Perry Mason (TV series)

Perry Mason
267px
Created by	Based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner
Developed by	Paisano Productions
Starring	Raymond Burr Barbara Hale William Hopper William Talman Ray Collins Wesley Lau Richard Anderson
Theme music composer	Fred Steiner
Opening theme	"Park Avenue Beat"
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	271 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Gail Patrick Jackson
Producer(s)	Ben Brady Herbert Hirschman Seeleg Lester Arthur Marks Art Seid
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	52 minutes
Production company(s)	CBS Television in association with Paisano Productions Filmed by TCF Television Productions, Inc.
Distributor	Viacom Enterprises (1971-1995) Paramount Domestic Television (1995-2006) CBS Paramount Domestic Television (2006-07) CBS Television Distribution (2007-present)
Release
Original network	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white Color (one episode)
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 21, 1957 (1957-09-21) – May 22, 1966 (1966-05-22)
Chronology
Followed by	The New Perry Mason (1973–74) Perry Mason television films (1985–95)

Perry Mason is an American legal drama series originally broadcast on CBS television from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. Many episodes are based on stories written by Gardner.

Hollywood's first weekly one-hour series filmed for television, Perry Mason is one of TV's longest-running and most successful legal series. During its first season, it received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Best Dramatic Series, and it became one of the five most popular shows on television. Raymond Burr received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor, and Barbara Hale received an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Mason's secretary Della Street. Perry Mason and Burr were honored as Favorite Series and Favorite Male Performer in the first two TV Guide Award readers polls. In 1960, the series received the first Silver Gavel Award presented for television drama by the American Bar Association.

Perry Mason has aired in syndication in the United States and internationally ever since its cancellation, and the complete series has been released on Region 1 DVD. A 2014 study found that Netflix users rate Raymond Burr as their favorite actor, with Barbara Hale number seven on the list.

A 1973 revival of the series with a different cast was poorly received. In 1985 the first in a successful series of 30 Perry Mason television films aired on NBC, with Burr reprising the role of Mason in 26 of them prior to his death in 1993.

Plot

Perry Mason is a distinguished criminal defense lawyer practicing in Los Angeles, California. He represents clients, most of whom have been charged with murder. Each episode typically follows a formula. The first half of the show introduces a prospective murder victim and a situation that presents a legal danger to someone Mason accepts as a client. The body is found, often through circumstance by Mason and private investigator Paul Drake, or with his secretary Della Street. Clues point to Mason's client, who is charged with murder. In the second-half courtroom setting, Mason spars most often with his legal adversary Hamilton Burger, Los Angeles district attorney, and police homicide detective Lt. Arthur Tragg. Mason establishes his client's innocence by dramatically demonstrating the guilt of another character. The murderer often breaks down and confesses to the crime in the courtroom. In the closing scene, the characters gather together to discuss how the case was solved.

In many episodes, the identity of the guilty party is uncovered without an actual trial being held. Instead, this occurs at the preliminary hearing stage, in which the district attorney is required to produce just enough evidence to convince the judge that the defendant should be bound over for trial. During this stage, other malefactors — such as blackmailers, frauds, and forgers — are frequently forced into confessions by Mason's relentless and clever questioning, and the killer is exposed.

Cast and characters

Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) and Della Street (Barbara Hale) in "The Case of the Corresponding Corpse" (1958)

See also: List of Perry Mason cast members

• Perry Mason – defense attorney (played by Raymond Burr)
• Della Street – Mason's confidential secretary (played by Barbara Hale)
• Paul Drake – private investigator (played by William Hopper)
• Hamilton Burger – District Attorney (played by William Talman)
• Lieutenant Arthur Tragg – police homicide detective (played by Ray Collins)
• Lieutenant Andy Anderson – a police homicide detective, who appeared from 1963–65 as Ray Collins missed many episodes because of emphysema (played by Wesley Lau)
• Lieutenant Steve Drumm – another police homicide detective who appeared in the final season after the death of Ray Collins (played by Richard Anderson)
• Dr. Hoxie – Autopsy surgeon (medical examiner) (played by Michael Fox)
• Sgt. Brice – (played by Lee Miller)
• Gertrude "Gertie" Glade – Mason's frequently mentioned but seldom-seen receptionist (played by Connie Cezon)

Production

Background

Gail Patrick Jackson, executive producer of Perry Mason (1961)

After a series of Warner Bros. films and a radio series he despised, author Erle Stanley Gardner refused to license his popular character Perry Mason for any more adaptations. His literary agent was advertising executive Cornwell Jackson, who in 1947 married actress Gail Patrick. She had studied law before she went to Hollywood "for a lark" and appeared in more than 60 feature films including My Man Godfrey (1936), Stage Door (1937), and My Favorite Wife (1940). She stopped acting in 1948, started a family, and began to talk to Gardner about adapting the Perry Mason stories for a television series.

