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Perry Mason 9/21/57 - 9/4/66 CBS
Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) is one of the best defense attorneys around. Della Street (Barbara Hale) is his confidential secretary and Gertie (Connie Cezon) is his receptionist. Paul Drake (William Hopper) is the owner of the Paul Drake Detective Agency. He helps Perry out obtaining valuable information. Hamilton Burger (William Talman) is the District Attorney who battles Perry in the courtroom. Lt. Arthur Tragg (Ray Collins, pictured left) works with Hamilton Burger and is with the Police Department's Homicide Division. (episode unknown) At a restaurant, Perry is talking about Hamilton Burger. "One order of crow for the gentleman. He'll eat it here." |
District Attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman) and Defense Attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) in "Perry Mason" |
The Case of the Empty Tin 3/8/58
Perry: "Come on Hamilton, I'll buy you a drink." Hamilton: "Yeah." |
The Case Of The Lazy Lover 5/31/58
District Attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman) had a cigarette and a classic exchange with Defense Attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). William Talman (color picture) had lung cancer when he did this antismoking public service announcement in color. A much longer version of this message is on the DVD, 50th Anniversary Edition Perry Mason. |
The Case Of The Terrified Typist 6/21/58
District Attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman) has a moment with a big smile. |
The Case of the Jaded Joker 2/21/59
A TV comedian is eliminated from a deal thanks to an advertising man. A friend of the comedian is accused of murdering the ad man. Frankie Laine (Danny Ross in this episode) sang the theme for the TV show "Rawhide".
The Case of the Caretaker's Cat 3/7/59 The death of a man (Anthony Jochim) is faked to see what the heirs would do in that situation. The man's caretaker (Benson Fong) assists in this plan, but is charged with the man's murder. John Agar is in this episode. He was married to Shirley Temple. |
The Case of the Calendar Girl 4/18/59
Frank Fettridge (Dean Harens) and Perry Mason (Raymond Burr). Things go wrong for a contractor after he has a car accident with a pin-up model. |
The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom 6/13/59
This episode opens differently. The camera zooms into the file that Perry Mason is holding, the picture freezes, and the credits appear, showing the names of Barbara Hale, William Hopper and Ray Collins. William Talman's name is not there. Talman and Ray Collins do not appear in this episode. The courtoom scene takes place in San Diego intead of Los Angeles. The closing credits show the usual names of Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman and Ray Collins. |
"The Case of the Bountiful Beauty" (2/6/64) was directed by Irving J. Moore, who also directed several "Dallas" episodes | ||
Character | Actor | Another role by the actor |
Ryan Carew | Ryan O'Neal | the movie "Love Story" |
Mrs. Mitchell | Jean Carson | Daphne in "The Andy Griffith Show" episodes, "Barney Mends a Broken Heart", "Fun Girls" and "The Arrest of the Fun Girls" |
Rubin Cason | Douglas Fowley | Judge R.W. Clarke in the 1973 movie "Walking Tall" |
The Medical Examiner | John Zaremba | Dr. Harlan Danvers on "Dallas" |
During the following seasons, Perry Mason was in the top 25 rated programs.
Season Program # Rating Time Oct. 58-Apr. 59 #19 27.5 Sat. 7:30-8:30 Oct. 59-Apr. 60 #10 28.3 Sat. 7:30-8:30 Oct. 60-Apr. 61 #16 24.9 Sat. 7:30-8:30 Oct. 61-Apr. 62 #5 27.3 Sat. 7:30-8:30 Oct. 62-Apr. 63 #23 22.4 Thu. 8:00-9:00 In the 62-63 season, Perry Mason was moved from its time slot that it had during its first five seasons on the air. This resulted in a big drop in its program #. The Jackie Gleason Show replaced Perry Mason in that same Saturday time slot. Perry Mason was moved to Thursdays 8:00-9:00. During its last three seasons on the air, Perry Mason never again entered the top 25, while The Jackie Gleason Show was in the top 25 all of those same seasons. I think Perry Mason should have been allowed to keep its time slot throughout its network run. It's an incredible show. |
50th Anniversary Edition Perry Mason (DVD 4/8/08)
Article on TV Guide site about Perry Mason 50th Anniversary Edition |
Perry Mason on DVD at www.amazon.com
Perry Mason TV Series Perry Mason Pages Perry Mason TV Show Book Raymond Burr: The Case Of The TV Legend on DVD store.aetv.com Full episodes of Perry Mason viewable online from cbs.com The page address of http://www.geocities.com/alcus2/mason.html was created 10/29/07. Perry Mason last updated 4/27/09. |