Overview
Each episode's format is essentially the same: the first half of the show usually depicts the prospective murder victim as being deserving of homicide, often with Perry's client publicly threatening to kill the victim; the body is found (often by Perry and his private investigator, Paul Drake (played by William Hopper), who through circumstance happen to stumble upon the body) surrounded by clues pointing to Perry's client. Perry's client is charged with murder, but (in the second-half courtroom setting) Perry establishes his client's innocence by dramatically demonstrating the guilt of another character. The murderer nearly always breaks down and confesses to the crime in the courtroom – if not on the witness stand, then in the arms of the bailiff, who blocks the murderer's effort to escape into the hallway.
In most episodes, the identity of the guilty party is uncovered without an actual trial being held. Instead, this occurs at the preliminary hearing stage, wherein the district attorney is only required to produce enough evidence to convince the judge that the defendant should be bound over for trial (this spared the company the expense of twelve extras in a jury box). During this stage, other malefactors (blackmailers, frauds, forgers, etc.) are frequently forced into confessions by Mason's relentless and clever questioning, and the real killer is exposed. At this point, it was common for the camera to zoom in on the faces of the potentially guilty (visibly uncomfortable in their seats and usually guilty of other crimes) as Mason slowly, but surely moves to the climactic identification of the real murderer, who confesses, often to the accompaniment of a kettledrum-laden orchestral score, followed by a fadeout to black as the show went to commercial. In the closing scene (the epilogue), the characters often gathered together, to discuss how the case was solved. Occasionally, Mason invites District Attorney Hamilton Burger and Police Lieutenant Arthur Tragg to join them.
In a few episodes, Burger and Tragg are shown teaming up with Mason to catch the killer. In one episode, after Mason's client is convicted, Burger provides assistance to Perry which ultimately leads to the verdict being reversed just as the client is being prepared for the gas chamber.
Barbara Hale played Perry's confidential secretary, Della Street. Just when things were at their bleakest, Drake would often rush into the courtroom with vital information or evidence to turn the tables on the prosecution in the nick of time.
Scattered throughout the run were episodes that would take place beyond Burger's jurisdiction as District Attorney of Los Angeles. In 1960, when William Talman, who played Hamilton Burger, was suspended for allegedly violating the morals clause in his contract, several assistant prosecutors were seen in court. Talman had attended a party at which he was charged with having engaged in indecent activities. He was later acquitted, and largely through the efforts of Burr, Talman was reinstated to the show. Erle Stanley Gardner claimed that Raymond Burr originally auditioned for the role of Burger; Gardner said he intervened personally to ensure that Burr was picked to play Mason instead.
Ray Collins played Police Lieutenant Arthur Tragg. His appearances diminished toward the end of the 1963–64 season (he was 67 when the series began and died in the summer of 1965), and he was assisted by Wesley Lau as Lieutenant Andy Anderson, who took over from Tragg until the end of the 1964–65 season. Thereafter, Richard Anderson as Lieutenant Steve Drumm had the job. Several episodes took place outside the city of Los Angeles proper but still within the county (and Burger's jurisdiction), and often featured Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Sergeant Ben Landro (Mort Mills) fulfilling the police detective's functions. Others took place even further away, with both prosecutor and police played by guest actors. One, "The Case of a Place Called Midnight" (November 12, 1964), was set in West Germany and Switzerland and featured no series regular other than Burr (the previous episode, "The Case of the Bullied Bowler", had been filmed without an ailing Burr, and this one reflected the excuse given there for Mason's absence).
Among the actors appearing as judges were John Gallaudet, S. John Launer (the father of Dale Launer, who wrote My Cousin Vinny), Bill Zuckert, Morris Ankrum, and Kenneth MacDonald, well known for his appearances as a villain in Three Stooges shorts. Connie Cezon, who had a recurring role as Gertrude "Gertie" Lade, Perry's receptionist, had also appeared in a number of Three Stooges short films. After the series ended, several of the actors who played different character roles during the series worked for Jack Webb in the 1967–70 Dragnet series. Erle Stanley Gardner played the judge in the last episode of the original series.
The series set a precedent for future mystery series in being the first detective show to feature either a tape or chalk outline to mark the spot where the murder victim's body had been found. This first appeared in the episode "The Case of the Perjured Parrot." However, Gardner used this idea in a much earlier book, Double Or Quits (1941) written under his pen name of A. A. Fair.
The theme music, "Park Avenue Beat", by Fred Steiner, is one of television's most recognizable themes. When asked why Perry Mason won every case, Burr said, "But madam, you see only the cases I try on Saturday."
All but one of the episodes in the series were filmed in black and white. The episode "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist", an episode heavily influenced by Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, was the sole exception. (Dickens did not receive screen credit.)
In the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court nominee, during questioning by Senator Al Franken, Sotomayor said that watching the series had made her want to grow up to be a prosecutor. Franken noted that the prosecutor lost all the cases on the series, but one. Subsequent research by CNN found that the prosecutor won two cases against Mason, and Mason himself lost in some form or manner in at least three cases.
May the record reflect that Perry Mason did lose three cases of almost 300 – a record any lawyer would envy, especially since he got one of his losses reversed on appeal. His losses were: "The Case of the Witless Witness," "The Case of the Deadly Verdict," and "The Case of the Terrified Typist."
Mason also loses a civil case at the beginning of "The Case of the Dead Ringer," partly due to being framed for witness tampering. He and his staff then spend the rest of the episode trying to prove his innocence. They eventually do, and—although this is not stated explicitly—the verdict of the civil case is presumably either overturned or declared a mistrial. In a July 15, 2009 interview on National Public Radio's program All Things Considered, Barbara Hale claimed that all of Mason's lost cases were declared mistrials off the air.
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