Perry Mason (TV movies)

Perry Mason television films
Created by	Based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner
Starring	Raymond Burr Barbara Hale William Katt William R. Moses
Theme music composer	Fred Steiner
Opening theme	"Park Avenue Beat"
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Dean Hargrove Fred Silverman
Producer(s)	Jeff Peters Joel Steiger Barry Steinberg
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	~95 minutes
Production company(s)	Intermedia Entertainment Company (1985–86) Strathmore Productions (1985–88) The Fred Silverman Company (1987–95) Dean Hargrove Productions (1988–1995) Viacom Productions (1985–95)
Distributor	CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	December 1, 1985 (1985-12-01) – April 10, 1995 (1995-04-10)
Chronology
Preceded by	Perry Mason (1957–66)

This is a list of the Perry Mason TV movies (1985–95), a successful series of 30 television films aired on NBC as a sequel to the popular CBS-TV series Perry Mason. After a hiatus of nearly 20 years, Raymond Burr reprised his role as fictional Los Angeles defense attorney Perry Mason in 26 of the television films. After Burr died in 1993, Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook starred in the remaining four that aired from 1993 to 1995.

Background

The original Perry Mason television series was broadcast on CBS television from 1957 to 1966. Raymond Burr starred as Perry Mason, a fictional Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer. The character was created by American author and attorney Erle Stanley Gardner.

Television producer Dean Hargrove resurrected the Perry Mason character popularized in the 1957–66 television series in a series of television films for NBC beginning in 1985. Hargrove was able to bring back the two then-surviving major stars, Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale (reprising their roles as Mason and Della Street, respectively) for the first telefilm, Perry Mason Returns, in which Mason resigns his position as an appellate court judge to defend Street on a murder charge.

William Katt, Hale's real-life son, was cast as private investigator Paul Drake, Jr., the son of private investigator Paul Drake. William Hopper, who played private investigator Paul Drake in the original television series, had died years earlier; his photograph appears on Paul Drake Jr.'s desk. Katt appeared in the first nine movies.

In the later TV movies, Mason uses the services of Ken Malansky (played by William R. Moses), an attorney who works with Mason as a private investigator. Melansky'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.^[1]:40151

Among the few actors to appear in major recurring roles were David Ogden Stiers as District Attorney Michael Reston (1986–1988), James McEachin as police sergeant (later lieutenant) Ed Brock (1986-1995), and Alexandra Paul as Ken Malansky's girlfriend Amy Hastings (1989).

Budgeted at $3 million, Perry Mason Returns was filmed in Toronto, standing in for Los Angeles to save production costs.^[2]

Fred Steiner's theme music was re-recorded by famed mystery music composer Dick DeBenedictis; Steiner himself arranged the theme at DeBenedictis's request.^[3]

A total of 30 movies were made between 1985 and 1995, with Burr starring in 26. After Burr died in 1993, Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook starred in the final four telefilms from 1993 to 1995. These four films were presented as A Perry Mason Mystery, with Sorvino starring in the first film and Holbrook starring in the remaining three. Their characters, Anthony Caruso, and Bill "Wild Bill" McKenzie, respectively, 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 only contributed a small cameo with Holland Taylor 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 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."^[4]

Because of lower production costs, many of the later TV movies were filmed and set in Denver, Colorado rather than Mason's traditional locale of Los Angeles. Although set in Colorado, a courtroom wall shown at the end of the opening title sequence bears a Seal of Los Angeles County, California.

Perry Mason television films

Raymond Burr films

A Perry Mason Mystery

DVD releases

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. On June 7, 2016, the first four movie collections were given general retail release.^[6]

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.^[12]

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 composer was Dick DeBenedictis.^[13]
• 1990: Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards, for a song composed by Dick DeBenedictis.^[13]

References

External links

• Perry Mason TV Series Wiki
• Perry Mason TV Showbook