"We kept talking about what kind of a series he'd want and how much creative control he needed," Gail Patrick told journalist James Bawden in 1979. "I just think he came to trust me and I'd kept up my contacts in show business."

Gardner regarded Perry Mason's personal life as irrelevant and wanted the series to concentrate on crime and Mason's fight for the underdog. "You must remember," Patrick said, "Erle was in love with the law and its finer points."

Patrick, her husband, and Gardner formed a production company, Paisano Productions, of which she was president. When she first tried to sell Perry Mason to CBS, the network wanted it to be a live hour-long weekly program. "That would have been impossible — it would have killed the actor playing Perry," Patrick said. "And I Love Lucy had taught the value of filmed reruns." Paisano Productions absorbed the costs for a filmed pilot.

In February 1956, CBS announced its new series, Perry Mason, anticipating it would begin that fall. The network obtained the rights to 272 stories by Gardner, including Perry Mason and 11 other principal characters. The rights were purchased from Paisano Productions, which would film the series in association with CBS and own a 60% interest in the films.

Perry Mason was Hollywood's first hour-long weekly series filmed for television. Gail Patrick Jackson was its executive producer. "We were the first bona fide law show and we spent two years preparing Perry for the television bar," Patrick said.

Casting

Gail Patrick Jackson was immersed in auditions throughout 1956. The role of Perry Mason proved to be the hardest to cast. Richard Carlson, Mike Connors, Richard Egan, William Holden, and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., were considered. In early April, Fred MacMurray and CBS were reportedly in the midst of negotiations, and columnist Hedda Hopper wrote that Cornwell Jackson had postponed a two-month vacation in Hawaii, hoping to get the series ready by September or October. In mid-June, Hopper reported that the Jacksons had left on their annual trip, after stating that Perry Mason would not be ready for TV that fall.

"We couldn't afford a big star," Patrick later said. Among the hundreds of actors she saw audition in April 1956 was Raymond Burr, who initially read for the role of district attorney Hamilton Burger. Patrick had been impressed with Burr's courtroom performance in the 1951 film, A Place in the Sun, and told him he was perfect for the title role in Perry Mason, but at least 60 pounds overweight. Over the next month, Burr went on a crash diet. When he returned, he tested as Perry Mason, and was chosen from a field of 50 finalists. By July 1956, word was out that Burr had the role, and an announcement was made at the beginning of August.

William Hopper also auditioned as Mason, but was cast as private detective Paul Drake. Patrick recalled, "When Bill Hopper came in to read for Paul Drake he blurted out, 'You hate my mother.' And that was Hedda Hopper. Well, I disliked what she stood for, but 'hate' is something else—and anyway he was perfect as Drake, and we got him."

Barbara Hale was still prominent in feature films, but had a young family and wished to avoid going away on long periods of location shooting. Patrick said that Hale telephoned about the role of Della Street.

Patrick had an actor in mind for the Los Angeles district attorney. "I'd seen a brilliant little movie, The Hitch-Hiker, and had to have Bill Talman as Burger—and he never disappointed us," Patrick said. Later asked about how he felt about Burger losing to Mason week after week, Talman said, "Burger doesn't lose. How can a district attorney lose when he fails to convict an innocent person? Unlike a fist or gun fight, in court you can have a winner without having a loser. As a matter of fact, Burger in a good many instances has joined Mason in action against unethical attorneys, lying witnesses, or any one else obstructing justice. Like any real-life district attorney, justice is Burger's main interest."

"Ray Collins came on board as Lt. Arthur Tragg," Patrick said. "He was such a wonderful actor—beautiful voice, trained in radio's Mercury productions. We overlooked the fact that on an actual police force, he would probably be long retired."

