I'm amazed Matlock isn't on any lists (1 Viewer)

[Chris_Wa]

With some of the questionable choices of releases on DVD, I'm shocked that Matlock is never mentioned. I was never a Perry Mason fan, but for some reason really liked Matlock (maybe it was Linda Purl in Season 1 )

Course, the way the studios are going, maybe they are refilming any scene with Andy Griffith in it with unknown lookalikes so as not to have to pay additional royalties.

 

[Steve...O]

Hi Chris,

I'm a fan of this show also (although I much prefer Mason).

My guess is that the perceived demographic of this show is somewhere between elderly and six feet under which scares studios off. It's unfortunate because I always thought it was a well done, entertaining show. I actually enjoy Andy more in this than I do in TAGS.

Who knows, if the upcoming "Murder She Wrote" set does well then maybe properties such as this will get some consideration. If they ever do release it, I hope some remastering is done. The episodes look like worn out EP videotapes whenever they're shown on TV.

Steve

 

[Chris_Wa]

Hi Steve -

I hope so - its so common in syndication that its something I'd expect to see as a collection. And you're so right - every broadcast of it looks whipped. Do you know who owns Matlock?

Remember that Andy Griffith short lived series called "Salvage 1"? Another lost show I'd love to see again. Funny I like him too in about everything else better than TAGS.

heh heh

Chris

 

[andrew markworthy]

You mean there really is a show called Matlock? Excuse the ignorance of this Brit, but I thought it was a joke thought up by the Simpsons.

 

[David Williams]

I'm gonna look really stupid if this is one of those lovely British (correct usage! correct usage! ) jokes, but there was a show in the US in the late 80s called Matlock starring the geriatric Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock, a countrified Atlanta attorney (sort of like the Space Chicken Lawyer on Futurama) who saves his innocent clients from a vivacious red-headed District Attorney, Julie March, who a) has the longest losing streak in the history of the American Bar Association, b) must be really dumb to go against Matlock every week when he always wins and c) has the hots for him. (At some point, she has to say to herself "Gee, 99% of Matlock's clients are proven innocent so this new client must be too.") Ala Perry Mason, Matlock always unraveled the true killer's pack of lies in the final minutes, causing the villain to confess from the witness stand before a packed and stunned courtroom.

I'd like to see Matlock on DVD just to see Nana Visitor's whacked out pyro/psycho killer lose it on the stand again.

 

[Kim Olav Svines]

I've been waiting on Matlock for years, although I think I've watched most of the episodes already. Maybe Paramount will consider it if the "Andy Griffith Show" DVDs sell well. *cross fingers*

 

[David Lambert]

Damn, someone else wants that show besides me!

Actually, it's got a few hundred votes at TSoD, so I know I'm in good company. But I wish it would come out. However, like Quark, I doubt Sony (formerly Columbia/Tristar) will ever get around to releasing it...too far down on the totum pole.

Hey, maybe they should release those two together in a single box set. "Sony's Short-run SciFi Series, Volume 1" or something like that!

 

[David Lambert]

By the way, the similarity of Matlock to Perry Mason is probably no accident...the same company producing Ml also produced the run of 90's PM telefilms.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Thanks for the info, guys! And no, David, I wasn't being sarcastic. If you said 'Matlock' to a Brit, chances are that they'd think you were talking about a rather pleasant little spa town in Derbyshire.

If Matlock ever did come to Brit TV it wasn't peak time viewing. A lot of your shows get shown at really odd times over here - e.g. Star Trek TNG got shown on the BBC at 6.00 in the evening (our peak time is 9.00-10.00ish). Having said that, from the description, Matlock does seem very faintly familiar. I think it was one of those shows that gets put on Brit TV in the afternoons between the lunchtime news and the start of kids' programmes (i.e. between about 2.00 and 3.00 p.m.). What we'd call 'bored housewife television'.

