The Defenders (1961 TV series)


The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series that ran on CBS from 1961 to 1965. It was created by television writer Reginald Rose. Original music for the series was scored by Frank Lewin and Leonard Rosenman.

Plot

It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys who specialized in legally complex cases, with defendants such as neo-Nazis, conscientious objectors, demonstrators of the Civil Rights Movement, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing.

Cast

Production

Development

The series was a slight reworking of Rose's 1957 two-part drama, The Defender, from the anthology series Studio One. In the original program, Ralph Bellamy played the father and William Shatner played his son. Shatner guest-starred in various roles in the later series, and the original drama later was incorporated into an episode of his series, Boston Legal.
According to creator Reginald Rose, "the law is the subject of our programs: not crime, not mystery, not the courtroom for its own sake. We were never interested in producing a 'who-done-it' which simply happened to be resolved each week in a flashy courtroom battle of wits." And unlike Perry Mason, which also ran on CBS, victory was "far from certain on The Defenders—as were morality and justice."
Topics featured in the series included abortion, capital punishment, "no-knock" searches, custody rights of adoptive parents, the insanity defense, the "poisoned fruit doctrine", immigration quotas, the Hollywood blacklist, jury nullification, and Cold War visa restrictions.

Controversial episodes

A 1962 episode entitled "The Benefactor"—in which the father–son legal team defended an abortionist—was the most controversial; all of the series' three regular advertisers refused to sponsor the episode, so it was only transmitted after a last-minute sponsor was found, , for a discounted advertising rate. In 2008, this incident was used as the basis for a second season episode of the drama Mad Men, set in the 1960s.
The December 7, 1963 episode, "Climate of Evil," was originally titled "The Gentle Assassin", but was changed two weeks earlier in the aftermath of the John F. Kennedy assassination. In addition, the January 4, 1964 episode, "Clare Cheval Died in Boston", was originally scheduled for the weekend of the assassination, and subsequently had reference to "President Kennedy" deleted from the episode.

Broadcast history

Note: The most frequent time slot for the series is in bold text.

Awards

The Defenders won 13 Emmy Awards and received an additional seven nominations.
YearResultCategoryWhoEpisode
1962AwardedOutstanding Continued Performance by a Lead Actor in a SeriesE. G. Marshall
1962AwardedOutstanding Directorial Achievement in DramaFranklin J. Schaffner
1962AwardedOutstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama
1962AwardedOutstanding Writing Achievement in DramaReginald Rose
1963AwardedOutstanding Continued Performance by a Lead Actor in a SeriesE. G. Marshall
1963AwardedOutstanding Directorial Achievement in DramaStuart Rosenberg"The Madman"
1963AwardedOutstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama
1963AwardedOutstanding Writing Achievement in DramaRobert Thom
Reginald Rose		"The Madman"
1963NominatedOutstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading RoleDon Gordon
"The Madman"
1963NominatedOutstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading RoleSylvia Sidney
"The Madman"
1963NominatedProgram of the Year"The Madman"
1964AwardedOutstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama
1964AwardedOutstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading RoleJack Klugman
"Blacklist"
1964AwardedOutstanding Writing Achievement in Drama -
Original		Ernest Kinoy"Blacklist"
1964NominatedOutstanding Directorial Achievement in DramaPaul Bogart"Moment of Truth"
1964NominatedOutstanding Directorial Achievement in DramaStuart Rosenberg"Blacklist"
1964NominatedThe Program of the Year"Blacklist"
1965AwardedOutstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment - DirectorsPaul Bogart"The 700 Year Old Gang"
1965AwardedOutstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment - WritersDavid Karp"The 700 Year Old Gang"
1965NominatedOutstanding Program Achievements in EntertainmentBob Markell

The Museum of Broadcast Communications called it "perhaps the most socially conscious series the medium has ever seen", a show "singularly resonant with New Frontier liberalism".
In 2002, The Defenders was ranked #31 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time, and in 2013 TV Guide ranked it #8 in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time.

Ratings

As a top 30 series, The Defenders has an average rating of 23.2.

Home media

On July 12, 2016, Shout! Factory released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1.

Sequel and spin-offs

A re-envisioned version of the series debuted on the Showtime network in 1997. Still called The Defenders, it featured E. G. Marshall in his original role as Lawrence Preston. However, the three Showtime films focused on Beau Bridges as Don Preston, a previously unmentioned second son of Lawrence, and Martha Plimpton as M.J., the daughter of Ken Preston, Robert Reed's character, who is said to have died. Don and M.J. worked as lawyers and carried on the family legacy. However, Marshall died after completion of the second episode. Production was halted and the remaining episode, "Taking the First", aired as a movie special in 1998.