The last time Robert Downey Jr. was on television, babies were dancing naked and Ally McBeal was possibly responsible for the death of feminism. Ah, the early 2000s.
Downey is now in talks to revive his long-gestating “Perry Mason” project as a television series at HBO with “True Detective” director Nic Pizzolatto, Variety exclusively reports.
Since a new season of “True Detective” is on the back burner, Pizzolatto is in prime position to update the legal series, which originally ran from 1957 to 1966 on CBS, for modern audiences.
The “Iron Man” actor has reportedly attempted to shepherd “Perry Mason” to the screen several times in the past, most recently as a feature film with Warner Brothers in 2011. But after his self-produced legal vehicle, “The Judge,” opened to a tepid critical and commercial response, Team Downey decided the concept might be more successful as a television series.
Here’s hoping a Pizzolatto and Downey collaboration will bear sweeter fruit than the underwhelming second season of “True Detective,” and that aerial shots of California’s highways will be used sparingly.