List of Perry Mason Episodes - Comments On Notable Episodes

Comments On Notable Episodes

• "The Case of the Silent Partner" (Episode 1-6): The case is solved without ever going into the courtroom. Hamilton Burger appears in the lobby of Mason's client's apartment house to announce that Mason's client who is sick will be arraigned as soon as she is well enough. However, the case is solved before an arraignment can be done.
• "The Case of the Haunted Husband" (Episode 1-19): At the end of the case after the killer has been exposed, Lieutenant Tragg is gloating that Perry Mason must have discovered who did it by being lucky. Perry Mason asks Tragg if he thinks Mason is stupid for leaving a clue that Tragg found. Tragg says, "Well who else could have done it? There was only you, me, and (name of killer)..." When he realizes what he just said, Tragg moans, "Oy gevalt." The elevator door opens and Mason says, "After you Lieutenant."
• "The Case of the Green-Eyed Sister" (Episode 1-21): Story continuity: Lieutenant Tragg stops Perry Mason as he is coming out of the defendant's home carrying a metal case with an audio recording tape and Tragg confiscates the tape. Later when the tape is offered into evidence by District Attorney Hamilton Burger, Burger asks a private investigator witness if this is the tape that the private investigator gave to Burger in his office, and the witness says yes.
• "The Case of the Terrified Typist" (Episode 1-38): This is one of the few cases that Perry Mason lost--or did he? After his defendant was found guilty at the trial, at the following combined sentencing hearing and motion for a new trial, Mason pulls a rabbit out of his hat that clears the name of his defendant. But he does not exactly get the defendant off the hook either. (In the original novel, the suspect Mason represented in court proved NOT to be his actual client.)
• "The Case of the Perjured Parrot" (Episode 2-11): The parrot in question in this episode is voiced by Mel Blanc. It is also the first to show a taped outline to mark the spot where the body was found.
• "The Case of the Velvet Claws" (Episode 6-22): There is no trial in this episode. Mason's client slaps, kisses and lies to him during the course of the case, even threatening to identify him to police as a prime suspect. He uses subterfuge to force the truth out of her, but the case takes a last twist at the scene of the crime.
• "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" (Episode 7-4): Mason's client is found guilty and sentenced to death as the episode begins. His appeals are rejected at every higher level as Mason tries to find the real killer, who is revealed in the final scene not in court, but trying to kill yet again.
• "The Case of the Grinning Gorilla" (Episode 8-28): Again, no trial. Mason, nearly attacked by a gorilla while finding a murder victim, solves the case at the crime scene rather than in a courtroom.
• Seven episodes were done with little or no appearance by Burr as Mason. He underwent surgery causing him to miss four episodes in early 1963, which featured special guest stars (so billed in the opening titles) as guest lawyers. These were: "The Case of Constant Doyle" (6–16, with Bette Davis), "The Case of the Libelous Locket" (6–17, with Michael Rennie), "The Case of the Two-Faced Turnabout" (6–18, with Hugh O'Brian) and "The Case of the Surplus Suitor" (6–19, with Walter Pidgeon). There also were two similar, but isolated, incidents subsequently: "The Case of the Bullied Bowler" (Episode 8–7, November 5, 1964, with Mike Connors) and "The Case of the Thermal Thief" (Episode 8–16, January 14, 1965, with Barry Sullivan). "Bowler" was followed the next week with "The Case of a Place Called Midnight" (8–17), set in Europe, featuring no regular cast member other than Burr, and playing off the excuse given in "Bowler" for Mason's absence.
• Based on Oliver Twist, "The Case of the Twice-Told Twist" (Episode 9-21) is the only episode of the original series filmed in color.
• The band Skinny Puppy heavily sampled the episode "The Case of the Madcap Modiste" (Episode 3-22) for the song "Deep Down Trauma Hounds" (from the album Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse).
• "The Case Of The Dead Ringer" (Episode 9-26) Raymond Burr plays a double role as Perry Mason and as a vagabond sailor who is disguised as Mason in order to frame him for a payoff scheme. This brought Burr full circle, so to speak, as he had begun his film career acting out mostly villainous roles; Perry Mason was the first highly-prominent role, on television, in a series of "good-guy" roles that dominated the remainder of his career.
• "The Case of the Final Fadeout" (Episode 9-30) Barbara Hale appears midway through the episode in a restaurant scene playing an actress with a blond wig and sunglasses. Erle Stanley Gardner also appears in an uncredited role as Judge #2.