Perry Mason

[dttruman]

7 hours ago, chessiegal said:

It will be on 11 am ET starting November 14. It's replacing Hart to Hart.

Thank You!

[Egg McMuffin]

On 10/23/2022 at 8:17 AM, Milburn Stone said:

I will have to attempt watching it again. The one time I did, I went "My eyes, my eyes!" and had to stop. It just seemed wrong, and I don't think this was due only to my not being used to it. Something about the noir-ish drama of the original series works in black-and-white and vanishes in color.

I feel the same way about The Fugitive, which got a whole final season in color. But those color episodes satisfy my curiosity about how the show looked in color and makes me appreciate those first three B&W seasons even more.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Egg McMuffin

[roseha]

I was thinking about The Fugitive myself, it was such a wonderful noir series so I guess we should be grateful that the first three seasons remained in black and white before the pressure started for all of the television networks to go to color.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Tonight's MeTV offering is the one about a fictional tv show in which the real show's production crew plays the part of the fake show's production crew. The Mason-character's creator Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge. It's also the series finale, though as I understand it they didn't know it would be at the time. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

12 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Tonight's MeTV offering is the one about a fictional tv show in which the real show's production crew plays the part of the fake show's production crew. The Mason-character's creator Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge. It's also the series finale, though as I understand it they didn't know it would be at the time. 

Yep- the series finale.

[dttruman]

2 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Tonight's MeTV offering is the one about a fictional tv show in which the real show's production crew plays the part of the fake show's production crew. The Mason-character's creator Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge. It's also the series finale, though as I understand it they didn't know it would be at the time. 

Earle Stanley Gardner is the judge in the second preliminary hearing.

[dttruman]

Did anyone watch "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee" today on MeTV? They are usually written and crafted so well, but there is one thing that wasn't really explained so well. Hartley Basset was gone for two years, but no reason was given. Just that he went to Manila with an assertion, that he ran off with an employee's wife. There was no communication from him at all, yet when he returns, he acted as if he did nothing out of the ordinary.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Looks like they won’t be airing the non-Perry Perry Mason movies. Next week they are airing Perry Mason Returns. I’ll make sure to have my hankie close by because that reunion and hug between Della and Perry always has me tearing up.

[dttruman]

12 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Looks like they won’t be airing the non-Perry Perry Mason movies. Next week they are airing Perry Mason Returns. I’ll make sure to have my hankie close by because that reunion and hug between Della and Perry always has me tearing up.

I can't remember for sure, I know they used different lawyers, but they still used Della and Malanski right? So I don't know why MeTV doesn't show them, they should.

[GHScorpiosRule]

6 hours ago, dttruman said:

I can't remember for sure, I know they used different lawyers, but they still used Della and Malanski right? So I don't know why MeTV doesn't show them, they should.

Yes, Della and Ken were used, but PERRY wasn't there-he was out of town or someplace else, because Raymond Burr had passed away. And they're not airing them because Raymond/Perry isn't there. Even on the original series, when Raymond couldn't do the episodes, and they had other actors filling in, we always got a scene or two of Raymond.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I KNEW I wasn't crazy!

Perry KISSED Della in the second to last movie that Raymond Burr appeared in: "The Case of the Telltale Talk Show Host" which aired last week! Della, after trying to get Perry to drink ghastly teas, made him some cocoa, and after saying he hadn't had it since he was a boy, he said he'd been waiting. For a long time. And Perry and Della KISS!!!!

Whaaaat?

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh Man. “The Case of the Killer Kiss” made me weepy. You could see how I’ll Raymond Burr was-he’d lost weight-you could see it in his face.

I think I remember reading or maybe it was Barbara, who said that he was so Ill that he sat in practically every scene. But he was determined to finish. For US. It was in that special after he died. And at he time, because he was popular-Bill Cosby hosted the special. I was hoping it would have been included in one of the DVDs-like maybe the one of this movie. And the dedication.

Sadness aside, it was great to see all those soap stars! And that Genie, Stuart, and Sean were on General Hospital at that time together! Linda Dano would show up a few years later.

