A Number of Judges but No Jury

Actually speaking, the portrayal of Perry Mason persuading his case to a panel of astounded jurors is not the right one. True to the case, each of the episodes involved a homicide in some way or the other, while most of them were resolved in the court. However, as against the popular belief, Perry always argued most of his TV court cases only in preliminary or "evidentiary" hearings and not jury trials. This was particularly so following the first season. The reason for this was actually economics to a great extent. CBS knew for sure that besides boosting up Perry's reputation, it could also help in making a good deal of saving while they need not have to pay twelve extras to play jurors in each episode.

On the other hand, every show had to have a judge to comply with the storyline. Nearly about fifty actors in addition to two actresses played the role of judges during the course of the nine seasons. Most often during the thirty three episodes, actor S. John Launer was most frequently seen on the shows while Kenneth MacDonald was in fact claimed to be the most recognizable among others. On the other hand, MacDonald, who made his appearance in thirty-two episodes, was said to be better known for the roles he played in The Three Stooges films. Stooge-o-philes said it will remember him always as Ichabod Slipp, Dapper the gangster, and a host of many other slimy characters. Grandon Rhodes who played the judge in the first of the Mason episodes also starred in fifteen more episodes. In addition, the other actors who were frequently observed playing judges on the episodes included Willis Bouchey who appeared for about twenty-two episodes; Morris Ankrum, who was portrayed as judge for about twenty-two episodes; John Gallaudet who appeared for sixteen episodes and Richard Gaines who showed himself in thirteen episodes. Also, Lillian Bronson showed up for about three times as a female judge, while Fay Roope appeared in about two shows. On the whole, only about a dozen episodes did not feature any judge for a number of reasons.