The Lawless Years
| The Lawless Years | |
|---|---|
| Format | Crime / Drama |
| Starring | James Gregory Robert Karnes John Vivyan |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 3 (partial) |
| No. of episodes | 47 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Jack Chertok |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | April 16, 1959 – September 22, 1961 |
The Lawless Years is the first television crime drama set during the Roaring 20s, having predated ABC's far more successful The Untouchables with Robert Stack by six months. The 47-episode half-hour series aired nonconsecutively on NBC from April 16 to August 27, 1959, from October 1, 1959, to January 19, 1960, and, finally, from May 12 to September 22, 1961. It starred James Gregory as real-life NYPD Detective Barney Ruditsky, with Robert Karnes as Max, his associate. Ruditsky, who had become a private investigator in Hollywood after retiring from law enforcement, served as the show's technical advisor. Jack Chertok was the producer.[1]
From May 26 to June 23, 1961, The Lawless Years ran a five-part episode entitled "Louie K" with guest star Paul Richards in the role of Louis "Louie" Kassoff. John Dennis appeared as Dutch Schultz and John Vivyan as Lepke. Dennis also appeared in "The Dutch Schultz Story" on May 14, 1959. The series premiere was "The Nick Joseph Story" with Vic Morrow in the guest-starring title role. Morrow subsequently appeared as Augie Gorman in "Little Augie", July 21.
Contents |
[edit] Guest stars
Several guest stars, such as Barbara Stuart, John Vivyan, and Harry Dean Stanton appeared frequently on The Lawless Years in different roles. Other notable guest stars included:
- Clu Gulager as Tommy Pavlock in "The Immigrant", April 23, 1959.
- Robert Fuller as Cutie Jaffe in "The Cutie Jaffe Story", May 7.
- Burt Reynolds as Tony Sapio and Ruta Lee as Gloria Fallon, "The Payoff", June 11, 1959
- Tige Andrews in "The Tony Morelli Story", July 30, 1959
- Martin Landau, "Lucky Silva", August 13, 1959
- Dayton Lummis as a judge in "The Prantera Story" (1960)
- Frank Dekova as Harry the Horse and Harry Dean Stanton as Maxy Margolis, "The Poison Ivy Story", August 27, 1959
- Judson Pratt as Ruditsky's partner in "The Big Greeny Story", October 8, 1959
- Duane Cahill as Richard Leiby, "The History Professor Story", April 28, 1961
- Robert Ellenstein as Legs Diamond in the "Jack (Legs) Diamond Story", May 12, 1961
- Character actor Walter Burke as Miles Miller and Joan Staley as Daphne, "The Miles Miller Story", June 30,
- Jack Weston as Al Brown, "The Al Brown Story", October 1, 1959, and as Kid Dropper, "The Kid Dropper Story", July 7, 1961
- Robert Brown as Peter Coll, "The Mad Dog Coll Story" (two parts), July 28 and August 4.
- Harry Dean Stanton as Tommy Ryan, "Blood Brothers", August 11
- Warren Oates, "Artie Moon", August 25
- Nita Talbot as Millie Grayson, "Triple Cross", September 1, 1961; as Selma Kasoff in "The Muddy Kasoff Story", July 2, 1959
The program debuted at the 10:30 p.m. Eastern slot on Thursday after Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life. The last third of Playhouse 90 ran on CBS at the same time. In the 1961 run, the series aired on Friday.[2]
[edit] DVD release
Timeless Media Group released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1 on March 7, 2006.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 4th ed., p. 472
- ^ 1959-1960 American network televisioin schedule
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EHSVU0
