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The Defenders was a CBS network courtroom drama series created by Reginald Rose, starring E.G. Marshall & Robert Reed in the lead roles.
The show aired from September 16, 1961 to May 13, 1965, lasting for four seasons & 132 episodes.
It was produced by Plautus Productions, Defender Productions and CBS Television Network.
Plot[]
The series centered on Lawrence and Kenneth Preston, a father & son lawyer duo that handles a variety of cases that often deal with the important issues of the day.
Cast[]
- E. G. Marshall as Lawrence Preston
- Robert Reed as Kenneth Preston
- Polly Rowles as Helen Donaldson (1961–1962)
- Joan Hackett as Joan Miller (1961–1962)
Production[]
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."
The show's topics 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 episode of the show.
All of the series' three regular advertisers (Brown & Williamson, Lever Brothers and Kimberly-Clark) refused to sponsor the episode, so it was only transmitted after a last-minute sponsor was found.
In 2008, this incident was used as the basis for a second season episode of the AMC network drama "Mad Men."
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[]
- Saturday at 8:30–9:30 p.m. on CBS: September 16, 1961 – May 25, 1963; November 30, 1963 – June 27, 1964
- Saturday at 9:00–10:00 p.m. on CBS: September 28 – November 16, 1963
- Thursday at 10:00–11:00 p.m. on CBS: September 24, 1964 – May 13, 1965