Does Anyone Remember Perry Mason?

[silverscreenselect]

I'll keep this non-political although it involves network coverage of Michael Cohen's testimony at the Trump trial. During cross-examination, a lot of commentators cautioned viewers not to expect a "John Grisham moment" when the witness breaks down and makes a self-damaging comment. Ironically, they referred to the moment in A Few Good Men, which was not written or based on any Grisham work, when Jack Nicholson says "You can't handle the truth." Later in Cohen's cross-examination, one particular exchange got heated and afterwards the commentators wondered whether that exchange was the Grisham moment.

What struck me as odd was that no one mentioned the "Perry Mason moment" at the end of almost every episode, when Mason would cross-examine a witness and eventually get them to confess (something that never happens in real life). Am I that old that I'm the only one who remembers Perry Mason and the trademark gotcha moments on the show? For what it's worth, my book club discussed a Mason book recently and I watched the episode that was adapted from that particular novel. But I didn't need the book or the novel to get me thinking of Mason whenever this line of commentary arose on the network news shows.

[BackInTex]

Yes I do, but I prefer My Cousin Vinny references.

Waiting for Trump's team to call their Mona Lisa Vito.

[earendel]

I'll keep this non-political although it involves network coverage of Michael Cohen's testimony at the Trump trial. During cross-examination, a lot of commentators cautioned viewers not to expect a "John Grisham moment" when the witness breaks down and makes a self-damaging comment. Ironically, they referred to the moment in A Few Good Men, which was not written or based on any Grisham work, when Jack Nicholson says "You can't handle the truth." Later in Cohen's cross-examination, one particular exchange got heated and afterwards the commentators wondered whether that exchange was the Grisham moment.

What struck me as odd was that no one mentioned the "Perry Mason moment" at the end of almost every episode, when Mason would cross-examine a witness and eventually get them to confess (something that never happens in real life). Am I that old that I'm the only one who remembers Perry Mason and the trademark gotcha moments on the show? For what it's worth, my book club discussed a Mason book recently and I watched the episode that was adapted from that particular novel. But I didn't need the book or the novel to get me thinking of Mason whenever this line of commentary arose on the network news shows.

I'm a big fan of Perry Mason - I still watch the old shows in reruns, the later TV movies, and read the original books. I had a hard time with the HBO series, however, because it portrayed a much different Mason.

[Beebs52]

I'll keep this non-political although it involves network coverage of Michael Cohen's testimony at the Trump trial. During cross-examination, a lot of commentators cautioned viewers not to expect a "John Grisham moment" when the witness breaks down and makes a self-damaging comment. Ironically, they referred to the moment in A Few Good Men, which was not written or based on any Grisham work, when Jack Nicholson says "You can't handle the truth." Later in Cohen's cross-examination, one particular exchange got heated and afterwards the commentators wondered whether that exchange was the Grisham moment.

What struck me as odd was that no one mentioned the "Perry Mason moment" at the end of almost every episode, when Mason would cross-examine a witness and eventually get them to confess (something that never happens in real life). Am I that old that I'm the only one who remembers Perry Mason and the trademark gotcha moments on the show? For what it's worth, my book club discussed a Mason book recently and I watched the episode that was adapted from that particular novel. But I didn't need the book or the novel to get me thinking of Mason whenever this line of commentary arose on the network news shows.

I'm a big fan of Perry Mason - I still watch the old shows in reruns, the later TV movies, and read the original books. I had a hard time with the HBO series, however, because it portrayed a much different Mason.

Yes! I agree. It was...different.

[BackInTex]

My mother watched the original religiously. Every time I hear the theme song I think of her.

[silverscreenselect]

My mother watched the original religiously. Every time I hear the theme song I think of her.

I watched a number of episodes when they first aired. One thing that's interesting in watching today is to spot all the guest stars on the show. There's a lot of old-time Hollywood actors who were winding up their careers and a lot of future stars including Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, and dozens of people who would be staples on network TV in the next couple of decades.

One season, Raymond Burr had surgery, and they had such a tight shooting schedule that they couldn't just delay filming. So they rewrote a couple of scripts that then featured "friends" of Perry Mason who would help him out on that one case when he was unavailable. These included Bette Davis and Walter Pidgeon.

[earendel]

My mother watched the original religiously. Every time I hear the theme song I think of her.

My mother was a big fan as well - we watched it together and she owned all of the Erle Stanley Gardner books. I inherited them, but when we had our house fire, they were all lost.

[Vandal]

This guy?