Perry Mason premiered on HBO last month, with the fourth episode of the series airing on Sunday.
Although the crime drama series just started on HBO, many fans are already wondering whether there will be Season 2 of the latest iteration of the legal drama or whether it will end in August after an eight-episode run on the streaming platform.
According to Variety, Perry Mason’s premiere attracted more viewers than any other HBO series debut in nearly two years.
Following its debut, HBO’s Perry Mason continued its impressive performance. The live network airing of the third episode attracted about 950,000 viewers, compared with 884,000 viewers for the live airing of the first episode.
If you have been enjoying the first season and are looking out for word about the future of Perry Mason on HBO, here is what we know.
This article provides everything that is known about Perry Mason Season 2 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s dig down into what is known so far.
Updated on July 22, 2020 – Perry Mason officially renewed for Season 2 by HBO.
Is there going to be Season 2 of Perry Mason?
HBO has officially renewed Perry Mason for a second season on the network.
The news came from an official press release from HBO, who reported that the TV show was changed from an eight-episode miniseries and turned into a new continuing story for the HBO.
The premiere brought in 1.7 million viewers across all platforms, which exceeded both Watchmen (1.5 million) and The Outsider (1.2 million).
The first episode has now been seen by 8 million viewers.
Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming said in a statement:
“Viewers have relished being transported back in time to 1930’s Los Angeles each week, and we are thrilled to welcome the show back for a second season.”
The fact that the series started by following Mason’s backstory suggests that the showrunners envision multiple seasons on HBO and still have a lot of stories to tell about the private investigator who later turned a defense lawyer.
Perry Mason, based on the beloved character from the detective book series by Erle Stanley Gardner, has a long history on TV.
The first TV series adaptation of the books premiered on CBS in 1957 and ran until 1966. The original series starred Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, Barbara Hale as Della Street, and William Hopper as Paul Drake.
The rebooted series, titled The New Perry Mason, ran on CBS from 1973 to 1974 and starred Monte Markham as the title character.
This was followed by a series of TV films that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1995, with Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale reprising their roles as Perry Mason and Della Street, respectively.
The HBO revival of the series, created by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald, is the latest iteration of the Perry Mason series on TV.
Although HBO officially announced it as a limited series, we can hope that the favorable audience response so far will encourage the streaming platform to seize the opportunity to continue the show for multiple seasons.
Show writer and producer Rolin Jones recently told Town and Country Magazine that they hoped to bring multiple seasons of the show to viewers on HBO.
“There’s so much great stuff in these books, and in the other pulp fiction we read from the Erle Stanley Gardner universe, knowing we wanted multiple seasons of this show, we tried to take dogmatic ideas about justice and the nature of men and use those as tentpoles to think about how a guy comes around to those ways of seeing things.”
Ron Fitzgerald, who is also a writer and producer for the series, said:
“We wanted to lean into those first books with this season. Should we get a second season, there’s so much you can do with the plots in these books; you can go in different directions and explore what’s there. It’s amazing to contrast our time and their time.”
Release date latest: When is Perry Mason Season 2 likely to come out?
HBO has not yet announced the return date for Perry Mason Season 2. It is difficult to speculate on the return date for the show until production starts amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
At the moment, it is possible to expect a release in the latter part of 2021 if production can start up later this year.
Perry Mason Season 2 cast updates
Fans can expect the main cast of Perry Mason Season 1 to reprise their roles in Season 2 if HBO renews the show:
The main cast includes Matthew Rhys as Perry Mason, Juliet Rylance as Della Street, Chris Chalk as the cop Paul Drake, Shea Whigham as Pete Strickland, and John Lithgow as E.B. Jonathan.
What is Perry Mason about?
Perry Mason Season 1 on HBO follows Mason’s origin story after starting as a low-rent private eye struggling with the trauma of his Great War experience in France and a broken marriage.
In Season 1, Mason is hired to investigate a child kidnapping.
Perry Mason Season 2 will likely start from where Season 1 left off by following the early years of his career as a defense lawyer.
Perry Mason Season 1, Episode 5 will air on HBO on July 19 at 9 p.m. E.T.