Perry Mason: Season 06 (1962)

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As a move to bolster up CBS' sagging Thursday-night schedule, the network's evergreen legal drama Perry Mason was moved from its traditional Saturday night slot in the fall of 1962, going head-to-head with ABC's popular sitcom lineup and the NBC hit Doctor Kildare. Unfortunately, to paraphrase the series' traditional episode-title format, Perry Mason's sixth season very nearly became "The Case of the Missing Star." Undergoing surgery early in the season, Raymond Burr was unable to make anything but token appearances in four episodes. To compensate for this, the scripters contrive to have Perry Mason, likewise hospitalized, briefly replaced by four of his most trusted associates, played consecutively by Bette Davis in "The Case of Constant Doyle", Michael Rennie in "The Case of the Libelous Locket", Hugh O'Brian in "The Case of the Two-Faced Turnabout", and Walter Pidgeon in "The Case of the Surplus Suitor". For many years thereafter, these four Mason-less episodes were missing from the series' syndication package, and only recently have been restored. Other guest stars this season include Adam West of Batman fame in the opener, "The Case of the Bogus Books"; Leonard Nimoy (of you-know-what fame) in "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe", future film favorite Ellen Burstyn (billed as Ellen MacRae) in "The Case of the Dodging Domino", veteran movie funnyman Stuart Erwin in a surprising characterization in "The Case of the Double-Entry Mind", and, in his second series appearance, Bill Williams, the husband of series regular Barbara Hale (Della Street) as the murder victim in "The Case of the Bluffing Blast". Worth mentioning for historical purposes are the Season Six episodes "The Case of the Velvet Claws", adapted from the very first Perry Mason novel, written in 1933 by Erle Stanley Gardner); and "The Case of the Greek Goddess", in which defendant is played by John Larkin, who portrayed Perry Mason on radio. And finally there is the season closer, "Case of the Witless Witness", marking one of the few times that Mason loses a case (albeit NOT a murder case). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi