The Law and Mr. Jones is an American legal drama series starring James Whitmore. The series aired on ABC in two nonconsecutive seasons from October 7, 1960 to June 2, 1961, and again from April 19 to July 12, 1962. The program was created and produced by Sy Gomberg, and was set in New York City.[1][2]
The Law and Mr. Jones | |
---|---|
Genre | Crime drama |
Created by | Sy Gomberg |
Written by | William Bast Sy Gomberg Lester Pine Robert Pirosh |
Directed by | David Alexander Charles F. Haas Robert Ellis Miller |
Starring | James Whitmore Janet De Gore Conlan Carter |
Composer | Hans Salter |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 45 |
Production | |
Producer | Sy Gomberg |
Production companies | Naxan Productions Four Star Television |
Original release | |
Network | ABC |
Release | October 7, 1960 July 12, 1962 | –
Cast
editMain
edit- James Whitmore as Abraham Lincoln Jones
- Janet De Gore as Marsha Spear
- Conlan Carter as C.E. Carruthers
Recurring
edit- Russ Brown as Thomas Jones, father of Abraham Lincoln Jones[3]
Guest stars
editNotable guest stars include:
- J. Pat O'Malley, a character actor, in "What's in a Name?"
- Frank Silvera as Garcia in "Music to Hurt By"
- Parley Baer, noted character actor, in "Drivel"
- Beverly Washburn, who starred with Loretta Young and in the 1957 western film Old Yeller, as Sue in "A Question of Guilt"
- Barbara Bain, later of Mission: Impossible, as D.J. in "Christmas Is a Legal Holiday"
- Nancy Marchand, later the publisher on Lou Grant, as Dorothy in "The Long Echo"
- William Fawcett in "The Great Gambling Raid"
- Norman Fell, also on 87th Precinct, as Fred Cook in the episode "Lethal Weapons"
- Eduard Franz as Gustave Helmer and Jack Mullaney in "The Concert"
- Dick Powell as Colonel Drayton in "Everybody Versus Timmy Drayton"
- Vic Morrow, later of Combat!, as Dr. Bigelow in "A Very Special Citizen"
- Robert Middleton in "Accidental Tourist"
- Whit Bissell as Howard Barron and Otto Kruger as Franklyn Malleson Ghentin in "A Fool for a Client"
- Ross Martin, later on The Wild Wild West, as Frank Brody and Harry Dean Stanton as Harry Walker in "The Enemy"
- Michael Parks, later of Then Came Bronson, in "One by One"
- Roger Mobley, a Disney child actor, as Tommy Pierce in "The Boy Who Said No"
- Eve McVeagh, film and television actress and Hitchcock favorite in episode "The Boy Who Said No"
- John Larch as Richard Walker in "The Reunion"
- Tom Bosley, later of Happy Days, as Assistant District Attorney Ryan in "The Man Who Wanted to Die"
- Jack Albertson, who played Grandpa Joe in the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, as Karl Hansen in "Accidental Jeopardy"
- Brenda Scott as Mary in "My Worthy Colleague"
Production
editIn 2000, James Whitmore said of the series, "That thing arose out of the American Civil Liberties Union … This was right after the McCarthy thing was so hot in this country, and I thought it was time we did something about the right of people to disagree with one another in a reasonable fashion … That was the predication of that show, and I produced it … It was a wonderful experience." ABC had canceled the series after its first season, but thousands of angry letters from fans convinced them to bring the show back in 1962.[4] Whitmore explained, "We were taken off the air after one year, because I didn't want to do the commercials [for] Gleem Toothpaste. They wanted me as that character, that lawyer, to come on and say, 'You ought to use Gleem toothpaste,' and I didn't think I wanted to do that, so they dropped us. Procter and Gamble were our sponsors. Then, they had an astonishing hundreds of thousands of letters. It was engineered by some newspaper guys to get the show back on, and they brought it back on. I believe, if I'm not mistaken, the only time that had ever happened, with a TV show. I think it's happened since, but not at that point. We were brought back for one year."[5]
Episodes
editSeason 1 (1960–61)
editNo. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "What's in a Name?" | Lamont Johnson | Sy Gomberg | October 7, 1960 |
2 | 2 | "Music to Hurt By" | David Alexander | Sy Gomberg | October 14, 1960 |
