There are few actors so closely tied to a persona than Raymond Burr as Perry Mason. This long-running series was built upon Erle Stanley Gardner´s many novels about a brilliant defense lawyer and his staff, that solved many a crime with surprise witnesses and stern cross-examinations.It was the first mystery series to feature chalk or tape outlines to mark the spots where bodies were found. Filmed almost exclusively in the Los Angeles area, Raymond Burr had Gardner's seal of approval in the role. The cases were usually won by way of pivotal confessions of witnesses, solicited by Perry Mason (Burr's) surgeon-like examination or with last-minute, key evidence brought into the courtroom by private investigator, Paul Drake (William Hopper). Della Street (Barbara Hale), Perry´s faithful secretary, was always at Perry's side in the courtroom where hapless Hamilton Burger (William Tallman) was the Los Angeles District Attorney who never seemed to win. As to the myth that Perry Mason never lost, there were 2 episodes where it did occur... but you'll have to watch to find out.The show was revived in 1973-74, with other actors in the familiar roles (Monte Markham as Mason), and then again with the some of the original cast, in a string of feature length TV films from 1985 until Raymond Burr´s death in 1993.
Season | From | To | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
All Seasons | |||
Specials | September 1934 | April 1995 | 49 |
Season 1 | September 1957 | June 1958 | 39 |
Season 2 | September 1958 | June 1959 | 30 |
Season 3 | October 1959 | June 1960 | 26 |
Season 4 | September 1960 | June 1961 | 28 |
Season 5 | September 1961 | May 1962 | 30 |
Season 6 | September 1962 | May 1963 | 28 |
Season 7 | September 1963 | May 1964 | 30 |
Season 8 | September 1964 | May 1965 | 30 |
Season 9 | September 1965 | May 1966 | 30 |
Unassigned Episodes | 0 |
Season | From | To | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
Unassigned Episodes | 320 |
Season | From | To | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
Season 1 | 0 | ||
Unassigned Episodes | 320 |
Name | Number of Episodes | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Arthur Marks | 76 | 05/03/1958 - 04/17/1966 | |
Jesse Hibbs | 45 | 03/03/1962 - 05/22/1966 | |
William D. Russell | 28 | 09/21/1957 - 09/24/1960 | |
Christian Nyby | 13 | 10/19/1957 - 01/06/1962 | |
Laslo Benedek | 9 | 01/04/1958 - 03/18/1961 | |
Jerry Hopper | 9 | 11/25/1961 - 05/15/1966 | |
Andrew V. McLaglen | 7 | 03/01/1958 - 11/05/1960 | |
Bernard L. Kowalski | 6 | 05/27/1961 - 12/09/1961 | |
Irving J. Moore | 5 | 12/05/1963 - 05/14/1964 | |
Allen H. Miner | 5 | 11/01/1962 - 01/31/1963 | |
Harmon Jones | 5 | 03/21/1963 - 04/03/1966 | |
Christian I. Nyby II | 5 | 11/15/1987 - 03/01/1992 | |
Ron Satlof | 4 | 12/01/1985 - 05/20/1990 | |
Francis D. Lyon | 4 | 02/24/1962 - 11/08/1962 | |
Gerd Oswald | 4 | 11/22/1958 - 03/21/1959 | |
Arthur Hiller | 4 | 03/22/1958 - 05/21/1960 | |
Richard Kinon | 4 | 10/10/1959 - 05/06/1965 | |
Richard Donner | 3 | 09/24/1964 - 04/08/1965 | |
Earl Bellamy | 3 | 10/24/1963 - 12/19/1963 | |
Lewis Allen | 3 | 01/25/1958 - 06/10/1961 | |
Roger Kay | 3 | 06/14/1958 - 12/19/1959 | |
