there has been no official word from CBS/Paramount about this release yet.  If it is coming out in October, then we should be reading about it on TVShowsonDVD.com in June or July.

Just absolute great news.  Thank you CBS/P!

Steve L.

     Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary OS 

     Quote:

 

Trust me, Greg. It's coming on October 4th.  The crystal ball has confirmed it.

 

Gary "unless there's an earthquake or some other disaster, it's a lock that we'll see Perry Mason S6, V1 on 10/4/11" O.

Three cheers for crystal balls ;).  Barring a mistrial ruling from the bench, it'll be arriving as scheduled,  Mr Burger's objections notwithstanding.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevelecher 

Just absolute great news.  Thank you CBS/P!

 

Steve L.

10-4, Steve
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary OS 
Trust me, Greg. It's coming on October 4th.  The crystal ball has confirmed it.

Gary "unless there's an earthquake or some other disaster, it's a lock that we'll see Perry Mason S6, V1 on 10/4/11" O.

Let us hope we never have to borrow the Fugitive S3 episode title "Crack In A Crystal Ball" for any of your predictions, Gary.

O.K., why hasn't this been picked up on tvshowsondvd.com?   Is it a secret yet that Season 6 will be out?

Steve L.