The Untold Truth Of Perry Mason

The fictional criminal defense lawyer Perry Mason has been part of our pop culture since the 1930s. The character has been adapted into motion pictures, radio series, and the CBS television series named after him, which ran from 1957 to 1966.
Now, HBO has brought the popular character to life again in the period drama of the same name. In this version, Perry Mason is depicted as a private investigator instead of a lawyer and is played by the talented Matthew Rhys.
But why is this popular character making a comeback onto our screens and what impact has Perry Mason had on our pop culture? Here is the untold truth of Perry Mason.
#PerryMason #Truth #TVShow
A blockbuster book series | 0:00
A media franchise | 1:30
The colorful case of the lost episode | 2:45
He never lost a case... almost | 3:56
The first revival flopped | 5:04
Small-screen movies | 6:04
New millennium revival | 7:19
"You can't remake Perry Mason" | 8:31
Unlimited series | 10:12
Read Full Article: www.looper.com/235843/the-unt...

[@DejahWhite]

It’s one of my greatest childhood memories that I would watch this show with grandma, every single episode! We never missed one. She always hoped I’d be a lawyer.

[@chrisnorman9980]

I bonded with my Grandma watching Perry Mason reruns on weekdays afternoons.

[@lcflngn]

Funny. My grandma was a lawyer, a juvenile PD, and she really didn’t want me to go that route. Still, she loved loved TV shows, mostly hospital ones, like ER or House. Wish I could ask her now about Perry Mason, which I adored, eap after late late hours working at a restaurant. So many things I wish I could ask now…

[@BronxLSanti-zy8xv]

I love the original ones no matter how much they make any Perry Mason movies their will never be as great as Ramon Burr he is and will always be Perry Mason in my book RIP Ramon Burr the original Perry Mason ❤🙏

[@kathyjohson1273]

I love all Perry Mason shows, too!!! But sometimes I like the ones that came out in the, I believe the late seventies or eighties. In other words, the newer ones. It used to come on the Hallmark channels

[@cpvideocrations2616]

What is Perry Mason will be the truth and for his history

[@karenmccormick9090]

Love Perry Mason with Raymond Burr!

[@alexisjankowski3281]

I love Perry Mason and Raymond’s portrayal.

[@HattieDame]

This is my dad's favorite tv show. He watches every airing on cable... six times a day, six days a week!

[@donnahawkins1934]

My husband is 60, for the past 4 months he watches Perry Mason all day long 6 days aweek. Drives me nuts. But in a way I like it because Raymond Burr could past as my daddy's twin. He died in 1984.

[@HattieDame]

@@donnahawkins1934 Raymond Burr is an exceptional actor and once in awhile I sit with my dad and watch an episode. But six hour long episodes a day, 6 days a week I'd just too much!

[@HattieDame]

@@donnahawkins1934 my dad started a new binge trend: westerns... specifically "Gunsmoke" since comes on several times a day all week long.

[@cherryberry9468]

I’ve never watched the show or read the books but I love that the author was a great human and wanted to help the underdogs, Mexicans and Chinese. I’m intrigued now to read his books.

[@TomStewart]

He also founded 'the Court of Last Resort' that investigated old convictions and helped get innocent people out of jail.

[@kumaguy6115]

I see your post is a couple of years old. I hope you’ve given the HBO series a look, because the series definitely emphasizes Mason’s empathy for underdog clients, including immigrants and racial minorities. His private investigator is an African American ex-cop.

[@pintopplx]

One of the best shows of the last years, if not the best. A big surprise.

[@bigcrazewolf]

Just watched season one, I'm glad I did and look forward to season two in March.

[@sunsetharp]

Perry Mason was my mom’s favorite show. I still watch it, as it reminds me of her. I love it too truth be told.

[@ramoncarter6585]

This is my favorite t.v. show watching right now love Perry Mason an interesting show. I really like Raymond and Barbara Hale, Perry was perfect character in the show may all rest in peace.

