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The original TV series was first broadcast on CBS on September 21, 1957. The series first started shooting in October, 1956. It was based on the famous "Perry Mason" books written by Erle Stanley Gardner. The first episode to be filmed was "The Case of The Motheaten Mink", but this episode was shown as the 13th episode once CBS took the series up. The first episode shown on TV was "The Case of The Restless Redhead". |
There was always a set pattern to the episodes. Opening scene set just that - the scene for murder! And of course Perry gets involved, wins the case - dragging a confession from the murderer - usually in court, or someplace else (of course with the police or DA in tow). And of course, there was always the famous ending scenes, often ending with some sort of bad joke or humour.
Running from September, 1957 until May 1966, the series had 271 episodes. All but one episode were filmed in black and white. The only colour episode was called "The Case of The Twice-Told Twist". Victor Buono was in this episode, and in fact had shown up on the series quite a few times since its inception. Across the years, many of the future "famous faces" appeared on the series - Burt Reynolds, Angie Dickinson (with original black hair!), James Coburn, Robert Redford, Ryan ONeal, Bill Mumy (from "Lost in Space"), and even Leonard Nimoy. Their were famous faces from the past as well - Fay Wray, Jon Hall, Cecil Kellaway(playing an unforgettable drunk) et al. When Raymond was hospitalised at one time, missing 4 episodes, he was replaced in the court room in the first week by none other than Bette Davis! Miss Davis has related how hard they worked, and stated that there were no rehearsals! The other three guests over the next three weeks were Walter Pidgeon, Michael Rennie and Hugh O'Brien.