Although quite young at the time, I used to watch this program on black and white TV with my Dad. He thought the series was great and I shared his enthusiasm even though I had trouble guessing the murderer. Here I am, decades later, watching them on MeTV and still not satisfied until I bought the entire collection on Amazon. These are timeless gems, and thank God there are 271 of them. I have many to go and lots more enjoyment. What's especially great is the phenomenal chemistry of the cast with Perry, Della and Paul saving clients from the two arms of the law, Burger and Tragg. Add to that the nostalgia for the late 50's and 60's, the appearance that life was so much more simple, and you're really transformed into another point in time. And, when I finish watching them all, I'll look forward to watching my favorite ones sometime in the future.

This review is for the recently released box set PERRY MASON: THE COMPLETE SERIES.I never watched the classic TV series PERRY MASON when it first aired. That's because I was born the same year that the series based on the books by Erle Stanley Gardner about a tireless lawyer in search of justice for his clients began. PERRY MASON went on to run for nine seasons, ending in 1966. Even then I wasn't watching it. No, I discovered PERRY MASON the same way most of us did, in reruns and syndication. I came on board late in the game and found the series to be one of the most entertaining I'd come across. And now it's all been collected in one great package.The series told the story of Mason (Raymond Burr), a lawyer who knew all the tricks of the trade. Each week Mason, aided by his secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale) and private detective Paul Drake (William Hopper) took on a new client and helped them from small crimes to murder. His main nemesis in the series was District Attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman), a man he respected and was friends with outside of the court room.The best thing about the series was that each week a different story, a different defendant, made for compelling mysteries that had you guessing till the end. That was the fun of the series, trying to figure it out before the end of the show. Those endings have been satirized for years since with the famous court room admissions from the witness chair that Mason always seemed able to pull out of the most confident witness.Is there a favorite episode? I don't think you can lay claim to any one particular show. Not when you have 271 episodes to choose from. To be honest I've only begun to watch this collection. When you consider there are 72 discs involved to hold that many episodes the odds are it will take a while before finishing. But it won't take that long to enjoy the series for what it was, a groundbreaking series that held the attention of fans for years. It was so popular that a TV movie called PERRY MASON RETURNS brought the remaining cast members back together in 1985 and was so popular that it led to a series of made for TV movies that came out and continued through 1993! The series has been available for some time on DVD and broken down by year or split in two for each year. Selling for anywhere from $10-15 dollars per seasonal part that broke down to anywhere from $180-250 dollars for the whole series. Now you can buy the entire series in this single boxed set for $180 retail or $150 at amazon. The set is nicely put together in three cases that hold the discs well and keep everything together in much less space than the previous individual seasons held.For fans this is the perfect way to have the collection on hand. It will offer hours of entertainment and puzzle solving for the arm chair detective. It is family friendly rather than the current spate of law shows that seem intent on delving into the worst cases of sexual deviant or scenes of blood drenched corpses. Mind you I'm not slamming those shows but if you enjoy series like this and have kids the odds aren't great that you'll be able to watch these shows while the kids are awake. The same isn't true for this series which all ages can watch. The clothes might seem funny to the kids but the stories are still captivating.This is a set that the collector will want to have on hand. I got rid of my split seasons with this one here to add to my shelf. My guess is that Perry Mason fans will want to do the same. While the price may seem high it is actually quite a bargain. Even more so when you consider the entertainment value as well. This one is worth owning.

Who doesn't love Perry Mason? I've read a lot of his books, and thoroughly enjoyed them. I was naturally skeptical when it came to seeing s TV series of his name, but was in for a pleasant surprise when I began to watch my favorite stories unfold on screen. For the actors, Burr is extremely lovable as are Hopper and Collins. Though my favorite is Talman who has a very easy and realistic style to him. The stories are not distorted by any means, neither is there any attempt to glamorize or sensationalized them. This very simplistic approach is what makes this serial amazing. I need not describe the genius of the plots for they are known to all. A rare gem of an adaptation of a much loved series.

I wasn't expecting to love Perry Mason, but the thing I do love it. While an example of a formula show, it is a formula show that works wonders. The stories may have some odd predictabilities here and there, but they are always done and written in a most intelligent and intelligent way.The photography and production values are also striking and hold up very well, the direction is consistently on the money and the music is atmospheric, tense and seductive somewhat. But where Perry Mason really scores is in its writing and lead performance. There is very rare an episode where the writing is bad, it is at best outstanding good at worst, with some intelligent, thought-provoking, humorous, poignant and intense(in the atmosphere) moments throughout. Raymond Burr is simply brilliant as the titular character, who is clever and likable at the same time, and the guests are equally impressive. All in all, a fine show that makes for compulsive viewing whenever it is on. 10/10 Bethany Cox