Arrest and Trial

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

Arrest and Trial
Genre	Crime
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	30
Production
Location(s)	Los Angeles
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 15, 1963 – September 6, 1964

Arrest and Trial is a 90-minute American Police procedural/legal drama that ran during the 1963-64 season on ABC, airing Sundays from 8:30-10 p.m. Eastern.

The majority of episodes consisted 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."

Guest stars on the series included Francis De Sales, Peter Fonda, Billy Gray, Joey Heatherton, Charlene Holt, Kim Hunter, Dayton Lummis, James MacArthur, Roddy McDowall, Michael Parks, Mickey Rooney, William Shatner, Everett Sloane, Barbara Stuart and Beverly Washburn.

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.

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 will feature 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

• Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle. (1979). The Complete Directory to Primetime Network TV Shows. New York: Ballantine Books, p. 36.
• Durslag, Melvin. (1963, October 12–18). The Egghead Flatfoot. TV Guide, pp. 8–11.

External links

• Arrest and Trial at the Internet Movie Database
• Arrest and Trial at TV.com