Today is June 1 and it is National Game Show Day! It is a day for celebrating all timeless game shows, past and present. National Game Show Day honors one of the oldest and most cherished genres of TV.
According to the National Day Calendar: Game Shows are watched by millions of Americans every single day and are a staple in most American homes. Viewers can engage by cheering contestants on and playing along from home. National Game Show Day honors vintage and current game shows, their hosts, and the fans of yesterday and today.
The first TV game show in the U.S. was Truth or Consequences, which began in 1940 and was hosted by Ralph Edwards. The show consisted of contestants being asked to answer trivia questions correctly or face the consequences by performing a zany stunt.
I would say that my love of game shows came from my grandparents. On days where we were sick and had to stay home from school, we’d occasionally have to spend the day with them. Game Shows were a staple at their house (sadly, so were soap operas). The Price Is Right was always on at her house.
The Price is Right originally aired on TV in 1956, with Bill Cullen as the host. In 1972, the show reintroduced a new host. Bob Barker became the face of The Price is Right and served as host for 35 years, with Drew Carey taking over the reins in 2007. The Price is Right is the longest running game show in television history, with Carey continuing as host today.
Another grandma favorite was Let’s Make a Deal with Monty Hall. She’d laugh at the ridiculous costumes that people would wear. We’d laugh when they picked something that a booby prize.
Game shows seemed to be on at all hours of the day growing up. Many of them were on during the day. I loved watching Dick Clark on the $20,000 Pyramid. As years went on the amount of money increased, too.
I used to love guessing whether the next card was higher or lower when we watched Jim Perry on Card Sharks. I wanted a deck of those huge playing cards!
Long before Jeopardy, I remember watching Alex Trebek on High Rollers. I really don’t remember what the game was, but I sure do remember those big fuzzy dice! Come to think of it, his hair and mustache were a bit fuzzier back then…
Another show I remember was hosted by Bert Convey and featured celebrities and their spouses. I remember that they’d always show the contestant’s who were not on stage wearing these huge headphones!
I was always amazed at how a contestant could name a tune in one note when I watched Name That Tune. Obviously they got some clues ahead of time, but as a kid I was in awe.
There were two game shows that I remember watching that seems to go away fairly quickly. One was called Sale of the Century, again with Jim Perry.
The other one that went away fast was Treasure Hunt. What kid doesn’t like presents?
The first time I ever heard the phrase Makin’ Whoopie …. The Newlywed Game. Did I know what it meant? No. But it was fun to watch couples argue over answers.
Another daytime game show I remember was Tic Tac Dough. As a kid I loved the fact that it was Tic Tac Toe and that the host’s name was WINK!
Tic Tac Toe with celebrities and a whole lot of funny ad-libs made Hollywood Squares another favorite.
There have been many incarnations of Family Feud, but to me the BEST version was when Richard Dawson hosted.
Night time game shows were always on at grandma’s, too. Of course everyone still watches Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!
Before the return of Jeopardy at night, Wheel of Fortune was paired with Jack Berry and the Joker’s Wild.
I could go on and on with games shows I loved, but I will spare you my rambling and wrap with my all time favorite – The Match Game.
Gene Rayburn was so good at interacting with not only the celebrities on the panel, but the contestants. It was like a half hour party. We always watched it when my dad had band practice and my brother and I were in front of the TV. What a hoot to watch this show! It was years later when I found out that they would break between shows and have dinner and drinks which led to “looser” celebrities and more humor.
Did (Do) you have a favorite game show or host? Tell me about it!
This blog post is part of the Hanspostcard TV Show Draft.
My choice for the third round draft pick is Hollywood’s first weekly one-hour series that was filmed for television – Perry Mason. The show ran for 9 seasons (September 1957 – May 1966) and starred Raymond Burr in the title role.
Raymond Burr
The character of Perry Mason was well known before he was ever on TV. The attorney was the star of novels and stories written by a lawyer-turned-author Erle Stanley Gardner. There were some movies made by Warner Brothers and also a radio series based starring the character, by Gardner hated them! As a matter of fact, he refused to license the character of Perry mason for any more adaptations. (Interestingly, the radio series continues and evolved into the famous soap opera The Edge of Night.)
