Perry Mason (50th Anniversary Edition)

The Case of the Stupid Studio
As a devoted "Perry Mason" fan for nearly four decades, I think this product is a step too far in abusing the legions of people who have been waiting to see some decent treatment by Viacom:

*There was the "Collector's Series", which went through various permutations of two or three episodes on a disc, not in chronological order, and with extras that were occasionally amusing, but uniformly weak. They never finished releasing the entire series;

*Then came the promising season-by-half-season-box-set discs; a bit pricey for something with no extras at all, but at least we were starting to get all of the episodes, in order. But the rate of release has been dreadfully slow. (Hey, Viacoma: it's not like you're waiting for extras to be produced, what's taking so bloody long?);

Now this "50th Anniversary" edition. Guess what, guys? The 50th Anniversary was LAST YEAR. You missed it. And what are we supposed to pay for? Episodes that we'll be paying for...

Episodes and Features of the Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition
The two co-producers on this DVD set are Jim Davidson and award-winning DVD Producer Paul Brownstein ("The Twilight Zone", "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "Get Smart" DVD sets). Jim Davidson was the founder (and past president) of the National Association for the Advancement of Perry Mason, and currently runs the Classic TV info website.

We fans of Raymond Burr's "Perry Mason" will definitely enjoy all of the delightful extras. Most of this DVD set's episodes were obviously chosen for the current popular name recognition of the actors. The "Perry Mason" series had many wonderful actors throughout its 9 year run, and we will, unfortunately, have to wait for their appearances as the season sets are released.

Even with all of its negatives, we can expect this DVD set to be "first class" with such great producers at the helm!

The word is that this is The Complete List of Episodes and Extras for the "Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition" DVD:...

Mason for the Defense
Your honor, I do object to the harsh treatment this DVD has gotten before its released. I have viewed this evidence and found it able to stand on its own merits.

A little back history on my relationship with the defendant Perry Mason. In the early 1970's, when Ironside was still on prime time television, I was a Perry Mason addict. It was on at five pm, so it was after school viewing. Raymond Burr was as much Perry Mason as he was Ironside. Each may have been different character, but this series like Ironside was memorible.

Now to the evidence....In this DVD tribute, you have 12 episodes and a TV movie (Perry Mason Returns) of this classic legal drama. This tribute is guest star ladden set (with such actors as Robert Redford, Bette Davis, Leonard Nimoy, Burt Retnold, James Colburn,etc) and also has a few rare episodes (the only color episode, the last show of the series). If these dozen episodes are edited at all from their original format , you can not tell...

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