Television series

Perry Mason

Name: Perry Mason
Genre: Drama, Crime, Legal
Released: 2020
Cast: Matthew Rhys, Juliet Rylance, Eric Lange, Shea Whigham, Chris Chalk

Other titles called Perry Mason: the 1957 series (CBS).

HBO's Perry Mason is a gritty, oil-stained origin story set in 1930s Los Angeles, where a down-on-his-luck private investigator becomes a legendary defense attorney. It's noir without the mystique—procedural but genuinely unpredictable, with Matthew Rhys as a man being forged by circumstance rather than destiny. For anyone who loves crime drama with texture and historical weight.

TVMaze rating

3.5

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The Night Of2016

A single crime investigated from every angle: detective, prosecutor, defense, victim's family. Like Perry Mason, it's methodical legal work crossed with deeper questions about justice and guilt that no verdict can answer.

But Slower than expected and increasingly grim. The final episodes are more about despair than resolution, which some find unsatisfying rather than profound.

MINDHUNTER2017

Both shows are preoccupied with how good people become who they need to be. Mindhunter's FBI agents pursue serial killers while inventing profiling; Perry Mason pursues truth while inventing himself. Same spiritual DNA.

But Season two loses momentum and the show was cancelled unresolved. If you hate ambiguous endings or incomplete arcs, this stings.

The Knick2014

Cocaine-addicted surgeon building a hospital in 1900s New York, driven by ambition and damage. Same era, same city energy, same fascination with how capable people operate in broken systems. Cinemax at its best.

But Stops abruptly after two seasons. It hurts to invest and then find it abandoned. The medical procedures are also genuinely graphic.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Perry Mason

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

L.A. Confidential1997

Both understand 20th-century Los Angeles as a city where institutions are corrupt enough that survival requires becoming something you didn't plan to be. The setting isn't backdrop—it's a character that warps everyone in it.

1950s LA cops and corruption, but compressed into two perfect hours. Same city, similar era, identical worldview: everyone's compromised, the system is rigged, and being good means being clever about which rules to break. Curtis Hanson directing Curtis Hanson-level precision.

But Being a film, not a series, means less space to breathe with character. It moves; you don't get the luxury of Perry Mason's slow accumulation of detail and doubt.

Godless2017

A Western about a lawman arriving in a town run by women, 1882. Every episode is a short mystery—elegant plotting, strong moral questions, incredible production. Scratches the same itch: period crime procedural with something to say.

But Only seven episodes. Once you're settled, it's over. Some find the town's utopian premise a bit heavy-handed.

Manhunt2017

A precise, unhurried hunt for the Unabomber told from the obsessive investigator's side. Like Perry Mason, it's about detail work and the particular loneliness of pursuing truth in a system that often doesn't care.

But Cerebral and dry. If you need action and adrenaline, this will feel like watching a spreadsheet come alive.

The Plot Against America2020

Philip Roth's alternate history: 1940s America if Lindbergh won. Historical period mystery with the same paranoid, fractured-society energy as Perry Mason, but inverted—the hero is watching his world collapse.

But Deliberately bleak and sometimes feels more like American anxiety than a taut story. Second season drops the momentum considerably.

Deadwood2004

A town in 1870s South Dakota becoming civilization. Like Perry Mason, it's about law and order emerging from chaos, showing how power really works beneath the myth. Obsessively written.

But Vulgar in every sense—language, violence, moral compromise. Also ends prematurely after season three, though a film wrapped it years later.

Rectify2013

A man exonerated after 19 years on death row returns to his Southern town. Quiet, patient, devastatingly human. Shares Perry Mason's belief that legal truth isn't the same as real truth, but shows the cost.

But Emotionally heavy and deliberately slow. It prioritizes mood over plot; if you want a propulsive thriller, this will frustrate you.

Zodiac2007

Like Perry Mason, it's about intelligent men realizing that procedure and evidence don't always lead to justice. Both make the grunt work of investigation visually and psychologically gripping, but neither believes the system delivers truth.

Fincher's three-hour obsession with two men hunting a killer they may never catch, 1970s San Francisco. It's not a thriller; it's a film about how pursuit itself becomes a kind of madness. The investigation IS the story, and it never stops.

But Deliberately inconclusive and glacially paced. If you watch crime drama for catharsis and closure, this is designed to deny you both. People find it infuriating.