 

[David Williams]

What's really funny is stuff that airs on BBC America here in the morning/afternoon is what I think is/was primetime stuff across the pond (correct me if I'm wrong):

Changing Rooms
Homefront in the Garden
Garden Force (both pre/post Alan T... Do they show Ground Force America over there?)
House Invaders
Location, Location, Location (my current midmorning fave... love that Kirstie Allsop/Phil Spencer action!)
Bargain Hunt (Love David Dickinson!!!)
Cash in the Attic (Only the British could invent this game show)
The Weakest Link (Orig)
Some new game show with the word 'enemy' in the title.
Dog Eat Dog (Orig)

and of course classic Britcoms:
Are You Being Served?
As Time Goes By (Love this one... they just reran series 9 for the 2nd time. Finally got to see how it ended)
Keeping Up Appearances

Of course, in primetime they show stuff like Rebus, Wire in the Blood, etc

 

[andrew markworthy]

Actually, believe it or not, practically none of these is prime time material.

Changing Rooms - Started as a very modest little show in the early evening, achieved cult status and then went mainstream. Enjoyment factor plummeted as a result. Incidentally, Brits usually watched this programme to laugh at it. Please don't think we have no ideas on home decor.

Homefront in the Garden - early evening

Garden Force (both pre/post Alan T... Do they show Ground Force America over there?) - later evening just prior to prime time. Over here the obsession for most viewers was Charlie Dimmock's chest. AT is apparently considered to be a sex god by older women. Yes, we do get GFA over here, but on one of the satellite channels.

House Invaders - can't recall for certain, but don't think it was prime time

Location, Location, Location (my current midmorning fave... love that Kirstie Allsop/Phil Spencer action!) - a staple of daytime television these days. There are various permutations on this theme; the best known is probably A Place in the Sun. Basically, people with money to spare look for a house to buy abroad (either as a second home or to emigrate to). The most popular places they choose are Florida (I know ...), Spain, and the South of France. The programmes are living evidence of the saying that you can tell what God thinks of money by who He gives it to. There was one classic programme where someone turned down a property in mainland Europe when he discovered that none of the locals spoke fluent English [I swear I'm not making that up].

Bargain Hunt (Love David Dickinson!!!)David Dickinson is a cult over here. Pretty much daytime TV. Having said that, like Location, Location, Location, there are so many spin-offs of this idea that it's difficult to tell them apart.

Cash in the Attic (Only the British could invent this game show) - can't recall when it's on; this is probably due to hysterical suppression

The Weakest Link (Orig)- 5.30-6.00 p.m. Fills the gap between the end of kids' programmes and the early evening news.

Some new game show with the word 'enemy' in the title.
Dog Eat Dog (Orig) - hysterical suppression strikes once again.


and of course classic Britcoms:
Are You Being Served?
As Time Goes By (Love this one... they just reran series 9 for the 2nd time. Finally got to see how it ended)
Keeping Up Appearances

There were all originally prime time (except, I think AYBS? which I think went out earlier evening). All would now be considered rather staid and dated. Please don't take that as a criticism - I like them, so do a lot of adults, but 'cutting edge' Brit comedy these days has moved on from the sitcom. If you've ever seen 'The Young Ones' then it looks like a Noel Coward play at its most brittle and delicate compared with the likes of the current favourites of the critics like Bo Selecta, Monkey Dust, etc.

You guys seem to get most of our non-peaktime stuff. The only genres you're missing are:

cookery programmes (e.g. Ready Steady Cook)
Countdown (a quiz that has been running for 20+ years in the afternoons - basically contestants have 30 seconds to make the longest possible word out of 9 quasi-randomly chosen letters; or, they have to reach a randomly generated number from an arithmetic calculation using 6 randomly-chosen letters)
programmes about regional current affairs and documentaries (obviously you don't get these!)

And if you're watching the commercial channels, then the adverts during the day will be for:

litigation lawyers
loans (targetted at people with credit card debt and bad credit history)
life assurance aimed at older people
bizarre contraptions aimed at older adults, like baths you can sit in