[@100grizzlybears]

The original tv show’s theme is soooo good and smokey

[@uofa82]

Thee will never be any true Perry Mason other than Raymond Burr. He is an American icon.

[@thale6945]

I agree!!!

[@maydom04]

Like Lorne Greene, 2 great American icons, both born in Canada

[@pamelasinclair3594]

I Love watching Perry Mason at any time , I wish they would do more marathons of Perry Mason.

[@giovanninatale9436]

I myself enjoy the tv version Raymond Burr, Perry Mason. 100% better then the 1930"s version.

[@rickdaystar477]

The episodes from the 50'and 60's had that feel of short direct dialog, almost in the style of early " Dragnet" with the finesse of a dancer and the impact of a hammer. Each case kept you curious as to who the perpetrator is with several options as viable until Perry Mason has his day in court. The modern version is more relaxed and has more characters involved. I love John Lithgow in everything he does but after watching a few I noticed the effort to build the principal characters and the mystery of the case comes in second.

[@alexandermishev6897]

Nope, I pretty much thought the same in the beginning but somewhere around the middle of the series, the story suddenly explodes and brings on the actual case behind the mistery. A very good script indeed, reminds me a lot about "The Night Of" series, but still has its uniqueness.

[@rickdaystar477]

@@alexandermishev6897 I should give the new PM a chance. I'd watch the series again.

[@michaelbaugh2010]

I would watch Perry Mason at about 10 p.m. with my father great times

[@tphoto10]

The Raymond Burr Perry Mason is a special memory for me as I would watch the reruns with my mom. Having said that, I’ve also greatly enjoyed the new HBO series. It’s very entertaining and well plotted.

[@Knoxus99]

I can tell when people haven't actually watched Raymond Burr's portrayal of Perry Mason, because they focus on witnesses confessing on the stand. It's definitely a mix. Also how true it is to the book when the backstory for Mason isn't canon?

[@Chinfo32]

Well, I am watching it now and I like it!!! Watched the original PM with my Grandmother for years, loved it then and love it now!!! Bravo Zulu to the cast and writers, producers and directors.!!!

[@rhondawilliams8155]

Loved me some Perry Mason from back in the day...,..

[@marcspardello1254]

The old Perry Mason with William Burr is enjoyable to watch and spares us the alcoholism, the cheap humor, and the sexual undertone that all modern shows most incorporate into their scripts. The original show did not need to resort to cheap filth in order for it to be great entertainment - viewer discretion is advised you will need depth as a person to enjoy the version starring Perry Mason

[@chuckoneill2023]

Uh, Perry Mason was never drunk in the books. Also - and this is similar to other mystery novel series of that time - there was never actually that much “backstory” for any of the characters. So, I guess the Perry Mason early years are something of a blank slate. But, Della would not have been a lesbian. In quite a few of the novels, it is almost (but not quite) stated that Perry is sleeping with her. He proposed to her multiple times, but she refused, because it meant she couldn’t be the secretary any more.

[@remyhocage9854]

I agree the re-worked HBO Series took a lot of license with Mason's story. But I Never read Mason & Della had a Secret Affair. ES Gardner said Della was a proper lady & never wanted er reputation tarnished. Mason did propose marriage in the 3rd book but Della preferred to be a close friend, rather a lonely wife.

[@chuckoneill2023]

@@remyhocage9854 there was one of the books where Perry and Della took a vacation together. I don't recall which one. Of course, the idea of Perry starting as a PI before becoming attorney mirrors Gardners own life, in that Gardner had a lot of odd jobs before passing the bar, himself. Also, California is where that can happen -- to be a licensed attorney, you don't need a law school diploma, anybody can take the bar exam.

[@remyhocage9854]

@@chuckoneill2023 Yes they did travel together but the books made it clear Della always had her own room. Was it in "The Duplicate Face ?" I did like the HBO show, but I don't think it really connected with the books. Which is okay. Cheers.

