Civil Wars (TV series)

*Civil Wars*
Civil Wars
Genre	Legal drama
Created by	William M. Finkelstein
Starring	Mariel Hemingway ; Peter Onorati ; Debi Mazar ; Alan Rosenberg ; David Marciano ;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	36
Production
Executive producers	William M. Finkelstein ; Steven Bochco ;
Producers	Michael M. Robin ; Gregory Hoblit ; Ted Mann ;
Production companies	Steven Bochco Productions; 20th Century Fox Television ;
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	November 20, 1991 –; March 2, 1993
Related
	L.A. Law

Last updated September 09, 2024

Civil Wars is an American legal drama that aired on ABC from November 20, 1991, to March 2, 1993. The series was created and executive produced by William M. Finkelstein and produced by Steven Bochco.^[1]

Synopsis

The series focused on the lives and cases of New York City divorce attorneys. In the series, two of New York City's top divorce lawyers, Charlie Howell (Peter Onorati) and Sydney Guilford (Mariel Hemingway), form a partnership despite barely knowing each other, following the mental breakdown of Guilford's stressed-out partner, Eli Levinson (Alan Rosenberg).^[1] The show had a famously misanthropic opening credits sequence; in it, romantic photo albums were shown as the voice track played couples ripping into each other in court, as each of the show's principal attorneys interrogated them, one by one, on the stand.

Cast

Mariel Hemingway as Sydney Guilford
Peter Onorati as Charlie Howell
Debi Mazar as Denise Iannello
Alan Rosenberg as Eli Levinson
David Marciano as Jeffrey Lassick

Alan Rosenberg and Debi Mazar continued in their roles as Eli Levinson and Denise Iannello after ABC cancelled Civil Wars in 1993. The two characters were moved over to Bochco’s L.A. Law on NBC for its eighth and final season, with Levinson becoming a member of the series’ major law firm and Denise serving as his secretary.

Episodes

Season 1 (1991–92)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	1	"Pilot"	Gregory Hoblit & Michael M. Robin	William M. Finkelstein	November 20, 1991 (1991-11-20)	4101
2	2	"Daveja Vu All Over"	David Rosenbloom	David Milch	November 27, 1991 (1991-11-27)	4105
3	3	"The Pound and the Fury"	Gregory Hoblit	Steven Bochco & William Finkelstein	December 4, 1991 (1991-12-04)	OJ02
4	4	"A Long, Fat Frontal Presentation"	Michael M. Robin	Ted Mann	December 11, 1991 (1991-12-11)	4108
5	5	"Have Gun, Will Unravel"	Mark Sobel	Dottie Dartland	December 18, 1991 (1991-12-18)	4104
6	6	"Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense"	Mark Tinker	Ted Mann	January 8, 1992 (1992-01-08)	4103
7	7	"Oceans White with Phone"	Joan Darling	Ted Mann	January 15, 1992 (1992-01-15)	4106
8	8	"For Better or Perverse"	Mark Tinker	Steven Bochco & William M. Finkelstein	January 21, 1992 (1992-01-21)	4109
9	9	"Pro Se Can You See"	Mark Tinker	Linda Elstad	January 22, 1992 (1992-01-22)	4111
10	10	"Shop 'til You Drop"	Brad Silberling	Charles H. Eglee & Channing Gibson	January 29, 1992 (1992-01-29)	4110
11	11	"His Honor's Offer"	Bill D'Elia	Ted Mann	February 5, 1992 (1992-02-05)	4112
12	12	"Whippet 'Til It Breaks"	Win Phelps	Linda Elstad	February 12, 1992 (1992-02-12)	4107
13	13	"Tape Fear"	Mark Tinker	William Finkelstein, Channing Gibson & Charles Eglee	March 17, 1992 (1992-03-17)	4113
14	14	"Chute First, Ask Questions Later"	Dan Lerner	George Malko	March 24, 1992 (1992-03-24)	4114
15	15	"Dirty Pool"	Michael M. Robin	William Finkelstein, Charles Eglee, Channing Gibson & Ted Mann	March 31, 1992 (1992-03-31)	4115
16	16	"Mob Psychology"	Joe Ann Fogle	William Finkelstein, Charles Eglee, Channing Gibson & Ted Mann	April 14, 1992 (1992-04-14)	4116
17	17	"Denise and De Nuptials"	Michael Fresco	William Finkelstein, Charles Eglee, Channing Gibson & Ted Mann	April 21, 1992 (1992-04-21)	4117
18	18	"Till Debt Do Us Part"	Mervin B. Dayan	William Finkelstein, Charles Eglee, Channing Gibson & Ted Mann	April 28, 1992 (1992-04-28)	4116

