Barney Austin (Daniel J. Travanti) is an obnoxious late night radio host with kind of an odd program. Every night apparently he calls people who have written in to complain about him. He reads their number on the air as he dials, then when he gets them on the phone, pointlessly berates them. On this night one of the names he pulls from a hopper of cards is the name of his boss. He calls the boss, and in an INCREDIBLE coincidence, the boss is shot and killed on the air. What's even more amazing is Perry just happens to be listening to this show, which says a lot about Perry's taste in radio! The accused is the dead man's ex wife Holly Andrews (Myrna Fahey) who just happened to be at Andrews house at the time and was seen (quite coincidentally of course) by Perry, hastily driving away from the scene of the crime. But he's convinced the girl is innocent and takes her on as a client, even knowing he will have to testify as a witness for Burger at the trial. A reenactment of the murder as it was heard on radio leads to the confession of the murderer.
Despite some good performances (notably Travanti and Fahey), this episode is hurt by a lack of understanding as to how radio works. The movies never get it right when they try and depict TV production, and I guess TV evens the score by messing up their depiction of radio. Mason's final proof has to do with feedback which would only happen if the radio was as close to the telephone as it is in the courtroom and ignoring the idea the radio was perhaps turned on AFTER the murder (either to cover the sound of his leaving or to see if the murder really had been broadcast, since there would be a tape delay). A much better expose would have been if Mason had listened to the number Austin dialed on the tape and compared it to the number he dials in the reenactment. Then they would have had him cold. But no, instead Mason once again manages to wrangle a confession using flimsy evidence.
Despite some good performances (notably Travanti and Fahey), this episode is hurt by a lack of understanding as to how radio works. The movies never get it right when they try and depict TV production, and I guess TV evens the score by messing up their depiction of radio. Mason's final proof has to do with feedback which would only happen if the radio was as close to the telephone as it is in the courtroom and ignoring the idea the radio was perhaps turned on AFTER the murder (either to cover the sound of his leaving or to see if the murder really had been broadcast, since there would be a tape delay). A much better expose would have been if Mason had listened to the number Austin dialed on the tape and compared it to the number he dials in the reenactment. Then they would have had him cold. But no, instead Mason once again manages to wrangle a confession using flimsy evidence.