A series of 30

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

s aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from 1985 to 1995 as sequels to the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

TV series ''

''. After a hiatus of nearly 20 years,

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...

reprised his role as Los Angeles defense attorney Mason in 26 of the television films. Following Burr's death in 1993,

Paul Sorvino Paul Anthony Sorvino (, ; April 13, 1939 – July 25, 2022) was an American actor. He often portrayed authority figures on both the criminal and the law enforcement sides of the law. Sorvino was particularly known for his roles as Lucchese cri ...

and

Hal Holbrook Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called ''Mark Twain Tonight!'' ...

starred in the remaining four television films that aired from 1993 to 1995, with Sorvino playing lawyer Anthony Caruso in the first of these and Holbrook playing "Wild Bill" McKenzie in the last three.

Production

Development

The original ''

'' television series was broadcast on

television from 1957 to 1966.

starred as Los Angeles

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

, a character created by American author and attorney

Erle Stanley Gardner Erle Stanley Gardner (July 17, 1889 – March 11, 1970) was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of crime fiction, detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of ...

. Television producer

Dean Hargrove Dean Hargrove (born July 27, 1938 in Iola, Kansas) is an American television producer, writer, and director. His background includes graduating the St. John's Military School, Wichita State University, and attending the UCLA Film School as a gradu ...

resurrected the Perry Mason character in a series of

s for

beginning in 1985.

Casting

Dean Hargrove was able to bring back the two then-surviving major stars, Raymond Burr and

Barbara Hale Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017) was an American actress who portrayed legal secretary Della Street in the dramatic television series ''Perry Mason (1957 TV series), Perry Mason'' (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award f ...

, reprising their roles as Mason and his private secretary Della Street. In the first telefilm, ''Perry Mason Returns'', Mason resigns his position as an

appellate court A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

judge to defend Street on a murder charge.

William Katt William Theodore Katt (born February 16, 1951) is an American actor and musician best known as the star of the television series ''The Greatest American Hero''. He first became known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie W ...

, Hale's own son, was cast as private investigator Paul Drake, Jr., the son of original series’ private investigator Paul Drake.

William Hopper William DeWolf Hopper Jr. (January 26, 1915 – March 6, 1970) was an American stage, film, and television actor. The only child of actor DeWolf Hopper and actress and Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper, he appeared in predominantly minor ro ...

, who played Drake, had died in 1970; his photograph appears on Paul Drake Jr.'s desk. Katt appeared in the first nine movies before being dropped from the series. In the later TV movies, Mason utilizes the services of Ken Malansky (

William R. Moses William Remington Moses (born November 17, 1959) is an American actor. Early life Moses was born in Los Angeles, the son of actress Marian McCargo (1932–2004) and advertising executive Richard Cantrell Moses Sr., who married in 1951 and divor ...

), an attorney who works with him as a private investigator. Malansky's character is introduced in ''The Case of the Lethal Lesson'' (1989), as a law student who is defended by Mason on a murder charge. Among the actors to appear in major recurring roles were

David Ogden Stiers David Allen Ogden Stiers ( ; October 31, 1942 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor and conductor. He appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, and originated the role of Feldman in ''The Magic Show'', in which he appeared for four ...

as District Attorney Michael Reston (1986–1988),

James McEachin James McEachin (born May 20, 1930) is an American author and retired actor. Military career McEachin served in the United States Army before, and then during, the Korean War. Serving in King Company, 9th Infantry Regiment (United States), 2nd I ...

as police Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Ed Brock (1986–1995), and

Alexandra Paul Alexandra Elizabeth Paul (born July 29, 1963) is an American actress, activist, health coach, and former model. Paul began her career modeling in New York before landing her first major role in John Carpenter's horror film ''Christine'' (1983). ...

as Ken Malansky's girlfriend Amy Hastings (1989).

Filming

Budgeted at $3 million, ''Perry Mason Returns'' was filmed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, standing in for

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to save production costs. Because of lower production costs, many of the later TV movies were filmed and set in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

rather than Mason's traditional locale of Los Angeles. Although located in Colorado, a courtroom wall shown at the end of the opening title sequence bears a

Seal of Los Angeles County, California The first Seal of the County of Los Angeles was established in 1887 and has been changed three times since then. It is used on official county documents, vehicular decals, on buildings, and is displayed on the bear-top shield badge worn by u ...

plaque.

Music

Fred Steiner Frederick Steiner (February 24, 1923 – June 23, 2011) was an American composer, conductor, orchestrator, film historian and arranger for television, radio and film. Steiner wrote the theme music for ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show'' an ...

's theme music was re-recorded by composer

Dick DeBenedictis Richard “Dick” DeBenedictis (born January 23, 1937) is an American composer noted for composing music for television shows including ''Perry Mason'' and its movies from 1985 until 1993, '' Police Story'', '' Columbo'', '' Father Dowling Myster ...

; Steiner himself arranged the theme at DeBenedictis's request.

After Burr's death

A total of 30 movies were made between 1985 and 1995, with Burr starring in 26. After Burr died in 1993,

and

starred in the final four telefilms from 1993 to 1995. These four films were presented as ''A Perry Mason Mystery'', with Sorvino starring as Anthony Caruso in the first film and Holbrook starring as Bill "Wild Bill" McKenzie in the remaining three. Their characters are introduced as both lawyers and close friends of Mason, who is ostensibly out of town. Both Barbara Hale and William R. Moses reprised their roles for all four films, although in the final film in 1995, Hale contributed only a small cameo with

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). F ...

substituting for her. Hale said that continuing the series was suggested by Burr. "Raymond was so concerned that the crew keep working - we'd been with the same crew for six years. He felt we must keep going as long as the audience was as kind to us as they are. It's the show that will keep going, but not the character. I do think it's a sweet memorial."

Television films

Raymond Burr films

''A Perry Mason Mystery''

Reception

''Perry Mason Returns'', the first television film in the series, was the second-highest-rated TV movie in American television during the 1985–86 season.

Awards

* 1988: ''Perry Mason: The Case of the Avenging Ace'' received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Special (Dramatic Underscore) at the

40th Primetime Emmy Awards The 40th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, August 28, 1988. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. The ceremony was pushed back from its newly established September date because of ...

. The composer was

. * 1990: ''Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer'' was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics at the

42nd Primetime Emmy Awards The 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, September 16, 1990. The ceremony was broadcast on Fox from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. Two networks, The Family Channel and The Disney Channel, received their first m ...

, for a song composed by Dick DeBenedictis.

Home media

All 30 Perry Mason television films are available on Region 1 DVD. They were released in five six-film sets that were initially available exclusively through

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

. On June 7, 2016, the first four movie collections were given general retail release.

References

External links

Perry Mason TV Series Wiki

Perry Mason TV Showbook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry Mason (Tv film series) 1980s American drama television series 1990s American drama television series 1980s American legal television series 1990s American legal television series 1985 American television series debuts 1995 American television series endings Film series introduced in 1985 Courtroom drama television series American courtroom films English-language television shows NBC network original films Perry Mason Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series by CBS Studios Television series reunion films Television film series