MINISERIES PREMIERE: This HBO prequel to the classic 1957-66 Perry Mason courtroom series is an eight-hour miniseries – but I really hope it blossoms into a full-blown series. Matthew Rhys from The Americans plays Perry, but not at the era or age in that TV version of the Erle Stanley Gardner lawyer series. Gardner wrote 80 books in all, starting in 1933 – and this HBO series goes back to that decade, the 1930s, and revisits Perry Mason by presenting a prequel “origin story.” He’s a private eye, not yet an attorney – but by the time this miniseries is over, Perry Mason will be ready to establish a regular legal practice. John Lithgow and Tatiana Maslany co-star. For my review on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, visit the Fresh Air website. For a full TVWW review, see David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower.

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