The New Perry Mason

This short-lived series premiered just seven years after the original "Perry Mason" television series went off the air in the spring of 1966 after nine seasons producing an astounding 206 episodes(all were in classic black and white by the way,with the exception of one episode that was telecast in color in February of 1966). However,"Perry Mason" remains one of the all time television greats,but after seven years later,why did CBS bring this show back?

For one CBS,was trying to revive its most famous show,but instead of bringing back the original cast,but when the producers and network executives at CBS decided to bring this series back,but this time around with a all new cast. The reason? The original "Perry Mason" was indeed very successful because of its star Raymond Burr,and the original secretary Della Street(Barbara Hale)not to mention detective Paul Drake(William Hopper),and D.A. Hamilton Burger(William Talman)whom within these four actors had great screen chemistry between them right along with the tremendous acting ability along with the passion and flair for some great riveting drama and suspense.

"The New Perry Mason" didn't work on all levels and the reason why CBS tried to bring back its most successful show proved disastrous beyond belief. Of the 15 episodes that this short-lived series produced from Pisanto Productions/CBS Television for 20th Century-Fox Television,the series ran on the network from September 16,1973 until January 20,1974. The series failed on all levels as to why CBS had this show on Sunday nights opposite "The Wonderful World of Disney"(which was on NBC),and the powerhouse crime drama of Quinn Martin's "The FBI",which was at the time,ABC's most successful show. It got clobbered in the ratings. However,this ended as one of the worst shows for the 1973-1974 season.

The reason why "The New Perry Mason" failed,is because this time around it was revived with an-all new cast(Burr was by that time sleuthing around in a wheelchair solving cases on "Ironside",which was on NBC)by casting stage actor Monte Markham in the title role. Markham was also one of the Quinn Martin regular stockplayers whom was the guest star in several QM Produced series,most notably "The Fugitive", "12 O'Clock High",and "The FBI",not to mention other classic TV shows as well. Markham could play in any role and accomplish a lot of things,but played the title character that was once done by Raymond Burr was not one of them and it shows in some of the episodes. The characters themselves acted stiff and pale,mouthing lines with nary a trace of believability. The mysteries posed a good sign while the rest of it was really pathetic,especially in the courtroom scenes(Harry Guardino's portrayal of D.A. Burger was the worst case of acting ever!) "The New Perry Mason" wasn't part of the scenario program "wheel" of mystery shows that emerged from the 1970's like "McCloud","Columbo","McMillan and Wife",or "Quincy",not to mention others like "Kojak","Baretta",and even "Mannix",were much better. And the results were really awful. CBS canceled this show in early 1974 with the quickness with a family-oriented show that replaced it.

This is the first Perry Mason series I've seen (since I wasn't even born when the original Raymond Burr starrer appeared) and saw it in its entirety (at least what the local station showed). Monte Markham may be a great stage actor, but he never found success on TV and this is why. He and the rest of the cast act like robots, mouthing lines with nary a trace of believability. Mason is supposed to be a criminal lawyer not a corporate one (I guess Markham forgot that). The best evidence of a live character there would be Harry Guardino's Ham(ilton) Burger. He's the only actor who looks the least uncomfortable with the role. The mysteries posed are good, almost Murder-She-Wrote-like quality. But the pace is too fast (though not by today's standards), the courtroom scenes (where the highest point of the drama is expected) are much too brief. If only they made them movies-of-the-month like Columbo or McCloud, there may have been a chance for this show to find its audience.

As a dweebie kid projected by his 1960s classmates to be the next Perry Mason, I loved the Raymond Burr reruns - on after school at 4 pm. So when in the early 70s there was to be a new Perry Mason in the form of Monte Markham (a regular player on TV back then), I was excited.

Until I watched. Even at 16 I could see it was abominably bad and barely even recognizable as Perry Mason.

I today just peaked back into the past and checked whether any New Perry Mason episodes were on YouTube. There was. I watched.

Abominably bad, still.

And that nice lady who played the new Della Street? Whoa. Just awful.

Bad. Just bad.

