SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

TV Alert!; Mini-DVD Review: Perry Mason S2, Part 2 (Nov. 13); Solomon's Weekly Rant: Why No Jay in 2009?; Morning SportsCenter So Special?

It is Saturday, so that must mean it is time for mini-DVD reviews and Solomon's Weekly Rant! But first we have a TV alert for this weekend that is worth breaking in for from our regular Saturday blog programming!

Starting this weekend, Entertainment Tonight Weekend will count down its top 20 TV stars of all time, accompanied by material from 27 years of interviews and other footage.
The list includes Don Knotts, Andy Griffith, Johnny Carson, Michael J. Fox, Carol Burnett, Annette Funiccello, Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett and John Ritter. The No. 1 star will be revealed by Donny Osmond on Nov. 10.
Tune in the weekend of Nov 3 and Nov. 10 on ET Weekend! Check www.etonline.com for weekend show times in your area. In NYC? This weekend it will air Sunday at 3PM and Monday morning at 2:35am on WCBS and next weekend Saturday at 7pm and Monday morning at 2:35am. Check for your area's listings on their website or TV listings sites, such as TitanTV.com. Discuss the special with other fans HERE.
Now back to our regularly scheduled Saturday blog programming.
Today we take a look at CBS DVD's Perry Mason: The Second Season, Volume 2. Perry Mason of course is the very popular law series. The series stars the great Raymond Burr. See skees53's mini-DVD review of Perry Mason: The Second Season, Volume 2:

Perry Mason: The Second Season, Volume 2 (CBS DVD, $39.98) brings Perry Mason back to defend those that don't have a chance in court... yet they win anyway because Perry is just that amazing! Volume 2 brings the second half of the second season (15 episodes) together in a four-disc DVD set. This means Perry has 15 new cases that he has to do the impossible with--prove that his client that everybody thinks is guilty is actually innocent. Fortunately, he is pretty much always up against Hamilton Burger, a man that isn't quite as powerful as, say, Nancy Grace. We see Perry have to defend a woman that is accused of murdering the woman that was blackmailing her new husband in "The Case of the Romantic Rogue." It's all fun and games... until a comedian's friend is a accused of killing the advertising man that cut the comedian out of a lucrative deal in "The Case of the Jaded Joker." A woman is accused of killing her grandfather that she has never even met in "The Case of the Stuttering Bishop." In "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager," a woman makes promises to her kids in her will... which her granddaughter counts on when she gives IOUs to a poker parlor boss that suddenly turns up dead. We find out why kids and guns don't exactly mix in "The Case of the Deadly Toy." Bruises and an injured foot on a bird may help Perry solve a murder in "The Case of the Deadly Toy."
The four-disc set is presented in packaging that is very similar to all of the previous sets, and once again, CBS DVD has for some reason chosen to continue with the double slimcases on this set (a good choice in my opinion) as opposed to the regular cases that they have been using on many other sets lately. As has been the case with the previous sets, the video and audio quality of each episode is almost perfectly flawless, which is amazing for a series as old as this one. Of course, there is the occasional grain and such, but there is VERY little of that, and the quality is generally perfect. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital Mono (hopefully nobody seriously expected stereo) with closed-captioning available for those that require it for each episode. The episodes all appear to be unedited, running around 50 minutes each, and there isn't even a disclaimer stating that some episodes may be changed from their original versions as there is on some CBS DVD sets, although in all fairness, this show never used popular music in the first place. The set is very disappointing on the special features front (as in there are no special features at all), but then again, this isn't the first time this show has gone without special features. It doesn't help that many of the people that were involved with the show have passed on already (after all, the show is fifty years old), but certainly there are fans out there that can help. There has to be a reason that this show is a top seller on DVD! The verdict on this set: buy it now!
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)

To purchase this DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
Amazon.com

Related links:
SitcomsOnline.com Full DVD Reviews Page
Perry Mason TV.com Page


Solomon's Weekly Rant
Saturday, November 3, 2007
"Why No Jay in 2009?; Why Is The Morning SportsCenter So Special?"
By Solomon Davis

NBC president Jeff Zucker has confirmed this week that NBC is removing Jay Leno from The Tonight Show in 2009 to make room for unfunny man Conan O'Brien which will makes my blood boil because Jay has been the funniest man on late night TV since 1992. Also when Jay is making people laugh he is not jumping up and down like a fool, he is standing there in one spot delivering jokes which is how comedy is supposed to be done. But Conan O'Brien who is unable to make people laugh by standing in one spot has to jump up and down like a monkey and make crazy facial expressions every night for someone to laugh. I just want NBC to know that they are making the biggest mistake in the history of their network by getting rid of the "King of Late Night TV" from The Tonight Show just so everyone can watch Conan do his clown act an hour earlier. A new title of the show can be "Late Night Clown" since his act will still be the same when he takes over as the new host of The Tonight Show. I hope Jay is on late night TV in 2009, even if it is an hour later in Conan's slot?

ESPN's SportsCenter that comes on weekday mornings has a rundown of topics on the right side of the TV screen of all the sports stories that will be talked about during the entire show. But you don't see this rundown on the SportsCenter's that air at 6pm and 11pm. Why can't there be an outline of sports topics on all the SportsCenters since some people might not be interested in in the sports they are talking about on the main screen. Can't believe no one at ESPN has the thought process of making the rundown on all SportsCenter episodes. It doesn't make sense having it on just mornings and not the evenings and late night...what if I'm not a morning person or am at work in the mornings? If you have it one, you should have them on all of them, I say.

My Weird TV Moments of the Week:
Monday, October 29, 2007: On The View, at the start of the show the ladies noticed a fly on the table and all of them started running away from the table like it was a mouse or a rat. Ladies it wasn't that serious!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007: During the ESPN NBA telecast of Dallas Mavericks at Cleveland Cavaliers, for some reason play-by-play broadcaster Mike Tirico felt the need to bring up "Tony Kornheiser." Since Jimmy Kimmel got banned from the MNF booth for talking about him, should Tirico be banned now from NBA telecasts?

Agree or disagree with Solomon? Discuss it here.

DISCLAIMER: Remember, Solomon is not the voice of SitcomsOnline. He is just stating his opinions and does not reflect what SitcomsOnline says or thinks. It is just his 'View' but it is always quite entertaining.