Perry Mason is an Emmy-winning American TV series that ran from 1957 to 1966. Perry Mason was played by actor Raymond Burr. The title character is a fictional defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. The plot is essentially the same in each episode: Mason's client is put on trial for murder, but Mason is able to establish his client's innocence by dramatically demonstrating the guilt of another character.Thomas Leitch, Perry Mason. Detroit: Wayne State University Press (2005): 28 - 29. "It is never enough for Mason to establish a reasonable doubt of his client's guilt; he must clear the client absolutely by pinning the guilt on someone else, almost always by extracting a confession." The murderer nearly always breaks down and confesses to the crime in the courtroom, if not on the witness stand.

Barbara Hale played Perry's confidential secretary, Della Street, known as "Beautiful" by Detective Paul Drake, played by William Hopper.

William Talman played Mason's perennial adversary, District Attorney Hamilton Burger; Ray Collins played the part of the crusty, dedicated police lieutenant, Arthur Tragg, who often frustrated Mason. In later years of the series, Collins' age (he was 66 when the series began) caused him to appear less and less, and he was succeeded by Wesley Lau as Lt. Andy Anderson, and later Richard Anderson as Lt. Steve Drumm.

Among the actors appearing as judges were John Gallaudet, S. John Launer (He was the father of Dale Launer, who wrote My Cousin Vinny.), and Kenneth MacDonald, well-known for his appearances as a bad guy in Three Stooges shorts. Connie Cezon, who had a recurring role as Gertrude "Gertie" Lade, Perry's receptionist, had also appeared in a number of Three Stooges short films.

The show is "television's most successful and longest-running lawyer series.". Another series ran from 1973-1974, and more than 25 made-for-TV movies aired from 1985 to 1993.

The series also set a precedent for other mystery series in that it was the first detective show to feature either a tape or chalk outline to mark the spot where the murder victim's body had been found. The first time this appeared was in the episode "The Case of the Perjured Parrot," which aired in 1958. However, Gardner used this idea in a much earlier book, Double Or Quits (1941) written under his pen name of A. A. Fair.

The theme music, "Park Avenue Beat," by Fred Steiner, is one of television's most recognizable themes.

When asked why Perry Mason won every case, Burr said "But madam, you only see the cases I try on Saturday."

One episode during the final season ("The Case of the Twice-Told Twist", broadcast February 27, 1966), was filmed in color, while all the other episodes were in black and white. The episode begins with a kid in his late teens cajoled into going along with a ring of car thieves. Perry and Della take a trip up Angel's Flight in downtown Los Angeles, California, and return ten minutes later to find Perry's car stripped down to the frame.

Years later, a TV Guide interview stated that Raymond Burr was not the original choice for Mason, and that the producers were firmly against Burr, but they agreed to let him audition for Mason if he would also audition for Prosecuting Attorney Hamilton Burger. The part had originally been offered to Fred MacMurray, but MacMurray turned it down. As the story goes, Mason's creator, Erle Stanley Gardner, happened to be sitting in on the auditions that day and excitedly shouted, "That's Perry Mason," upon seeing Burr. Gardner later made a cameo as a judge in the last episode of the original series, "The Case of the Final Fade-Out." (Coincidentally Burr had starred as a successful Prosecuting Attorney in the film version of An American Tragedy.)

The original series was a staple in syndication, running for many years on local television stations, TBS and most recently on the Hallmark Channel. It is still shown in local markets and on selected stations of the Retro Television Network, and is distributed by CBS Television Distribution, originally Viacom and CBS Paramount Domestic Television.