They did make frequent TV movies of Perry Mason in the 80s and early 90s (until Raymond Burr died) and they were very successful even thought they were not part of a program "wheel" as were "McCloud", "Columbo", "McMillan and Wife", and such. They were successful because they starred the original Mason, Raymond Burr, and the original secretary Della, Barbara Hale, who had a tremendous screen chemistry between them. They had nothing to do with the Markham attempt at revival. It is hard to imagine what CBS was thinking to try to bring back such a big hit with an all-new cast just seven years after the original ended and while its star was still appearing in a second hit show, "Ironside". I also don't know what they were thinking in trying to have Monte Markham as Mason, either; the casting could hardly have been worse. Markham can play lot of things; Mason was NOT one of them.

The original "Perry Mason" TV show was one of the classics of its time. Running for nine years from 1957-1966, the series had everything going for it: good writing, great music, exceptional acting, and all the rest of it. Raymond Burr played Perry Mason so well that it became difficult to see anyone else playing him; likewise, the rest of the cast, including Barbara Hale as Della Street and William Hopper as Paul Drake, fit their roles so well that any attempts at using other actors would hardly be acceptable to viewers.

But, TV producers being the way they are, there was of course an attempt to reboot the show in the 1970s, because they just couldn't stand the idea of not piggybacking off of an iconic show after running out of other ideas. Enter "The New Perry Mason", a short-lived series that made it only a half season before being cancelled. While this series certainly isn't terrible, there's no reason to rate it particularly high in view of the fact that this same idea had already been done before in a much better way - that of course being in the original series itself. Nothing that made the original so good is present in this reboot - at best, everything is mediocre. It's understandable why this show flopped, even if it wasn't the worst - it couldn't live up to the original, and there was really no point trying to make it do that considering they couldn't even use the same actors as before.

To start off, there's the theme song. "Park Avenue Beat" from the original is replaced with a semi-memorable fanfare that hardly captures the tone of what the series is really about. While not bad, this theme song hardly lives up to the original theme by Fred Steiner and already makes it incredibly difficult for one to give the series a chance after years of the old show. They certainly weren't giving it their best effort - something which can be said for the entirety of the show.

As for acting, there's very little to write home about here as well. Monte Markham is cast in the role of Perry Mason, but of course he's no Raymond Burr. While Markham does carry himself well onscreen, that's about all that can be said for his performance - otherwise, he clearly lacks the presence that Burr brought to the role which makes it a tough sell. Sharon Acker is unexceptional as Della Street and looks like some 70s fashion model - and there's hardly any screen chemistry between her and Markham like Burr and Barbara Hale had. The same can be said about Albert Stratton's performance as Paul Drake: bland, nothing special, and certainly not living up to William Hopper. All in all, the trio in this series doesn't at all fit together well like the original trio did, and if the producers wanted to keep the show, that would have to be the first thing to fix.

Harry Guardino, likewise, doesn't really bring anything new to the role of Hamilton Burger. To be honest, his physical appearance reminds me more of someone who should be playing some pipe-smoking sherlock more than someone who should be playing a District Attorney. The biggest injustice, however, is Dane Clark as Lieutenant Tragg, who has no smug manner about him like Ray Collins, nor any trace of humor (for example, the writers literally gave him a great opportunity to be just like the original Lieutenant Tragg when they wrote in the part about his "sensitive instrument" - but when Clark says it, he's completely humorless).

When it comes to the writing, there's nothing too bad to be said, although the writers certainly could have written in some things that would give the cast a better chemistry. The stories are as creative as ever, which is perhaps the best thing to be said about the show, but without the proper cast to carry them out, they don't really have the same feel as the original.

To conclude, "The New Perry Mason" reeks of mediocrity - from music to acting, there is nothing that makes this show special. It's not bad, but it's not very good, and to be honest, I see no reason to watch it as a casual observer considering a far better show was already made (that being the original Perry Mason). The only people I can truly recommend this to are diehard Perry Mason fans who want to watch everything Perry Mason - and even then, I doubt they'd be impressed with it after becoming so used to the old show.