Vincent McEveety | 2 | 03/25/1965 - 12/12/1965 | |
Robert Ellis Miller | 2 | 01/30/1960 - 03/26/1960 | |
Buzz Kulik | 2 | 10/04/1958 - 05/09/1959 | |
Jack Arnold | 2 | 10/08/1964 - 01/14/1965 | |
John English | 2 | 04/22/1961 - 09/02/1961 | |
James Sheldon | 2 | 10/15/1960 - 12/17/1960 | |
Gerald Mayer | 2 | 02/27/1960 - 05/28/1960 | |
Ted Post | 2 | 12/14/1957 - 01/11/1958 | |
Walter Grauman | 2 | 10/17/1959 - 01/23/1960 | |
John Peyser | 2 | 03/25/1961 - 05/06/1961 | |
Anton Leader | 2 | 03/29/1958 - 05/17/1958 | |
William F. Claxton | 2 | 10/22/1960 - 11/19/1960 | |
Alan Crosland | 1 | 09/22/1934 | |
James Goldstone | 1 | 04/22/1965 | |
Richard Whorf | 1 | 10/24/1959 | |
Herbert Hirschman | 1 | 11/21/1959 | |
Gene Fowler Jr. | 1 | 02/04/1961 | |
Anton M.Leader | 1 | 03/15/1958 | |
Don Weis | 1 | 11/21/1963 | |
Charles R. Rondeau | 1 | 03/04/1965 | |
Gilbert Kay | 1 | 12/16/1961 | |
Harry Harris | 1 | 02/18/1965 | |
Robert Sparr | 1 | 03/18/1965 | |
Charles F. Haas | 1 | 10/01/1960 |
Name | Number of Episodes | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Samuel Newman | 35 | 03/01/1958 - 05/06/1965 | |
Erle Stanley Gardner | 32 | 09/27/1958 - 10/10/1965 | |
Jonathan Latimer | 32 | 10/18/1958 - 11/28/1965 | |
Jackson Gillis | 31 | 10/10/1959 - 04/17/1966 | |
Robert C. Dennis | 22 | 02/22/1958 - 04/01/1965 | |
Gene Wang | 21 | 09/28/1957 - 10/17/1959 | |
Seeleg Lester | 20 | 03/08/1958 - 12/17/1960 | |
Orville H. Hampton | 15 | 09/12/1965 - 05/22/1966 | |
Ernie Frankel | 9 | 10/24/1965 - 05/22/1966 | |
Robb White | 8 | 11/04/1961 - 09/26/1965 | |
Milton Krims | 8 | 01/17/1959 - 03/11/1965 | |
Maurice Zimm | 8 | 10/03/1959 - 04/18/1963 | |
Richard Grey | 6 | 12/07/1957 - 11/11/1961 | |
Sy Salkowitz | 6 | 02/06/1960 - 11/14/1965 | |
Bob Mitchell | 5 | 04/22/1961 - 12/31/1964 | |
Sam Neuman | 5 | 10/11/1958 - 01/02/1964 | |
Al C. Ward | 5 | 10/12/1957 - 11/14/1959 | |
John Elliotte | 4 | 10/22/1964 - 01/30/1966 | |
Robert Bloomfield | 4 | 11/22/1958 - 02/20/1960 | |
Dean Hargrove | 4 | 12/01/1985 - 05/20/1990 | |
Robert Leslie Bellem | 4 | 10/07/1961 - 10/29/1964 | |
William Bast | 4 | 09/19/1965 - 05/15/1966 | |
Philip Saltzman | 3 | 03/12/1964 - 04/22/1965 | |
Anne Collins | 3 | 11/09/1986 - 05/20/1990 | |
Adrian Gendot | 3 | 03/11/1961 - 01/13/1962 | |
Laurence Marks | 3 | 09/28/1957 - 05/03/1958 | |
Lawrence L. Goldman | 3 | 02/07/1959 - 03/13/1966 | |
Esther Mitchell | 3 | 12/13/1962 - 12/31/1964 | |
Harold Swanton | 3 | 10/19/1957 - 12/10/1960 | |
Joel Steiger | 3 | 11/09/1986 - 05/20/1990 | |
Donald S. Sanford | 3 | 10/26/1957 - 03/22/1958 | |
Marian B. Cockrell | 2 | 11/02/1957 - 12/20/1958 | |
True Boardman | 2 | 05/05/1962 - 03/14/1963 | |
Stanley Niss | 2 | 03/15/1958 - 11/08/1958 | |
Henry Farrell | 2 | 11/07/1965 - 01/09/1966 | |
Sol Stein | 2 | 01/21/1961 - 05/06/1961 | |
Francis M. Cockrell | 2 | 05/10/1958 - 11/01/1958 | |
Stirling Silliphant | 2 | 10/05/1957 - 12/28/1957 | |
Herman Epstein | 2 | 10/04/1958 - 11/12/1960 | |
Francis Cockrell | 2 | 11/02/1957 - 05/31/1958 | |
Sean Cholodenko | 2 | 01/06/1991 - 03/01/1992 | |
Albert A. Vail | 2 | 01/09/1964 - 01/21/1965 | |
Ben Brady | 2 | 01/04/1958 - 06/21/1958 | |
