"OWEN MARSHALL:COUNSELOR AT LAW"-A Legal Courtroom Drama Series. Produced by David Victor and Jerry McNeely for Universal Television. Number of Episodes Produced: 69 episodes were produced for ABC-TV. First Telecast of the series: September 16,1971,The Pilot Episode. Last Telecast of the series: August 24,1974. Repeats of the series aired on ABC-TV during the summer hiatus of 1974.
*This popular lawyer drama depicted the life and trials of Owen Marshall,a compassionate defense attorney practicing in a small town in California. No other actor during the 1970's could pull this off more brilliantly then Arthur Hill,who was absolutely fantastic as the small town lawyer who will go out of his way to go beyond the limitations to the defense of his clients. Marshall's cases ranged from civil suits to murder,but were always marked with a warmth and consideration for the accused which Marshall would go out of his way to defend his client whenever the situation maybe. In a way,Owen Marshall was the courtroom equivalent of medicine's kindly,Marcus Welby,and in fact the two series sometimes had joint episodes. Since "Owen Marshall:Counselor At Law" and "Marcus Welby,MD" were both produced under the executive producer and creator-David Victor as well as University of Wisconsin law professor Jerry McNeely. David Victor is no stranger to television at all since David Victor was also the head-honcho and executive producer of several shows-and this was way before he created the lines for "Marcus Welby,MD",which premiered on ABC-TV in 1969,and "Owen Marshall" premiered in 1971,on the same network.
David Victor was the head producer as well as executive producer for the shows "Doctor Kildaire",as well as the producer in charge for seasons two through four of the spy series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E" as well as the spin off,"The Girl From U.N.C.L.E",as well as a flair in the short-lived Western series,"Dundee and the Culhane",as well as a another short-lived crime series "Griff",and so many more. But getting back to the series "Owen Marshall:Counselor At Law",you saw some of the most riveting courtroom drama as well as some great acting that kept its viewers in tuned for the three seasons that it ran on ABC-TV from 1971 to 1974. In some of the episodes,the series was a joint to an another episode that was from "Marcus Welby,MD",and from that the conclusion continued from that show onto this one. In an episode from 1972,Owen Marshall(Arthur Hill)found himself defending the father of one of Dr. Welby's patients against a murder charge,and another episode from 1974 he defended Dr. Kiley(James Brolin),Dr. Welby's associate against a paternity suit. Owen Marshall had several young law partners during his three year run,the first of whom was his assistant Jess Brandon(Lee Majors),and the other was Danny Paterno (Reni Santoni)who was on for a short run during the 1973-1974 season. For a time during the 1973-1974 season,in the show's final year,Lee Majors that actor portraying Jess Brandon,was starring in two ABC series,"Owen Marshall:Counselor At Law",and the other was with Lee Majors as Steve Austin in "The Six Million Dollar Man". He was finally replaced in February of 1974 by another future television star,David Soul,in the role of Ted Warrick. By the way,David Soul was no stranger to series television since before he made his mark on "Owen Marshall",he starred in the short-lived series "Here Come The Brides",and would later on after Owen Marshall left the air would go on the fame and glory in the fall of 1975,with producer Aaron Spelling to star for the TV series "Starsky and Hutch",which was also on the ABC network. Christine Matchett was Marshall's 12 year-old daughter Melissa,and Joan Darling was Frieda,his loyal law clerk.
During its three year-run,Owen Marshall was highly respected and well regarded by real-life legal associations,and won several public-service awards including some from distinguished law firms not to mention that this show was produced through the National Association of American Lawyers,and other chapters. This was a show that has been neglected for years,but it is seldom seen. The last time this series was ever shown was during TV Land Crimestoppers and some of the episodes haven't been seen since its original broadcast. It needs to be back on the air again,don't you think?
