We Need Distractions Now More Than Ever

July 4, 2020,

To avoid thinking about the unthinkable, we need our distractions.

Human beings always have.

There is a tendency to think that life was so idyllic in the past, and in some ways by comparison to the complete madness we see today, it was. But it was not remotely paradisiac.

So when we made a decision to watch the new Perry Mason, we did it to be distracted.

From angry politics.

A declining environment.

An un-empathetic world filled with hate, rage and itching for war.

A deadly virus that is unyielding and worse, unseen. Isn’t that always one of the most fearful aspects to a lethal enemy is when you can’t see it? Yet it is everywhere. Lurking. Ready to pounce on your mistake.

An associate was at an arbitration meeting last week and things got so intense, she forgot that she had removed her mask to speak. And she kept speaking. Gesturing too. It could have proven lethal.

Thus far it hasn’t.

So as a distraction we decided to watch Perry Mason.

Not the old one. The new one. To bring a younger generation up to speed, let’s rekindle the older and very brilliant Perry Mason.

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Perry Mason is an American legal drama series originally broadcast on CBS television from September 21, 1957, to May 22, 1966.

The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles criminal-defense lawyer who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner. Many episodes are based on stories written by Gardner.

Most of Perry’s clients have been falsely charged with murder.

Each episode typically follows a formula. The first half of the show introduces a prospective murder victim and a series of persons involved with the victim, who through word or deed, reveal themselves as the likely perpetrator of the crime.

Of note, Perry Mason was Hollywood's first weekly one-hour series filmed for television, and remains one of the longest-running and most successful legal-themed television series.

During its first season, it received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Best Dramatic Series, and it became one of the five most popular shows on television. Raymond Burr received two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor, and Barbara Hale received an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Mason's confidential secretary Della Street.

We loved many aspects of the original Perry Mason.

The stories were brilliantly written and the acting was low key and superb. Raymond Burr played Perry with a very understated yet powerful and insightful demeanor.

Barbara Hale was an exceptional actress and incredibly beautiful in a 1950’s girl next door sort of way.

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It was an incredible series.

Then years later, someone came up with the questionable idea to do it again.

The New Perry Mason, a 1973 revival of the series with a different cast, was poorly received and ran for 15 episodes.

Interestingly in 1985, the first in a successful series of 30 Perry Mason television films aired on NBC, with Burr reprising the role of Mason in 26 of them before his death in 1993.

Raymond Burr was clearly the key.

Can you really do another Lt. Colombo detective series without Peter Falk? We don’t think so.

So when HBO announced that it was going to produce another Perry Mason series, we were intrigued.

HBO typically does good work. Typically.

Just not this time.

Raymond Burr has passed away and this version resembles the old Perry Mason in name only. That’s it. That’s all.

They might as well have called it Chinatown Three or L.A. Confidential two.

Here is the HBO storyline.

“Set in 1932 Los Angeles, the series focuses on the origin story of famed defense lawyer Perry Mason, based on characters from Erle Stanley Gardner’s novels. Living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, Mason is haunted by his wartime experiences in France and suffering the effects of a broken marriage.

L.A. is booming while the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression — but a kidnapping gone very wrong leads to Mason exposing a fractured city as he uncovers the truth of the crime.”

Sounds intriguing enough but thus far it hasn’t lived up to expectations.

They’re even reprising the names of Paul Drake and Della Street.

Why not just create it as a new series with different names? Well, they want to live off of the fumes from Raymond’s original masterpiece. Would we have even given the new version a chance if it wasn’t named Perry Mason?

Nope.

Let’s see if the reviewers at ign.com agree. Their insight reveals, “HBO's take on Perry Mason is a gritty, Depression-era noir that swings wide and wild, using the character's blank canvas and non-existent past to forge a formidable and complex startup saga that, in its own way, takes Perry Mason from "blunt instrument" into something more resembling a character who could lead his own courtroom show.”

They then conclude, “HBO's Perry Mason provides us with an origin tale for a different, but still iconic, literary and screen hero.”

Fair enough. A little kind but they were right in the review. The original Perry Mason was not a complex character. Must everyone be complex to be successful? Perhaps only in TV land where they have quirks and ticks that make them so eccentric.

Yes it is intriguing to know that they have baggage. Most of us do. Still, here, a little less profanity and a little more style over grit would have been preferable for us. The first Perry Mason was distinguished.

So for us, HBO’s Perry Mason wasn’t enough of a distraction and we’re not sure that we’re going to give it a second chance.

With such an incredible entertainment menu to choose from in cable land, we’re not sure that we have time to be merciful.

Prime Video is actually pretty good. With distracting movies that sometimes lack substance and other times do. Like the film Blame. Exceptional.

Every storyline doesn’t have to be complex to be entertaining.

Then there is Tubi, Epix, Showtime, Hulu, Cinemax, Starz, Netflix, Streampix, International Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS and Lifetime to name a few.

Keep the sequels and pretenders coming.

Who wants less to watch?

We don’t. We love the clutter. We love the new streaming players on the block.

It keeps us distracted.

In our time period, we need that now more than ever.

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