On This Day in TV History: Perry Mason Debuts (1957)
Perry Mason was one of my all time favorite shows. I was only 7 when it debuted in 1957, but it ran until May 22, 1966 so I watched plenty of episodes.
It was one of the first show to bring the drama and the tension of a courtroom proceeding into our living rooms. There was nothing finer on TV than the final segment of each week's episode when the case was solved.
And of course it usually ended with someone in the courtroom audience standing up and screaming "Stop it! Stop it! I killed him and I am glad I did!".
The show was perfectly cast and made a huge star of Raymond Burr who would go on to other shows including Ironsides.
Others in the great cast were:
Barbara Hale as Mason's attractive assistant Dell Street.
William Hopper as the handsome private investigator Paul Drake
William Talman as the belaeagured DA who never won a case (Hamilton Burger)
Ray Collins as the crusty and wily Lt. Arthur Tragg