Saturday, August 23, 2008
Mini-DVD Review: Perry Mason Season 3, Volume 1
Perry Mason: The Third Season, Volume 1 (CBS DVD, $49.99) brings order back to the courtroom with the first 12 episodes of the 3rd season of the courtroom drama of the 50s. The three-disc set contains even more of the attorney defending the most impossible of cases, with the defendant knowing that the judge is going to lower the boom on them and find them guilty as charged, except by some miracle, Perry finds that despite all evidence supporting the other side, his client is always innocent and he is able to prove that in a court of law.
There are many great episodes in this set, beginning with the first one, "The Case of the Spurious Sister," where a man's wife turns up dead after she tells him she is going to divorce him. So where do all fingers get pointed? A jeweler turns up dead after accusing a young woman of theft in "The Case of the Blushing Pearls." Perry has to defend, of all people, Paul Drake, in "The Case of Paul Drake's Dilemma." In "The Case of the Golden Fraud," a golden coin in a parking meter may play a part in one of Perry's cases. In "The Case of the Artful Dodger," a man is about to inherit a large sum of money, except a bunch of people turn up dead that he just so happens to be avoiding. Perry can't get a break from his cases, not even while on a hunting trip, as shown in "The Case of the Violent Village."
The video and audio quality on the episodes is, as usual, excellent. This has never been an issue on these sets, and isn't this time either. Closed-captioning can also be found on all of the episodes. A nice little feature, though probably unintentional, is the fact that many episodes have their original sponsorships on the closing credits, from Colgate. And CBS DVD has actually left the original CBS logo intact this time, although the CBS Television Distribution logo plays immediately after it. But there is bad news about the case. Unlike the previous sets that included the double slimcases, we now have the standard Amaray style case that CBS DVD seems to use for everything. It is simple packaging, but just seems so cheap to be using, particularly on a show as expensive as this one is on DVD.
Unfortunately, as has been the case with the previous sets, there are no special features, which is outright disappointing. Apparently they were able to find some nice special features for the 50th Anniversary release, so why couldn't they come up with more for the season sets? Commentaries, interviews, and other special features would have been nice. I find it ridiculous that CBS DVD continues to release this in half season sets. Although the first season had many episodes, there aren't as many in these later seasons, and it would be more practical to put them out as full season releases. Instead, CBS DVD chooses to continue releasing half seasons and putting full season prices on the sets. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the quality of the episodes on the set, but is the set really worth as much as fans are paying to buy the series on DVD? Not really. But don't be fooled—this is a great show that fans of classic TV and courtroom drama are sure to enjoy.
-- Reviewed by skees53
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Wednesday, March 26
The Conners - "It's Gonna Be a Great Day" (ABC, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Darlene celebrates her promotion, hoping it will allow her to spend more time with Ben. Meanwhile, Jackie stumbles upon an opportunity to sue the pharmaceutical company responsible for Roseanne’s addiction, which sparks a family debate.
Abbott Elementary - "Music Class" (ABC, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Barbara and Gregory are in over their heads when they find themselves in new roles at Abbott Elementary.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 24)
Wednesday, March 26
- Seth Rogen (The Studio/Platonic/Undeclared) - Watch Seth on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Kaitlin Olson (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/The Mick) - Kaitlin appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Milana Vayntrub (Other Space) - Anna and Milana are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Ronny Chieng (Young Rock/Ronny Chieng: International Student) - Ronny hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Steve Coogan (Happyish) - Steve appears on Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- Lunell (Lopez), Pete Davidson (Bupkis) and Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Luenell, Pete and Henry are guests on Everybody's Live with John Mulaney at 10pm on Netflix.
- Michelle Buteau (Survival of the Thickest/Bless the Harts/Enlisted) - Michelle talks about Survival of the Thickest on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Krysten Ritter (Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23) - Tamron Hall has a DAYTIME EXCLUSIVE sitdown with actress/director/author Krysten Ritter who recently released her new thriller/mystery novel Retreat, so check your local listings.
- Chase Sui Wonders (The Studio/Bupkis) - Chase talks about The Studio on ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis at 7pm.
- Kathryn Hahn (The Studio/Tiny Beautiful Things/Central Park/Happyish/Transparent/Free Agents) - NBC's Today catches up with Kathryn in the 9am hour.
- Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva talks about Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
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