"Perry Mason" (1957) TV series 1957-1966

Creator:

Erle Stanley Gardner

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

Release Date:

21 September 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A master attorney works difficult criminal cases for his clients.

Plot Keywords:

Perry Mason | Courtroom | Secretary | Lawyer | Murder Confession

Awards:

Won 3 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Raymond Burr	...	Perry Mason / ... (271 episodes, 1957-1966)
William Hopper	...	Paul Drake / ... (255 episodes, 1957-1966)
Barbara Hale	...	Della Street (253 episodes, 1957-1966)
William Talman	...	Hamilton Burger / ... (208 episodes, 1957-1966)
Ray Collins	...	Lt. Tragg / ... (172 episodes, 1957-1965)

Runtime:

60 min | USA:60 min (271 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-18 (self applied) (DVD) (2008)

Filming Locations:

Chaplin Studios - 1416 N. La Brea Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)

Trivia:

Perry's car, in the first season was a black 1957 Ford Skyliner. The Skyliner was a low volume car that had the first retractable hard top in a mass market American auto. Ford sold them in low volume from 1957 to 1959.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the episode "Case of the Crying Comedian", actress Sue Ane Langdon is seen sitting at the bar, then she comes down the stairs and moments later is seen sitting at the bar again.

Quotes:

Della Street: [a simple question] What do you know about art?
Paul Drake: [astonished] Me? I don't even know what I like!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Will & Grace: Swish Out of Water (#8.8)" (2005)

The granddaddy of all lawyer shows......

Without a doubt,the series "Perry Mason" was the granddaddy of all lawyer shows and even after 40 years since its debut it is still highly watchably and still highly rated as one of the top courtroom drama shows of all time. Raymond Burr was a true genius as the lawyer who would go to any length to protect his cilents from a certain fate and he always had a detective sense to find out who was the killer or who was trying to blackmail someone. Perry Mason was part lawyer/part detective/part sleuth. The show was based on the books about the character by Earl Stanley Gardner and for the astounding nine seasons that it ran on CBS-TV (1957-1966),it still holds up today. Even some college law professors used some of the episodes as teaching material as a learning technique for up and coming lawyers.

As for the rest of the show,the formula was very simple:(1)The first half of the show tells the story of the events leading up to the murder and the preliminary investigation of the crime and the facts leading up to the case in question and clues of where and what may have occurred. (2)The second half dealt with the subsequent trial,where Mason exposes the truth in the courtroom.

Sometimes the plots were very complex at times,but mostly were written with style and class and it is the only show where the writers treated the viewer with intelligence. The actors were very good especially within certain scenes where Mason has a battle of wits with District Attorney Burger. However it was done with style and had stunning black and white photography to make it more interesting. However,out of all the episodes their was one episode that was shown in color(and it hasn't been seen since TBS shown it during the 90's) where brought out more of the characters and more of the courtroom setting as well. As far as the show is concern,it is a milestone in the history of television. Catch some of the episodes on the Hallmark channel.