Over the course of the year we've probably watched every episode of the old Perry Mason tv series twice. Looking for fresh stories we're now trying to watch the Perry Mason made-for-tv movies. Trying is the key word here.
The old series ran from 1957 to 1966, and the tv movies debuted in 1985. There were 30 of these movies made up until 1995. Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale reprise their roles as Perry and Della, but everything else is more-or-less new. Including the locales. I've only watched 4 1/8 of these 'movies', but so far the real Los Angeles is nowhere in sight. In the premier, Perry Mason Returns, Toronto stands in for LA, and in the third movie, The Case of the Shooting Star, Toronto plays New York City. Colorado, maybe Denver, seems to be the setting for the other movies, but I'm not sure about that, or where they were shot.
Anyway, other than the pleasure of seeing performances from Burr and Hale in their old roles, these movies leave a lot to be desired. My watching has devolved into seeing if I can spot Toronto locales. I hit a low when I spotted that scene above in The Case of the Shooting Star where a TTC bus drives down a street in NYC! I also recall a scene where I saw streetcar track in a road. I need to go back and see if any TTC streetcars are making cameo appearances in the background :-)
We paused this movie marathon about 1/8th of the way through The Case of the Sinister Spirit. I couldn't take any more, and there were no misplaced buses to raise my own spirits.
Sounds like Toronto gets it's share of TV / Movie production. When I was a small kid in the early 60's I was also a big fan of the original series. One Sunday my dad took me to the courthouse in downtown LA. The courthouse was closed but he knew the deputy that was on duty. The deputy explained that the court room scenes were filmed in a studio but took me to the actual court room where the opening part of each episode was filmed. I got to sit in the judge's chair and even bang the gavel, great memories.
ReplyDeleteThat is very cool! Thanks for sharing your story.
DeleteI think the only fun thing about the later Masons is that “Paul Drake Jr.” is the detective.
ReplyDeleteI have to think that your post title references the great compilation Los Angeles Plays Itself.
It does refer to that movie :-) It's rare for Toronto to play itself other than in local productions. My favourite from the mid-80s period of those early Mason movies is Seeing Things.
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