This is the case with every series when it is a hit sponsors come into play. The same was with the Perry Mason on dvd series once it was a hit on TV it was time for the sponsors to have their share. The series got an immense popularity during the 1950s. The sponsors always seemed to be increasing. The sponsors included Libby-Owens-Ford and Bristol-Myers. Now with the show being popular the sponsors were doubling their profit everyday. It was surprising during the second year of the series nuns were asked to pray for the play to get any sponsor. But as there were so many sponsors a person commented, don’t you think that you have overdone that? The cast and the producers were happy to get so many sponsors for tier series. There were some sponsors that were to be avoided; they were bumping in with useless suggestions. But still the show was not out of sponsors even with so many disregarded. The sponsors also had an immense influence on the cast, like during the season 1958 to 1959 Raymond observed that all of a sudden the scripts are loaded with smoking.
Without sponsors a series cannot move ahead but from the very start of the series entering the small screen Perry Mason show proved to be an expensive endeavour for Gardner. Each of the episodes required the amount no less than $100,000 that was a very big amount that time in 1957. The show was produced on the Twentieth Century-Fox Western Avenue lot, Stage 8. Each episode required 9 to 11 days to shoot with 6 days a week of shooting on set besides any other delays such as holidays and so on.
When the first season of Perry Mason dvd was premiered it had no less than 100 hour long episodes, with a dozen already produced before the launch of the show. This was in fact a demanding and a costly strategy. The media in those times told that the most of the money is spent during the production and after that it is all well. In the 50s the CBS spent no less than $40 million during the nine years of the series.