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  Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) and Hamilton Burger (William Talman)

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  Paul Drake (William Hopper) and Perry Mason (Raymond Burr)

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  Paul Drake (William Hopper) and Della Street (Barbara Hale), with cop Frank Sully

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  Lt. Arthur Tragg (Ray Collins)

Each episode's casting interviews were conducted by Gail Patrick Jackson, producer Ben Brady, and the director. Episodes typically employed 10 featured players in addition to the principal cast and extras. Numerous actors famous for past and future roles in film and television made guest appearances on the show.

"Many were people I'd worked with in movies," said Gail Patrick Jackson. "They were grateful and delivered on time—and powerfully. … Gloria Henry, Vaughn Taylor, Hillary Brooke, John Archer, Morris Ankrum, Don Beddoe, Fay Wray, Olive Blakeney, Paul Fix, Addison Richards. We also had newcomers like Darryl Hickman, Barbara Eden. The trick was to only use them once a year. People like Fay Wray came back several times, but as other characters."

Patrick made it a point to hire her Hollywood acting contemporaries whenever possible. Some were semiretired and financially well-off, but still enjoyed performing. Character actor George E. Stone was impoverished, and for years he appeared on Perry Mason regularly in minor roles until his health made it impossible for him to work any longer. Patrick went to considerable lengths to find a part for an actress who had become paralyzed on one side; she played with her good side toward the camera.

"This isn't being the least altruistic," Patrick said. "They are all fine performers and bring to the shows something interesting and vital — even when they only have one line."

Perry Mason also drew on the distinguished West Coast radio pool. Working steadily in radio since the 1940s, Raymond Burr was a leading player on the West Coast and in 1956 was the star of CBS Radio's Fort Laramie. Noted for his loyalty and consciousness of history, Burr went out of his way to employ his colleagues. Some 180 radio celebrities appeared on Perry Mason during the first season alone.

Writing

The production staff of Perry Mason worked at being technically correct and responsive to an audience that included lawyers and judges. Producer Ben Brady practiced law in New York before entering show business; story editor Gene Wang graduated from law school in Florida; and executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson studied law for two years before becoming an actress.

Many episodes are based on novels and short stories by lawyer-turned-writer Erle Stanley Gardner. Only two of the 69 Perry Mason novels Gardner published before January 1963 were not adapted for the series. All but three episodes in the first season were adapted from Gardner's stories. In season two, 14 of the 39 episodes came from Gardner originals. With the backlist exhausted, later seasons presented between one and five episodes drawn from Gardner stories, with occasional remakes of earlier adaptations. By the summer of 1958, Patrick was already supervising the work of 31 writers who were developing original scripts based on Gardner's characters.

"Funny thing about writers," Patrick told TV Guide. "A lot of them think they'll improve on Erle. Most of them find out they can't even duplicate him."

Writers submitted a draft script, which was reviewed for continuity, narrative content, and legal error by Patrick and Wang. A revised draft was then forwarded to Gardner, who would respond with a detailed brief indicating particular changes required to conform with the law. Gardner closely supervised the scripts thoroughout the run of the series, and continued to write new Perry Mason novels.

By 1961, the strictures of the Perry Mason formula led Writer's Digest to declare, "This show has the reputation among writers as being the hardest one in Hollywood to work for."

Filming

Pilot

A test film, "The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink", ultimately aired December 14, 1957, as the 13th episode of the first season. The pilot was filmed October 3–9, 1956, after Raymond Burr completed a movie in Havana and made a two-week tour of military hospitals in the West Indies.

"'The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink' is written and directed very much like a noir B-feature of the period, from its stylishly dramatic opening to its violent climax," wrote film scholar Thomas Leitch. He noted that the pilot film "provides a fascinating laboratory for the formula, since it combines trademark elements that would become long-running features of the series with others that would be swiftly abandoned." The episode was directed by Ted Post, whose camera movement, use of deep space, and film noir stylings were softened or absent in subsequent episodes. Laurence Marks and Ben Starr adapted Erle Stanley Gardner's 1952 novel, retaining all its plot features and characters.

