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The Defenders
Home > Drama TV Shows > The Defenders

The Defenders

1961
The Defenders
The Defenders

The Defenders

7.9 | en | Drama

The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . 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, civil rights demonstrators, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing.

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Seasons & Episodes

4
3
2
1
EP1  The Seven Hundred-Year Old Gang (1)
Sep. 24,1964
The Seven Hundred-Year Old Gang (1)

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EP2  The Seven Hundred-Year Old Gang (2)
Oct. 01,1964
The Seven Hundred-Year Old Gang (2)

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EP3  Hero of the People
Oct. 08,1964
Hero of the People

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EP4  Go-Between
Oct. 15,1964
Go-Between

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EP5  Conflict of Interests
Oct. 22,1964
Conflict of Interests

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EP6  The Man Who . . .
Oct. 29,1964
The Man Who . . .

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EP7  Turning Point
Nov. 05,1964
Turning Point

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EP8  A Taste of Ashes
Nov. 12,1964
A Taste of Ashes

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EP9  Comeback
Nov. 26,1964
Comeback

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EP10  The Siege
Dec. 03,1964
The Siege

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EP11  Whitewash
Dec. 10,1964
Whitewash

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EP12  A Voice Loud and Clear
Dec. 17,1964
A Voice Loud and Clear

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EP13  King of the Hill
Dec. 31,1964
King of the Hill

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EP14  Whipping Boy
Jan. 07,1965
Whipping Boy

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EP15  Eyewitness
Jan. 14,1965
Eyewitness

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EP16  The Silent Killers
Jan. 21,1965
The Silent Killers

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EP17  Death on Wheels
Jan. 28,1965
Death on Wheels

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EP18  The Unwritten Law
Feb. 04,1965
The Unwritten Law

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EP19  The Objector
Feb. 11,1965
The Objector

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EP20  Fires of the Mind
Feb. 18,1965
Fires of the Mind

After taking LSD, mentally disturbed Robert Kraft commits suicide while experiencing a hallucinatory reaction—and Dr. Byron Saul (Pleasence), who's been treating Kraft with the drug, is charged with manslaughter.

EP21  No-Knock
Feb. 25,1965
No-Knock

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EP22  The Merry-Go-Round Murder
Mar. 04,1965
The Merry-Go-Round Murder

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EP23  Nobody Asks What Side You're On . . .
Mar. 11,1965
Nobody Asks What Side You're On . . .

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EP24  Impeachment
Mar. 18,1965
Impeachment

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EP25  The Sworn Twelve
Mar. 25,1965
The Sworn Twelve

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EP26  A Matter of Law and Disorder
Apr. 08,1965
A Matter of Law and Disorder

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EP27  Youths and Maidens on an Evening Walk
Apr. 15,1965
Youths and Maidens on an Evening Walk

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EP28  The Prosecutor
Apr. 29,1965
The Prosecutor

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EP29  The Bum's Rush
May. 06,1965
The Bum's Rush

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EP30  Only a Child
May. 13,1965
Only a Child

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7.9 | en | Drama | More Info
Released: 1961-09-16 | Released Producted By: CBS , Plautus Productions Country: Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
info

The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . 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, civil rights demonstrators, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing.

Genre

Drama

Watch Online

The Defenders (1961) is currently not available on any services.

Cast

E.G. Marshall , Robert Reed

Director

Mary Merrill

Producted By

CBS , Plautus Productions

The Defenders Videos and Images

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  • Top Credited Cast
  • |
  • Crew
Mary Merrill
Mary Merrill

