Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
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Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17148 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 4:15 pm Post subject: Perry Mason (1957 - 1966) |
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I've been a fan of this series for many years, and I bought the box set about six years ago so I could watch the entire series with the late Tim Edwards (Bulldogtrekker) while we chatted online using Facebook's chat room. We agreed that the episodes are consistently enjoyable, with terrific scripts and wonderful casts.
It took us quite a while, but we went through the whole series!
Recently I started watching them again, and it reminded me of an idea I had for a spinoff series which could be called Paul Drake Investigations.
This series would center on Paul Drake, Lt. Tragg, and Hamilton Burger (William Hopper, Ray Collins, and William Talman) as they solved crimes and convict criminals.
Occasionally Perry Mason would be involved as the attorney for someone suspected of the crime, but the investigation conducted by Drake, Tragg. and Burger would eventually clear them — rather than Perry saving the day every week!
The series would include other "operatives" (as Paul called them) who worked his detective agency, and we would also see Paul's private life in scenes as he romanced beautiful lades and drove around in the current year's black Thunderbird convertible he traditionally had.
One very appealing aspect of the series would be the way we'd show Hamilton Burger actually winning cases each week against attorneys not quite as smart as Perry Mason!
_____ Perry Mason - The Complete Series | Trailer
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The Perry Mason series is chock-full of familiar faces from 50s sci-fi.
For example, Morris Ankrum — who was in more sci-fi movies than any other actor, 15 in all — frequently played the judge.
Other actors we saw in various roles were Paula Raymond (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, William Schallert (The Monolith Monsters etc.), and Robert Cornthwaite (The Thing from Another World)
William Hopper starred in both 20 Million Miles to Earth and The Deadly Mantis.
Kenneth Toby (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms and The Thing from Another World) took William Talman's place as the D.A. for several episodes when Talman was not available.
Both Michael Rennie and Walter Pidgeon stood in for Raymond Burr (in one episode each) as the defending attorney while the star was recovering from surgery.
And the murderer which Perry revealed in one episode was played by Leonard Nimoy — who became enraged when Mason accuses him, and two policemen had to drag him away!
The scene concludes with a funny moment when Hamilton Burger casually says. "You know, :Perry . . . maybe . . . for once . . . I was wrong." Then he quickly adds, "On this case."
Perry Mason, Hamilton Burger, and Lt. Tragg gang up on Mr. Spock!
___________![](https://i3.ytimg.com/vi/Zy9qVmnA_I4/hqdefault.jpg) _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
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