"The key to Perry Mason was that it was a game show. It was 'Who Killed Cock Robin?' You had five suspects, each of whom had their own scene [opposite Mason] in the course of each show-and each of whom had a chance to 'one-up' Mason in that scene. So when it got to court in the second half of the show, the imprint of the characters was so strong that the game persisted. That, with outstanding scripts and direction, plus the chemistry between Raymond...