View Full Version : The "Perry Mason" Books vs. the series adaptations


Rezny@gmail.com
07-06-2010, 08:37 PM
Most of the series adaptations were pretty faithful to the books,but there were parts of the books that WEREN'T in the episode adaptations of the books-For instance:In "The Case of the Dangerous Dowager",there was a different murderer and no courtroom scene(only a grand jury meeting),In "The Case of the Perjured Parrot",there was a different murderer.And the books that were FAR better than the TV adaptations,were "The Case of the Bigamous Spouse",and "The Case of the Ice-Cold Hands",2 lost episodes that should have STAYED "lost".And 2 episodes that were better than the book,were 1965's(the final episode of the 1964-1965 season,another "lost"episode,)"The Case of the Mischievous Doll" and 1963's "The Case of the Velvet Claws".Books:8/10 Episode adaptations:6/10.

TV Knowledge Fan
07-07-2010, 03:53 AM
...virtually all of the episodes were adaptations of Erle Stanley Gardner's novels. And one of those titles had to be changed for TV: what was originally published as "The Case of the Vagabond Virgin" became "The Case of the Vagabond Vixen" [11/16/57], simply because the word "virgin" was not an acceptable word on television at that time. After the fall of 1958, there was an emphasis on more original stories than adaptations, and some of them were quite good (especially the ones by Jackson Gillis). But for the most part, the TV stories strictly adhered to "formula" {after all, some of the writers were on a deadline to furnish scripts}...yet Raymond Burr and the cast made them seem better than they actually were. Not everyone could be an "Erle Stanley Gardner".

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