Synopsis
The show stars Carl Betz, who had previously spent eight years in the role of Dr. Alex Stone, husband of Donna Reed in ABC's The Donna Reed Show . In his new role, reportedly based on high-profile lawyers such as F. Lee Bailey and Percy Foreman, [1] Betz played Clinton Judd, a flamboyant attorney based in Houston, who often took on controversial cases across the country. Playing his top assistant Ben Caldwell was Stephen Young.
Foreman threatened a lawsuit before the show premiered by saying that the program was "appropriating for commercial purposes my career as a lawyer." Throughout the course of the show's two-year run, there were never enough viewers to establish Foreman's claim, although critics gave it positive reviews. Undoubtedly, the skittishness of viewers was a result of the program's dealing with then-taboo (though contemporary) subjects such as homosexuality, blacklisting, and draft evasion, with open-ended conclusions in many episodes.
The show's producer, Harold Gast, sought to break new ground with the program, using several new writers for scripts that veered away from previous television conventions. In addition, one personal experience involving credit card problems caused by computers became the basis for an episode titled "Epitaph on a Computer Card". In 1968, Gast and writer Leon Tokatyan won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the episode "Tempest in a Texas Town".
In an attempt to boost the low ratings of the hour-long program, the episode which aired on January 31, 1969, combined the Judd cast with that of another ABC series, Felony Squad , starring Dennis Cole. The idea did not salvage either program, as both were soon canceled.
Betz's portrayal of a lawyer was enough to provide him paid opportunities to speak before groups of attorneys, and also helped him win both Golden Globe and Emmy Awards after the show's final season. Additionally, screenwriter Robert Lewin won a Writer's Guild award for the episode "To Kill a Madman."
Other actors appearing on episodes of the show included Ed Asner, Karen Black, Scott Brady, Len Birman, Russ Conway, Tyne Daly, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Duvall, Lee Grant, Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., Ron Howard, Vivi Janiss, Wright King, Ida Lupino, Barry Morse, Jessica Tandy, Lurene Tuttle, and William Windom. [2]
The year 1969 in television involved some significant events. Below is a list of television-related events in 1969.
David Edward Kelley is an American television writer, producer, and former attorney. He has created and/or produced a number of television series including Doogie Howser, M.D., Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice and its spin-off Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Goliath, Big Little Lies, and Big Sky. Kelley is one of very few screenwriters to have created shows that have aired on all four top commercial U.S. television networks as well as cable giant HBO.
The Practice is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Outstanding Drama Series, and spawned the spin-off series Boston Legal, which ran for five more seasons.
Law & Order: Trial by Jury is an American legal drama television series about criminal trials set in New York City. It was the fourth series in Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise. The show's almost exclusive focus was on the criminal trial of the accused, showing both the prosecution's and defense's preparation for trial, as well as the trial itself. The series was first announced on September 28, 2004. The series premiered on Thursday, March 3, 2005, and ended on January 21, 2006. Its regular time slot was Fridays 10/9 p.m. ET on NBC. The last episode aired on Court TV months after the series' cancellation.
The Defenders is an American courtroom drama television series that ran on CBS from 1961 to 1965. It was created by television writer Reginald Rose, and stars E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys Lawrence and Kenneth Preston. Original music for the series was scored by Frank Lewin and Leonard Rosenman. The series was spun off from the Studio One episode "The Defender", which starred Ralph Bellamy and William Shatner as the Prestons.
The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1958, to March 19, 1966.
The third season of Law & Order aired on NBC between September 23, 1992, and May 19, 1993 which remained unchanged. This season marked the introduction of Jerry Orbach as Lennie Briscoe, who replaced Paul Sorvino after "Prince of Darkness." A year prior, Orbach had guest starred as a defense attorney in at least one season two episode: “Wages of Love”. At the end of the season, both Dann Florek and Richard Brooks departed the main cast.
Carl Lawrence Betz was an American stage, film, and television actor. He appeared in a variety of television series, including the CBS soap opera Love of Life; he is best remembered for playing Donna Reed's television husband, Dr. Alex Stone, from 1958 to 1966 in the ABC sitcom The Donna Reed Show. Then between 1967 and 1969, Betz played defense attorney Clinton Judd in ABC's courtroom drama Judd, for the Defense, winning an Emmy Award in 1969 for his work on that series.