Costume Design

Herbert Brodkin
Herbert Brodkin

Executive Producer

Bob Markell
Bob Markell

Producer

Robert Thom
Robert Thom

Writer

Reginald Rose
Reginald Rose

Writer

The Defenders Audience Reviews

Develiker terrible... so disappointed.
NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!
Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
calvinnme ... because that is the only season available on DVD, and I never saw it in syndication on TV. E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed star as a father and son team of defense lawyers. I can just imagine the stink that this might have made when it first came on the air 56 years ago. For example, episode one deals with a doctor performing a mercy killing in the case of a newborn mongoloid child before there was any capability to know anything about the child one was carrying until it was born. The show also tackles rape, temporary insanity, and the death penalty among other issues. But not every episode is "ripped from the headlines" before newspapers would ever even print this material. There are quite a few basic "whodunnits" and some humorous episodes along the lines of Agatha Christie such as "Gideon's Follies" when a rich man with half a dozen ex-wives - who are all best friends - is murdered.There is a love interest for Robert Reed's character in the first episode, but then she disappears, only to reappear sporadically in a few other episodes and then she is only mentioned in a few episodes later in the season. Maybe the writers wanted to concentrate on the legal issues feeling that they had their hands full just with that. Among the future famous actors that have notable guest appearances are Jack Klugman, Gene Hackman, Hugh Herbert, Martin Sheen, and William Shatner. But not in every case is this true. In one episode near the end of the season Gene Wilder appears as a waiter at a reunion in a hotel. I was very disappointed when all he did was serve the butter and leave.Also, right out of the gate, the two main characters have their personas down, and the writing is just superb. Not a wasted or boring minute in any of the episodes I've seen. I'd highly recommend purchasing the first season if you can. It is truly classic television at its dramatic best.
bkoganbing From the early Sixties came this show which one viewer described as that era's Law and Order. It wasn't that, it couldn't be that because the Prestons were defense attorneys. Still the cases raised some of the legal issues that Law and Order raises. The Defenders whatever else it was, was not a who done it show like Perry Mason.E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed played the father and son law firm of Preston&Preston. E.G. as Lawrence Preston was a widower and Reed was his son Kenneth. What I remember was these two guys apparently had no personal life at all. I can't remember a single episode where these two weren't on the clock defending all kinds of clients.But lawyers and law students loved this show as it took on some really important issues. The episode that I remember best was one involving the McNaghten Rule which evolved from an English murder case in which a guy named McNaghten killed Prime Minister Robert Peel's Secretary, thinking it was Peel. The poor demented jerk thought that the government was plotting against him personally. That case set a standard for a successful insanity defense, that someone like McNaghten had to be unaware of the difference between right and wrong when he committed the homicide.I still remember Marshall saying that in behalf of his client the McNaghten Rule should be repealed. He certainly gave it one good effort in trying to repeal about a 120 years of Anglo-American jurisprudence. The rule's been modified, but never repealed. But that was typical of the stuff the Prestons did. No arraignments in night court for this duo.The scripts though were intelligently written even if you didn't agree with what the Prestons were doing. Proof that entertainment can be intelligent and informative, the show ran for four years.I wish that TV Land would pick up this series.
Deusvolt My elder brother (who is now a Metropolitan Trial Court judge) and I used to watch this every week back in the early '60s. I don't remember much of the episodes except I know I enjoyed most of them. It has a very inspiring trumpet led theme music as the camera took a long bird's eye view panning shot of a majestic courthouse with Greco-Roman architecture.I do remember Atty. Preston, the elder, (E.G. Marshall) often arguing on the basis of principles over strict or often shystery interpretation of the law used by his court opponents.One episode I distinctly remember is the one that involves a leader of an American neo-Nazi organization who organized a counter-demonstration to a Jewish rally or parade. Dressed in what looked like approximations of Sturmabteilung ("shock troops" or SA)uniforms, they peacefully stood on the sidewalks and shouted "Hitler had the right idea" repeatedly. They got arrested and charged with something in court. The Preston father and son lawyer team had the rather unpleasant but legally correct task of defending the neo-Nazi leader on the grounds of freedom of speech.
west-1 Can this series really have been as inspiring as I thought it was at the time? If so, it must have had enormous effect on American society.Certainly it dealt more courageously than any other show of the period with issues such as civil rights, religious and political oppression, faults in existing laws on divorce, narcotics and legal sanity, and the ethical problems of priests, doctors and lawyers.And, as I remember, although E.G.Marshall (as Lawrence Preston) demanded our sympathy for his stand on these issues, there was always argument and challenge from Robert Reed (as his son, Kenneth), and humor prevented solemnity or sentimentality.Actors such as Sylvia Sidney, Sam Wanamaker, Ruth Roman, Akim Tamiroff, Teresa Wright, and Jack Klugman played leading roles, but minor characters also came across as people of dignity and importance.What impressed me most perhaps was Lawrence Preston's respect for THE LAW.Won't some kind person allow us to see it again?

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