The new Perry Mason series may have just landed on HBO but die-hard fans are already wondering if it’s going to get renewed.
HBO’s all-new Perry Mason series dropped its first episode on June 21. It has already aired a total of two episodes since then.
And though it’s still too early to tell, questions regarding a second season has already surfaced. Will the show get more than the initial order of eight episodes?
What is the series about?
Perry Mason is an American period drama TV series based on the fictional character of a novel created by Erle Stanley Gardner.
It follows the adventure of the titular character who is known to many as a criminal defense lawyer. But in HBO’s reboot, it focuses on Mason’s backstory before he became an attorney.
It’s a prequel that tells the story of Mason as a struggling private investigator who inherited a “two-cow dairy farm” and has an alcohol drinking habit on top of being a dead dad.
He works for an avuncular attorney, E. B. Jonathan, whose practice is in a financial struggle.
The story is set in “booming 1932 Los Angeles” which was an unhygienic time with money around but the wrong people have it. And as Mason navigates his life as a P.I., he lands into a horrific case that involves a kidnapped and murdered baby.
The cast
Mason is played by Welsh actor Matthew Rhys who is known for his role in The Americans and Death Comes to Pemberley. He is joined by Juliet Rylance who portrays the role of Della Street.
Other cast members include Chris Chalk, Shea Whigham, Tatiana Maslany and John Lithgow who play as E.B Jonathan.
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The reboot is developed and written by Rolin Jones and Ron Fitzgerald, who both revealed that they are mainly drawing sources for the story from Gardner’s plethora of material produced in the ’30s.
Gardner has published a total of 80 books between 1933-1969 on top of four short stories. Since its creation in 1933, Mason has been adapted for motion pictures and a long-running radio series.
Is there a season 2?
At the moment, the show is labeled as a miniseries. It is initially planned to air eight episodes only which will be released weekly on HBO.
The last episode is expected to air the first week of August. The question now is if there’s going to be a second run.
According to Town & Country, there could be more than eight episodes. Jones said that there’s so much great stuff that they can use in Gardner’s books.
Fitzgerald agreed and added that they wanted to “lean into those first books with the 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,” Fitzgerald said.
Fans of Perry Mason will have to stay tuned for more updates soon.
Featured image used courtesy of HBO/YouTube screenshot