The Case of the Perry Mason Marathon Unfolds on KDOC

when the cases were more important than the lawyers’ love lives--with a “Perry Mason” marathon Monday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

But not only “Perry Mason” fans should stay tuned. There are enough unusual episodes to hold just about anyone’s interest.

“The Case of the Deadly Verdict” (airing at 3 p.m.), the only one that Mason lost, is a must-see, of course. (Don’t expect anyone to go to the gas chamber, however.) The other noteworthy episodes include “The Case of the Twice Told Twist” (6 p.m.) from 1966, the only one filmed in color.

Bette Davis is the “guest lawyer” in 1963’s “The Case of Constant Doyle” (2 p.m.), one of four episodes filmed while series star Raymond Burr was ill.

The marathon wraps up with the series’ last episode, “The Case of the Final Fadeout” (7 p.m.), guest starring Dick Clark, from 1966. The murder takes place on the set of a TV series, which gives each member of the production crew an excuse to have a bit part. Even Perry Mason creator Erle Stanley Gardner has a role--as the second judge.

Also Worth Watching:

Herman is “disfigured”--looking like Fred Gwynne without makeup--when he’s hit with a bolt of Grandpa’s artificial lightning on The Munsters (Sunday at 1 p.m. on Channel 5). The special effects designer who did the lightning for the original Frankenstein movies worked on the episode.

Judge Harry Stone and the other Night Court loonies are stranded with four pregnant women in “Hurricane, Part I” (Monday at 7:30 p.m. on Channel 13). They’ll help deliver the babies in Part II the following night.

Patty falls in love with her doctor--Troy Donahue--on The Patty Duke Show (Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. on Nickelodeon).

A pre-”Cheers” Shelley Long appears as Nurse Mendenhal on MASH (Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Channel 11).

In an Emmy-winning episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Mary Richards discovers she’s a height bigot. “Toulouse-Lautrec Is One of My Favorite Artists” (Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Channel 56) won the award for direction.

Thanks to the evil Dr. Smith, the Robinsons become Lost in Space (Thursday at 10 a.m. on USA) in the first episode of the science-fiction series.

George Carlin is the guest host on “Saturday Night Live’s” premiere from October, 1975, on The Best of Saturday Night Live (Thursday at 10 p.m. on Channel 56). Billy Preston, Janis Ian and Andy Kaufman also perform.

Baseball’s Billy Martin, Steve Sax and Bob Uecker portray themselves on Who’s the Boss? (Friday at 6 p.m. on Channel 9).

The late actor who played Detective Nick Yemana is fondly remembered by his colleagues on Barney Miller in a special episode called “Jack Soo, a Retrospective” (Friday at 11:30 p.m. on Channel 9).