George Eckstein | 2 | 01/21/1990 - 03/11/1990 | |
Michael Morris | 2 | 12/03/1960 - 02/25/1961 | |
Mann Rubin | 2 | 11/19/1964 - 03/18/1965 | |
Ernest Frankel | 2 | 10/31/1965 - 12/19/1965 | |
Robert E. Kent | 2 | 01/16/1966 - 05/01/1966 | |
Glenn P. Wolfe | 2 | 01/21/1961 - 05/06/1961 | |
Helen Nielsen | 2 | 12/16/1961 - 10/11/1962 | |
Arthur E. Orloff | 2 | 04/18/1963 - 12/12/1963 | |
Richard H. Landau | 1 | 05/21/1964 | |
Kenneth M. Rosen | 1 | 02/20/1966 | |
Barry Trivers | 1 | 12/13/1958 | |
William O'Farrell | 1 | 01/23/1960 | |
Don Brinkley | 1 | 09/20/1958 | |
Ben Starr | 1 | 12/14/1957 | |
Charles Lang | 1 | 10/25/1962 | |
Robert Leslie Bellam | 1 | 04/28/1962 | |
Oliver Crawford | 1 | 01/20/1962 | |
Edward J. Lakso | 1 | 10/01/1960 | |
Milton Geiger | 1 | 11/09/1957 | |
Milton S. Gelman | 1 | 10/08/1960 | |
Marshall Houts | 1 | 05/16/1963 | |
Russell S. Hughes | 1 | 09/21/1957 | |
Sam Elkin | 1 | 01/02/1960 | |
Robert Tallman | 1 | 11/30/1957 | |
Phillip MacDonald | 1 | 06/21/1958 | |
Dick Stenger | 1 | 04/26/1958 | |
Leo Townsend | 1 | 01/18/1958 | |
Robert Libott | 1 | 05/01/1966 | |
Anthony Spinner | 1 | 11/15/1987 | |
Francis Rosenwald | 1 | 05/28/1960 | |
Jerome Ross | 1 | 12/05/1959 | |
Walter Doniger | 1 | 11/09/1957 | |
William L. Stuart | 1 | 02/21/1959 | |
Robert Presnell Sr. | 1 | 04/18/1963 | |
Joseph P. Lamont | 1 | 10/24/1963 | |
Jack Jacobs | 1 | 11/23/1957 | |
Peter Martin | 1 | 05/19/1962 | |
Richard Macaulay | 1 | 03/07/1959 | |
Paul Franklin | 1 | 11/18/1961 | |
Marianne Mosner | 1 | 05/28/1960 | |
Robert J. Shaw | 1 | 05/30/1959 | |
Robert Warnes Leach | 1 | 11/15/1958 | |
Malvin Wald | 1 | 11/23/1957 | |
Jay Dratler | 1 | 04/04/1959 | |
Judson Philips | 1 | 12/06/1962 | |
Joel Murcott | 1 | 11/09/1957 |
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From a pioneering variety show from the black-and-white days to two faves on now -- see our No. 1. To see EW's picks of the top 100 all-time greatest TV shows
A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the film's narrative. Legal dramas have also followed the lives of the fictional attorneys, defendants, plaintiffs, or other persons related to the practice of law present in television show or film. Legal drama is distinct from police crime drama or detective fiction, which typically focus on police officers or detectives investigating and solving crimes. The focal point of legal dramas, more often, are events occurring within a courtroom, but may include any phases of legal procedure, such as jury deliberations or work done at law firms. Some legal dramas fictionalize real cases that have been litigated, such as the play-turned-movie, Inherit the Wind, which fictionalized the Scopes Monkey Trial. As a genre, the term "legal drama" is typically applied to television shows and films, whereas legal thrillers typically refer to novels and plays.
We are what we watch-and over the last half century, we've watched some pretty fabulous TV. From Mary to Jerry, from Tonight to Today, from the sublime (Prime Suspect) to the ridiculous (Gilligan's Island), EW recalls everything you need to know about 100 shows that tell us who we are.
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