Sigh…

Edited November 3, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

I'm watching The Case of the Crimson Kiss and I am utterly bewildered. The aunt finds two drugged women she can't wake up, and her first call is to a lawyer rather than a doctor or the police? The answering service directs her call to Perry, who is eating at a diner at 1:30 in the morning? He calls Della, who is also ready to go at a moment's notice despite the hour and joins him at the location. Perry then calls the police and reports the dead lothario, but he then attempts to play dumb when Tragg arrives despite the fact that Tragg will already know that Perry was in the apartment to see the body and make the call, right? And then Perry discards the key to the lothario's apartment, which I believe is tampering with evidence and a crime. Later as Perry gets a ride with Tragg, they appear to be driving through a rural orchard. Sure, LA was less built up in 1957. But orchards on the route to the hospital? Then Perry more or less assaults what's her name right there in court to get a print of her lipstick for comparison, and the judge is only mildly annoyed? Am I missing something or is this all just plain weird? 

[Milburn Stone]

4 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Am I missing something or is this all just plain weird? 

I 😂 'ed your post, GoTP, because it accurately points out how in the early episodes of Season 1, you can see the show finding its way in real time as it were. Mason at times seems to vacillate between the heavies that Burr was accustomed to playing in the movies, and some kind of Philip Marlowe wannabe. His relationship with Tragg is infused with hatred, not the congeniality-in-the-cause-of-justice it would later take on. The show eventually became something unique in television history, but at the beginning you can see it trying to imitate an existing genre (if it could just figure out which genre). I've never read the novels, but was it perhaps, in the early days, trying too hard to replicate their tone? 

[Maverick]

 I did a double take at hiding the key and grabbing the killer in the in the gallery was really WTF.  The rural part didn't bother me; Perry had them transferred to a sanitarium, which presumably would have been out of town in a country setting.   What was odd about it is surely by the time ambulance got there the cops would have been all over the building.  Also, Perry tells Tragg he'll meet him at the sanitarium in the morning but then they're riding together.

 Of course I wasn't paying enough attention because I missed how the killer got ahold of the glass and clothing to frame Perry's client.  More importantly, I missed why she framed Perry's client and not her roommate, who was the one actually having the affair.    The whole episode was odd.

[GHScorpiosRule]

9 minutes ago, Maverick said:

Of course I wasn't paying enough attention because I missed how the killer got ahold of the glass and clothing to frame Perry's client.  More importantly, I missed why she framed Perry's client and not her roommate, who was the one actually having the affair.    The whole episode was odd.

I have this in my queue to watch. But if I recall correctly, didn’t the roommate set her (client-sorry blanking on the names) up as being the one having the affair with the victim? And that’s why the killer-ex-lover? Ex-wife? set up Perry’s client for the murder?

I just remember yelling “Aunt Bea!” when I saw the aunt.

[dttruman]

9 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The aunt finds two drugged women she can't wake up, and her first call is to a lawyer rather than a doctor or the police? The answering service directs her call to Perry, who is eating at a diner at 1:30 in the morning?

I think Perry is a very close friend of the aunt who was coming in for a social event (wedding or just to meet the other family) and she didn't know anybody in L.A. except Perry.

10 hours ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Then Perry more or less assaults what's her name right there in court to get a print of her lipstick for comparison, and the judge is only mildly annoyed? Am I missing something or is this all just plain weird? 

At the end, when they fill us in, Perry was suspicious on why a women would rent apartment at a larger price than what a normal lease is.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 10/26/2022 at 10:09 AM, dttruman said:

Did anyone watch "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee" today on MeTV? They are usually written and crafted so well, but there is one thing that wasn't really explained so well. Hartley Basset was gone for two years, but no reason was given. Just that he went to Manila with an assertion, that he ran off with an employee's wife. There was no communication from him at all, yet when he returns, he acted as if he did nothing out of the ordinary.

Just watched this. It wasn’t stated that Bassett left for Manila. Or that he left with Woodman’s (the plant superintendent) wife. She happened to have left around the same time. When Woodman accused him of that, Basset looked confused.

I think he left because the company was going bankrupt and he came back for reasons not explained-he was murdered before he could to his wife. At least that’s what he said he would do.  And it turned out he didn’t steal the $6,000 that went missing at the same time.

Woodman said he had proof that his wife left with Basset, but he didn’t say what the proof was.

Sometimes this show doesn’t give us all the details. 

But YUM!!! A very dashing ❤️💕💗❤️Robert Redford!!❤️💗💕❤️

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And it turned out he didn’t steal the $6,000 that went missing at the same time.

I can't believe Bassett was killed for just $6000

[GHScorpiosRule]

BOOOOOOO!!!! Perry Mason Returns didn’t record!🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Guess I’ll just pop in the DVD, even though it doesn’t provide closed captioning!

