Amazon slashes jobs at its streaming unit, THR says

Amazon.com is cutting hundreds of jobs at its streaming operation, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Amazon purchased Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, James Bond’s home studio, in 2021.

At the time, the Amazon purchase was seen as financial stability for Bond.

Now? We’ll see. Here’s an excerpt from the THR story.

Mike Hopkins, the executive who leads the division, announced the reduction in an email Wednesday morning, writing that “several hundred roles” would be eliminated.

“Our industry continues to evolve quickly and it’s important that we prioritize our investments for the long-term success of our business, while relentlessly focusing on what we know matters most to our customers,” he wrote. “Throughout the past year, we’ve looked at nearly every aspect of our business with an eye towards improving our ability to deliver even more breakthrough movies, TV shows, and live sports in a personalized, easy to use entertainment experience for our global customers. As a result, we’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact.”

From 1981 (when MGM bought United Artists, the studio that first brought Bond films to theaters) through 2021 (when Amazon bought MGM), Bond films were a big mess financially.

The Amazon deal was supposed to make things more stable.

Today? We’ll see.

Forgotten TV: The New Perry Mason

Monte Markham in the title role of The New Perry Mason

Perry Mason, the lawyer created by Erle Stanley Gardner, has been adapted many times. The most popular version was the 1957-66 television series that aired on CBS and starred Raymond Burr as Mason.

After that show ended, CBS yearned for something that had a similar appeal. Finally, in the fall of 1973, CBS commissioned The New Perry Mason.

Actor Monte Markham inherited the role that made Raymond Burr famous. Other key characters were recast including district attorney Hamilton Burger (Harry Guardino), Della Street (Sharon Acker), private investigator Paul Drake (Albert Stratton) and Lt. Arthur Tragg (Dane Clark).

However, behind the camera, there were veterans of the Burr series. The producers were Ernie Frankel and Art Seid while Orville H. Hampton was story editor. Gail Patrick (formerly Gail Patrick Jackson), executive producer of the Burr show, had an executive consultant credit.

One major change: The 1957-66 show was an in-house production of CBS. The new show was made at 20th Century-Fox. The new series would not use Fred Steiner’s classic theme music. Instead, Earle Hagen provided the music, including a new theme.

Things didn’t work out. According to IMDB.COM, The New Perry Mason only ran 15 episodes.

In 1985, Perry Mason was revived yet again with the made-for-TV movie Perry Mason Returns. Raymond Burr was back after Della Street (Barbara Hale) was framed for murder. Perry, who had become a judge, resigns to defend Della. The TV movie aired on NBC and led to a series of other Perry Mason TV movies that lasted into 1993. This time, the classic Fred Steiner theme was included.

Trivia: Actor Richard Anderson was in the 1957-66 show during the final season as Lt. Steve Drumm. He appeared in The New Perry Mason as one of Perry’s clients. And he was in Perry Mason Returns.

A number of episodes of The New Perry Mason have turned up on YouTube. Here’s one: