''Perry Mason'' is an American

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series created by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald for HBO. It is based on the character of the same name by

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 detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction b ...

. The series stars

Matthew Rhys Matthew Rhys Evans ( ; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Kevin Walker in '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in ''The Americans'' (2013–2018), for which he received two Golden Globe Awar ...

in the title role and premiered on June 21, 2020. In July 2020, HBO renewed the series for a second season. In April 2021, it was announced that Jones and Fitzgerald left the series and were replaced as showrunners by

Jack Amiel Jack Amiel is an American TV writer, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating Cinemax's period medical drama ''The Knick'', and for writing the films ''Raising Helen'' (2004), '' The Shaggy Dog'' (2006) and '' Big Miracle'' (2 ...

and Michael Begler. The second season is set to premiere on March 6, 2023.

Premise

The series focuses on the origin story of famed defense lawyer Perry Mason. In 1932,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

is prospering while the rest of the U.S. is recovering from the grip of the Great Depression. Down-and-out private investigator Perry Mason is struggling with his trauma from

The Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and being divorced. He is hired for a sensational child kidnapping trial; his investigation results in major consequences for Mason, those around him, and local leaders.

Cast and characters

Main

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 c ...

, a low-rent private investigator who later becomes a lawyer *

Juliet Rylance Juliet Rylance (born Juliet van Kampen; 26 July 1979) is an English actress and producer, known for her roles in ''The Knick'' and ''McMafia''. Early life Rylance was born as Juliet van Kampen in Hammersmith, London, to Claire van Kampen, a c ...

Della Street Della Street is the fictional secretary of Perry Mason in the long-running series of novels, short stories, films, and radio and television programs featuring the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner. In 1950, Gardner publ ...

, the loyal and driven legal secretary of E.B. Jonathan *

Chris Chalk Christopher Eugene Chalk (born December 7, 1977) is an American actor. Early life Born in Asheville, North Carolina, studied at Asheville High School and graduated in 1996 and went to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Career Chalk ...

as Paul Drake, a beat cop with a knack for detective work *

Shea Whigham Franklin Shea Whigham Jr. (born January 5, 1969) is an American actor best known for portraying Elias "Eli" Thompson in the drama series ''Boardwalk Empire''. He also appeared in the first season of ''True Detective'' and the third season of ' ...

as Pete Strickland (season 1; recurring season 2), Mason's work partner *

Tatiana Maslany Tatiana Gabriele Maslany ( ; born September 22, 1985) is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for playing multiple characters in the science fiction thriller television series ''Orphan Black'' (2013–2017), which won her a Primetime Emmy ...

as Sister Alice McKeegan (season 1), a

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as ...

and leader of the Radiant Assembly of God * John Lithgow as Elias Birchard "E.B." Jonathan (season 1), a struggling attorney and regular employer of Perry Mason *

Eric Lange Eric Lange (born February 19, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both supporting and leading roles. Lange played the recurring roles of Stuart Radzinsky on the ''ABC'' ...

as Gene Holcomb (season 2; recurring season 1), an LAPD homicide detective *

Justin Kirk Justin Kirk (born May 28, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Prior Walter in Mike Nichols's screen adaptation of ''Angels in America'', for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ...

Hamilton Burger Hamilton Burger is the fictional Los Angeles County District Attorney (D.A.) in the long-running series of novels, films, and radio and television programs featuring Perry Mason, the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner. Ch ...

(season 2; recurring season 1), assistant district attorney offering Mason legal advice *

Diarra Kilpatrick Diarra Kilpatrick (born ) is an American actress. She is best known for acting on the ABC Digital series ''American Koko'' and HBO's ''Perry Mason''. Kilpatrick also appeared in '' Private Practice'', '' The Last O.G''., and ''The Twilight Zon ...

as Clara Drake (season 2; recurring season 1), Paul's wife *

Katherine Waterston Katherine Boyer Waterston (born March 3, 1980) is a British-American actress. She made her feature film debut in '' Michael Clayton'' (2007). She had supporting roles in films including '' Robot & Frank,'' ''Being Flynn'' (both 2012) and '' The ...

as Ginny Aimes (season 2)

Recurring

Gayle Rankin Gayle Rankin is a Scottish actress, best known as Sheila the She-Wolf in the TV series '' GLOW''. She also played the role of Queen Victoria in ''The Greatest Showman'' and Emily Dodson in HBO's ''Perry Mason''. Early life Rankin trained at the ...