Gardner’s agent married actress Gail Patrick and she was the one who talked him into adapting the novels into a TV series. He made it clear that he wanted a lot of control over the show and how it was presented. He also had a hand in helping pick the cast. Many of the stories he wrote were turned into episodes for the series.
The Cast
It is hard to imagine anyone other than Raymond Burr as Perry Mason. However, among the actors in the running were Mike Conners, Richard Egan, William Holden, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., William Hopper, and Fred MacMurray. Raymond Burr actually auditioned for the role of Hamilton Burger, the DA. Gail Patrick remembered his performance from the 1951 film “A Place in the Sun” and told him he was perfect for the role.
At the time, Burr was about 60 pounds overweight, so he went on a crash diet and tested for the role again with about 50 other actors. Erle Stanley Gardner saw him and reportedly said, “THAT is Perry Mason!” Burr continued to lose weight as the series continued. He stated, “I just don’t have time to eat.”
Syndicated columnist Erskine Johnson wrote, “Every six days Burr stars in what almost amounts to a full-length feature movie. He’s in 98% of all the scenes.” Burr stated, “I had no life outside of Perry Mason. And that went on 24 hours a day, sox days a week. I never went home at night. I lived on the lot. I got up at 3 o’clock every single morning to learn my lines for that day, and sometimes I hadn’t finished until 9 o’clock. I had a kitchen, bedroom, office space, sitting room – al of that – on every lot I ever worked on.“
Burr won three Primetime Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Perry Mason (1959, 1960, and 1961).
Raymond Burr IS Perry Mason
Other major players in the cast included Barbara Hale as Perry’s secretary, Della Street. Hale had done some feature films, but wanted to avoid going away for long periods of time to shoot them because she had a rather young family. According to Gail Patrick, it was Hale who called her to inquire about the role of Della.
Perry and Della (Barbara Hale)
William Hopper, as I mentioned before, auditioned for the role of Perry Mason (I believe you can find some of the audition tapes on YouTube). After not getting the role of Mason and auditioning for Private Detective Paul Drake, he walked in the room and said, “You hate my mother!” His mother was Hedda Hopper, the famous gossip columnist. Patrick said he was the perfect Paul Drake, so he got the role.
William Hopper as Paul Drake with Burr’s Mason
For the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger, Patrick knew exactly who she wanted. She had seen William Tallman in The Hitch-Hiker and knew he was perfect for the role. She said, “He never disappointed.” In an interview he was asked how he felt about his character losing to Perry Mason every week. His response is perfect. He stated, “Burger doesn’t lose. How can a district attorney lose when he fails to convict an innocent person?” When Burr was asked by a fan why he won every case, he told her, “But madam, you only see the cases I try on Saturday!”
William Tallman – Hamilton Burger
Another one of Perry’s foils was Police Lt. Arthur Tragg. Ray Collins’ voice was known to so many listeners of the Mercury Theater on radio. He had also been in movies and other TV shows. Patrick joked saying, “We overlooked the fact that on an actual police force, he would probably be long retired.” He was 68 years old when the show debuted on CBS. The playful interaction between Tragg and Mason are priceless.
The great Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg
The Plot
The basic formula for each episode was the same. The first part of the show introduced the viewer to a client who is hiring Perry Mason for some legal work or is introduced to him in some way. We then see the murder victim and other “suspects” introduced. The victim is murdered and Perry’s client is wrongfully accused of the crime. The remainder of the episode focuses on Burger and Tragg gathering evidence to convict the said “murderer”, Perry, Drake and Della take up their own investigation to prove their client is innocent.
The second half of the show would shift to the courtroom where Perry and Hamilton would duke it out in the preliminary hearing. In the novels, Perry likes to clear the client before they are bound over for trial, so this was worked into the show. They happen, but jury trials are rarely seen on the show.
The show would often culminate with Mason recalling a witness and questioning them until they cracked and admitted committing the murder OR causing someone else in the courtroom to admit that THEY committed the murder. The show would then wrap with a scene in Perry’s office or the courtroom where details would be presented on what led Perry to discover the real killer.
