Ryko will be releasing Ceremony, A Savage Place, The Judas Goat and Pale Kings & Princes individually on DVD. Each will have a SRP of $14.95
These four made-for-television films were previously released, on DVD, as a set.
Here are the details and dates:
June 26th:
Ceremony (1993): Spenser (Robert Urich) is convinced by lady-shrink girlfriend Susan Silverman (Barbara Williams) to take the case of a wealthy politician whose 16-year-old daughter has disappeared into Boston’s sleazy underworld.
Pale Kings & Princes (1994): Spenser (Robert Urich) and Susan Silverman (Barbara Williams) investigate a small New England town where the local cops keep deadly secrets, a Columbian drug lord keeps things snowy and the most unwelcome strangers of all are a wise cracking sleuth and his lady shrink lover.
July 7th:
The Judas Goat (1994): Spenser is hired out of town but may be out of his league when a terrorist group with a taste for car bombs targets a controversial African leader.
A Savage Place (1995): When a TV news cameraman is murdered, Spenser takes on the dangerous case of an old girlfriend and a movie studio that may be shooting more than film.
Gerald So offers some comments regarding these films:
Though shot in Canada as opposed to Boston and missing the SPENSER: FOR HIRE theme, in terms of character feel and dialog, I thought these Lifetime movies (especially the first two) were closer to the book Spenser than SPENSER: FOR HIRE was–about as Robert Urich could get.
Interestingly Robert and Joan Parker are credited as screenwriters on the movies, but when the A&E Spenser movies (Joe Mantegna is Spenser?!) came out, Parker claimed neither he nor Joan recognized a word of the Lifetime scripts.
I’d recommend these movies to Robert Urich fans and Spenser completists. Otherwise, they are skippable.
Personally, I thought Mantegna did a decent job as Spenser. I admit he did not have the build I envision Spenser as having, but he did a good job with the role.
I liked the grit Mantegna brought to the role, but it took a lot of imagination to believe he was an Irish ex-boxer. I *almost* pulled it off.
Yeah, Joe had the acting and stylistic chops for the role, but the physical side was a little lacking.