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One-line summary: Serious drama from the 60’s, this courtroom drama makes the law exciting.
Probably the best TV series I know is The Defenders, created by Reginald Rose, who wrote the great Twelve Angry Men. The Defenders ran for four seasons from 1961 to 1965, has never been released, never had re-runs.
I have spent a dizzying amount of time at the Paley Museum in NY, watching the ones they have available – but they don’t have them all. In fact, they don’t have what in my memory is the best one, from Season 3: “Yankee Go Home.” It examines the subject of passports, and though I had never thought about the subject before, it persuaded me that it is improper for the government to be issuing them. That is all I remember.
In today’s “Wall Street Journal,” Terry Teachout announces that Shout! Factory is releasing this “…Golden Exception to the ‘Vast Wasteland.’”
Leaving aside the fact that the 60’s were far from a vast wasteland (The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel, What’s My Line, Playhouse 90 are some shows that come to mind), Teachout is exactly right to be celebrating.
Of course, the episodes are uneven; some unsuccessfully attempt humor; some don’t dramatize but rather, speechify. But at its best—oh my goodness, what a wonderful series. As Rose said, “…the law is the subject of the programs, not crime, not mystery.”
We have ordered the first season, all that is available so far, and you know where we will be found for the 31 hours after it arrives.
/sb
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Re: Cynthia Gillis’ post 99641 of 9/8/16
One-line summary: The Defenders presented some interesting moral dilemmas.
The themes of many episodes of The Defenders involved tricky issues of justice and legal philosophy.
For instance, there was an episode about a man who was on a train, chained to a police guard, and on his way to be executed that day for committing a murder. The condemned man killed the guard, got his key, removed the chain, and escaped. Later it was discovered that he didn’t commit the murder for which he had been convicted, but he was caught and then put on trial for killing the guard. He was defended by the father-and-son team of lawyers on the grounds of self-defense. My Objectivist friends and I discussed that one for hours.
/sb
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Re: Cynthia Gillis’ post 99641 of 9/8/16
One-line summary: Respect for your efforts
I have a hard enough time as it is finding out-of-print or non-existent translations of European literature!
/sb
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Re: Cynthia Gillis’ post 99641 of 9/8/16
I picked up a copy a few months ago when this post came by – finally got around to watching a few episodes over the holidays. This captures it perfectly:
“…the law is the subject of the programs, not crime, not mystery.”
It isn’t a soap opera with courtroom scenes.
It is frequently said that we’re living in a new Golden Age of TV. While things have gotten much better, The Defenders is stylistically different from anything you might find on TV now (in a good way). It’s a rare gem worth seeking out.
/sb
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Re: Cynthia Gillis’ post 99641 of 9/8/16
There appear to be two shows called “The Defenders.” One is in black-and-white and sold as DVD on this page:
https://www.shoutfactory.com/tv/drama/the-defenders-season-one
The other is shot in colour, but Reginald Rose is still the director,
https://www.amazon.com/Defenders-Season-1-G-Marshall/dp/B01DX0ND2K
Is the colour series the one to which Cynthia Gillis refers as the show being “back”?
/sb
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Re: Boris Reitman’s post 117274 of 1/20/17
These are the defenders you’re looking for. Shout Factory released it – the first link is direct from the source, the second is via Amazon. (Don’t forget to click smile.amazon.com and point it to your favorite charity, such as the ARI)
There is a TV show called “The Defenders” from 2010 – that’s not the right one.
/sb
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