Cynical Cinema

The more I watch Perry Mason, the more I like it.  When I watched Volume One of Season Three, I suggested that splitting this set into two volumes was a bad idea.  Because when I finished watching Volume One, I wanted to watch more.

http://blog.rogersradiointernet.com/cynicalcinema/2008/08/19/perry-mason-season-three-volume-one-out-today-810/

Well, I got more this week, and I finally had my next fix of Perry Mason.  Because this show is addictive, like a drug.  Or like cheerios.  (I find cheerios to be somewhat addictive as well.)  Each episode plays like a little mini one-hour film noir, with betrayals and murders and backstabbing wives and such.  Great stuff. 

Even the episode titles have a 1950s noir vibe to them.  The Case of the Wayward Wife.  The Case of the Galiant Grafter.  The Case of the Ominous Outcast.  And then the bizarre ones too.  Like The Case of the Mythical Monkeys.  Which sadly involves very few actual monkeys.  In many cases, the titles of the episodes have very little to do with the episodes themselves.  Like, they may as well be called The Case of the Braindead Bricklayer, but then be about smugglers and diamonds.  But the point is, they are all watchable, they are all classic and badass, and Season Three Volume Two comes out on December 2nd, from Paramount Home Entertainment.  And yes, they could easily have put the whole sxi-deisc season three onto one DVD set.

In Season Three, Volume One of Perry Mason, out August 19th from Paramount Home Entertainment, Raymond Burr seems to really be hitting his stride. The 50th Anniversary Collection of Perry Mason came out a few months ago, a series of the “greatest episodes” of the series. And it was certainly a star-studded DVD collection - Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, and Bette Davis all make guest appearances. All of those episodes are good, but they are classic more because of the guest stars than because of the actual episodes themselves. For great Perry Mason episodes, look no further than this new DVD set.

Oh sure, there are standard TV-lawyer-drama set-ups in Season Three of Perry Mason. Like the case where Mason has to defend Paul Drake, his right-hand man. And the episodes that involve Mason defending models and beauty pageant winners. (”Beauty pageant” seems so quaint, doesn’t it? This WAS the 1950s, after all. Nowadays these clients would be high-class hookers and porn stars.) The one problem I have with this set is that it is only three discs. Assuming the second half of this season is of a similar length, then the entire third season of Perry Mason would be six discs. Why not put all six together? On one DVD set? I guess it’s just a money thing. But I want to watch more Perry Mason now!

Matlock was a series that began in 1986. At that time, it’s audience was, as is my understanding, comprised entirely of people over the age of 70. I know this because I watch the Simpsons - Maaatloooock! The first season of the show replaced another cautionary tale of 80s television, The A-Team, on ABC on Friday nights. That first season saw it’s release on DVD today, courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment. Now, I don’t want to question Paramount’s judgement - they have been good to me. But exactly who do they think might be buying this? The people who watched the show in Season One are now, at least, 92 years old. Which means that half of them are dead, and the other half are old-timers who are resistant to new technologies, and who don’t own a DVD player.

I have a lawyer. He is fairly competent, I think. He knows his way around the law, and he is doing some fine work for me right now. And if I ever get arrested for that murder I never committed, I would likely hire him to save me. However, while I’m certain he would be able to defend me on legal grounds, I doubt he would have the ability to investigate and solve the crime all by himself. For that, I would rely on the police. Matlock, on the other hand, can do it all. Amazingly, in every episode of Matlock over the course of the show’s nine years and 195 episodes, Matlock was never asked to defend someone who had actually committed a crime. This is the kind of luck that befell Jessica Fletcher only in reverse, on that other much-loved-by-octogenarians show, Murder She Wrote. Matlock was anchored by Andy Griffith, who plays Ben Matlock as some kind of cross between Columbo and Perry Mason. Both of which were superior shows to Matlock.

Which brings me to another DVD set released today. The 50th Anniversary edition of Perry Mason, a show anchored by Raymond Burr. I like Andy Griffith, and I like Raymond Burr, but what made Perry Mason better than Matlock was, for the most part, the fact that Perry Mason showed up late in the episodes. The beginning of the episode would deal with the crime itself, and the various people who could possibly have committed that crime, and then halfway through, Perry Mason would somehow become involved and solve the case. The 50th Anniversary edition is four discs, full of some great episodes and even better guest stars. A very young James Coburn, a very young Robert Redford, an aging Bette Davis, and many others. Can you imagine Matlock with Julia Roberts and Robert DeNiro as guest stars? No? That’s why Perry Mason was better.