The Rap Sheet clued me into the recently "rediscovered," rejected theme for the 1983 Bond movie NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN sung by Phyllis Hymann and composed by Stephen Forsyth. To be honest, I don’t think it’s any better than the bland Lani Hall/Michel Legrand tune (performed in the video below) that the producers ended up using… but you can decide for yourself.
Film and Television
The Verdict is In
There’s no question about it. Paul Brownstein is the best producer of DVD boxed sets in the industry and he’s proved it once again with PERRY MASON: THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION, which includes twelve episodes (featuring future stars like Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford, James Coburn, and Burt Reynolds) and is loaded with special features that, on their own, are well worth the purchase price. The extras include the original audition/screen tests for Hamilton Burger and Perry Mason, two Charlie Rose interviews with Raymond Burr, and a late 1950s episode of "Person to Person" in which Burr gives viewers a tour of his L.A. home. As if that wasn’t enough, they’ve also got interviews, featurettes, and the "Perry Mason Returns" TV movie. I wish they’d included an episode of THE NEW PERRY MASON, starring Monte Markham, for the hell of it. If you you’re a TV geek like me, you’re going to love this boxed set. I also strongly recommend Brownstein’s amazing GUNSMOKE, DICK VAN DYKE SHOW and WILD WILD WEST sets.
STINGRAY: THE COMPLETE SERIES, the Steve Cannell series that starred Nick Mancuso, arrived in
my mailbox today from Amazon in Canada, which sells it for half as much as Amazon stateside ($22 vs $44!). It’s a quirky series that I loved when it aired and that is probably not as good as I remember it, but I’ll let you know.
Old is New Again
I am a bit bewildered by the surge in remakes and spin-offs of old TV shows in development. First, there was NBC’s KNIGHT RIDER pilot/Ford commercial last month. Now comes news that the CW is developing a BEVERLY HILLS 90210 remake, ABC is reviving the short-lived series CUPID from a decade ago, SciFi is crafting a BATTLESTAR GALACTICA prequel series called CAPRICA, and producer Bill MacDonald, actor Roger Moore (as a producer) and director Barry Levinson are independently financing a pilot based on THE SAINT and shopping it around themselves. Meanwhile, movie versions of GET SMART , SPEED RACER, and SEX AND THE CITY are on tap for this summer and director John Singleton’s A-TEAM is coming in June 2009. What is spurring this renewed interest in old TV? It’s not like the last wave of TV remakes did so hot (MIAMI VICE, BIONIC WOMAN, I SPY, etc.).
(In a related note, based on the success of THE OFFICE and UGLY BETTY, the networks are also on an over-seas shopping spree, developing U.S. versions of the UK series SPACED, LIFE ON MARS, and THE ELEVENTH HOUR, as well as formats from Australia).