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Last night in a season 1 episode a young woman hitchhiker caught a ride from a business man, then her partner tried to blackmail the business man, but Perry forestalled that by giving the blackmailer a check which appeared falsified but was actually valid. Thus if the blackmailer went ahead with the scam Perry could have him prosecuted for forgery. 

But the thing is, I could swear that is the plot of a later episode. Am I confused or did they actually use the same story twice? 

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 11/5/2022 at 3:39 AM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Perry then calls the police and reports the dead lothario, but he then attempts to play dumb when Tragg arrives despite the fact that Tragg will already know that Perry was in the apartment to see the body and make the call, right? And then Perry discards the key to the lothario's apartment, which I believe is tampering with evidence and a crime. Later as Perry gets a ride with Tragg, they appear to be driving through a rural orchard. Sure, LA was less built up in 1957. But orchards on the route to the hospital? Then Perry more or less assaults what's her name right there in court to get a print of her lipstick for comparison, and the judge is only mildly annoyed?

Just watched this last night.

How would Tragg know that Perry had been in Walsh/Carve’s apartment?

The key he stuck in the plant was Anita’s (blonde roommate) copy that she put in Fay’s purse, where Perry and Della found it.
It was Anita who set up Fay, because the guy she was engaged to, used to date Anita, and dumped her. Anita set up Fay so it looked like Fay was the one having the affair, and dosed the hot chocolate. 
 

Perry didn’t get a ride to the private hospital with Tragg. He met him there later that morning. He drove back to the city with Tragg.

On 11/5/2022 at 11:16 AM, Maverick said:

I did a double take at hiding the key and grabbing the killer in the in the gallery was really WTF

And here’s where I disagree about Perry “assaulting” Sarah, the killer. She turned around and Perry pressed the napkin? Paper? against her lips for a second before she pulled away. He didn’t hold it against her mouth as if applying chloroform as one would do when kidnapping or trying to knock someone out. And she killed him because she loved him.🙄🙄 Actually because he had promised to marry her, get a divorce. But he didn’t.

Louise found Fay and Anita around 1:30. It was around 1:30 when Perry and Della arrived. I figure Perry and Della didn’t get any sleep until it was night again. Even Paul told him he needed sleep. And Della really was his Girl Friday.

I LOVE early seasons Perry. Hell, I Love him, period. 

But that’s just me.

[Schnickelfritz]

28 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Last night in a season 1 episode a young woman hitchhiker caught a ride from a business man, then her partner tried to blackmail the business man, but Perry forestalled that by giving the blackmailer a check which appeared falsified but was actually valid. Thus if the blackmailer went ahead with the scam Perry could have him prosecuted for forgery. 

But the thing is, I could swear that is the plot of a later episode. Am I confused or did they actually use the same story twice? 

They did repeat the same plot a few times. Both this one (Case of the Vagabond Vixen) and S9E14 (Case of the Golden Girls) are based on Gardner's novel The Case of the Vagabond Virgin.

Good catch!

Here is a list of the repeated episode plots...

https://www.perrymasontvseries.com/wiki/index.php/Main/RepeatedEpisodes

[alvajon]

4 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I LOVE early seasons Perry. Hell, I Love him, period. 

But that’s just me.

You’re not the only one, GHSCORPIOSRULE :) 

[dttruman]

11 hours ago, alvajon said:

16 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I LOVE early seasons Perry. Hell, I Love him, period. 

But that’s just me.

You’re not the only one, GHSCORPIOSRULE :) 

There were episodes that didn't have repeated plots, but did have occurrences where Perry try to confuse the police for guns used in crimes. He would take a gun belonging to another client and taking it to a crime scene and firing shots in to different objects to confuse the police.

The very 1st episode

The one where a husband gambles away $60,000 and wife is killed because she was trying to get part of it. Perry wants "Everybody to be Happy"

The other one I remember was a daughter was suspected of murdering her father's killer who was trying to buy property from the daughter for a casino (or race track) for a syndicate.

[sempervivum]

18 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

I LOVE early seasons Perry.

Me, too. I was 7 years old when the show began, and I've been star-struck by him ever since.

It's amazing how fast he gained back the 60 lbs. he supposedly lost in order to win the role, though. The series lasted 9 years, but he aged 20 years to my eyes. Paul got a lot bulkier, too.

[GHScorpiosRule]

34 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

It's amazing how fast he gained back the 60 lbs. he supposedly lost in order to win the role, though. The series lasted 9 years, but he aged 20 years to my eyes. Paul got a lot bulkier, too.