In her TV column in early November 1956, journalist Eve Starr reported, "Word is seeping down from CBS brass that its hour-long Perry Mason pilot film is a whooping success, so much so that the show will be held back until a good time period can be found for it next season."

On November 30, 1956, Gardner wrote Gail Patrick Jackson: "I can't get over the feeling that I had sitting there watching that pilot film. … As I saw the manner in which your ideas, your tact and persistence had gradually changed the approach and resulted in a highly polished, finished product I was tremendously proud of you and of my association with you. I think that you saw possibilities in Raymond Burr which no one else saw. I think that you developed those possibilities and I think you have inspired not only the cast but the producers and directors. I think we are on the trail of a highly successful presentation."

Series

The series began filming in April 1957. Each episode was budgeted at $100,000. Filming took place on Stage 8 at the 20th Century-Fox studios near Western Avenue and Sunset Boulevard (where the show's production offices were located) and at CBS Studio Center, with at least one location in each episode. Burr had lost 100 pounds, but continued to lose weight when filming began: "I just don't have time to eat," he said.

"Every six days Burr stars in what almost amounts to a full-length feature movie," wrote syndicated columnist Erskine Johnson. "He's in 98 percent of all the scenes."

"I had no life outside of Perry Mason," Burr recalled. "And that went on 24 hours a day, six days a week. I never went home at night. I lived on the lot. I got up at 3 o'clock every single morning to learn my lines for that day, and sometimes I hadn't finished until 9 o'clock. I had a kitchen, bedroom, office space, sitting room — all of that — on every lot I ever worked on."

Thirty-nine episodes were filmed in the first year. "Ray had key lines written on his shirt sleeve cuffs," said Gail Patrick Jackson.

Directors included Laslo Benedek, Jesse Hibbs, Arthur Marks, Christian Nyby, and William D. Russell. Some, including Lewis Allen and Richard Donner, had or would have notable directing credits in feature films. Many episodes incorporated the essential elements of film noir.

"The crew is giving it the best of Hollywood's techniques," Burr told columnist Erskine Johnson. The crew included veterans including art director Lewis Creber, make-up artist Mel Berns, cinematographer Frank Redman, editor Richard Cahoon and sound mixer Harry M. Leonard.

All but one of the episodes in the series were filmed in black-and-white. The episode "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist", an episode heavily influenced by Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, was the sole exception.

Locations

The Superior Oil Company Building in Los Angeles, used for exteriors of the fictional Brent Building where Perry Mason's offices were located (2008)

Perry Mason is set in Los Angeles; interior scenes were filmed on the 20th Century-Fox Western Avenue studio lot, and most exteriors were filmed at Fox Studios in Westwood, California, or the Fox Movie Ranch in Malibu Canyon. Later episodes in the series were filmed at CBS LaBrea Studios in Hollywood.

In the early years of the series, filming would be done on location in and around Culver City and a few downtown locales. In one episode, Drake gets out of a car on Wilshire Boulevard and goes into an apartment building; in the distant background, the lights and cameras from the set filming an episode of Peter Gunn are visible. Numerous establishing shots are used, including the iconic Los Angeles City Hall, the Hall of Justice building and the Los Angeles County Court House which is now the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. All of these buildings are still standing.

Mason's offices are in the Brent Building, Suite 904, phone MAdison 5-1190. Although the Brent Building is fictional, the series used the entrance and exterior of the former Superior Oil Company Building, a modern structure in downtown Los Angeles completed in 1956. The building was registered in 2003 as a historical landmark and is now The Standard Downtown LA hotel.

Scattered throughout the run were episodes that would take place beyond Burger's jurisdiction as Los Angeles County District Attorney. In 1960, when William Talman, who played Hamilton Burger, was suspended for allegedly violating the morals clause in his contract, several assistant prosecutors were seen in court. Talman had attended a party at which he was charged with having engaged in indecent activities. He was later acquitted, and largely through the efforts of Burr, Talman was reinstated to the show.

Music

The show's theme music is one of the most recognizable in television. Composer Fred Steiner set out to write a theme that would project the two primary aspects of Mason's character — sophistication and toughness. "The piece he came up with, titled 'Park Avenue Beat', pulsed with the power of the big city and the swagger of a beefy hero played to perfection by actor Raymond Burr," wrote The Los Angeles Times. Described by Steiner as "a piece of symphonic R&B", the Perry Mason theme heard at the opening and end credits became the composer's best-known work.

