Sponsors Pour in to grab their share

Once Perry Mason was on the television, the show picked up with tremendous popularity during late 1950s. Increasing number of sponsors including Libby-Owens-Ford and Bristol-Myers took great interest in the episodes. Eventual developments found the show immensely popular that advertisers were drooling to grab a piece of the show. Quite interestingly it appears during the second year a group of nuns were requested to pray so that the show could get sponsored. Once so many sponsors signed up, a mutual friend remarked calling the convent, "Don't you think you've overdone it?" The producers and cast deemed it as their good fortune to get multiple sponsorships. In addition to the financial rewards, the evil of a major sponsor bumping in with almost useless "suggestions" could be avoided as a result of the trend. However, one could not say the show was totally out of the influence from sponsors. For instance, during the 1958-59 season, the show picked up a cigarette sponsor, which made Raymond Burr to observe: "All of a sudden, the scripts are loaded with smoking."

Right from the very start of the show entering the small screen, Perry Mason proved to be an expensive venture. Each of the episodes cost not less than $100,000 to make, which was in fact a big money in 1957. The show was produced on the old Twentieth Century-Fox Western Avenue lot, Stage 8, it is said each episode required nine to eleven days to produce with six days of shooting per week, on account of the two days for the weekend, one day of preparation, besides other delays, including holidays and so on. During the first three seasons, about 100 hour-long Mason episodes were produced while more than a dozen were actually ready in store even before the show premiered, which was in fact a gruelling and costly proposition. However, most media reported that the money was well spent during the production. It was widely felt that with regard to production, "Perry Mason" always remained on the top shelf. During the course of its nine year run, CBS had to spend not less than $40 million in presenting the show, which was a huge amount in the fifties and sixties.