[@livvymunro1929]

There's a lot more romantic (but not sexual,) interaction between Della and Perry in the books than in the TV series. Quite a lot of kissing and several proposals of marriage, and they sometimes address each other as "darling". According to Barbara Hale, by the time they came to make the TV show, ESG was having an affair with his secretary, so he decreed no Perry/Della romance in case his wife saw it and put two and two together. But she and Burr often tried to see how far they could go within the confines of the script to imply a relationship, often just by the way they looked at each other.

[@chuckoneill2023]

@@livvymunro1929 Well, there's a long tradition of attorneys having affairs with secretaries. My dad was a criminal defense lawyer who knocked up his own secretary, in fact. He was always a fan of Perry --- both the books and the series -- perhaps that's why.

[@ECO473]

At the time of "the New Perry Mason," Raymond Burr was already in the sixth year of his eight-year run playing Ironside. In addition, William Talman (Hamilton Burger), Ray Collins (Lt. Arthur Tragg), and William Hopper (Paul Drake) had passed on by then.

[@rgamm9327]

classic old is gold new yet to be rated after all seasons completed

[@SlingbladeJim]

Now THAT was interesting...thank you..

[@emelfia]

I swear, if you are going to "reimagine" something so drastically different, why not just rename it?!

[@sheiladodds4186]

For your information.. In New Westminster near Vancouver BC Canada... there is a school he attended, Huge photograph in the Entrance of this school, my son started school Kindergarten in 1980. It still stands today.

[@karenlingefelt627]

I have always loved perry mason movies

[@DavidRLentz]

So many millions see Perry Mason as the late Raymond Burr breathed life into him. I feel the same way about William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk of the United Starship Enterprise. I remember Monte Markam briefly reprising the role. I liked Mr. Markam over the years.

[@tacticalgengar420]

I really enjoyed the hbo max version

[@austinbaker6186]

Never forget perry mason was on metv

[@shakeriacrawford5580]

Still

[@janeiwasduncan8463]

Watch at 9am and 1130pm (eastern) on MeTV☺️☺️☺️

[@DaddyOfTheSugarVariety]

Perry Mason also showed up in an episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law. ;p

[@Iamwolf134]

While the original Raymond Burr versions of Perry Mason may be iconic, I wouldn't exactly sleep on the Matthew Rhys version, which serves to recontextualize the iconic character as someone far less experienced in their line of work.

[@ashlyrahn6988]

I love Perry Mason

[@janeiwasduncan8463]

One of my favorite memories took place in Spring of 1961. My father was a charter pilot in the Bahamas and I was visiting him. One day he said, "lets go flying" We got to the airport and walked toward the plane, a plane that took off at the airport then landed in water, went up a ramp, the passanger got out, the plane backed down the ramp, and took off then kanded back at the airport. What fun!!! We got into the plane and the passanger was sitting there.. it was Raymond Burr☺️☺️☺️, looking just like Oerry Madon, complete with suit and tie.☺️☺️. He was quiet just thanked my dad for the flight, gotin a car and drove away. We flew away over the beautiful blue waters of the Bahamas.🦋🦋🦋

[@michaelsmith-hb7em]

Cool stuff

[@oldenweery7510]

I watched "Perry Mason" on a regular basis when it first ran on TV and the reruns afterward. It set the bar for a lot of TV shows forever after, but was unrealistic in the shows' monotonous endings, carried forward by the likes of "Murder, She Wrote" and others: the real killers always _confessed_ at the end of the program. Anyone who watches True Crime shows knows that in real life, the killers will go to their graves proclaiming their innocence. I read about a case in California where the Prosecution proved their case, with solid evidence and credible witnesses, but the jury returned an "Innocent" verdict. Asked why, several proclaimed, "We knew he was innocent because he didn't confess, the way they always did on 'Perry Mason.' " Yikes. We had books in our home(s) when I was a kid, including the original Mason stories, so I read quite a few of them when I was younger. However, while in my late 20s, I was going through a wonderful used paperback store near a university campus and discovered erle Stanley Gardner's other series, the Bertha Cool-Donald Lam detective stories, written under the pen name of A. A. Fair, which I liked much better than the Masons. Stay safe, everyone.