Much of the incidental music was drawn from the CBS-TV Music Library. This included music by Bernard Herrmann, who went uncredited since the cues were stock music that was edited into the score. Herrmann's music has been identified in the following episodes: "The Case of the Restless Redhead", "The Case of the Sleepwalker's Niece", "The Case of the Nervous Accomplice", The Case of the Drowning Duck", "The Case of the Silent Partner", "The Case of the Half-Wakened Wife", "The Case of the Calendar Girl", "The Case of the Spurious Sister" and "The Case of the Mythical Monkeys". Production records show Herrmann's music being used in 100 episodes, through "The Case of the Tandem Target" (Season 7, Episode 29).

Cancellation

Gail Patrick Jackson and Erle Stanley Gardner speak with Hollywood columnist Norma Lee Browning during filming of the last Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Final Fade-Out" (1966)

Perry Mason aired Saturday nights for its first five seasons, outdrawing competition including the first two seasons of NBC's Bonanza. Bonanza jumped to number two in the Nielsen ratings when it moved to Sunday nights in 1961. In 1962, CBS moved Perry Mason to Thursday nights, where it easily won the ratings for its time slot.

"CBS just got plain cocky," said executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson. "It irritated the suits to no end that Sundays at 8 was Ed Sullivan with his huge rating, and then everybody switched to NBC's Bonanza. Bill Paley would rant about this every time we met." Patrick continued:

Then, for the September '65 season he floored me by telling the affiliates we'd be going Sundays at 9 with a mandate to demolish Bonanza. Just like that. He finally let me shoot in color but we never had a chance. We improved ratings for CBS but Bonanza was the leader and Paley simply cancelled us completely in 1966. After nine seasons and 271 episodes we were dust."

The network gave no particular reason for the cancellation. "CBS figures we are worn out," Patrick told The New York Times in November 1965. "But this season the show is getting more mail than ever before and so is Raymond."

Burr had wanted to leave Perry Mason after five years, but was always persuaded to extend his contract. Network executives implored him to stay for a tenth season, to be filmed in color. "They shot one show in color and I said 'no'," Burr recalled, "and they gave me such a big thing, talked about my loyalty and all that, and they guaranteed the quality of the show and said, 'Let's go off with a big bang.' This was all of the people at CBS." Burr agreed to do the tenth season. Three weeks after the meeting, he picked up the trade papers and read that the series had been cancelled.

The last episode of the series, "The Case of the Final Fade-Out", was filmed April 12–19, 1966. Set in a TV film studio where two murders occur, the last show offered the entire production crew an opportunity to appear on camera. Most of the behind-the-scenes personnel in the episode had been with the show the entire nine years. Patrick made a cameo appearance herself, and persuaded Erle Stanley Gardner to make his acting debut as the judge who presides over the second trial.

Revival

Series

Main article: The New Perry Mason

An unsuccessful attempt to recreate the series was made in 1973. Starring Monte Markham and Sharon Acker, The New Perry Mason only lasted half a season. "My name was on it," said Gail Patrick, "but I wanted nothing to do with it. Corney was on his own." In 1979, Patrick said that CBS was "angling to make some TV movies from the original novels. With Ray and Barbara. We'll see."

Television films

Main article: Perry Mason (TV movies)

Producer Dean Hargrove resurrected the Mason character in a series of television films for NBC beginning in 1985. Hargrove was able to bring back the two then-surviving principals, Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale, for the first film, Perry Mason Returns, in which Perry Mason resigns his position as an appellate court judge to defend Della Street on a murder charge. William Katt, Hale's real-life son, was cast as private investigator Paul Drake, Jr., the son of private investigator Paul Drake. Katt appeared in the first nine movies. In later TV movies, Mason used the services of Ken Malansky, played by William R. Moses, an attorney who worked with Mason as a private investigator.

A total of 30 movies were made between 1985 and 1995, with Burr starring in 26. After Burr's death in 1993, four television films (1993–95) were produced under the umbrella title A Perry Mason Mystery, with Paul Sorvino starring in the first film and Hal Holbrook starring in the remaining three. Both Hale and Moses continued in their roles for all four films, and Mason's absence was explained by having him out of town.

