Arrest and Trial

This article is about the 1963 ABC TV program. For the 2000 syndicated TV program, see Arrest & Trial.

Arrest and Trial
Chuck Connors as John Egan and guest star Joseph Schildkraut as his client
Genre	Crime/legal drama
Starring	Ben Gazzara Roger Perry Chuck Connors John Larch
Theme music composer	Bronisław Kaper
Composer(s)	Franz Waxman
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	30
Production
Executive producer(s)	Frank P. Rosenberg
Producer(s)	Arthur H. Nadel Frank P. Rosenberg Charles Russell
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	90 mins.
Production company(s)	Revue Studios Universal TV
Distributor	MCA/Universal Pictures Studios USA Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	September 15, 1963 (1963-09-15) – September 6, 1964 (1964-09-06)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Arrest and Trial is a 90-minute American crime/legal drama series that ran during the 1963-1964 season on ABC, airing Sundays from 8:30-10 p.m. Eastern.

Overview

The majority of episodes consist of two segments. Set in Los Angeles, the first part ("The Arrest") followed Detective Sergeants Nick Anderson (Ben Gazzara) and Dan Kirby (Roger Perry) of the LAPD as they tracked down and captured a criminal. The apprehended suspect was then defended in the second part ("The Trial") by criminal attorney John Egan (Chuck Connors), who was often up against Deputy District Attorney Jerry Miller (John Larch) and his assistant, Barry Pine (John Kerr, who later became an actual lawyer).

Gazzara agreed to play the role of Anderson only after extracting a promise from the producer that scripts would avoid stereotypical depictions of police officers.

In a 1963 TV Guide interview, Gazzara described his portrayal of Anderson: "I'm supposed to be a thinking man's cop. I'm a serious student of human behavior, more concerned with what creates the criminal than how to punish him. In other words, I'm not the kind of cop who asks, 'Where were you the night of April 13th?' It's my job to show that there is room for passion and intellectualism and personal display even within a policeman."

Arrest and Trial debuted on September 15, 1963. Its last telecast was on September 6, 1964. On Friday, April 24, 1964, it became the first American import to be broadcast on the UK's BBC2.

The same premise was adopted decades later by a more financially successful series with the earliest episodes of Law and Order.

Guest stars

• Martin Balsam
• Francis De Sales
• Peter Fonda
• Billy Gray
• Joey Heatherton
• Charlene Holt
• Kim Hunter
• Robert Knapp
• Dayton Lummis
• James MacArthur
• Roddy McDowall

• Barbara Nichols
• Michael Parks
• Chris Robinson
• Mickey Rooney
• Joseph Schildkraut
• William Shatner
• Everett Sloane
• Barbara Stuart
• Beverly Washburn

Awards

Arrest and Trial earned four Emmy nominations in 1964. Two were for Martine Bartlett and Anjanette Comer for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actress, one was for Roddy McDowall for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor, and the other was for Danny Landres, Milton Shifman and Richard Wray for Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for Television.

DVD release

On November 22, 2011, Timeless Media Group released Arrest and Trial- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 10-disc set features all 30 episodes of the series.

See also

• Dragnet (1951–59) – NBC drama series (produced by Jack Webb) that followed the Arrest and Trial format.
• The D.A. (1971–72) – short-lived NBC drama series (produced by Jack Webb) that followed the Arrest and Trial format, and is also owned by NBC Universal.
• Law & Order (1990–2010) – NBC drama series (produced by Dick Wolf) that also followed the Arrest and Trial format, and is also owned by NBC Universal.
  • Arrest & Trial (2000) – syndicated docudrama series also produced by Wolf

References

• Durslag, Melvin. (1963, October 12–18). The Egghead Flatfoot. TV Guide, pp. 8–11.

External links

• Arrest and Trial at IMDb
• Arrest and Trial at TV.com