The Case of the Final Fade-Out

A well-done series ending. The ensemble of Perry plus four was magic. All legal dramas since have been pale derivatives. But I have few quibbles about the final show:

* The actual crew appeared on screen, deservedly, but their dialog seemed a bit too amateurish.

* Lt. Tragg (Ray Collins) should have been mentioned somewhere, for old time's sake. He was my favorite actor in the series, and his wry wit was sorely missed after his death.

* Fred Steiner finally appeared in the credits as the composer of the Perry Mason theme, which is entitled Park Avenue Beat. (Incidentally, live performances of the full piece are on YouTube.)

I got to visit the Set during the Final Day of Filming this Episode. I was 9 years old and my Great Uncle Jesse Hibbs was the Director. I got to meet all the Actors, including Raymond Burr. A very nice man, who was leaving the next day to visit our military in South Vietnam with the USO. Burr was very Patriotic. In the one scene, where a Recess of Court was called, and Della Street (wonderful Barbara Hale) was coming into the courtroom, they played a joke on her. All of the extras and actors who were exiting the courtroom were told by Director Jesse Hibbs to get close and prevent her from entering. It was very funny, and Hale took it with good humor. A very relaxed and pleasant set with an Ensemble Cast who were like family after 9 years together. I loved the TV Show American Bandstand, and it was a treat meeting Dick Clark. Another very friendly and warm person. I like how they brought in Erle Stanley Gardner from his Ranch in Riverside to be the Judge! I probably met him, but at age 9, did not know who he was. A great TV Series put together by Beautiful Actress/Businesswoman Gail Patrick and her husband, Agent Thomas Jackson (Paisano Productions), that still is worth watching. My Great Uncle Jesse Hibbs directed 44 Episodes of this Series along with many other TV Shows, such as The FBI, Rawhide, Gunsmoke, and The Fugitive. 1966 was during the Golden Age of Television, with many Terrific Shows!

Weak in a few spots but very good overall. At least Marks was not directing Great that the behind the scenes crew was shown.

Sorry, folks, but the final season ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. Worth watching solely for the cameos of the actual PM crew and the inventor of Perry Mason, Erle Stanley Gardner. The plot was contrived, the supposed relationships of the "actors" and production people on-set were truly Hollywood fiction -- the industry as portrayed is nothing like this. There was one glaring (I can't overstate how obvious) scene which upon later testimony pointed absolutely to the murderer (not that there was any doubt even without it). The acting here was mediocre; I expected much better from this cast. I blame direction. The crew scenes were acted better than the cast. Oh, well. I suppose when it's over, it's over...

Hollywood certainly is a dog-eat-dog world, but that's exactly why Barry shouldn't have been so smug.

In reality Sidemark would have simply found somebody else to fill the role, star or no, or just written him off the show. Even if ratings tanked, it still beats just walking away from the mess and taking a big loss. Now *THAT* would be how the Hollywood machine handles this.