Perry Mason (radio series)

Last updated
Perry Mason
Other namesThe New Adventures of Perry Mason [1]
GenreCrime serial
Running time15 minutes
Country of originUSA
Language(s)English
Syndicates CBS Radio
TV adaptations The Edge of Night
Starring
AnnouncerBob Dixon, Alan Kent, Richard Stark
Created byErle Stanley Gardner (original stories)
Written byIrving Vendig
Directed byArt Hanna, Carlo deAngelo, Carl Eastman, Hoyt Allen, Ralph Butler
Produced byTom McDermott
Executive producer(s)Leslie Harris
Recording studio New York City
Original releaseOctober 18, 1943 – December 30, 1955
No. of episodes3000 [2]
Sponsored by General Foods, Tide
Podcast stream from Archive.org

Perry Mason is a radio crime serial based on the novels of Erle Stanley Gardner. Broadcast weekdays on CBS Radio from 1943 to 1955, the series was adapted into The Edge of Night which ran on television for an additional 30 years.

Contents

Production

The 15-minute continuing series Perry Mason aired weekdays October 18, 1943 – December 30, 1955, on CBS Radio. Geared more towards action than courtroom drama, it mixed mystery and soap opera, with attorney Perry Mason sometimes even exchanging gunfire with criminals. [3]

Erle Stanley Gardner's literary success with the Perry Mason novels convinced Warner Bros. to try its hand, unsuccessfully, with some motion pictures. However, the Perry Mason radio show stayed on the air for 12 years.

As The Edge of Night, it ran for another 30 years on television, but Gardner disliked the proposed daytime television version due to a lack of his own creative control. [4] He ultimately withheld his endorsement of the daytime TV show, forcing the name change.

Cast

The actors portraying Mason switched frequently over the first three years of the show's run, starting with Bartlett Robinson, then followed by Santos Ortega and Donald Briggs. [3] John Larkin took over the starring role March 31, 1947, and portrayed Perry Mason until the end of the series. [5] :333

Larkin played the equivalent character on The Edge of Night.

The guest cast included Mercedes McCambridge. [6] Principal cast members are listed in order of portrayal.

Transition to television

Radio's Perry Mason has more in common, in all but name, with the daytime serial The Edge of Night than the subsequent prime-time Perry Mason television show. As many radio serials moved to television, so was to be the destiny of Perry Mason. However, Gardner disagreed with the direction of the new show and pulled his support. [4] CBS insisted that Mason be given a love interest to placate daytime soap opera audiences, but Gardner flatly refused to take Mason in that direction. The sponsor, Procter & Gamble hired the writers and staff of the Perry Mason radio series, the show was retooled, and it became The Edge of Night. The characters and setting were renamed.

CBS would eventually acquiesce to Gardner's vision and greenlight an official Perry Mason TV adaptation in 1957. Since this version would air in prime time, it was not bound to the conventions of daytime soaps and would more closely resemble a conventional courtroom drama. Two actors who played Perry Mason on radio, Bartlett Robinson and John Larkin, appeared in episodes of the CBS-TV series, Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr as the title character. [8]

Both The Edge of Night and Perry Mason would go on to success in television: the prime time Perry Mason ran for nine seasons (and would be revived in a series of television films in the 1980s that would run until Burr's death). The Edge of Night would run for 28 years on daytime television.

Broadcast history

Air datesTime slot
October 18, 1943 – March 31, 19442:45 p.m. ET
April 3, 1944 – March 23, 19452:30 p.m. ET
March 26, 1945 – December 30, 19552:15 p.m. ET

See also

Related Research Articles

A soap opera, or soap for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term was preceded by "horse opera", a derogatory term for low-budget Westerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Burr</span> Canadian actor (1917–1993)

Raymond William Stacy Burr was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Mason</span> Fictional attorney

Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a client being charged with murder, usually involving a preliminary hearing or jury trial. Typically, Mason establishes his client's innocence by finding the real murderer. The character was inspired by famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Drake (character)</span> Fictional private detective in the Perry Mason novels and TV series

Paul Drake is a fictional private detective in the Perry Mason series of murder mystery novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Drake is described as tall and slouching, nondescript, and frequently wearing an expression of droll humor. He often smoked cigarettes especially when he had a subject of interest under surveillance. He is friend and right-hand man to Mason, a highly successful criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erle Stanley Gardner</span> American writer and lawyer

Erle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author. He is best known for the Perry Mason series of detective stories, but he wrote numerous other novels and shorter pieces and also a series of nonfiction books, mostly narrations of his travels through Baja California and other regions in Mexico.

<i>The Edge of Night</i> American television crime drama and soap opera (1956–84)

The Edge of Night is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.

