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The Perry Mason TV Show Book: The Complete Story of America's Favorite Television Lawyer, by Two of the Greatest Fans
This comprehensive volume tells the complete story of the longest running lawyer show on television, including capsule descriptions and credits for all 275 episodes. Fascinating reading and an indispensable resource for Perry Mason fans. 80 black-and-white photographs.
- GenresNonfiction
201 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 31, 2013
As a passionate fan of television's 1950's/1960's mystery/courtroom drama series PERRY MASON, I loved this book. I watch an episode every day (have them on tape)and it never gets old.
This book covers the background of the books that inspired the series and their author Earle Stanley Gardner who was a real life lawyer who went into full time writing and who was co-producer of the show. The way the program was cast, detailed chapters about cast members, and a handy episode guide along with juicy behind the scenes details and wonderful old photos kept me enthralled. Imagine the stiff necked District Attorney Hamilton Burger played by actor William Talman at a naked party smoking marijuana. Can't picture it? Well, that is ALL I can picture after reading how actor William Talman was arrested in a raid on a party he attended where everyone was puffing marijuana cigarettes while buck naked. I would have loved to have seen a photo of THAT! He was unfairly fired by a prudish CBS network from the Perry Mason show even before being found not guilty by a judge who said he personally wouldn't want to attend such a party but that there was nothing illegal about sitting around in a private living room naked. He was blacklisted by Hollywood until Raymond Burr and his castmates and the producers including Gardner started a campaign that drew hundreds of thousands of protest letters to CBS and he returned to a warm welcome and to find that Mason and the cast refused to let his coffee mug be moved from their famous mug shelf.
If you like the show, you'll love this. If you like strong women you'll love this. The main producer even back then was a woman!
This book covers the background of the books that inspired the series and their author Earle Stanley Gardner who was a real life lawyer who went into full time writing and who was co-producer of the show. The way the program was cast, detailed chapters about cast members, and a handy episode guide along with juicy behind the scenes details and wonderful old photos kept me enthralled. Imagine the stiff necked District Attorney Hamilton Burger played by actor William Talman at a naked party smoking marijuana. Can't picture it? Well, that is ALL I can picture after reading how actor William Talman was arrested in a raid on a party he attended where everyone was puffing marijuana cigarettes while buck naked. I would have loved to have seen a photo of THAT! He was unfairly fired by a prudish CBS network from the Perry Mason show even before being found not guilty by a judge who said he personally wouldn't want to attend such a party but that there was nothing illegal about sitting around in a private living room naked. He was blacklisted by Hollywood until Raymond Burr and his castmates and the producers including Gardner started a campaign that drew hundreds of thousands of protest letters to CBS and he returned to a warm welcome and to find that Mason and the cast refused to let his coffee mug be moved from their famous mug shelf.
If you like the show, you'll love this. If you like strong women you'll love this. The main producer even back then was a woman!
August 30, 2012
This is a great study of the Perry Mason series. It provides backstage details about the production of the program and nice synopses of the episodes of the original series. However, the book was published in 1987. Henceforth, it only addresses the first five of the Perry Mason reunion movies which aired on NBC. However, the book does provide detailed analyses of these films, including several pages devoted to the first film "Perry Mason Returns." Therefore, I think this book is something fans of the Mason TV show will appreciate.
June 9, 2018
A little too much Perry Mason trivia for me, and some of the information about Raymond Burr's personal life is wrong, at least according to Wikipedia. I read until I was satisfied.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews