The New Perry Mason is a CBS TV series that ran from 1973 to 1974. It was a revival of the 1957 Perry Mason television series about Erle Stanley Gardner's brilliant defense attorney.
Plot
All of the major characters of the original series appeared in the revival, along with Gertie, a receptionist seldom seen in the original (and played by Connie Cezon, in the original, on the few occasions when she was), and the plots and their devices were along the lines of the original. The familiar theme song of the original, "Park Avenue Beat," was replaced by a generic dramatic fanfare.
While several production personnel had worked on the original Perry Mason series (including executive producer Cornwell Jackson, producers Ernie Frankel and Art Seid, and director Arthur Marks), the series was made without the participation of any members of the original cast, with Monte Markham taking over the role that Raymond Burr played in the original series. Produced by 20th Century Fox Television, it aired Sundays at 7:30 pm (EST) on CBS, the same network which had aired the original series, during the 1973–74 season. A total of 15 episodes were produced and aired.
Cancellation
This revival was cancelled at midseason, after failing to overtake its two hit rivals, NBC's The Wonderful World of Disney and ABC's The F.B.I. in the ratings in its Sunday night time slot. It ranked 71st out of 80 shows airing that season, with a 13.1 household rating.[1] It was soon replaced by Apple's Way, which also failed in the same time slot.
A mechanic, is defended by Mason in his retrial for the murder of a prominent physician. The first trial ended in a hung jury that voted 11-to-1 to convict.
When the body of a missing millionaire, dead more than four years, turns up in Hong Kong, Mason is called upon to defend the man who admits planning the murder as a morbid joke.
Mason defends a big-time gambler on a murder charge, with complications setting in when Mason must also defend his client in an action for custody of his daughter.
Perry is hard-pressed to prove the innocence of his client, a brilliant inventor, when he is discovered standing over a dead man with a knife in his hand.
Lt. Tragg is on both sides of a murder case when he must arrest one of his men for murder, followed by his request to Mason to give him the best defense possible
Mugged in a crowded parking lot by an ex-basketball player who once had a million-dollar future, Mason turns around to defend the young man when he's charged with murder.
A Los Angeles judge with a reputation for being tough is arrested for poisoning his wheeler-dealer son-in-law, and then tries to tell Mason how to conduct his defense.
The kidnapping of Mason's young counsel from the courtroom complicates his attempt to gain a fair trial for a man accused of murdering a hated ranch foreman in a rural California town.