He hated having to lose all that weight. I think Barbara Hale talks about that in the interviews with her. I think what he was comfortable with was the look in seasons 2-6? Toward the end he got heavier due to his back issues, I think.

I didn't notice it that much with William Hopper, though. Then again it ran for nearly 10 years, and Hopper was a Navy Seal, I think? Or was he in the Marines?

I think Barbara was the only one who stayed the same--

Interestingly enough, we got Wesley Lau as Perry's client in the second episode of the fifth seaon; and he would show up as Lieutenant Andy whatever until the end of season 8. But no mention of him whatsoever when Richard Anderson took over as Drumm. But Sgt. Brice stayed through the end.

[chessiegal]

My husband likes the early episodes because they have a film noir feel.

[dttruman]

6 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

But Sgt. Brice stayed through the end.

Brice never said a word for a few seasons. He was always seen but never heard until he got to say some lines every now and then. My first impression of Brice was he looked like a tough cop who could handle himself, but when he spoke, he sounded like a nice pleasant guy.

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Speaking of repeated plots, Perry has now had 2 girls chased by guard dogs onto his boat, which happened to be passing at the time. What are the odds? 

I've read that this was one of the first long-running series in tv history and I guess they were were working out the rules for this sort of thing as they went. Does anyone know how audiences at the time reacted to recycled plots? 

[Milburn Stone]

39 minutes ago, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Does anyone know how audiences at the time reacted to recycled plots? 

This is just an educated guess, but I think at most they would have a vague sense of deja vu without knowing exactly why. 

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Never pick up hitchhikers. It just never ends well. 

[dttruman]

On 11/11/2022 at 2:35 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Speaking of repeated plots, Perry has now had 2 girls chased by guard dogs onto his boat, which happened to be passing at the time. What are the odds? 

I've read that this was one of the first long-running series in tv history and I guess they were were working out the rules for this sort of thing as they went. Does anyone know how audiences at the time reacted to recycled plots? 

Since there were a multitude of episodes per season back then, you were lucky to see a specific episode twice in a season, you could only see it between 8pm and 11pm, and you may see it next when it went into syndication 5-10 years later. So by the time you saw an episode with a similar plot, you would be having vague thoughts of Deja Vu.

Edited November 26, 2022 by dttruman

[roseha]

Yes and of course there were no VCRs or DVRs or Tivos back then.  If you missed the show when it was on, you missed it!   Other than one more showing for the summer re-run I would think. 

[GHScorpiosRule]

I know I’ve said it before, but watching season one on feTV, Raymond is just soooo❤️💗❤️😍😍💗❤️ We really need a swooning emoji.

And I can’t believe I had forgotten that Richard Anderson appeared twice before he was cast as Steve Drumm.

And I continue to 🤬🤬🤬🤬at the moronic and idiotic clients who lie to Perry and don’t tell him the truth, AND expect him to get them cleared.

And now after umpreenth viewings, realized no Della or Barbara Hale in season 7’s “The Case of the Frightened Fisherman” just Gertie.

Other things:

While we’ve figured out why some words and names like Dick, Hispanic, Suspicious, Cocktail are censored, I’m trying to figure out why MeTV censors Winnipeg. because of “nip”? Yet feTV doesn’t censor any of those words. And both are HD channels, but the former has the episodes shaped like a square, not filling my entire teevee screen, so I can see about two inches of the black on the left and right sides. With the latter, the show fills the entire screen!

[GHScorpiosRule]

OH! I don't remember if I mentioned this, but in season 7's "The Case of the Missing Button" we have the parents of the wee girl, Button, played by Julie Adams and Ed Nelson--who would 20 odd years later, play a married couple, Senator Mark Denning and Paula Denning (faking being an agoraphobic) on the short lived soap, Capitol. And Denning was in love with Clarissa--who was played by...(drum roll please) Constance Towers, another Perry Mason alumni!

[GHScorpiosRule]

feTV will be airing the movies from Sunday - Friday night through Christmas Eve. They will also be airing the non-Raymond Burr movies, from what I could see on the schedule.

[GHScorpiosRule]

Well, this is odd. It seems that feTV is only airing the first non-Perry movie with Sgt Phil Cerreta Paul Sorvino, and then the next movie will be Perry Mason Returns.