Episodes

Main article: List of Perry Mason episodes

When asked by a fan why Perry Mason won every case, Burr told her, "But madam, you see only the cases I try on Saturday."

Mason is known to have lost, in some form or manner, three cases—"The Case of the Terrified Typist", "The Case of the Witless Witness", and "The Case of the Deadly Verdict".

Mason also loses a civil case at the beginning of "The Case of the Dead Ringer", partly due to being framed for witness tampering. His staff and he then spend the rest of the episode trying to prove his innocence. They eventually do, and although this is not stated explicitly, the verdict of the civil case is presumably either overturned or declared a mistrial. In a July 15, 2009, interview on National Public Radio's program All Things Considered, Barbara Hale claimed that all of Mason's lost cases were declared mistrials off the air.

Mason did lose, at least by inference, a capital case mentioned in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Desperate Daughter". Mason and Della Street are first seen preparing a last-minute appeal for a "Mr. Hudson", who has an impending date with the gas chamber.

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  Ralph Clanton and Burr in the series premiere, "The Case of the Restless Redhead" (1957)

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  Burr and Kathleen Crowley in "The Case of the Lonely Heiress" (1958)

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  Burr and Joan O'Brien in "The Case of the Singing Skirt" (1960)

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  Robert Bray and Burr in "The Case of the Angry Astronaut" (1962)

Broadcast

Broadcast history

Perry Mason aired on CBS from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966.

• Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET September 21, 1957 – May 26, 1962 (Seasons 1–5)
• Thursday at 8 p.m. ET September 27, 1962 – May 16, 1963 (Season 6)
• Thursday at 9 p.m. ET September 26, 1963 – May 21, 1964 (Season 7)
• Thursday at 8 p.m. ET September 24, 1964 – May 13, 1965 (Season 8)
• Sunday at 9 p.m. ET September 12, 1965 – May 22, 1966 (Season 9)

Syndication

At the time of its cancellation, Perry Mason was or had been airing in 58 countries. The show was subtitled in Chinese (for Hong Kong viewers), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish, Greek, Malay, Norwegian, Polish and Swedish, and dubbed in Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai.

Perry Mason has been a staple in syndication, running for many years on local television stations (including WGN-TV in the 1990s when it was a Chicago-based superstation), TBS and on the Hallmark Channel. Originally, only 195 of the 271 episodes were available to stations. These episodes included all of the first six seasons (except the four Season 6 episodes in which Raymond Burr makes only brief appearances), four episodes of Season 7, and 14 episodes of the ninth and final season (including the final episode). It wasn't until the mid-1980s when TBS obtained the rights to the remaining episodes that all 271 Perry Mason episodes were seen in syndication.

Episodes broadcast in syndicated re-runs are usually heavily edited, to allow for more time for commercials.

As of August 2014, the TV series is shown weekdays on both Me-TV and the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel, as well as on local stations in various local markets. Portland, Oregon station KPTV first aired evening repeats of Perry Mason in 1966. In 1970, the station began the long tradition of showing reruns of Perry Mason weekdays during its noon time slot. This unprecedented run ended 42 years later, on September 4, 2012, when KPTV ceased broadcasting the show. It continued to be shown on KPDX, sister station of KPTV, in the 8 AM time slot through September 12, 2014. The series was distributed by CBS Films, then Viacom Enterprises, Paramount Domestic Television and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, and now by CBS Television Distribution.

CBS posted full 60-minute episodes on its website from the first and second seasons for viewing.

Video on demand

A 2014 article in The Atlantic that examined how Netflix categorized nearly 77,000 different personalized genres found that Perry Mason star Raymond Burr was rated as the favorite actor by Netflix users. Barbara Hale was rated seventh. Christian Nyby II, the director of many of the television movies and whose father directed many episodes of the TV series, led the list of directors. Todd Yellin, vice president of product innovation for Netflix and the person who designed the system, was at a loss to explain what journalist Alexis Madrigal called "this weird Perry Mason thing".

Reception

"Perry Mason was television's most successful and longest-running lawyer series," wrote TV historian Tim Brooks. "It remains, I think, the best detective series ever made for television," wrote film historian Jon Tuska. "The definitive portrayal, of course, was by former screen heavy Raymond Burr on the CBS series (1957–1966) in scripts faithfully based on Gardner's novels", wrote mystery writer Max Allan Collins.

