The mind of a ladybug is a strange and curious thing.

Hello and welcome to my mind! I have to say, I am very nervous about this venture. I've been on Livejournal.com for almost eight years now, so I'm no stranger to blogging, but I use Livejournal more informally. This blog, rather than being a smorgasbord of whatever comes to me on any subject, is meant to focus solely on Perry Mason and all aspects thereof. Although it will be a smorgasbord of whatever Perry Mason thoughts come to me.

As I open this blog, I am nearly one month shy of my 25th birthday. Perry Mason has been a part of my life for over a decade, thanks to a wonderful and amazing local PBS station which plays many old television series. I remember countless nights of doing my high school homework while Perry was on. I would sit in the living room in my favorite chair while my parents watched the latest exploits of our favorite lawyers. I pretended to read, and sometimes I actually did, but I picked up more of the episodes' contents than I tried to let on.

It wasn't long before I started noticing some very intriguing things, mostly involving the interaction between prosecutor Hamilton Burger and defense attorney Perry Mason. They seemed to be seen together at lunch and dinner semi-frequently. Their exchanges outside of the hearings were often very relaxed and open, in complete contrast to their sparring, and Mr. Burger's frustration, in court. And sometimes they even discussed the cases and occasionally worked together to solve them.

Now, one thing about me that sometimes makes me an odd duck from most others: I have little to no interest in most romantic ventures in series or movies. (There are exceptions, but that's a tale for another time.) I prefer platonic relationships. Any time there is a fascinating bit of platonic interaction, my attention is captured.

And the platonic interaction between the two attorneys was and is fascinating! There are so many layers to their relationship. I began eagerly looking for such scenes and delighting in discovering more of them. (And of course, many of my future posts will focus on their connection, which I finally realized is a unique friendship.)

At some point which I don't recall, I finally acknowledged to myself that I was hooked. There were many factors; among them the mystery and suspense, and my growing fondness for every one of the main cast, but foremost was my total fascination in the above-described interaction. It particularly surprised me coming from Mr. Burger, considering how upset he often got during court. (We must have been in season 1, when plots came more from the books and he had even more of a chip on his shoulder at times.)

That night I looked up information on the series (or perhaps it was on William Talman specifically; I don't recall for certain) and stumbled across the wonderful website The Perry Mason TV Show Book, which is still in existence today. I read and read. And I was thrilled by the wealth of information. I also learned of two "Holy Grail" episodes, which from that point on I tried desperately to catch: Paul Drake's Dilemma and The Prudent Prosecutor. My interest in both of them was due to what the book said about Mr. Burger's behavior during their events.

I don't recall how or why it happened, but eventually I did drift. (It may have been during the time of William Talman's absence.) I no longer stayed to watch full episodes, although I often heard the episodes on from other parts of the house and smiled to myself at the familiar theme and the characters' voices. I often did catch parts of episodes, and occasionally complete ones, while performing various tasks around the house. And when we moved to a new home, Perry continued to be just as much a household name as before. I never stopped loving the characters, nor seeking to catch my "Holy Grail" episodes, but during that period I was taking it all for granted.

It was directly thanks to the great character actor Simon Oakland that I came back. Earlier this year I became deeply interested in his works. Of course, that eventually led me to his two guest-spots on Perry. With the DVD sets being released, and with our new Netflix subscription, I set out to get hold of those episodes.

I remembered what I'd read years ago about the point in time when William Talman was unfairly fired. I couldn't remember for how long he had been absent. At the time, I mistakenly thought it had been for several seasons. After I viewed Simon's episode The Misguided Missile on my disc, I planned to send the disc back without viewing the other episodes. Either that, or simply give it over to my parents if they wanted to see the others. I didn't have much interest in seeing the other episodes if William wasn't there. I felt, and still feel, that his character Mr. Burger is vital to the series. Both he and Perry are needed. Actually, all the characters are needed; I'm not looking forward to the episodes on our station where Lieutenant Tragg is gone. But I'll confess that Mr. Burger is one of my two favorite characters. (Perry being the other.) And without the dynamic of the two lawyers, the episodes feel particularly lacking.

I decided to research the other episodes on the disc. To my surprise, William was in all of the other three. So I determined I would watch them all. And when I did, all the old feelings came back in full force. I remembered why I'd loved the series years ago. I remembered the scenes I was fascinated by. And I renewed my determination to see those "Holy Grail" episodes.

I finally did. My wonderful station showed them at last when I was able to catch them. I was thrilled by both of them, but particularly The Prudent Prosecutor. And now I have a new "Holy Grail" episode, The Nervous Neighbor. I hope it won't take me another decade to catch it!

Currently I've been watching season 1 and what's up of season 2 online, legally at CBS.com and Bing Videos. I've discovered some old favorites as well as new ones. And once again I've been making time for the episodes six nights a week on our station. We are in season 4, and I miss Mr. Burger highly. I'm looking forward to a season 6 episode on Saturday night. (Saturday's episodes don't follow the weekday schedule; they have their own.)

Despite still being a fairly steady viewer himself, my dad sometimes complains about what he deems the flaws in the series, such as the courtroom confessions and Mr. Burger's and Tragg's continuing arguments against Perry. I think he probably hasn't picked up on the friendlier scenes between the lawyers that captured my interest from the start. But regardless, in spite of whatever flaws the series may have, the good far outweighs the bad. Hence comes the title of this blog.

Objection overruled; Perry Mason is awesome. And I won't take it for granted again.