[@Babytoad2006]

Try ozzy osbourne Perry mason

[@dr.migilitoloveless2385]

I remember the guy playing the judge on many Perry Mason episode as the bad guy on a lot of the Three stooges programs.

[@pbmax700]

Nobody portrays Perry Mason better than Raymond Burr

[@user-dv9oh3cb9n]

Mona accepts the best greetings and the most beautiful appreciation.

[@Troy_Tempest]

The new show is a disgrace. I can't believe Mr Gardner would approve

[@dontrapani7778]

Most of us boomers remember the TV Perry Mason from the 50s and 60s, which were always entertaining. During the pandemic I was looking for more books to read, and I began the Perry Mason series. I discovered that Erle Stanley Gardner is a wonderful writer, and that the books are excellent, much better than the old TV shows. I think the books need more than 1 hour to be faithfully adapted, but the TV series was still compelling. The HBO "re-imagining" series will disappoint anyone who is familiar with the old TV show or the books. Contrary to what is said in this video, the HBO series is NOT truer to the Perry Mason of the 1930s books. In the 1930s, Perry Mason was an established lawyer with a reputation for winning cases and outsmarting the District Attorneys. He was never poor or down on his luck, and could pick and choose his cases. The HBO series has Mason scrambling for work, unsure of how to proceed in court, getting legal help from Della Reese (she was a secretary!!!), and other non-Perry Mason events. In my opinion, Robert Downey thought that the name Perry Mason would draw an audience (he was right) but the story line just doesn't fit the legacy. This might have worked for me if it had a different title and was pitched as a depression-era courtroom procedural. I gave up on season 1 after 2 episodes, then read that the renewed season 2 had different writers and show-runners, so I gave that a chance. Sorry HBO, but it doesn't work for me.

[@pamelamcintyre2734]

Watching movie now nothing like ole Perry..

[@elvira2756]

Velvet Caws was Gardner's first Perry Mason Novel, not the Howling Dog.

[@gracealexandre3381]

PERRY MASON!! He's my hero in the fictionalized court system because he would always find the guilty person and 'rescue' the framed person. He's the lawyer I would want if I were ever framed for murder. But sadly, I would have to settle with a 'real' lawyer and end up in prison for years; just like they did to David Milgaard, Ruben 'Hurricane' Carter, Guy Paul Morin, and many, many other INNOCENT people, because they couldn't find a concerned, caring lawyer like PERRY MASON who believed they were INNOCENT.

[@fiddletown2002]

Overheard at the local courthouse: Client to lawyer: “Who do you think you are? Perry Mason?” Lawyer’s response: “I’m better than Perry Mason. All his clients were innocent.”

[@fjtalleyauthor2242]

Would have been nice to hear about the Perry Mason stories in the old pulps. It sounds like the HBO series Mason is much more like that crusading character than the suave, successful one of Burr. Don't get me wrong: I loved watching the Raymond Burr series as a kid and reruns since the 60's in addition to the TV movies, but the Mason of the pulps was very different and intriguing as well.

[@not-poprecords1378]

Susan Feiles And Chris Darling of Action Entertainment brought the new Perry Mason to the Downey's and were a significant part of its development.

[@captaindouchebag1703]

Matthew Reece is a fucking Legend. Not surprised they did a Perry Mason season 2. How good was the Americans?

[@ECO473]

No doubt Raymond Burr was and is the quintessential Perry Mason. I submit, that William Talman (as Hamilton Burger) and Ray Collins (Lt. Arthur Tragg) were co-MVPs and perfect foils in the series. I can't count how many times Burger and Tragg thought they had Perry cornered only to have Perry make chumps out of both of them.

[@trotterhorsewatsonjr.6668]

Waiting for the renewal season

[@samhart4205]

The tone is really off in this series. Shouldn't this show have been a slightly more noir and Dragnet?