3 | 3 | "The Baby" | Robert Ellis Miller | Sy Gomberg | October 28, 1960 |
4 | 4 | "Drivel" | David Alexander | Sy Gomberg | November 4, 1960 |
5 | 5 | "Semper Fidelis" | Charles Haas | Robert Pirosh | November 11, 1960 |
6 | 6 | "Promise of Life" | Charles Haas | Les Pine | November 18, 1960 |
7 | 7 | "The Storyville Gang" | David Alexander | Robert Pirosh | November 25, 1960 |
8 | 8 | "No Sale" | Charles Haas | Palmer Thompson | December 2, 1960 |
9 | 9 | "A Question of Guilt" | Robert Ellis Miller | Paul David | December 16, 1960 |
10 | 10 | "Christmas is a Legal Holiday" | Robert Ellis Miller | Sy Gomberg | December 23, 1960 |
11 | 11 | "The Long Echo" | Robert Ellis Miller | Paul David | December 30, 1960 |
12 | 12 | "The Great Gambling Raid" | David Alexander | Sy Gomberg | January 6, 1961 |
13 | 13 | "The Trophy" | Robert Ellis Miller | Sy Gomberg | January 13, 1961 |
14 | 14 | "Indian War" | David Alexander | Paul David | January 20, 1961 |
15 | 15 | "Exit" | Robert Ellis Miller | Paul David | January 27, 1961 |
16 | 16 | "Unbury the Dead" | Tom Gries | Sy Gomberg | February 3, 1961 |
17 | 17 | "The End Justifies the End" | David Alexander | Arthur Ross & Sy Gomberg | February 10, 1961 |
18 | 18 | "Lethal Weapons" | David Alexander | Palmer Thompson | February 17, 1961 |
19 | 19 | "One for the Money" | David Alexander | Palmer Thompson | February 24, 1961 |
20 | 20 | "Cold Turkey" | David Alexander | Les Pine | March 3, 1961 |
21 | 21 | "The Concert" | Robert Ellis Miller | Paul David | March 10, 1961 |
22 | 22 | "Everybody vs. Timmy Drayton" | Robert Ellis Miller | Franklin Barton & Sy Gomberg | March 17, 1961 |
23 | 23 | "A Very Special Citizen" | Robert Ellis Miller | Paul David | March 24, 1961 |
24 | 24 | "Accidental Jeopardy" | Lamont Johnson | Palmer Thompson | March 31, 1961 |
25 | 25 | "Mea Culpa" | Lamont Johnson | Story by : Arnold & Lois Peyser Teleplay by : Richard P. McDonagh & Sy Gomberg | April 7, 1961 |
26 | 26 | "A Fool for a Client" | Lamont Johnson | Ernest Kinoy | April 21, 1961 |
27 | 27 | "The Enemy" | Robert Ellis Miller | Ernest Kinoy | April 28, 1961 |
28 | 28 | "One by One" | David Alexander | Wallace Ware | May 5, 1961 |
29 | 29 | "A Quiet Town" | David Alexander | Richard P. McDonagh | May 12, 1961 |
30 | 30 | "The Last Commencement" | David Alexander | Unknown | May 19, 1961 |
31 | 31 | "No Law for Ghosts" | David Alexander | Unknown | May 26, 1961 |
32 | 32 | "The Broken Hand" | Lamont Johnson | Palmer Thompson | June 2, 1961 |
Season 2 (1962)
editNo. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
33 | 1 | "No News is Good News" | Don Medford | William Bast | April 19, 1962 |
34 | 2 | "The Boy Who Said No" | David Alexander | George Clayton Johnson | April 26, 1962 |
35 | 3 | "Reunion" | Stuart Rosenberg | Story by : Mort Fine & David Friedkin Teleplay by : Richard P. McDonagh & Sy Gomberg | May 3, 1962 |
36 | 4 | "The Walkout" | David Alexander | Shimon Wincelberg | May 10, 1962 |
37 | 5 | "Everybody is Money" | Sydney Pollack | S. Lee Pogostin | May 17, 1962 |
38 | 6 | "Wilderness" | David Alexander | Paul David | May 24, 1962 |
39 | 7 | "The Man Who Wanted to Die" | David Alexander | Sy Gomberg | May 31, 1962 |
40 | 8 | "The Co-Operatives" | Joseph Sargent | Sy Gomberg | June 7, 1962 |
41 | 9 | "Thicker Than Water" | John Rich | Palmer Thompson | June 14, 1962 |
42 | 10 | "What Can You Learn from Smoke Signals?" | John Rich | Sy Gomberg | June 21, 1962 |
43 | 11 | "C'est La Show Biz" | David Alexander | Story by : William Bast Teleplay by : Richard P. McDonagh & Sy Gomberg | June 28, 1962 |
44 | 12 | "My Worthy Colleague" | David Alexander | Paul David | July 5, 1962 |
45 | 13 | "Poor Eddie's Dead" | Sydney Pollack | Sy Gomberg & Richard P. McDonagh | July 12, 1962 |
References
edit- ^ Alex McNeil, Total Television, 4th edition, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, p. 471
- ^ Film.com, The Law and Mr. Jones
- ^ Hal Erickson. "The Law and Mr. Jones". Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows. McFarland & Company. pp. 166–167.
- ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 666. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ James Whitmore Interview 2000