The Defenders (1961–1965)

A Father-Son lawyer duo take a variety of cases that often deal with the important issues of the day.

Creator:

Reginald Rose

Stars:

E.G. Marshall, Robert Reed, Ossie Davis

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
E.G. Marshall	...	Lawrence Preston (132 episodes, 1961-1965)
Robert Reed	...	Kenneth Preston (132 episodes, 1961-1965)

Storyline

Recent law school graduate (Robert Reed) joins his father (E.G. Marshall) as the pair tackle challenging legal cases, often involving issues which were highly touchy for the times (abortion, euthanasia, "un-American" activities, movie censorship). In most the freshly minted lawyer has much to learn from his father's extensive legal experience.

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Plot Keywords:

law | courtroom

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los defensores

Filming Locations:

Filmways Studios - 246 East 127th Street, East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Plautus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (132 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The characters first appeared in an episode of Studio One in Hollywood, when they were played by Ralph Bellamy and William Shatner.

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Connections

Spin-off The Defenders: Payback (1997)

User Reviews

The Firm Of Preston & Preston

From the early Sixties came this show which one viewer described as that era's Law and Order. It wasn't that, it couldn't be that because the Prestons were defense attorneys. Still the cases raised some of the legal issues that Law and Order raises. The Defenders whatever else it was, was not a who done it show like Perry Mason.

E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed played the father and son law firm of Preston&Preston. E.G. as Lawrence Preston was a widower and Reed was his son Kenneth. What I remember was these two guys apparently had no personal life at all. I can't remember a single episode where these two weren't on the clock defending all kinds of clients.

But lawyers and law students loved this show as it took on some really important issues. The episode that I remember best was one involving the McNaghten Rule which evolved from an English murder case in which a guy named McNaghten killed Prime Minister Robert Peel's Secretary, thinking it was Peel. The poor demented jerk thought that the government was plotting against him personally. That case set a standard for a successful insanity defense, that someone like McNaghten had to be unaware of the difference between right and wrong when he committed the homicide.

I still remember Marshall saying that in behalf of his client the McNaghten Rule should be repealed. He certainly gave it one good effort in trying to repeal about a 120 years of Anglo-American jurisprudence. The rule's been modified, but never repealed. But that was typical of the stuff the Prestons did. No arraignments in night court for this duo.

The scripts though were intelligently written even if you didn't agree with what the Prestons were doing. Proof that entertainment can be intelligent and informative, the show ran for four years.

I wish that TV Land would pick up this series.