Arrest and Trial

The short lived television series "Arrest And Trial" was the forefront of the critically acclaimed dramas of the 1960's. This part police procedure, part detective drama, and part courtroom drama was on the same level as "Perry Mason", "The Defenders", and "Dragnet" that lasted one season on ABC's prime time schedule airing on Sunday nights from 8:30-10:00pm (Eastern) that ran 90 minutes with commercials and station identification airing from September 15, 1963 until April 19, 1964. A total of 30 episodes were produced in black and white with the series being produced by Revue Studios/Universal Television and was filmed at the studios of Universal City in association with the ABC Television Network.

The series faced stiff competition on it's Sunday night schedule where it went up against NBC's "The Bill Dana Show", and "Bonanza ",and the second half of CBS' "The Ed Sullivan Show",and "The Judy Garland Show". The majority of the episodes consisted of two segments. First was "The Arrest" that follows Detective Sergeant Nick Anderson (Ben Gazzara) and his partner Detective Dan Kirby(Roger Perry) of the Los Angeles Police Department along with Lieutenant Detective Carl Bowie (Noah Keen) along with Detective Mitchell Harris (Don Galloway) and Joesph Higgins as they solve crimes and vicious murders as they hunt down and captured vicious criminals who may have been connected to other acts as well as other crimes in which they bring them to justice. The apprehended suspect is read his constitutional rights and is brought to trial in a court of law.

The second half of the program "The Trial" begins with the defended being assigned to the criminal attorney John Egan (Chuck Conners) who was often against the Deputy District Attorney Jerry Miller (John Larch) and the Assistant District Attorney(Barry Pine) where the defended is tried and convicted before a judge and a jury whether if they are found guilty or not guilty depending on the outcome of the case. The series was nominated for Four Prime Time Emmys for Outstanding Dramatic Series during it short lived run. With executive producer Frank P. Rosenburg along with producers Earl Bellamy, Arthur H. Nadel and Charles Russell this series was absolutely brilliant that had a plethora of guest stars each week with top notch direction and fantastic writing that set the tone in modern day 1960's Los Angeles. The best episodes from the series were "Onward and Upward", "Roll Of The Dice", "The Witnesses", "A Shield Is For Hiding Behind", "Inquest For A Bleeding Heart", "Tears From A Silver Dipper", and "Call It A Lifetime".

Creator and producer Dick Wolf Of "Law and Order" took a cue from this 1960's television series and adapted it in the 1990's that had the same format but it was more successful. But still "Arrest And Trial" remains a bonafide classic of brilliant television from the 1960's that was critically acclaimed but was suddenly canceled that still requires a good look.