as Emily Dodson (season 1), the mother of Charlie Dodson, a one-year-old child who is mysteriously kidnapped * Nate Corddry as Matthew Dodson (season 1), a grocery store owner whose one-year-old son, Charlie, is kidnapped * Verónica Falcón as Lupe Gibbs, an accomplished pilot and the owner of a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...

who is in a sexual relationship with Mason *

Jefferson Mays Lewis Jefferson Mays (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Ob ...

as Virgil Sheets, an attendant at the city morgue and a friend of Mason's *

Andrew Howard Andrew Howard (born June 12, 1969, in Cardiff, Wales) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Training Howard trained at Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter in the late 1980s, touring in productions of ''A Christmas Carol'', ''Twelfth Night ...

as Joe Ennis (season 1), an LAPD homicide detective *

Robert Patrick Robert Hammond Patrick (born November 5, 1958) is an American actor. Known for portraying villains and honorable authority figures, he is a Saturn Award winner with four other nominations. Patrick dropped out of college when drama class sparke ...

as Herman Baggerly (season 1), Matthew's father, a powerful industrialist at Southern California who hires E.B. and Mason to investigate the kidnapping *

Stephen Root Stephen Root (born November 17, 1951) is an American actor. He has starred as Jimmy James on the television sitcom '' NewsRadio'', as Milton Waddams in the film ''Office Space'' (1999), and provided the voices of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickl ...

as Maynard Barnes, the formidable district attorney of Los Angeles County *

Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films ''Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s i ...

as Birdy McKeegan (season 1), Alice's mother and advisor *

Matt Frewer Matthew George Frewer (born January 4, 1958) is an American-Canadian actor, singer and comedian. He portrayed the 1980s icon Max Headroom in the 1985 TV movie and 1987 television series of the same names. He became prominent when playing role ...

as Judge Frederick "Fred" Wright (season 1), the judge in the Charlie Dodson murder case * David Wilson Barnes as Elder Brown (season 1), a member of the Radiant Assembly of God * Taylor Nichols as Elder/Deacon Eric Q. Seidel (season 1), a member of the Radiant Assembly of God *

Aaron Stanford Aaron Stanford (born December 27, 1976) is an American actor best known for his roles as Pyro in '' X2'' and '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and Doug in the 2006 remake of '' The Hills Have Eyes''. From 2010 to 2013, he starred as Birkhoff in '' N ...

as George "Pinky Ring" Gannon (season 1), a man with a critical connection to the Dodson case *

Molly Ephraim Molly Ephraim (born May 22, 1986) is an American actress who has appeared in films, television, and Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theater productions. She is best known for her role as Mandy Baxter on the ABC sitcom '' Last Man Standing' ...

as Hazel Prystock, Street's fellow boarding house tenant and secretly romantic partner *

Gretchen Mol Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ( ...

as Linda Mason, Perry's ex-wife *

Jenny O'Hara Patricia Joanne "Jenny" O'Hara (born February 24, 1942) is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for Dixie in ''My Sister Sam'' (1986–1988), Janet Heffernan in ''The King of Queens'' (2001–2007), and Nita in ''B ...

as June Pitlick (season 1), the owner of the boarding house where Street lives *

Michael McMillian Michael McMillian (born October 21, 1978) is an American actor and writer, known for his roles as Henry Gibson on '' What I Like About You'', Steve Newlin on the HBO series ''True Blood'', Owen on ''Hot in Cleveland'' and Tim in ''Crazy Ex-Girl ...

as Oliver Fogg (season 1), one of Della's fellow lodgers *Todd Weeks as Jim Hicks (season 1), an accountant who worked for George Gannon and others * Andrew Divoff as Al Howard (season 1), the owner of the casino where George Gannon worked *

Hope Davis Hope Davis is an American actress. She is known for her performances on stage and screen earning various awards and nominations including a Tony Award nomination, as well two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Award nominations. She m ...

as Camilla Nygaard (season 2) *Jon Chaffin as Morris (season 2) *Fabrizio Guido as Rafael Gallardo (season 2) *Peter Mendoza as Mateo Gallardo (season 2) *Onohoua Rodriguez as Luisa Gallardo (season 2) *Jee Young Han as Marion Kang (season 2) *

Sean Astin Sean Patrick Astin (né Duke; February 25, 1971) is an American actor. His acting roles include Samwise Gamgee in ''The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003), Mikey Walsh in ''The Goonies'' (1985), Daniel Ruettiger in '' Rudy'' (1993), Dou ...

as Sunny Gryce (season 2) * Tommy Dewey as Brooks McCutcheon (season 2) * Paul Raci as Lydell McCutcheon (season 2) *

