The Problems of Success

A great reason for the success of Perry Mason on the TV screen was that deviating from the trends of the times, the episodes centred themselves less on the actual murder and more on exploring the ideas and clues to resolve the case. In several other shows of similar nature, the murder scene was the main focus while the venture of putting the clues together assumed secondary importance.

Similar to "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," yet another admired series running during the time, each of the Mason shows featured a last minute twist ending that kept the audience on wheels to eagerly anticipate the next episode. However, the show did not present any homicides like Hitchcock's thrillers. In fact until the last and final moment, the show never revealed the real murderer. This technique was employed to sustain the element of surprise which was crucially in need for the success of the show. On several occasions, conscientious viewers could easily figure out the mystery behind the plot though the story line had taken enough care to disguise the real killer's tracks. Most other times, the main clues just showed themselves up as devices of the central plot while an obscure fringe player was showed in the end as having murdered the victim for a motive that was rather impossible for the viewer to know in advance.

This restrictive technique employed by the storyline resulted in some problems and script writing for the episodes proved to be challenging and troublesome. While the first thirty episodes exclusively centred on Gardner's works, eventually then original stories began creeping into the caseload. With the progress of seasons, actual plots were heavily twisted, cropped, and stuck back together once again. Quite soon, the episodes became actually interchangeable.

The drama entered the courtroom before the fourth commercial break. Once it was there, the action would invariably progress till the last possible moment interspersed with the court scene. This pattern became the formula and became inherently predictable. In fact this worked wonders since the audience loved it. An incredible writer called Eugene Wang appeared on the scene as a story editor and got several outstanding scripts on the show. This was how the storyline captured the hearts of thousands across the nation.