Season 2 (1992–93)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
19	1	"The Naked and the Wed"	Mark Tinker	William M. Finkelstein	September 23, 1992 (1992-09-23)	4205
20	2	"Grin and Bare It"	Charles Haid	David Milch	September 30, 1992 (1992-09-30)	4209
21	3	"Oboe Phobia"	Mark Tinker	Ted Mann	October 7, 1992 (1992-10-07)	4201
22	4	"Drone of Arc"	Michael M. Robin	Ted Mann	October 14, 1992 (1992-10-14)	4202
23	5	"Below the Beltway"	Elodie Keene	Charles Eglee & Channing Gibson	October 21, 1992 (1992-10-21)	4203
24	6	"Devil's Advocate"	Tom Moore	Patricia Nardo and Channing Gibson & Charles Eglee & Ted Mann	October 28, 1992 (1992-10-28)	4204
25	7	"Das Boat House"	Mark Tinker	Charles Eglee & Channing Gibson	November 11, 1992 (1992-11-11)	4207
26	8	"A Bus Named Desire"	Michael Fresco	Story by : Carolyn Shelby & Christopher Ames Teleplay by : Carolyn Shelby & Christopher Ames and Steven Bochco & William M. Finkelstein & Charles H. Eglee & Channing Gibson & Ted Mann	December 2, 1992 (1992-12-02)	4208
27	9	"The Old Man and the 'C'"	Michael M. Robin	Lee May	December 9, 1992 (1992-12-09)	4206
28	10	"The Triumph of DeVille"	Dennis Dugan	William M. Finkelstein	December 16, 1992 (1992-12-16)	4210
29	11	"A Partridge in a Pair's Tree"	Dan Lerner	Ted Mann	December 23, 1992 (1992-12-23)	4211
30	12	"Hit the Road, Jack"	Mark Tinker	Channing Gibson & Charles Eglee	January 6, 1993 (1993-01-06)	4212
31	13	"Dances with Sharks"	Mark Tinker	Anne Kenney	January 19, 1993 (1993-01-19)	4213
32	14	"Split Ends"	Michael Fresco	Story by : Steven Bochco Teleplay by : William M. Finkelstein & Jennifer Flackett	January 26, 1993 (1993-01-26)	4214
33	15	"Watt, Me Worry?"	Dennis Dugan	William M. Finkelstein & Charles Eglee & Channing Gibson	February 9, 1993 (1993-02-09)	4215
34	16	"Alien Aided Affection"	Win Phelps & Mark Tinker	Ted Mann	February 16, 1993 (1993-02-16)	4216
35	17	"Captain Kangaroo Court"	Joe Ann Fogle	Anne Kenney & Jennifer Flackett	February 23, 1993 (1993-02-23)	4217
36	18	"A Liver Runs Through It"	Mark Tinker	William M. Finkelstein & Charles Eglee & Channing Gibson & Ted Mann	March 2, 1993 (1993-03-02)	4218

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result
1992	American Society of Cinematographers Award	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Movies of the Week/Pilots	Brian J. Reynolds	Nominated
	Casting Society of America's Artios Award	Best Casting for TV, Pilot	Junie Lowry-Johnson	Nominated
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Individual Achievement in Sound Editing for a Series	Dave Weathers, Richard Taylor, Barbara Issak, Frank A. Fuller Jr., Pat McCormick, Gary Lewis, Albert Edmund Lord III, James Hebenstreit (For episode "Oceans White With Phone")	Nominated
	Television Critics Association Award	Outstanding Achievement in Drama		Nominated
1993	American Television Awards^[2]	Best Supporting Actress, Dramatic Series	Debi Mazar	Nominated
	Golden Globe Award	Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama	Mariel Hemingway	Nominated
	Viewers for Quality Television Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series	Alan Rosenberg	Nominated
	Young Artist Award	Best Young Actor Guest Starring in a Television Series	Gregor Hesse	Nominated

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References

1 2 Rosenberg, Howard (20 November 1991). "TV REVIEW : 'Civil Wars' Loses Battle to Absurdities". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
↑ Lowry, Brian (1993-04-16). "CBS leads noms for Emmy rival". variety.com. Retrieved October 27, 2013.

External links

Civil Wars at IMDb
Civil Wars at epguides.com

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[rosenberg-1] 1 2 Rosenberg, Howard (20 November 1991). "TV REVIEW : 'Civil Wars' Loses Battle to Absurdities". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-04-02.

[2] Lowry, Brian (1993-04-16). "CBS leads noms for Emmy rival". variety.com. Retrieved October 27, 2013.

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