Jen Tullock Jen Tullock is an American actress. Early life Tullock was raised in the Louisville, Kentucky, area. She was raised in the evangelical church, where she first performed. She studied acting at Millikin University and graduated with a BFA in Acti ...

as Anita St. Pierre (season 2) * Mark O'Brien as Thomas Milligan (season 2) *

Wallace Langham James Wallace Langham II (born March 11, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the role of Phil the Head Writer on ''The Larry Sanders Show''. He has also played the roles of David Hodges on the crime drama television series '' ...

as Melville Phipps (season 2)

Episodes

Production

Development

On August 15, 2016, it was reported that HBO was developing a drama series based on the ''

'' stories written by

. The production was expected to be written by

Nic Pizzolatto Nicholas Austin Pizzolatto (born October 18, 1975) is an American writer, producer and director. He is best known for creating the HBO crime drama series ''True Detective''. Early life Pizzolatto was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He is of It ...

, who was also set to executive produce alongside

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

and Joe Horacek. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Team Downey. On August 25, 2017, it was announced that Pizzolatto had dropped out of the production in order to focus on the third season of ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American anthology crime drama television series created and written by Nic Pizzolatto. The series, broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States, premiered on January 12, 2014. Each season of the ...

'' and that he was being replaced as the project's writer by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald. The HBO revival and reboot adapted its setting to Great Depression-era Los Angeles, some twenty years earlier than the CBS show (but in line with the earliest novels by Gardner). On January 14, 2019, it was announced that HBO had given the production an order as a limited series. It was further announced that Jones, Fitzgerald, Susan Downey, and Amanda Burrell would serve as additional executive producers, that

would serve as a producer, and that the production was in the process of hiring a director. Jones and Fitzgerald serve as

showrunners A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

for the series as well. In March, Tim Van Patten was announced as director and executive producer. On July 22, 2020, it was revealed HBO had decided to turn ''Perry Mason'' into a regular series, renewing it for a second season. On April 23, 2021, it was announced Jones and Fitzgerald left the series and were replaced as showrunners by

and Michael Begler. The second season is scheduled to premiere on March 6, 2023.

Casting

Alongside the initial development announcement, it was said that

would star as the titular

. On July 25, 2018, it was reported that Downey had dropped out of the role due to his feature film schedule and that a search for his replacement was ongoing. On January 14, 2019, it was announced that

had been cast to replace Downey.

joined in April. John Lithgow was added to the cast in May. In June,

and

were cast in lead roles, with Nate Corddry,

Veronica Falcón Veronica, Veronika, etc., may refer to: People * Veronica (name) * Saint Veronica * Saint Veronica of Syria Arts and media Comics and literature * ''Veronica'', an 1870 novel by Frances Eleanor Trollope * ''Veronica'', a 2005 novel by Mary Gai ...

and

set in recurring roles.

and

joined in July.

would be added in October. In "Chapter 5", John Lithgow's real-life son Ian Lithgow appears as Byron Jonathan, E.B. Jonathan's son. For the second season, Lange and Kirk were promoted to series regulars.

, who recurred in season 1 as Clara Drake, was upgraded to series regular in October 2021 in addition to

joining as a new series regular, and

among 5 cast in recurring roles. In January 2022, it was announced Whigham would be returning in a recurring capacity, while

, Tommy Dewey, Paul Raci and Jen Tullock were cast in recurring roles.

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, season one holds an approval rating of 77% based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Brimming with top notch performances and dripping in style, ''Perry Mason''s compelling mystery more than makes up for its somewhat messy story." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the season has a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Ben Travers of ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' said that season one is "built with confidence, patience, and a voice calibrated for today's audiences" and gave it a "B+", writing: "''Perry Mason'' stands as an astounding visual feat for its specific framings as well as its overall world-building. There are striking images of a pitch-black profile and lavish outdoor shots of real Los Angeles locations. In some shows, intimate conversations between two people can clash with the grander scenes... ''Mason'' has the intuition (and the budget) to not just balance visual opulence with smaller, private moments, but to blend them."

Ratings

With 1.7 million viewers across all platforms, the debut of ''Perry Mason'' was the strongest of any HBO series for two years.

Accolades

Note

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry Mason (2020 TV series) Perry Mason 2020 American television series debuts 2020s American crime drama television series 2020s American legal television series American detective television series English-language television shows Great Depression television series HBO original programming Neo-noir television series Serial drama television series Television series reboots Television series set in 1932 Television shows based on American novels Television shows set in Los Angeles Television series by Home Box Office