“Perry Mason” Gets Series Order at HBO

Looks like the long-gestating Perry Mason series is finally getting some traction. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the limited series has been picked up by HBO. 

Attached to star in the titular role is The Americans alum Matthew Rhys. This marks Rhys’ first TV project since starring on FX’s spy thriller. The series will be directed by Tim Van Patten (Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos) from a script penned by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald. Van Patten will also serve as executive producer, and Jones and Fitzgerald are set as showrunners.

Here’s the official logline for the feature film turned limited series: “1932, Los Angeles. While the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression, this city is booming! Oil! Olympic Games! Talking Pictures! Evangelical Fervor! And a child kidnapping gone very, very wrong! Based on characters created by Erle Stanley Gardner, this limited series follows the origins of American Fiction’s most legendary criminal defense lawyer, Perry Mason. When the case of the decade breaks down his door, Mason’s relentless pursuit of the truth reveals a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself.”

The original Perry Mason series aired from 1957-66 on CBS, and starred Raymond Burr.