Well, to be fair, Mason wasn't trying to have a relationship with the TV
series. I don't know why we needed an origin story for him, but I'd imagine
that the name recognition with the current audience is minimal at best, so why
not reboot everything? (Even that ignores the question of, if the IP is that
poorly known, why do it in the first place?)
I'd imagine that, if we see a second season, it'll adhere more closely to
Gardner's formula, with some of the twists introduced in this version. The
client introduced at the end is something of an indication of that.
As I've said, I hated it until -that- death, then thought it took off like a
rocket.
As for WW, anyone who's seen my posts on FB is aware of how useless and
needless I thought it was. If, indeed, it's a set-up for the mid-credits scene,
it's typical of Warners/DC to take the better part of 150 minutes to arrive at
such a feeble payoff. Even given my contempt for you-know-who as the Cheetah,
while she didn't even try to devise a character outside the lines of her SNL
skits, I don't think Barbara Stanwyck could have done anything with that
script. Not having watched GoT, I had no idea who Pascal was, and consider
myself lucky, if that's an indication of his dubious talents. (Of course, other
than Rigg and Dinklage, I've yet to see anyone who was on that show who's been
even competent in anything else.) I guess I did see him in The Mandalorian, but
it's probably for the best he was masked in that one.
The one good thing I can say for WW is that it was better than First Cow, but
that's a microscopically-low bar.
--Dave Sikula
On Tuesday, December 29, 2020, 9:11:42 PM PST, Kevin M.
<[email protected]> wrote:
I only last week learned we have been paying for the HBO app, so this week I
watched WW84* and started their Perry Mason. It’s a decent enough story so far,
but there is zero relationship between it and the Perry Mason TV series of old.
Also, every ethnic and cultural stereotype seems to be used to such an extent
I’m surprised some progressive media watchdog didn’t lodge a complaint.
*the entire WW84 movie was a long setup for the scene that plays midway through
the closing credits
On Wed, Jul 29, 2020 at 9:05 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote:
I have just caught up on Mason over the last 5 days. There is a lot I like
about it (unlike Dave I really like Rhys, and don’t care about keeping American
actors employed). There is the obvious problem - that there is no reason to
call this Perry Mason. Okay, it’s an origin story, but I would have found it
more convincing if he had been bitten by a radioactive lawyer and transformed
into an attorney.
My main disappointment is that, unlike most golden age TV drama, the dialogue
is particularly undistinguished. This is not The one of Chase, or Milch, or
Simon, or Sorkin, or Weiner, or Gilligan, or Yost. This is particularly
disappointing because there may be no genre better suited to snappy, memorable
dialogue than noir, so what gives?
I suppose if this series runs ten seasons like the Burr version, and for the
last 9 Perry is a stalwart member of the SoCal legal community, sober and
serious but taking the side of the wrongly accused in between cashing fat
checks from corporate clients, we will be closer to a reimagined Perry Mason
than the mostly unrecognizable confection we have been given so far, and I
guess the time period is consistent with the early novels. But even if, I am
not yet persuaded that the origin story part of this is worth it, or adds that
much to the character. He used to be cynical, slovenly, corner cutting and
suffering from WWI PTSD, now he is caring, meticulous, successful and straight.
I think they could have communicated that in half of one episode, not an entire
season.
Or, put it this way: either the backstory is important to the HBO Mason, and
then it has little in common with the original TV or novel Mason, or it winds
up not being important, and then it is not necessary.
On Thu, Jul 23, 2020 at 5:37 AM Mark Jeffries <[email protected]> wrote:
Meanwhile, HBO has renewed "Perry Mason: The Skinny Years" for a second season:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/perry-mason-renewed-season-2-at-hbo-1303980
On Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 1:06 AM 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV
<[email protected]> wrote:
I must say that, despite my apparently being the only person who doesn't think
Tatiana Maslany is all that or even that good (her vocal technique is
non-existent, among other flaws), this week's episode was the first really good
one. It was coherent, interesting, and had an ending I didn't see coming at all.
--Dave Sikula
On Wednesday, July 22, 2020 at 9:24:43 PM UTC-7, Steve Timko wrote:
An unscientific survey of people on my Facebook timeline shows they declare it
a hit.The most common comment is that it compares to "Carnavale." I have not
seen that show so I can't comment.One Facebook friend said it compares to "The
Wire" and "The Sopranos." Seems unlikely, but it is being praised.
On Mon, Jun 1, 2020 at 7:26 PM Jon Delfin <[email protected]> wrote:
On Mon, Jun 1, 2020, 8:49 PM 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV
<[email protected]> wrote:
Based on the profile of Rhys in Sunday's NY Times, it looks like it's an origin
story:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/arts/television/matthew-rhys-perry-mason.html?searchResultPosition=1
I fully expect that in the final episode, Mason will be sitting in a dark
study, opining that criminals are a cowardly, superstitious lot just before
Professor Kingsfield flies through the window.
Which reminds me (and almost certainly only me) of a comics trivia special that
aired in the '60s. One of the questions showed that panel, and the celebs had
to guess what the blanked-out dialogue box said. Jack Douglas's answer: "Oh
boy, now I can go to the orphans' picnic!"
I recall very little of my childhood, but somehow, that stuck.
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