<i>As the World Turns</i> American television soap opera (1956–2010)

As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light. With 13,763 hours of cumulative narrative, As the World Turns has the longest total running time of any television show. In terms of continuous run of production, As the World Turns at 54 years holds the fourth-longest run of any daytime network soap opera on American television, surpassed only by General Hospital, Guiding Light, and Days of Our Lives. As the World Turns was produced for its first 43 years in Manhattan and in Brooklyn from 2000 until 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Della Street</span> Confidential secretary of Perry Mason

Della Street is the fictional secretary of Perry Mason in the long-running series of novels, short stories, films, and radio and television programs featuring the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santos Ortega</span> American actor

Santos Edward Ortega was an American actor and comedian. He was best known for playing Will Hughes in As the World Turns, taking over from Will Lee, who had played the role from the first episode on April 2, 1956 to May 31, 1956. Ortega continued in the role until his death in 1976.

<i>The Brighter Day</i> American TV series or program

The Brighter Day is an American daytime soap opera which aired on CBS from January 4, 1954, to September 28, 1962. Originally created for NBC Radio by Irna Phillips in 1948, the radio and television versions ran simultaneously from 1954–1956. Set in New Hope, Wisconsin, the series revolved around Reverend Richard Dennis and his four children, Althea, Patsy, Babby and Grayling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamilton Burger</span> Fictional district attorney

Hamilton Burger is the fictional Los Angeles County District Attorney (D.A.) in the long-running series of novels, films, and radio and television programs featuring Perry Mason, the fictional defense attorney created by Erle Stanley Gardner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irving Vendig</span> American screenwriter

Irving Vendig was an American soap opera writer best known for creating The Edge of Night.

<i>Perry Mason</i> (1957 TV series) American dramatized court show (1957–1966)

Perry Mason is an American legal drama series originally broadcast on CBS television from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. Many episodes are based on stories written by Gardner.

The New Perry Mason is a CBS TV series that ran from 1973 to 1974. It was a revival of the 1957 Perry Mason television series about Erle Stanley Gardner's brilliant defense attorney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Larkin (actor, born 1912)</span> American actor (1912–1965)

John Larkin was an American actor whose nearly 30-year career was capped by his 1950s portrayal of two fictional criminal attorneys – Perry Mason on radio and Mike Karr on television daytime drama The Edge of Night. After having acted in an estimated 7,500 dramatic shows on radio, he devoted his final decade to television and, from April 1962 to January 1965, was a key member of the supporting cast in two prime-time series and made at least twenty major guest-starring appearances in many of the top drama series of the period.

Perry Mason is a fictional criminal defense attorney, in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner.

<i>Perry Mason</i> (TV film series) Television movies (1985–1995)

A series of 30 Perry Mason television films aired on NBC from 1985 to 1995 as sequels to the CBS TV series Perry Mason. After a hiatus of nearly 20 years, Raymond Burr reprised his role as Los Angeles defense attorney Mason in 26 of the television films. Following Burr's death in 1993, Paul Sorvino and Hal Holbrook starred in the remaining four television films that aired from 1993 to 1995, with Sorvino playing lawyer Anthony Caruso in the first of these and Holbrook playing "Wild Bill" McKenzie in the last three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Case of the Restless Redhead</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of Perry Mason

"The Case of the Restless Redhead" is the premiere episode of the CBS television series Perry Mason. Adapted from the 1954 novel of the same title by Erle Stanley Gardner, this episode marked the beginning of Raymond Burr's long-running portrayal of the famous fictional lawyer.

The Second Mrs. Burton is an American radio soap opera, broadcast daily five days a week on CBS Radio from January 7, 1946, to March 23, 1960. It was the final serial broadcast on a national radio network, after The Right to Happiness, Ma Perkins, and Young Doctor Malone.

References

  1. "Peruse Clues". Pennsylvania, Harrisburg. Harrisburg Telegraph. February 3, 1945. p. 15. Retrieved December 6, 2015 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. Larka, Robert (1979). Television's Private Eye: An Examination of Twenty Years Programming of a Particular Genre, 1949 to 1969. Christopher H. Sterling. New York: Ayer Publishing. p. 123. ISBN   0-405-11763-9.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 540. ISBN   978-0-19-507678-3 . Retrieved 2019-09-03.
  4. 1 2 Totenberg, Nina (June 10, 2002). "Perry Mason". Morning Edition . NPR . Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  5. Hickerson, Jay (1992), The Ultimate History of Network Radio Programming and Guide to All Circulating Shows. Hamden, Connecticut: Jay Hickerson second edition
  6. "Perry Mason". RadioGOLDINdex. Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  7. "Sleuth". Harrisburg Telegraph. December 7, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved April 26, 2015 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  8. "Perry Mason – Full Cast and Crew". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 2015-05-08.