Set in 1932 Los Angeles, the series focuses on the origin story of famed defense lawyer Perry Mason, based on characters from Erle Stanley Gardner's novels. Living check-to-check as a low-rent private investigator, Mason is haunted by his wartime experiences in France and suffering the effects of a broken marriage.

HBO's prestige legal drama Perry Mason is, of course, a work of fiction based on the character Raymond Burr immortalized on the '50s and '60s TV show.

HBO canceled Perry Mason after two seasons. HBO opted not to renew the series. "We are tremendously grateful for the remarkable work of Matthew Rhys and the unrivaled cast and crew of Perry Mason for their reimagining of such a treasured and storied franchise," HBO said in a statement to Deadline.

The HBO series was a prequel starring Rhys as Mason, a down-on-his-luck private investigator living in Los Angeles in the 1930s.

Perry Mason is in the DNA of nearly every legal show produced since its debut. The show was the first to make heroes of investigators and defense attorneys, established a longstanding two-act structure, and defined conventions like the unexpected confession in a dramatic cross-examination.

In addition to its thoughtful politics, Perry Mason is engaging and unpredictable and looks stylish as hell. over-the-top violent, over-the-top gratuitously titillating and it also fails, somehow, to be gripping... Gritty, violent reboot spins compelling origin story.

Fans of Perry Mason have always been sure that he and Della Street had a romantic relationship. They're right!

Without a degree from an accredited law school, Mason would not even have the opportunity to take the bar exam. No matter how much knowledge he had gained working in a law office. No matter how much time he had spent studying law on his own.

In the end, Mason and company don't do anything wild to save Rafael from prison and Mateo from the gallows. Mason falls on his sword for concealing the murder weapon, earning a four-month jail sentence and placating the judge.

When Raymond Burr missed several episodes due to illness, he was replaced by several guest attorneys who were played by Bette Davis, Walter Pidgeon, Hugh O'Brian, Michael Rennie, and Mike Connors.

1930s Los Angeles Perry Mason is set in 1930s Los Angeles and follows Perry as he moves from being a private investigator to the lawyer made famous in Erle Stanley Gardner's books and the original TV series that starred Raymond Burr.

Why was Perry Mason canceled? It seems viewership was low compared to the spending on the show. Deadline has quoted Francesca Orsi, EVP, HBO Programming, Head of HBO Drama Series and Films, as saying that “Each show has a job to do, given the price tag that we give to it, and there's a viewership.