# Things I Learned Watching the original Perry Mason **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [July 9, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814 "2023-07-09T14:42:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/41 "2023-07-12T23:49:59Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > f you check into a hotel and Perry or one of the aforementioned is staying there, check out immediately. You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/42 "2023-07-13T00:11:30Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Perry Mason wasn’t the only defense attorney in Los Angeles. The cases depicted in the series were only a small fraction of Burger’s caseload. It was only the cases he tried on Saturday night. The show wasn’t really a lawyer show. It was a detective show. Perry was a private eye, except he did it in the context of being a lawyer. They’re running first-season episodes now. Perry is far more shady than he was later, taking actions that are tricky to help his client (evidently like he was in the books). He became more of a straight arrow as the series went on. Also, Tragg was vaguely hostile toward Perry. He also softened. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/43 "2023-07-13T00:53:17Z")
Heck, in one episode Perry was given the rights to the foal of a champion racehorse. Normal stuff. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/44 "2023-07-13T02:30:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > They’re running first-season episodes now. The early episodes are fascinating. The TV Perry character was still in flux. So was Perry’s relationship with Della. In an early episode, she massages his neck! I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that. In another one, he’s sick at home on the sofa _in his pajamas!_ Della, on her knees, feeds him chicken soup. The million-dollar question: did Perry and Della ever Do It? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/45 "2023-07-13T03:21:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Also, Tragg was vaguely hostile toward Perry. He also softened. I love the names. Hamilton “Ham” Burger is not a DA any judge or jury would take seriously. “Tragg” sounds like some object that a particularly nasty dog might drag into the house in the middle of the night, against even the dog’s better judgment. Perry Mason, however, is perfectly idyllic. What more lovely thing than a mason jar of mother’s homemade preserves? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/46 "2023-07-13T10:03:11Z")
And Paul Drake sounded like he should have his own show. He was my favorite character, actually. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/47 "2023-07-13T10:20:25Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Ah! For some reason, I’ve only thought of Lieutenants as being uniformed and Detectives as plainclothed. Never sank in about ranks in Detective for some reason, even though I’m sure I’ve seen it on TV and movies and such. Just to switch pop-culture plainclothes LAPD detectives for a moment, _“Lieutenant”_ was practically Columbo’s first name… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/48 "2023-07-13T11:43:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > [@RealityChuck](#): > > > > They’re running first-season episodes now. > > The early episodes are fascinating. The TV Perry character was still in flux. So was Perry’s relationship with Della. In an early episode, she massages his neck! I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that. In another one, he’s sick at home on the sofa _in his pajamas!_ Della, on her knees, feeds him chicken soup. > > The million-dollar question: did Perry and Della ever Do It? If so, it wasn’t in Della’s apartment. Raymond Burr made a big deal in the revival that her apartment was never shown during the original run. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/49 "2023-07-13T13:10:01Z")
Maybe they did it in the Law Library. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/50 "2023-07-13T13:13:19Z")
Hitting (it on) the books? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2023, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/51 "2023-07-15T21:08:29Z")
I just watched _ **20 Million Miles to Earth** _ (1957) on Hollywood Suite. William Hopper was the stalwart US Army colonel hunting down a monster from Venus, all the way from Sicily to Rome. What a hoot! I love how “sciencey” and “philosophical” these old SF flicks are when it comes to monsters. And the “romance” between the Colonel and the gorgeous female “doctor” was pretty cool too! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/52 "2023-07-16T17:45:33Z")
I remember something about the producers highlighting the sexual tension between Perry and Della, but never could at the time carry things any further. On the show it was clear that Paul was interested in Della, and a couple of times she played Perry by spending time with Paul, but he was clearly friend-zoned and never had a shot. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814/53 "2023-07-25T00:52:09Z")
It’s funny. MeTV is now running the first season of the show. Perry is not the legal straight arrow he was later – he’s not above concocting dubious legal tricks to get his client off. Lt. Tragg is more sarcastic and hostile, as is Hamilton Berger. There isn’t always a confession and sometimes it doesn’t even include a courtroom scene.\* The shows were most often taken directly from a Perry Mason novel, which may explain the characterization. Perry occasionally wore a light suit. And Gertie showed up several times. \*Later seasons would do that, but it felt like they were just trying to vary the formula. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-i-learned-watching-the-original-perry-mason/986814.md?page=2)