The Case of the Wicked Wives, A Perry Mason Mystery (1993)/The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle, A Perry Mason Mystery (1994)
Director: Christian I. Nyby II
Writer: Joyce Burditt based on the characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner
A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Wicked Wives December 17, 1993
Starring Paul Sorvino as Anthony Caruso
Cast: Shelley Hack, Kathy Ireland, Maud Adams, Beverly Johnson, Kim Alexis, Paula Marshall
Anthony Caruso, an old friend of Perry Mason, comes to Denver on the request of Dee Morrison. She's married to famed photographer David Morrison, who wants to shoot a photo featuring his former models. The tricky thing is that all of his former models are also his former wives. But Dee knows Anthony can convince them to do it which he does. And David shoots them. Later Dee catches David it what appears to be in an inappropriate situation with his assistant. They have an argument and she leaves. Later David is found dead and she's arrested and Anthony defends her. And he suspects it could have been one of the wives.Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com
Note: This episode was the first of the last four episodes after Raymond Burr's death. The Case of the Killer Kiss, the last Perry Mason TV movie for Mr. Burr, was shown after his death(he died in September 12, 1993) on November 29, 1993. This one was shown in December 17, 1993. Perry was supposed to be in Washington or Washington D.C. It features his friend, Anthony Caruso, a hot shot lawyer.
The style of Perry Mason's whodunnits, at least on TV, is that the defendant is always not guilty, but you would have to guess who is. Being the first episode without RAYMOND BURR, it was not received well, even if Anthony Caruso was played by a versatile actor, PAUL SORVINO.
KATHY IRELAND plays the patsy here named Dee Morrison. She is the beautiful fifth wife of the famous photographer David Morrison(ERIC BRAEDEN).
The other four wives are played by:
1. The Cheryl Ladd lookalike SHELLY HACK as Abby Walters Morrison;
2. MAUD ADAMS as Shelly Talbot Morrison;
3. KIM ALEXIS as Nina Morgan Morrison and
4. BEVERLY JOHNSON as Jane Marlowe Morrison.
Ken Malansky(WILLIAM R. MOSES) and Della Street(BARBARA HALE) help Anthony Caruso solve the mystery.
A couple of the other guest stars are:
PAULA MARSHALL as Margo/Debra and LEON RIPPY as JD
with recurring guest
JAMES MCEACHIN as Lt. Brock
Did I like it? Well, I didn't hate it. I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Debra and Ken, plus JD. I also loved Paul Sorvino's singing. It wasn't the same without Perry Mason there, but I'm glad I gave this episode a chance. Like the one below this, I wished this was a spinoff instead.
From imdb
Bill McKenzie is a retired lawyer who prefers to spend time working on his ranch. But he occasionally takes on a case wherein the defendant is wrongfully convicted or falsely accused, and he's a friend of Perry Mason. Mason asks him to fill in for him at some thing wherein he is suppose to give a speech. At the thing are some important people including a chess master whom McKenzie knows. Also, there is a sleazy interviewer who is forcing the chess player to be on his show when he refused, and when the interviewer is found dead, the chess player is arrested, and McKenzie defends him. Della Street and Ken Malansky offer their assistance, and McKenzie tries to find out who had motive to kill the man.
Asthma attacks are not things I take for granted or lightly. This episode uses a person's illness and uses it against him...to frame him of murder. I couldn't help get angry with the two masterminds and their hired killer. Unfortunately, this is true, even today.
Not because an allergy doesn't manifest immediately does not mean the person who has that allergy is just pulling your leg. Argh! Well, I am talking about restaurants and people who serve food at parties who try to trick you by telling you they did not include those ingredients in the food they serve.
In this Perry Mason Mystery, the victim had it coming, but nobody had the right to take his life, no matter how lecherous he is.
The real victim here is David Kingman(JAMES STEPHENS) because someone testified that he was the ONLY person who entered the room during the time frame. It is one thing just to be there at the wrong place and at the wrong time, but for someone to premeditate something and frame you for it...
Not only was he the only one, except for Adrian Lye(ROBIN LEACH), not watching the fireworks, but it seemed like the mastermind knew everything about him...that he was troubled enough not to watch the fireworks, because he was the one most affected. Either that or the mastermind and the co-conspirators studied all the guests and would kill Adrian Lye using whatever would connect anyone there.
Ken Malansky, of course, has a lot of adventures here. I really understand why they chose WILLIAM R. MOSES to play him. It's for a wider audience, especially of the female kind. Here, he has some pretty exciting scenes with Laurel Crown(MOLLY HAGAN) and some fight scenes with the hitman.
"Wild Bill" McKenzie(HAL HOLBROOK) is a good friend of David Kingman. He was at the right place and at the right time to help an old chum get out of this mess he's involved with.
Besides Kingman, the other possible killers or masterminds are Louise Archer(DIXIE CARTER), Lydia Bishop(DIAHANN CARROLL), Duke Albert(TRISTAN ROGERS), and a famous director.
It was never the same without Raymond Burr. I know it was his wish that the series would go on, but of course, the viewers weren't so keen about it.
They could have just done a spinoff with Ken Malansky as the star detective lawyer instead of making Perry seem to be somewhere else.
Lesser people watched the final four episodes. It's a pity because I really enjoyed this episode.
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