Philly is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Alison Cross, which starred Kim Delaney as defense attorney Kathleen Maguire. The series aired on ABC from September 25, 2001 to May 28, 2002, broadcasting 22 episodes before it was canceled due to low ratings.
Percy Eugene Foreman was a criminal defense attorney from Houston, Texas. Foreman was born near Bold Springs, Texas. Foreman moved to Livingston, Texas, when he was six years old. He was the son of Ransom Parson Hill Foreman and William Pinckney (Rogers) Foreman, a former sheriff of Polk County, Texas. Percy Foreman attended Staunton Military Academy in Virginia for one year, graduated from the University of Texas Law School in 1927, and was admitted to the Texas Bar on January 17, 1928. He went on to become one of the best known trial lawyers in Texas, with the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association creating the Percy Foreman Lawyer of the Year Award in 1984.
The Felony Squad is a half-hour television crime drama originally broadcast on the ABC network from September 12, 1966, to January 31, 1969.
In Case of Emergency is an American half-hour sitcom television series shown on ABC in the United States. The series follows a group of high school acquaintances whose lives have not turned out as they hoped. It premiered on January 3, 2007, at 9:30 pm and ended on April 11, 2007. The pilot episode was directed by Jon Favreau and the cast included Jonathan Silverman, David Arquette, Lori Loughlin, Kelly Hu, and Greg Germann.
Justice is an American legal drama produced by Jerry Bruckheimer that aired on Fox in the US and CTV in Canada. The series also aired on Warner Channel in Latin America, in Brazil also was aired on Rede Globo, Nine Network in Australia, and on TV2 in New Zealand.
David Feige is an American lawyer, legal commentator, and author. He is the author of the memoir, Indefensible: One Lawyer's Journey into the Inferno of American Justice, and co-creator of the TNT legal drama Raising the Bar, both of which center on the life of the public defender. He is also the co-founder and board chair of The Bronx Freedom Fund, a charitable bail organization in New York State. In 2016 he won the Albert Maysles New Documentary Director Award for "Untouchable" a documentary feature he wrote, produced and directed. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The eighteenth season of Law & Order premiered with a two part episode on NBC on January 2, 2008, and concluded on May 21, 2008. This was the final season to feature Jesse L. Martin, as he departs the series when Anthony Anderson joins the cast in episode 14.
The Good Wife is an American legal political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law after the events of a public sex and political corruption scandal involving her husband. The series was created by Robert and Michelle King and stars Julianna Margulies, Josh Charles, Christine Baranski, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Zach Grenier, Matthew Goode, Cush Jumbo, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Alan Cumming, and features Chris Noth in a recurring role. The executive producers included the Kings, Ridley and Tony Scott, Charles McDougall, and David W. Zucker. The Good Wife is a serialized show featuring several story arcs that play out over multiple episodes, as well as stand-alone storylines that are concluded by the end of each episode. The serial plots—a rarity on CBS, a network where most of the programming at that time was procedural—were especially showcased in its highly praised fifth season.
The Deep End is an American legal drama television series created by David Hemingson that ran on ABC from January 21 until February 25, 2010 and produced by 20th Century Fox Television. Starring Mehcad Brooks, Matt Long, Tina Majorino, Clancy Brown, and Billy Zane, the show follows five first-year associate attorneys from diverse backgrounds as they learn how to cope with the challenges of working at one of the most prestigious law firms in Los Angeles.
The second season of House premiered on September 13, 2005 and ended on May 23, 2006. During the season, House tries to cope with his feelings for his ex-girlfriend Stacy Warner, who, after he diagnosed her husband with acute intermittent porphyria, has taken a job in the legal department of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.
A court show is a broadcast programming genre comprising legal dramas and reality legal programming. Court shows present content mainly in the form of legal hearings between plaintiffs and defendants, presided over in one of two formats: scripted/improvised with an actor portraying a judge; or, an arbitration-based reality format with the case handled by an adjudicator who was formerly a judge or attorney.
Reasonable Doubt is an American legal drama television series created by Raamla Mohamed for Hulu. The series stars Emayatzy Corinealdi as a corporate defense lawyer navigating challenging high-profile cases. The series also stars McKinley Freeman, Tim Jo, Angela Grovey, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Aderinsola Olabode, and Michael Ealy. Reasonable Doubt is Onyx Collective's first scripted television series. It premiered on September 27, 2022. On April 17, 2023, it was renewed for a second season which premiered on August 22, 2024. The series generally received positive reviews from critics.
