Product Details

• Actors: Lee Horsley, Pamela Hensley
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 6
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Paramount
• DVD Release Date: March 9, 2010
• Run Time: 1171 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0030Y12AK
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #4,955 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Lee Horsely is rocking his '80s 'stache as Matlock Houston, a transplanted Texas oilman who solves murders in Los Angeles as an amateur private investigator. Horsely has Tom Selleck's rugged good looks and James Garner's down-home folksy appeal. As his beautiful Harvard-educated lawyer and lifelong platonic friend C.J. (Pamela Hensley) remarks, "He'll charm the socks off you." Producer Aaron Spelling's distinctive stylish escapist touch is all over Matt Houston. Like Amos Burke of Spelling's Burke's Law, the fabulously wealthy Houston can afford to indulge himself in his hobby, piloting his private helicopter or driving his Excalibur to the scenes of the crimes. And as with Law, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island, each episode is loaded with an eclectic roster of faded Hollywood greats, venerable character actors, and future stars. "The Purrfect Crime" boasts Playboy icon and Hee-Haw gal Barbie Benton, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Sonny Bono, and Werner "Colonel Klink" Klemperer. This being a Spelling production, that would also explain the appearance in "Fear for Tomorrow" of young Tori Spelling (billed as "Victoria"), who is endearingly god-awful. Matt Houston has the usual squealing car chases, gunfights, explosions, and cheesecake, but several episodes are refreshingly bizarre. "Here's Another Fine Mess" features Larry Harmon and Chuck McCann as villainous Laurel and Hardy impersonators, "Here's Joey" concerns a killer robot, and "Recipe for Murder" features Sid Caesar as a Russian restaurateur who is the prime suspect when his partner turns up dead in a Jell-O mold. Episodes have a comic B-story (in one, Houston avoids going to the dentist) and the ensemble serves up such colorful characters as LaMar Pettybone (Paul Brinegar, who was Wishbone on Rawhide), one of Houston's grizzled ranch hands; Murray Chase (George Wyner), Houston's excitable business manager; and Mama Novelli (Penny Santon), restaurant owner and the overbearing mother of Vince Novelli (John Aprea), Houston's best friend. That's another thing about Houston, C.J. informs us: he "doesn't like it when his friends get hurt." Most of these cases are personal as FOM either turn up dead or are accused of murder. Matt Houston is not groundbreaking television, but it's a decade-defining guilty pleasure. As C.J. suggestively states in the series' opening, chock-a-block with every '80s TV private eye cliché, "Better cock your pistols." --Donald Liebenson

Product Description

A fabulously wealthy Texan moves to California to oversee his family's offshore drilling enterprises but spends most of his time dabbling in his private investigator hobby. He is handsome, lives in a penthouse and flies his own helicopter to and from his investigations. Naturally, he is always surrounded by beautiful women!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Guilty Pleasure, January 6, 2010

By	A. Lane "Amazon Fan" (Tarpon Springs, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Matt Houston: The First Season (DVD)

I love this show and am beyond excited that it will be officially released by Paramount in March. Hopefully, it will sell reasonably well so they'll release the remaining two seasons. The story revolved around a very wealthy oil businessman from Texas who moves to California to become a private detective while still enjoying the fruits of his decadent lifestyle. Lee Horsley starred as Matt Houston along with co-star Pamela Hensley as his best friend and associate/lawyer, CJ Parsons. This show has everything that nostalgiac early 80s television is remembered for, which is a good thing. They don't make shows like this anymore. Can you picture the Hollywood of today creating a television show in which the hero/protagonist is a wealthy oilman from Texas?

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great 80's nostalgia., December 29, 2009

By	J. McDonald - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)

This review is from: Matt Houston: The First Season (DVD)

Finally on DVD!

Matt Houston arrived on ABC in September of 1982, and lasted for 69 episodes, ending it's run in March of 1985. Actor Lee Horsley, best known (at the time) for his portrayal of the comic book hero "Talon", in 1982's "The Sword and the Sorcerer", was an outstanding choice to play Matt Houston. Pamela Hensley, formerly "Princess Ardala" on TV's "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", was also a great choice for C.J. Parsons, Houston's associate.

Matt Houston was created and produced by Lawrence Gordon. If that name sounds familiar, that's because his name has been associated with such projects as Alien vs. Predator, 48 Hrs, The Warriors, Predator, Field of Dreams, Die Hard, Boogie Nights, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Hellboy, and Dillinger (1973), just to name a few.

The first season of Matt Houston showcased a nice selection of guest stars, including; Jill St. John, Heather Locklear, Cristina Ferrare, Britt Ekland, Janet Leigh, Sid Caesar, Tina Louise, david cassidy, George Takei, Sonny Bono, Barbi Benton, Dick Sargent, Alan Hale Jr., Stella Stevens, Chuck Connors, Dawn Wells, Shelley Fabares, Tori Spelling, Richard Anderson, Markie Post, and Martin Landau!!! Not too shabby, huh?

The Matt Houston theme song was created by composer Dominic Frontiere (Perhaps best known for composing the theme for "The Outer Limits" - 1964).

Basically, Matt Houston was a typical 80's private detective series, centered around a millionaire playboy (Horsley/Houston) who decides that he likes detective work! Please note that my description of the series as being "typical 80's" is meant as a compliment. Fans of Magnum P.I., Simon and Simon, Remington Steele, and other such 80's classics may find equal amounts of fun within this series.

Matt Houston may not have garnered the same success as some of the aforementioned "comparable" TV shows, but three seasons is certainly nothing to dismiss lightly. Lots of great 80's nostalgia, and certainly a series worthy of a DVD release!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Roll-over Magnum, here comes Matt..., January 6, 2010

By	Erik M. Anderson "Main Mission Controller" (Tukwila, Wa.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Matt Houston: The First Season (DVD)

Finally, "the powers that be" have chosen to release this show on DVD. I was a big fan of Matt Houston back in the 80's when it came out, at least the first two season's. Not only because Lee Horsely is SO FINE, but I also had a huge crush on Pamela Hensley. In fact she was the main reason I started watching the show to begin with. I followed her from Buck Rogers to this show and really enjoyed the chemistry she had with Mr. Horsely. Anyway, I can't wait to purchase this DVD when it comes out in a couple of months. If you haven't seen this show but enjoyed other 80's detective shows such as Magnum P.I. or Simon and Simon, then you'll like this one too. Go MATT!!!