The formula worked for 9 seasons and eventually 30 TV made for TV movies.
Episodes of Interest
Throughout the run of the series, there were some very unique episodes. In the entire run of the series, Perry tackles an astounding 271 cases, and wins almost all of them! He actually lost thre cases (that we know of). In The Case of the Witless Witness, he loses a non-murder case. In The Case of the Terrified Typist, his client is found guilty of murder, but he is eventually able to clear her name. Finally, in The Case of the Deadly Verdict his client is found guilty of murder and is actually sentenced to death in the gas chamber! Perry, of course, is able to save the day before the execution is scheduled to take place.
A fun episode to watch is The Case of the Dead Ringer. Raymond Burr plays a dual role in this episode playing a man named “Grimes.” It’s fun to watch Burr question Burr as two different characters!
In season 6, Burr had some episodes where is appeared briefly, but guest actors filled in for Perry. Among those actors were Bette Davis, Michael Rennie, Hugh O’Brian, and Walter Pidgeon. Two years later, Burr was hospitalized for jaw surgery and Mike Conners and Barry Sullivan filled in for him.
How about the three that never set foot in a courtroom? Those were The Case of the Baited Hook, The Case of the Velvet Claws, and The Case of the Careless Kitten.
One of the most interesting shows was the one – and only – show that was shot in color. In the 9th season, CBS was hoping that the show would shoot a 10th season. Many shows were being shot in color by this time and they wanted to see what the show would look like. The Case of the Twice-Told Twist aired – in color – on February 27, 1966.
A must see episode is the series finale, The Case of the Final Fade-Out. First of all, it features cameos by all of the Perry Mason Crew in various roles. Second, it features the creator of the character, Erle Stanley Gardner, as the judge, and the murderer is … spoiler alert … a young Dick Clark!
Before They Were Famous
Many soon-to-be stars appeared on Perry Mason. I guess that is another reason why I love watching it. You never know who will pop up. Some examples: Barbara Eden, Cloris Leachman, Lee Meriwether, Pat Priest, Yvonne Craig, James Coburn, Angie Dickenson, George Kennedy, Diane Ladd, Frankie Laine, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Claude Akins, Richard Anderson, Barbara Bain, James Best, Whit Bissell, Frank Cady, Bert Convey, Richard Deacon, Norman Fell, Alan Hale Jr., Harvey Korman, Gavin MacLeod, Allan Melvin, Leonard Nimoy, Denver Pyle, Marion Ross, Adam West, and MORE!
The Theme Song
Let’s be honest, the Perry Mason Theme Song is one of the most recognizable in all of television. The task of writing the theme went to composer Fred Steiner. He set out to write a song that would convey two of Perry’s prime characteristics – sophistication and toughness. The piece he wrote was called “Park Avenue Beat.”
Here is Fred discussing how he came up with the theme:
Here is the theme from the first season:
As much as I love the original version, I have to admit that when Perry Mason returned to TV in the two hour movies, I loved the version used for these films better. They just sound more full and better produced to me. So here it is:
I may as well touch briefly on the TV movies. In December of 1985, Perry Mason Returns aired on NBC.
In the movie, Perry is now a judge and steps down from the bench to defend Della Street, who is accused of murder.
William Hopper died in 1970, so William Katt (Barbara Hale’s son) was called in to play Paul Drake Jr. The movies followed the same formula as the TV show. Burr and Hale had aged, but their on screen chemistry hadn’t changed at all. Burr was fantastic in this of course, he proves that Della is innocent! The successful reception and ratings of the reunion show led to 29 more Perry Mason Movies (Burr starred in 26 of them before passing away in 1993).
I never tire of watching Perry Mason. Despite being a bit dated, I think it still holds up today. HBO has created a “pre” Perry Mason show supposedly showing how he became the famous lawyer. I have no desire to watch it. To me, there is one and only Perry Mason!
FUN FACT: Raymond Burr started playing the character in 1957 and played him until his death in 1993. He played Perry Mason for a whopping 36 years!
So if you ever find yourself accused of murder … there is only one lawyer to call….
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 