[COLOR= black]
[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Matlock: The Fifth Season[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Robert Scheerer et al
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1990-1991
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1023 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround English
Subtitles: CC[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]MSRP:[/COLOR][COLOR= black]$ 49.99[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: July 20, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Review Date:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] July 6, 2010[/COLOR]
The Series
3/5
By its fifth season, Matlock had established itself as one of the most popular programs on the air with older viewers (a position it shared with another mystery series Murder, She Wrote though on different networks). It was also still ranked among the twenty most popular shows on network television though that high ranking would end the following season when NBC moved it from its regular Tuesday night berth and tried it unsuccessfully on Friday night. At any rate, Andy Griffith returns in season five playing the wily Atlanta attorney whose folksy ways mask a diabolical ability to ferret out the truth from the tiniest of clues. An above average courtroom mystery series, Matlock is easy going and easy to take though the scripts during this fifth season were beginning to be a bit threadbare, often padded out with comic relief from nosy housekeepers or irritating neighbors. The folksy, shambling charm of the character is beginning to be exploited a bit too much for comic effect at the expense of logic surrounding the puzzles Matlock and his staff are trying to solve.
Nancy Stafford is back this season playing Michelle Thomas, Matlock’s junior partner in his law firm. Also part of the staff is Clarence Gilyard, Jr. playing Conrad MacMaster, Matlock’s investigator. Though Matlock had required a $100,000 fee for his services in earlier seasons, by season five, the monetary transactions for his services aren’t mentioned very often, and he takes on a wide range of cases, sometimes not representing affluent clients. As in Perry Mason, the mysteries are almost always solved on the witness stand and most are constructed along a standard formula: we’re shown a person with a number of enemies, the person is killed, and Matlock and company sniff out the killer. Occasionally, a Columbo-styled episode is attempted: we’re shown the murder first including who did it and how (the season premiere “The Mother” is one such case). Then, we watch as Matlock tracks down clues to lead him to the solution we already know. The show never quite reaches the heights of surprise or suspense of Perry Mason or Columbo, but the episodes on their own are entertaining enough, especially with the congenial Andy Griffith playing the title character with charm and sass and always showing us the missing elements needed to solve the crime before the end of the hour. (Unlike the superior Murder, She Wrote, the telltale clues on Matlock aren’t usually in plain sight for a clever audience to pick up on before the final reveal.)
Matlock did entertain some top guest stars and excellent character actors during its fifth season. Among the most recognizable ones are Philip Baker Hall, Shirley Knight, Aneta Corsaut, James Cromwell, Migel Sandoval, Maureen Arthur, Leslie Easterbrook, Robert Clohessey, Titus Welliver, Mr. Blackwell, Patricia Heaton, Don Knotts (in the recurring role of an annoying neighbor), Amy Yazbeck, Stanley Kamel, Ally Walker, Andrew Robinson, Joel Grey, Tony Roberts, Gregory Itzin, John Saxon, Marge Redmond (in a recurring role as Matlock’s feisty Irish housekeeper), Bill Macy, Christian Clemenson, Mike Farrell, Diana Muldaur, Charles Frank, Arlene Golonka, Peter Hansen, and, in a continuing recurring role, Julie Sommars as prosecuting attorney (and platonic Matlock sweetheart) Julie Marsh.
Here are the twenty-one episodes from season five contained on the six discs in this set:
1 – The Mother
2 – Nowhere to Turn (a 95-minute mystery movie long on filler and short on logic)
3 – The Madam
4 – The Personal Trainer
5 – The Narc
6 – The Secret (Part 1)
7 – The Secret (Part 2) (Only 37 minutes in length; was something cut?)
8 – The Brothers
9 – The Cover Girl (a showcase episode for Clarence Gilyard, Jr.)
10 – The Biker
11 – The Broker (a showcase episode for Julie Sommars)
12 – The Fighter
13 – The Critic
14 – The Parents
15 – The Man of the Year (surprisingly, a clip show with three cases from previous seasons with a farcical bookend story)
16 – The Arsonist
17 – The Formula
18 – The Trial (Part 1)
19 – The Trial (Part 2)
20 – The Accident
21 – The Celebrity
The liner notes do offer a caveat that some episodes may be edited from their network broadcasts. Those more familiar with the original telecasts may be able to pinpoint changes which have been made.
Video Quality
3/5
The 1.33:1 aspect ratio of the original broadcasts is rendered faithfully in these transfers. The quality of the transfers, however, is erratic and unpredictable. Some episodes like “The Parents” show excellent color saturation, realistic flesh tones, good sharpness, and few if any video artifacts. An episode like “The Narc,” however, is abominable with such thick interlacing artifacts and issues with softness and color stability that it’s infuriating. Many of the shows have at least some of these problems (aliasing and moiré patterns in all but a few episodes), but you never know what you’re going to get from one episode to the next: a nicely remastered, clean image or something that looks as if it were sourced from something other than film. Each normal-length episode has been divided into 6 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround track is unpredictable, too. A few of the episodes feature surprising use of the entire soundstage, even the use of directionalized dialogue. In other episodes, the sound seems purely mono without even the music drifting into the rear channels. As it’s a very dialogue-heavy show, the recording of the actors is well done, and understanding the lines is never a problem.
