Tuesday, September 4, 2018

“Serious Business”: Perry’s Final Case


“Serious Business” here at Temporary Layoffs will focus on the world of TV dramas very other Tuesday!

Perry Mason had been a reliable part of the CBS schedule for nine seasons and still brought in large audiences. The network, however, had felt that the show had run its course and decided to pull the plug in 1966. The final episode was designed to be a bigger than usual sendoff, featuring a special cast that included famed American Bandstand host Dick Clark and even the show’s creator Earle Stanley Gardner.



The show cleverly ended with Perry speaking these final words: 

“Now it seems to me the place to start is at 
the beginning.”

Since the show’s producers knew that Perry Mason would live forever in syndication, the next episode that future viewers would see would be the show’s first episode. A fitting end to a legendary show.