AllMovie

Extra! Extra! The unthinkable has happened! PERRY MASON HAS LOST A CASE! The jury brings in a guilty verdict, and Perry's client Janice Barton (Vera Miles) is convicted of murder and sentenced to the gas chamber. Though perennial also-ran Hamilton Burger (William Talman) should be elated, he is sympathetic towards the brooding Mason (Raymond Burr), who blames himself for Janice's plight. But it soon develops that Janice had virtually condemned herself by lying about her whereabouts when the murder was committed. Still convinced of his former client's innocence, Perry works feverishly behind the scenes to expose the real killer--whose identity will come as quite a shock to fans of 1960s sitcoms. This justifiably famous episode, ranked as #51 in the "100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time" by TV Guide, was originally scheduled to air on October 3, 1963. (Curiously, it was removed from the series' syndicated package in 1966, and not seen again until it was cablecast in 1988).