Ratings

Season	Rank	Rating	Notes
1 — October 1957–April 1958	43	24.3
2 — October 1958–April 1959	19	27.5
3 — October 1959–April 1960	10	28.3
4 — October 1960–April 1961	16	24.9
5 — October 1961–April 1962	5	27.3
6 — October 1962–April 1963	23	22.4
7 — October 1963–April 1964	26	22.1
8 — October 1964–April 1965	38	20.7
9 — October 1965–April 1966	69	16.9

Awards

Emmy Awards

• 1958: Perry Mason was nominated as Best Dramatic Series with Continuing Characters at the 10th Primetime Emmy Awards
• 1959: Raymond Burr received the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• 1959: Barbara Hale received the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• 1959: William Hopper was nominated as Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series at the 11th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• 1960: Raymond Burr received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead or Support) at the 12th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• 1961: Raymond Burr received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead) at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• 1961: Barbara Hale was nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor or Actress in a Series at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• 1961: Perry Mason was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for Television at the 13th Primetime Emmy Awards.
• 1966: Perry Mason received an Emmy nomination for Individual Achievements in Electronic Production - Audio Engineering at the 18th Primetime Emmy Awards.

TV Guide Awards

• 1960: Perry Mason was honored as Favorite Series in TV Guide magazine's inaugural TV Guide Award readers poll.
• 1960: Raymond Burr received the first annual TV Guide Award for Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason.
• 1961: Perry Mason received the second annual TV Guide Award for Favorite Series.
• 1961: Raymond Burr received the second annual TV Guide Award for Favorite Male Performer, for Perry Mason.

Silver Gavel Award

• 1960: Perry Mason received the first Silver Gavel Award for television drama presented by the American Bar Association. Raymond Burr accepted the award for Paisano Productions.

Influence

In her confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee in July 2009, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor prefaced her remarks on the role of the prosecutor by saying that she was inspired by watching Perry Mason as a child. "I was influenced so greatly by a television show in igniting the passion that I had as being a prosecutor, and it was Perry Mason", Sotomayor said. In her 2013 memoir the Supreme Court justice wrote of the show's influence on her while she was growing up in a Bronx housing project. She granted that the defense attorney was the show's hero, "but my sympathies were not entirely monopolized by Perry Mason. I was fond of Burger, the prosecutor, too. I liked that he was a good loser, that he was more committed to finding the truth than to winning his case. If the defendant was truly innocent, he once explained, and the case was dismissed, then he had done his job because justice had been served." She was particularly fascinated by the judge.

"There was a whole new vocabulary here," Sotomayor wrote. "And though I wasn't sure what every detail meant, I followed the gist of it. It was like the puzzles I enjoyed, a complex game with its own rules, and one that intersected with grand themes of right and wrong. I was intrigued and determined to figure it out."

Cultural references

Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) defends Jack Benny, on trial for murder, in an episode of CBS-TV's The Jack Benny Program (1961)

A Perry Mason parody titled "The Night That Perry Masonmint Lost a Case" appeared in the July 1959 issue of Mad magazine.

Raymond Burr made a guest appearance in an episode of The Jack Benny Program, titled "Jack On Trial for Murder" (November 5, 1961). He appears in character as Perry Mason in Benny's dream sequence about being tried for killing a rooster. Other Perry Mason cast include Grandon Rhodes as the process server, Frank Wilcox as the judge and George E. Stone as court clerk.

The character of Perry Mason was spoofed in an episode of the animated series, The Flintstones, titled "Little Bamm-Bamm" (October 3, 1963). When the Rubbles try to adopt Bamm-Bamm they end up in court facing attorney "Perry Masonry, who's never lost a case".

The Blues Brothers recorded a cover version of Fred Steiner's Perry Mason TV series theme for the 1980 album, Made in America. It was later used in the 1998 film, Blues Brothers 2000, and released on the soundtrack album.

Perry Mason was satirized in a 1990 episode of the Australian sketch comedy series, Fast Forward.

