@wonder2wonder said:

Since 2016, HBO has plans for a new series starring Robert Downey Jr..

What do you think?

Will it stay true to the original, or is it going to be more like the TV shows "Shark (2006-2008)" and "Bull (2016-)"?

I never underestimate Robert Downey Jr's acting ability. He may be able to pull it off. I guess it would depend on who was hired to play the rest of the cast. Your link was to an article from August, 2017. Have you seen any updates? I looked on IMDB. There used to be a "rumored" notation next to Robert Downey, Jr's name, connecting him with the project. But now that's gone.

No news since August 2017. Rumours about Robert Downey Jr.'s involvement go back as far as October 2011.

That's a long time. He is busy now with film projects until 2020, so I don't know how he'd manage to also be on a TV show before then.

HBO seems to still be interested and there are new writers since last year. Fingers crossed that it will happen, sooner than later.

I'll keep looking for it to happen. If it does, I wonder if it will be a period piece, or a modern interpretation. Either way, I hope it captures the feel of the Raymond Burr series.

As far as Bull (I haven't seen Shark) I like Michael Weatherly as an actor, and I really want to like the series, but most of the episodes are real snoozers for me. The conclusions feel rushed.

Maybe I'm just too "old school," but I don't think any reboot could possibly live up to the quality and style of the original cast. It was just perfect, and it had fantastic writing.

@pt100 said:

Maybe I'm just too "old school," but I don't think any reboot could possibly live up to the quality and style of the original cast. It was just perfect, and it had fantastic writing.

I don't think it's being old school. No one can repeat the charisma of the original series. It can never be repeated as it once was. I agree with you 100%

Well, I guess we have an answer at last. HBO Max has been airing the new version of the classic show, this time starring Matthew Rhys. And it's certainly nothing like the original. Very dark and violent, w/Mason being a rather seedy character. I watched the first season, then gave up. It's apparently highly rated (although not as highly as Raymond Burr's version), but It's just not for me.

I don't have HBO Max so I haven't watched. Judging by your (and other reviews, which are more positive than yours [!]) , I don't think I will. I don't believe that is what Erle Stanley Gardner had in mind when he created Perry Mason.

We have enough dark and violent iterations of other classic shows. Tom Cruises' multi-Mission: Impossible debacles being the most notable. (Sorry, couldn't resist the dig!).

I read some of Gardner's first novels. I wouldn't exactly call the original-print Perry Mason seedy, but he wasn't afraid of going into those parts of LA for a client. And (pre-Paul Drake) getting physical, punching out a few bad guys himself, along the way.

The problem w/remakes nowadays, apart from the fact that they're almost never as good as the original and they exist because writers have run low on original material, is that gore and shock value have largely replaced really great writing. The industry is slowly devolving into tabloid-quality stuff.