The Trials of O'Brien

1965 - 1966

Over Defense is Out

18th September 1965

Episode 1

O'Brien represents a client who was charged with murder after being released from prison. Guest star: Vincent Gardenia

Bargain Day on the Street of Regret

25th September 1965

Episode 2

O'Brien wins the contract of boxer Joe Rooney (Robert Blake) in a dice game, but the pugnacious Rooney is in jail for stealing money from his former manager. Guest Stars include Hershel Bernardi (star of series ""Arnie"", a Broadway ""Fiddler"", and much more), Tony Musante (""Toma"") and Albert Dekker (""Dr.Cyclops"", ""Experiment Perilous"", probably one of his last roles before his strange auto-erotic death) and the lovely, talented Judi West (""Fortune Cookie""), in her television debut, as Joe's girlfriend.

Notes on a Spanish Prisoner

2nd October 1965

Episode 3

Eva Grimaldi (Mary Tahmin) cons the con: she borrows $2500 from her boyfriend Ollie Maxwell (Buddy Hackett) to ransom her millionaire father, who is being held prisoner in Latin America.

Never Bet on Anything That Talks

9th October 1965

Episode 4

O'Brien's English bookie is charged in the death of an accountant, but the person who can clear him is nowhere to be found.

What Can Go Wrong

16th October 1965

Episode 5

After discovering that a man is dating his ex-wife (Joanna Barnes), O'Brien delightedly sets him up as a "pigeon" in order to trap a killer. Guest stars: Roger Moore and Michael Constantine.

Goodbye and Keep Cool

23rd October 1965

Episode 6

A woman (Cloris Leachman) is accused of murdering her husband, and retains O'Brien to defend her. Guest star: Robert Loggia.

A Gaggle of Girls

30th October 1965

Episode 7

O'Brien is retained by a Mother Superior in order to persuade the owner of an adjoining cafe to permit St. Anthony's Youth Center to use its garden.

The Trouble with Archie

6th November 1965

Episode 8

O'Brien investigates the death of a partner in the Seventh Avenue Dress House where his ex-wife works. Guest stars: Lou Jacobi, Theodore Bikel, Simon Oakland and Alice Ghostley.

How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

13th November 1965

Episode 9

A "heist artist" who is accused of fatally stabbing a dealer of rare violins is defended by O'Brien. Guest stars: Norman Fell, Dana Elcar, Kurt Kasznar, Frank Langella, and former boxer Jake LaMotta.

Charlie Has All the Luck

20th November 1965

Episode 10

While being bugged by his ex-wife to sign the lease on her luxurious apartment, O'Brien must defend a client involved in a fatal shooting that follows a fixed horse race. Guest stars: Martin Sheen, Tony Roberts, and Philip Bosco.

Picture Me a Murder

27th November 1965

Episode 11

O'Brien represents a movie producer (Alan Alda) who was charged with resisting arrest while filming an "underground" movie. Guest stars: Claude Akins, Charles Grodin, Jessica Walter, and Joanna Pettet.

Dead End on Flugel Street

3rd December 1965

Episode 12

A burlesque comedian (Milton Berle) is involved in murder when his straight man is killed after making advances on the comedian's wife.

No Justice for the Judge

10th December 1965

Episode 13

An eccentric judge (Burgess Meredith) engages O'Brien to represent him on charges of mental disability that could remove him from the bench. Guest stars: Robert Emhardt, Barnard Hughes, and Ken Kercheval.

Leave It to Me

17th December 1965

Episode 14

O'Brien tries to have a will declared invalid before three greedy heirs (Angela Lansbury, George Rose and Thayer David) kill each other in a house that's booby-trapped from cellar to attic.

Alarums and Excursions

7th January 1966

Episode 15

A foster father (John McGiver), who is content to keep collecting welfare checks, hires O'Brien to keep seven children with him after an adoption judge takes the youths away from him.

The 10-Foot, 6-Inch Pole

14th January 1966

Episode 16

Accountant Jerry Quinlan was an apparent suicide, until it is discovered that he had questions and suspicions about his company's books which he was about to report.

A Horse Called Destiny

21st January 1966

Episode 17

O'Brien represents a spiritualist in the murder of a wealthy client whose death he has predicted.

The Blue Steel Suite

28th January 1966

Episode 18

Protesting their living conditions, the prisoners of the state prison's isolation cell block have taken 3 hostages whom they will only release if O'Brien will make a public presentation of their case.

The Partridge Papers

4th February 1966

Episode 19

James Partridge, who once worked for British Intelligence, believes he was the target of a hit and run driver who was responsible for landing O'Brien in the hospital with a broken leg. This episode was the dramatic television debut of singer Sheila MacRae (wife of Gorden MacRae, and TV wife of Jackie Gleason in his ""Amecrican Scene"" magazine Honeymooners period)

The Greatest Game (1)

Episode 20

""WANTED - Macedonian Art Objects, 17th Century, Contact:Daniel J O'Brien"" With this ad in a Manhatten peoper, O'Brien begins an international hunt for the Viktor Emblem, a ""jewel encrusted treasure of a Balkan Country"", which has been stolen from a shrine, and is being offered by 4 thieves for $500,000, with a fee for O'Brien to handle the negotiations. Altho this two part episode was broadcast in B&W, in 1966, it was edited into a tv-movie in color, ""Too Many Thieves"" (thanks- Classic TV Archive for that tidbit) It also marked the US tv debut of Britt Ecklund, then the wife of Peter Sellers (and later Rod ""the Mod"" Stewart) Ludwig Donath was know for his Broadway performances in the musicals ""She Loves Me"" and ""A Family Affair""

The Greatest Game (2)

11th March 1966

Episode 21

O'Brien's negotiations for the Viktor Emblem get more complicated when the person holding it has his life threatened.

The Only Game in Town

18th March 1966

Episode 22

Taking the bench as an interim judge on the New York Supreme Court, O'Brien deals with the case of a seaman (Alejandro Rey) accused of murdering a co-worker with a longshoreman's hook. Gene Hackman plays the prosecutor in the case.

Top Cast

Peter Falk•Elaine Stritch•Joanna Barnes

Director

Richard Donner

The Trials of O'Brien is a 1965 television series starring Peter Falk as a sordid Shakespeare-quoting lawyer and featuring Elaine Stritch as his secretary and Joanna Barnes as his ex-wife. The series ran for only 22 episodes. Among its guest stars: Milton Berle, Robert Blake, David Carradine, Faye Dunaway, Britt Ekland, Tammy Grimes, Buddy Hackett, Gene Hackman, Frank Langella, Angela Lansbury, Cloris Leachman, Roger Moore, Rita Moreno, Estelle Parsons, Joanna Pettet, Brock Peters, Tony Roberts and Martin Sheen. Falk often said that he actually liked this financially unsuccessful series much better than his later smash-hit Columbo.

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Full Cast

Peter Falk Image

Peter Falk

Daniel O'Brien

Elaine Stritch Image

Elaine Stritch

Miss G

Joanna Barnes Image

Joanna Barnes

Katie O'Brien

David Burns Image

David Burns

The Great McGonigle

Full Crew

Richard Donner Image

Richard Donner

Director

Sid Ramin

Music

Richard Alan Simmons

Executive Producer

Gene Wang

Producer

Gene Wang

Screenplay

Felix Trimboli

Director of Photography

Gene Wang

Creative Producer

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