Edited November 30, 2022 by GHScorpiosRule

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Two tidbits about last night's MeTV episode (the name of which I forgot to note). Firstly, the flag in the courtroom only had 48 stars, which is correct for the time (Alaska and Hawaii became states part-way through the show's run) and I thought it was interesting. But there may be a continuity error in that the defendant of the week was said to be in Perry's "company" during the war, while other eps tell us Perry was in the Navy and the Navy only uses the term "company" for a few kinds of special purpose units. The term "company" is far more common for Army and Marines. Maybe nothing. Just discussing. :) 

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Last night's ep surprised me with one of my first crushes, Nita Talbot. 

That's what she looked like in 1958 and she actually got better looking as she got older. 💘

[peacheslatour]

On 12/23/2022 at 3:35 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

Last night's ep surprised me with one of my first crushes, Nita Talbot. 

That's what she looked like in 1958 and she actually got better looking as she got older. 💘

Patricia Berry was in quite a few and later she was even in an episode of Columbo.

 

[dttruman]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

On 12/23/2022 at 6:35 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

That's what she looked like in 1958 and she actually got better looking as she got older. 💘

Patricia Berry was in quite a few and later she was even in an episode of Columbo.

 

The last time i saw her and a couple of the other ladies from this era was together in the Beauty Shop of Cabot Cove on Murder She Wrote

[dttruman]

I once mentioned which actors have been the murder victim, the accused who stood trial, and the murderer. Sort of the Trifecta of the Perry Mason tv series. I just now wonder which actor has been the murder victim the most, the accused the most, and the murderer the most?

[Schnickelfritz]

According to the Perry Mason wiki-

Actor as victim - George Neise  (four times)

Actor as accused - Lurene Tuttle appeared as a defendant 4 times

Actor as the murderer - 9 actors tied for that honor with 3 times - Malcolm Atterbury, Joan Banks, Richard Erdman, Alan Hewitt, Dabbs Greer, Robert H. Harris, Jeanette Nolan, Denver Pyle and Mary La Roche

There were also 12 actors who appeared as all 3 during the run of the series - Robert Armstrong, John Conte, Robert H. Harris, Stacy Harris, Hugh Marlow, Diana Millay), Mala Powers, Denver Pyle (accused twice, murderer 3 times and victim once), Herbert Rudley, Vaughn Taylor, Bill Williams  and H. M. Wynant.

Edited January 31 by Schnickelfritz

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

The musical score is somewhat over-the-top at times in season 2. Also, what's with the odd habit of casting actresses with much older actors as their husbands? 

[peacheslatour]

On 1/31/2023 at 5:30 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The musical score is somewhat over-the-top at times in season 2. Also, what's with the odd habit of casting actresses with much older actors as their husbands? 

Ask Leonardo DiCaprio.

[dttruman]

On 1/31/2023 at 8:30 PM, Ghost of TWOP Past said:

The musical score is somewhat over-the-top at times in season 2. Also, what's with the odd habit of casting actresses with much older actors as their husbands? 

Gloria Talbott was probably one of those actresses who was young, but she played a married lady who was some what naive in all her parts

[dttruman]

Another thing I always liked about Perry Mason was the way they developed or wrote for the judge. It always seemed like a realistic type trial where different situations occurred and the judge was honestly and objectively trying to sort out each legal complication. Even when each judge was cast, they always chose someone who portrayed a competent and knowledgeable judge, and over the years, they became more progressive where gender and race didn't matter.

Edited February 22 by dttruman

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

On 2/22/2023 at 8:14 AM, dttruman said:

Another thing I always liked about Perry Mason was the way they developed or wrote for the judge. It always seemed like a realistic type trial where different situations occurred and the judge was honestly and objectively trying to sort out each legal complication. Even when each judge was cast, they always chose someone who portrayed a competent and knowledgeable judge, and over the years, they became more progressive where gender and race didn't matter.

In one episode the judge is black, and he was played by... an actual black judge. This was in 1963. 

https://reelrundown.com/tv/Perry-Mason-The-Case-of-the-Silent-Black-Judge-and-More 

Meanwhile, last night's METV offering was The Case of the Bashful Burro. Did I hear correctly that the assayer was supposed to be from Wales? Because judging by that bizarre accent, I would have guessed he'd grown up in Mumbai. 

[roseha]

Speaking of the music, which I really like in this show, i was watching "....Gallant Grafter" again last night and there's a certain "haunting" musical passage that I swear was also used at times in episodes of Star Trek.  But I really don't know how I'd go about trying to confirm that.