Special Features
0/5
There are no bonus features included with this set. There are promo trailers for Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and NCIS.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
Though not one of the greatest of television’s mystery series, Matlock has a certain easy charm which will likely make fans of Andy Griffith or of relatively breezy mystery/courtroom series very happy to have this fifth season now become available.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
[COLOR= black]Matlock: The Fifth Season[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Directed by Robert Scheerer et al
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1990-1991
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 1023 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround English
Subtitles: CC[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]MSRP:[/COLOR][COLOR= black]$ 49.99[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Release Date: July 20, 2010[/COLOR]
[COLOR= black]Review Date:[/COLOR][COLOR= black] July 6, 2010[/COLOR]
The Series
3/5
By its fifth season, Matlock had established itself as one of the most popular programs on the air with older viewers (a position it shared with another mystery series Murder, She Wrote though on different networks). It was also still ranked among the twenty most popular shows on network television though that high ranking would end the following season when NBC moved it from its regular Tuesday night berth and tried it unsuccessfully on Friday night. At any rate, Andy Griffith returns in season five playing the wily Atlanta attorney whose folksy ways mask a diabolical ability to ferret out the truth from the tiniest of clues. An above average courtroom mystery series, Matlock is easy going and easy to take though the scripts during this fifth season were beginning to be a bit threadbare, often padded out with comic relief from nosy housekeepers or irritating neighbors. The folksy, shambling charm of the character is beginning to be exploited a bit too much for comic effect at the expense of logic surrounding the puzzles Matlock and his staff are trying to solve.
Nancy Stafford is back this season playing Michelle Thomas, Matlock’s junior partner in his law firm. Also part of the staff is Clarence Gilyard, Jr. playing Conrad MacMaster, Matlock’s investigator. Though Matlock had required a $100,000 fee for his services in earlier seasons, by season five, the monetary transactions for his services aren’t mentioned very often, and he takes on a wide range of cases, sometimes not representing affluent clients. As in Perry Mason, the mysteries are almost always solved on the witness stand and most are constructed along a standard formula: we’re shown a person with a number of enemies, the person is killed, and Matlock and company sniff out the killer. Occasionally, a Columbo-styled episode is attempted: we’re shown the murder first including who did it and how (the season premiere “The Mother” is one such case). Then, we watch as Matlock tracks down clues to lead him to the solution we already know. The show never quite reaches the heights of surprise or suspense of Perry Mason or Columbo, but the episodes on their own are entertaining enough, especially with the congenial Andy Griffith playing the title character with charm and sass and always showing us the missing elements needed to solve the crime before the end of the hour. (Unlike the superior Murder, She Wrote, the telltale clues on Matlock aren’t usually in plain sight for a clever audience to pick up on before the final reveal.)
Matlock did entertain some top guest stars and excellent character actors during its fifth season. Among the most recognizable ones are Philip Baker Hall, Shirley Knight, Aneta Corsaut, James Cromwell, Migel Sandoval, Maureen Arthur, Leslie Easterbrook, Robert Clohessey, Titus Welliver, Mr. Blackwell, Patricia Heaton, Don Knotts (in the recurring role of an annoying neighbor), Amy Yazbeck, Stanley Kamel, Ally Walker, Andrew Robinson, Joel Grey, Tony Roberts, Gregory Itzin, John Saxon, Marge Redmond (in a recurring role as Matlock’s feisty Irish housekeeper), Bill Macy, Christian Clemenson, Mike Farrell, Diana Muldaur, Charles Frank, Arlene Golonka, Peter Hansen, and, in a continuing recurring role, Julie Sommars as prosecuting attorney (and platonic Matlock sweetheart) Julie Marsh.
Here are the twenty-one episodes from season five contained on the six discs in this set:
1 – The Mother
2 – Nowhere to Turn (a 95-minute mystery movie long on filler and short on logic)
3 – The Madam
4 – The Personal Trainer
5 – The Narc
6 – The Secret (Part 1)
7 – The Secret (Part 2) (Only 37 minutes in length; was something cut?)
8 – The Brothers
9 – The Cover Girl (a showcase episode for Clarence Gilyard, Jr.)
10 – The Biker
11 – The Broker (a showcase episode for Julie Sommars)
12 – The Fighter
13 – The Critic
14 – The Parents
15 – The Man of the Year (surprisingly, a clip show with three cases from previous seasons with a farcical bookend story)
16 – The Arsonist
17 – The Formula
18 – The Trial (Part 1)
19 – The Trial (Part 2)
20 – The Accident
21 – The Celebrity
The liner notes do offer a caveat that some episodes may be edited from their network broadcasts. Those more familiar with the original telecasts may be able to pinpoint changes which have been made.
Video Quality
3/5
The 1.33:1 aspect ratio of the original broadcasts is rendered faithfully in these transfers. The quality of the transfers, however, is erratic and unpredictable. Some episodes like “The Parents” show excellent color saturation, realistic flesh tones, good sharpness, and few if any video artifacts. An episode like “The Narc,” however, is abominable with such thick interlacing artifacts and issues with softness and color stability that it’s infuriating. Many of the shows have at least some of these problems (aliasing and moiré patterns in all but a few episodes), but you never know what you’re going to get from one episode to the next: a nicely remastered, clean image or something that looks as if it were sourced from something other than film. Each normal-length episode has been divided into 6 chapters.
Audio Quality
3.5/5
The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo surround track is unpredictable, too. A few of the episodes feature surprising use of the entire soundstage, even the use of directionalized dialogue. In other episodes, the sound seems purely mono without even the music drifting into the rear channels. As it’s a very dialogue-heavy show, the recording of the actors is well done, and understanding the lines is never a problem.
Special Features
0/5
There are no bonus features included with this set. There are promo trailers for Ghost Whisperer, Medium, and NCIS.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
Though not one of the greatest of television’s mystery series, Matlock has a certain easy charm which will likely make fans of Andy Griffith or of relatively breezy mystery/courtroom series very happy to have this fifth season now become available.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
