Raymond Burr starred as Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Perry Mason, a character created by American author and attorney Erle Stanley Gardner.
Dean Hargrove was able to bring back the two then-surviving major stars, Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale, reprising their roles as Mason and his private secretary Della Street.
[1]: 40151 Among the actors to appear in major recurring roles were David Ogden Stiers as District Attorney Michael Reston (1986–1988), James McEachin as police Sergeant (later Lieutenant) Ed Brock (1986–1995), and Alexandra Paul as Ken Malansky's girlfriend Amy Hastings (1989).
Because of lower production costs, many of the later TV movies (beginning with the fourth, The Case of the Lost Love) were filmed and set in Denver, Colorado rather than Mason's traditional locale of Los Angeles.
Although located in Colorado, a courtroom wall shown at the end of the opening title sequence bears a Seal of Los Angeles County, California plaque.
Jealous of the time actress Kate Huntley is spending with talk-show host Steve Carr, actor/director Robert McCay decides to "prank" him by shooting at him on his show on live television with a gun loaded with blanks.
Cast: Daphne Ashbrook, Vincent Baggetta, Jason Bernard, Anthony Geary, Bill Macy, James Noble, John Rhys-Davies, Ann Jillian, David Ogden Stiers, Kim Johnston Ulrich[5][1]: 39903 Perry is suing a gutter-trash newspaper that is running a story about a love affair between him and Della.
All of them make little-concealed verbal threats to Wade at a party, but the person who hated him most is a female reporter he had just fired from the paper for attempting to write a serious story.
Cast: Patty Duke, Erin Gray, Larry Wilcox, Charles Siebert, James Sutorius, Arthur Taxier, James McEachin, Don Galloway, Richard Sanders, Gary Hershberger, David Ogden Stiers[5][1]: 40008 Note: This film marked a reunion between Raymond Burr and his Ironside co-star, Don Galloway.
Sara Travis, haunted by the murder of her sister in the lake near her home 15 years earlier, has only just been rebuilding her life, thanks to her husband Billy, a former athlete.
While the star, film actress Amanda Cody, is scoring a big success, director Tony Franken is dictatorially tearing through the cast and crew, dismissing Johnny after he dares to stand up for himself.
Cast: Deidre Hall, Bruce Greenwood, Shari Belafonte, Pernell Roberts, Alexandra Paul, Jason Beghe[5][1]: 40237 Famous crime writer Bradley Thompson is in town to collect an award for his latest book.
When Terri is murdered in her penthouse by a hired hitman, Jack is immediately suspected of arranging the hit, but his former law professor Perry takes the case.
Among the other suspects are Terri's former friend Carla Peters, who started out with her when they were singing in a Supremes-like trio; her ex-husband, who sang with her in a husband-and-wife duo in her early days before she left him, and various others.
Cast: Tim Reid, Alan Rachins, Vanessa Williams, Angela Bassett, Alice Ghostley, Kene Holliday, Nia Peeples[5][1]: 40422 Richard Stuart is a very wealthy man, thanks to his methods of "assisting" certain people to advance in their careers.
With strong reservations, and against the wishes of both Della and especially Ken, Perry agrees to defend former mob figure Johnny Sorrento when he is accused of ordering a hit on his wife, who was threatening to divorce him.
Dyan Draper, editor of a well-known fashion magazine, is infamous for writing columns that destroy other people's careers; she also drives her employees to near-madness with her orders.
During the wedding ceremony of fashionable pop star Kaitlynn Parrish, a heated altercation between a drunken woman and her father breaks out, disrupting the festivities.
Taking on the case with Della and Ken, Perry finds out that Keene's power over the station came from various secrets he had over his stars, including a shock-jock duo, a conspiracy theorist, a former athlete turned sports show host, and a relationship expert.
Cast: Fritz Coleman, Cristina Ferrare, G. Gordon Liddy, Fred Roggin, Montel Williams, Mariette Hartley, Regis Philbin[5][1]: 41146 When Mark Stranton, a popular soap opera actor, dies from an on-camera kiss, which triggered an allergic reaction, Perry's goddaughter Kris Buckner, the victim's co-star who had planted the deadly kiss, is framed.
Meanwhile, Ken, with help from a visiting tourist, finds his life in danger as he and Perry suspect that the clue to Stranton's death might lie in an unsolved 28-year-old murder.
Beforehand, to oversee legal issues regarding both the shoot and the women involved, Dee had asked for help from a friend of hers, attorney Anthony Caruso, who had overseen each of the exes' divorces.
Cast: Shelley Hack, Kathy Ireland, Maud Adams, Beverly Johnson, Kim Alexis, Paula Marshall, Eric Braeden[5][1]: 41280 For the remainder of the series, Hal Holbrook takes over as "Wild Bill" McKenzie, a motorcycle-riding ranch owner and former prosecutor, whose reputation in the courtroom has led to a series of colorful stories spread around about him, from him getting a confession by threatening to shoot the accused's dog to, at the movie's start, exposing a corrupt defense attorney working against his own client.
When he agrees to fill in for Perry as a guest speaker at a lavish resort, he quickly finds himself coming to the defense of an old friend of his, retired chess star Daniel Kingman.
As Will Bill, with help from Della and Ken, gets to work, they soon find out Lye had dirt on many of the guests gathered at the hotel, including a basketball team owner, an aging actress, and a has-been director.
Cast: Robin Leach, Dixie Carter, Diahann Carroll, Robert Englund, James Stephens[5][1]: 41369 "Wild Bill" McKenzie had, months earlier, faced tragedy when a friend of his, former D.A.
Richards, running for governor, had seen his campaign damaged by rumors of his having an affair with Charlotte Moore, an exotic dancer who was seeking hush money.
Richards' daughter Karen, is convinced that both the accusations and her father's death were planned and ordered by Harlan's opponent, sitting governor Ryan Allison.
Added into the mix is not only blackmailer Charlotte Moore, who has been suspiciously missing since the governor's murder, but also local corrupt businessman Johnny Steele, who may have a member of Allison's team on his payroll.
[6] The British sitcom May to December (1989–1994) shows a photograph of Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) in the office of Scottish solicitor Alec Callender.