Perry Mason: The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host (1993) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Christian I. Nyby II

Writers (WGA):

Joyce Burditt (teleplay)
Dean Hargrove (story) ...

Release Date:

21 May 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Dr Sheila Carlin is good friends with Della who calls Perry in when she is being pestered by someone...

Plot Keywords:

Courtroom | Sequel | Detective | Perry Mason | Character Name In Title

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street
William R. Moses	...	Ken Malansky
Regis Philbin	...	Winslow Keene
Fritz Coleman	...	Fritz Moore
Cristina Ferrare	...	Judith Jansen
G. Gordon Liddy	...	Clark Hunter
Fred Roggin	...	Fred Fisher
Montel Williams	...	Boomer Kelly
Alan Blumenfeld	...	Russell Farnsworth
Eugene Butler	...	Paul Turner
Betsy Jones-Moreland	...	Judge Elinor Harrelson
Rick Lenz	...	Nick Scanlon
Charles Macaulay	...	Dist. Atty. Markham
James McEachin	...	Lt Ed Brock

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Denver, Colorado, USA

Company:

Dean Hargrove Productions

Trivia:

"Fred Fisher" and "Fritz" are real-life newscasters on the NBC affiliate in Los Angeles. Fred Roggin is an Emmy-award winning sportscaster and Fritz Coleman is a long-time weatherman and comedian who has had several one-man shows in the LA area.

Movie Connections:

Follows Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake (1988) (TV)

When Talk Turns Into Action

Raymond Burr and the team are called in to defend Mariette Hartley, a friend of Barbara Hale's who is a psychologist with call in talk show on a talk radio station run by Regis Philbin. When Philbin is shot to death, Hartley is arrested for his murder.

One big problem with Perry Mason: The Case Of The Telltale Talk Show Host is the casting of Regis Philbin as the victim. Of course as they go in Perry Mason movies there are loads of alternative suspects. Philbin was going to revamp his whole station format and that got all of his stars very upset. Now Regis is a great host of a talk show himself, but as a no good slime bag of a station owner, well let's face it, the man is not an actor.

In this episode we see who murders Philbin, it's a contract killing and Hartley is rather elaborately framed for the crime. The hit-man however can't get to his money right away and as it turns out he's one unstable fellow. I would think you would need better nerves for that line of work. Anyway his instability gives away the individual who hires him. In fact the very elaborateness of the crime should give you some idea of the murderer if you look down the cast list.

Still it's a good entry in the Mason series, but I really would not have cast someone with that big a reputation as a nice guy as the mean victim, especially not someone who couldn't be mean on screen if he tried.