[@marycunningham-ym2sx]

I perry Mason in the old. Show❤❤

[@rettathomas837]

I agree!!!

[@philsalley3278]

It's really sad to see that because Raymond Burr was gay, they seemed to have turned season 2 into a lesbian love story with Perry Mason as a secondary story. I'm at a complete loss to understand why the never ending, gratuitous lesbian scenes add anything to the series other than trying to throw 21st century LGBT sympathy into the series.

[@BibleTumper]

Perry Mason had a son who decides to carry on with his famous father's legacy. End of story.

[@megumim6795]

wait. MR played an attoney in sisters and brothers for at least five? seasons!

[@jamesmorgan3212]

I remember growing up watching those Perry Mason made for TV movies with my mom . So I decided to give the new one a try . It’s not my mom’s Perry Mason for sure 🤣. But one I enjoyed it a great deal all the same . I’m looking forward to another season.

[@matthewjahnke6956]

What got me was the judge always used a pencil eraser instead of a gavel. Why would he do that?

[@BUMWRECK3R]

Haytch BO

[@Esrom_music]

And in what lawyer show does the lawyer lose? Did matlock ever lose?

[@janeiwasduncan8463]

Yes!

[@auntyangie33]

If the books were as slow as the new HBO series he wouldn't have sold any.

[@janettrim7587]

My father was named after the actor name Warren William, as seen in this movie. Now my grandson William Warren will understand how it all started Huh?

[@janettrim7587]

Maybe William should think about becoming a great attorney, or maybe a writer of great mysteries - so he can solve them.

[@dr.migilitoloveless2385]

Raymond Burr will always be the only Perry Mason.

[@warrenbeverly2884]

He is the best

[@afhickman]

Jake Gyllenhaal was born to play Raymond Burr in a biopic.

[@MMAGamblingTips]

Alan Hickman Matthew Rhys was excellent though

[@tonybrown7790]

Vybz kartel why am here, of that big court.

[@Joe-rr3ip]

Surprise, surprise, surprise, Della is a lesbian, Paul is African American is that true to the books? At any rate the HBO Perry Mason in superior in my book! :-)

[@stephanieperry1119]

Why make Paul Drake cop/former cop and Della a Lesbian at that loud and proud?

[@danmosley4387]

Very disappointing. Little intrigue in suspense but great insight into a lot of different cultures. So if cultural diversity is the purpose of the Perry Mason series, then season 2 is four stars. But if your all about the story, action and intrigue then you might consider passing on season 2.

[@chrisnorman9980]

In other words - like in other “re- imaginings” - they used the name and nothing much else.

[@jackrenglish]

YEP

[@fgraham8712]

My Dad made me watch Perry Mason with him when I was a kid. I think I'll try watch show now. I hated them.

[@lovelyman28]

Looper: The untold truth about Perry Mason Me: No one will watch 2nd season

[@linaaviles430]

I will

[@philsalley3278]

Watching but really hard to stomach the endless lesbian love scenes which seem to be there for no reason related to the story.

[@THEBANDIT7979]

Wrong actor. The guy is just not charismatic.

[@LaraFabans]

The HBO version isn't anywhere close to the original novels (of which I've read most). It's an abomination and ESG would hate it almost as much as I do. What else do you need to know other then "reimagining."

[@miltiades490]

Yeah that new Perry Mason series is just garbage compared to the show from the 50s and 60s.. just absolutely awful.

[@michaelstorm2165]

Leave the woke and culture equity shit outta 1932 ( Della's a lesbian, Burger is gay, Paul Drake is black), and just tell a good story. That would make this a much better series.

[@josephcope7637]

The HBO adaptation ... distortion actually ... is a travesty. A dive into the sewer, a product of a crappy era, with none of the class of the Raymond Burr series.

[@sharonlill8944]

I think the HBO Perry Mason is horrible and Earl Stanley Gardener must be rolling over in his grave.