Saturday, November 29, 2008
Blog DVD Review: Perry Mason - The Third Season, Volume 2 (12/2)
Perry Mason: The Third Season, Volume 2 (CBS DVD, $49.99) presents the final 14 episodes of the third season of the classic courtroom drama on a four-disc DVD set. Mason is the attorney that everybody defendant calls upon when they are innocent, but find that proving their innocence will be virtually impossible. But nothing is too difficult for Mason, and he can take on (and win) even the toughest cases, particularly those accused of murder and theft. Can he win them all? When you know the law like Perry Mason does, you most certainly can!
Virtually all of the episodes (all but one) in this set are about murder cases, as this was a common crime that was frequently part of the series. In "The Case of the Prudent Prosecutor," Hamilton Burger's friend is accused of murder, so who will take the case? Mason, of course! In "The Case of the Gallant Grafter," a man is accused of embezzling money from his company, but that isn't his only problem when his accountant turns up dead. A novelist may have been a murderer in "The Case of the Mythical Monkeys," but her assistant is the one that is on trial. A cigarette girl is threatened by gamblers in "The Case of the Singing Skirt," but where will she go when she is accused of murdering the wife of one of the gamblers that she loves? In "The Case of the Madcap Modiste," a dress designer makes a fool of her husband on national TV, but when she is suddenly poisoned, who will defend the fool that is accused of poisoning her? In "The Case of the Ominous Outcast," a man shows up in a small town and looks exactly like a bank robber--and goes down for his appearance Who will defend him?
The packaging is the standard CBS DVD packaging that we have all become accustomed to by now, with a standard DVD case. Inside the case, you'll find the four discs, each of which has no artwork other than the series logo on a gray background. Episode titles, descriptions, and airdates can be found inside the case. The menus on the set are very basic, with the main menu presenting just a list of all of the episodes and a Play All option.
As has been the case with all of these Perry Mason sets, the video and audio quality seem to be impressive, particularly considering the age of the series. There are minor issues here and there, but generally speaking, we have a crystal clear picture and loud and clear audio. It is always great to see that this is done right. Closed-captioning can be found on all of the episodes for those that need it. Also, just as in Season 3, Volume 1, some of the sponsorship logos are left intact on the closing credits, which is very nice to see. These can be found on roughly half of the episodes. There is one MINOR area of concern about this set, though. This set has finally succumbed to having the standard CBS DVD disclaimer about episodes potentially being edited and having changed music. The good news, though, is that I couldn't find any obvious edits or changes, but the bad news is that saying that doesn't necessarily mean much, as I have no clue what every single line of dialog should be or what music should be in each episode. I would imagine that edits, if any, could not be too severe, as these older series very rarely made use of copyrighted materials. On the bright side, each episode comes in at either 51:20 or 52:40 (usually 52:40 for the ones that contain the sponsorship logos in the closing credits).
Unfortunately, special features are once again not to be found on this set. For a series this popular, you would think that they would load the set with special features, but that wasn't meant to be. Of course, fans can always turn to the 50th Anniversary collection for some nice bonus features.
All in all, it can be said that this is a great set of episodes, although if CBS DVD insists on continuing to do half seasons of the series, they really need to beef up on special features! These sets carry a hefty price tag, and at MSRP, it would cost fans at least $900 to own every single release of the series, assuming each one is released as a half season. The worst part is that a lot of this money is probably padding the pockets of the DVD producers, as I would imagine that there aren't quite as many people making money off of this series as there are many other series. Fans of Perry Mason, or even fans of any courtroom drama, are certain to love and appreciate these episodes. They'll definitely want to add this DVD to their collection.
-- Reviewed by skees53
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Wednesday, November 29
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 27)
Wednesday, November 29
- Eddie Murphy (The PJs) - Watch Eddie on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Bradley Cooper (Kitchen Confidential) - Bradley appears on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- John Pinette (Parker Lewis Can't Lose) - John (RIP) is a guest on a repeat of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
- Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/American Dad!/The Cleveland Show) and Liz Gillies (Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll/Victorious) - NBC's Today has Seth and Liz for the Citi Music Series in sometime between 7-9am and in the 9am hour.
- Dennis Quaid (Merry Happy Whatever) - Dennis chats and performs on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Jennifer Garner (Party Down) - Jennifer chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Kerry Washington (UnPrisoned) - Kerry is joining Drew to talk about her memoir Thicker Than Water: A Memoir, which covers navigating writing about her family, meeting her husband while working on a play and more on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Sebastian Maniscalco (Bookie) - Sebastian arrives to speak about his new comedy series Bookie on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Melissa McCarthy (God's Favorite Idiot/Nobodies/Mike & Molly/Samantha Who?) - Melissa speaks about her new Christmas film Genie on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
- Alfonso Ribeiro (In the House/The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air/Silver Spoons) - Alfonso appears on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (September-December)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
11/07 - South Park - The Complete Twenty-Sixth Season (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/14 - Leave it to Beaver - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
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