Ozzy Osbourne's 1995 album, Ozzmosis, opens with a track titled "Perry Mason". Released as a single, the song was the first to integrate the music of Perry Mason into what one reviewer described as a "bruising rocker … complete with an ominous excerpt from the classic TV show theme".

Media information

United States and Canada

CBS Home Entertainment has released all nine seasons of Perry Mason on Region 1 DVD. Each season was released in two-volume half-season sets because each season of Perry Mason contains considerably more material than a modern TV series. The first season of Perry Mason featured 39 episodes, Season 3 had 26 episodes, and all other seasons had either 28 or 30 episodes; this compares with 22 for a typical modern series. In addition, Perry Mason episodes are 50–53 minutes long, while a 2014 Nielsen study found that modern one-hour shows are shortened to accommodate 14 to 15 minutes of commercials.

The DVDs contain the original full-length version of each episode. Episodes broadcast in syndicated re-runs are usually heavily edited, to allow for more time for commercials.

In April 2008, a special 50th anniversary DVD set was released with selected episodes from the then-unreleased Seasons 3–9. Barbara Hale, sometimes joined by director and producer Arthur Marks, provides an on-camera introduction to each episode. Bonus material includes the 1956 film tests of Burr and Hopper, just discovered in the CBS vaults; interviews with Hale, Marks, and CBS executive Anne Roberts Nelson; a short documentary about Erle Stanley Gardner; a cast appearance on Stump the Stars; a 1958 Person to Person segment in which Burr (at his home in Malibu) is interviewed by Charles Collingwood; two CBS News Nightwatch interviews of Burr by Charlie Rose; the anti-smoking public service announcement William Talman made on behalf of the American Cancer Society shortly before his death from lung cancer; and the first of the made-for-TV movies, Perry Mason Returns. Film historian Stuart Galbraith IV called the 50th anniversary set "a must-have … especially for its extra features".

Region 1 DVD releases

Title	Contents	Length	Release date
Perry Mason: Season 1, Volume 1	19 episodes	1000 minutes	July 11, 2006
Perry Mason: Season 1, Volume 2	20 episodes	1040 minutes	November 21, 2006
Perry Mason: Season 2, Volume 1	15 episodes	773 minutes	June 19, 2007
Perry Mason: Season 2, Volume 2	15 episodes	774 minutes	November 13, 2007
Perry Mason: 50th Anniversary Edition	12 episodes	714 minutes	April 8, 2008
Perry Mason: Season 3, Volume 1	12 episodes	624 minutes	August 19, 2008
Perry Mason: Season 3, Volume 2	14 episodes	728 minutes	December 2, 2008
Perry Mason: Season 4, Volume 1	16 episodes	831 minutes	June 9, 2009
Perry Mason: Season 4, Volume 2	12 episodes	623 minutes	December 8, 2009
Perry Mason: Season 5, Volume 1	15 episodes	764 minutes	April 20, 2010
Perry Mason: Season 5, Volume 2	15 episodes	773 minutes	November 16, 2010
Perry Mason: Season 6, Volume 1	14 episodes	710 minutes	October 4, 2011
Perry Mason: Season 6, Volume 2	14 episodes	709 minutes	November 22, 2011
Perry Mason: Season 7, Volume 1	15 episodes	759 minutes	August 21, 2012
Perry Mason: Season 7, Volume 2	15 episodes	758 minutes	October 23, 2012
Perry Mason: Season 8, Volume 1	15 episodes	773 minutes	November 27, 2012
Perry Mason: Season 8, Volume 2	15 episodes	772 minutes	January 15, 2013
Perry Mason: Final Season, Season 9, Volume 1	15 episodes	776 minutes	June 11, 2013
Perry Mason: Final Season, Season 9, Volume 2	15 episodes	778 minutes	August 13, 2013

International

In Region 2, Paramount Home Entertainment has released the first three seasons in complete sets on DVD in the UK.

In Region 4, Paramount Home Entertainment has released the first two seasons on DVD in Australia/New Zealand. These releases are similar to the Region 1 releases whereby each season has been released in two-volume sets.

See also

• Perry Mason moment
• Perry Mason syndrome

External links

• Perry Mason at CBS.com
• Perry Mason at IMDb
• Perry Mason at TV.com
• Perry Mason TV Series Wiki
• Perry Mason TV Showbook
• Perry Mason's Page