"Judd for the Defense" (1967) TV series 1967-1969

Creator:

Paul Monash
(more)

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

8 September 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

High-priced Houston TX lawyer Clinton Judd and his assistant Ben defend people all over the country. The cases often reflected then-current real-life ones (e.g., antiwar protesters).

Plot Keywords:

Law | Courtroom | Character Name In Title

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Carl Betz	...	Clinton Judd (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Stephen Young	...	Ben Caldwell (49 episodes, 1967-1969)

Series Directed by
Leo Penn		(9 episodes, 1967-1969)
Boris Sagal		(7 episodes, 1967-1969)
Alex March		(4 episodes, 1967-1968)
John Erman		(3 episodes, 1967-1969)
Larry Peerce		(2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Robert Butler		(2 episodes, 1967)
William Hale		(2 episodes, 1967)
Richard A. Colla		(2 episodes, 1968)
Lamont Johnson		(2 episodes, 1968)
George McCowan		(2 episodes, 1968)
John Llewellyn Moxey		(2 episodes, 1968)

Series Writing credits
Paul Monash		(50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Harold Gast		(4 episodes, 1967-1969)
William Kelley		(4 episodes, 1968-1969)
Robert Lewin		(3 episodes, 1967-1968)
John W. Bloch		(3 episodes, 1968-1969)
James M. Miller		(2 episodes, 1967-1968)
Sheldon Stark		(2 episodes, 1967)
E. Arthur Kean		(2 episodes, 1969)
Jerry de Bono		(unknown episodes)

Series Produced by
Harold Gast	....	producer (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Paul Monash	....	executive producer (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Anthony J. Hope	....	associate producer (43 episodes, 1967-1969)
Charles Russell	....	producer (26 episodes, 1967-1968)
Stanford Tischler	....	associate producer (10 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Original Music by
Leith Stevens		(3 episodes, 1968)

Series Cinematography by
John M. Nickolaus Jr.		(26 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Film Editing by
Danford B. Greene		(6 episodes, 1967-1968)
George R. Rohrs		(6 episodes, 1967-1968)
Jamie Caylor		(2 episodes, 1967)
Marshall Neilan Jr.		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Bill Kinney		(unknown episodes)
Joe Scully		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Jack Martin Smith		(50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Al Smith		(27 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Set Decoration by
Walter M. Scott		(50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Sven Wickman		(26 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Production Management
William Self	....	executive in charge of production / in charge of production (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Jack Sonntag	....	production supervisor (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Mark Evans	....	unit production manager (49 episodes, 1967-1969)
Dan Nathan	....	post-production supervisor (26 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Joseph E. Rickards	....	assistant director (7 episodes, 1967-1968)
Gil Kissel	....	assistant director (6 episodes, 1967-1968)
George R. Batcheller Jr.	....	assistant director (2 episodes, 1968)

Series Art Department
Joseph Musso	....	production illustrator (4 episodes, 1967)

Series Sound Department
Jack Kirschner	....	supervising sound effects editor (26 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Editorial Department
Robert Mintz	....	post-production coordinator (50 episodes, 1967-1969)

Series Music Department
Leonard A. Engel	....	supervising music editor (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Lionel Newman	....	music supervisor (50 episodes, 1967-1969)
Alexander Courage	....	composer: theme music (49 episodes, 1967-1969)
Kenneth Wannberg	....	music editor (26 episodes, 1967-1968)

Series Other crew
Earl Booth	....	story editor / executive story editor (27 episodes, 1967-1968)
Herbert Klynn	....	title designer (19 episodes, 1967-1968)
Annabelle King	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• 20th Century Fox Television

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Television
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1967-1969) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

60 min (50 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Filming Locations:

Stage 18, 20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Defense lawyer Percy Foreman was the inspiration for the Clinton Judd character.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "I Dream of Jeannie: Jeannie for the Defense (#4.21)" (1969)

Judd For The Defense: A long overlooked series

Judd For The Defense starring the late Carl Betz is an overlooked series, both today and in the two seasons it was televised (1967-69). It was reminiscent of The Defenders in that it focused on controversial issues in a courtroom setting. The episodes ranged from good to excellent and sometimes preceded their time. In one episode, "Transplant," Judd defended a pioneering surgeon in a murder trial that was the result of a heart transplant operation. At the time it was shown in 1968, the trial was landmark since there was only one surviving heart transplant patient worldwide as the medical procedure was so new.

Another episode, "Epitaph on a Computer Card," dealt with a man's job and sanity, which were destroyed by a computer programming error. This prompted Judd to file a lawsuit for invasion of privacy in the man's behalf and by chance, the episode was viewed by the late Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin. From what I read at the time, Senator Proxmire was so moved by the episode's realistic contents that he introduced it into the congressional record as a timely expose on the invasive methods used by credit card and investigative companies. This was years before the computer age.

I remember that when the series premiered, the title character, Clinton Judd was described as a composite of several named famous trial lawyers who handled difficult cases. Out of interest as a lawyer myself, I have followed the careers of the names mentioned, and I personally think the closest correlation to Judd was the late Percy Foreman of Houston, Texas. Judd was also based in Houston and both had fathers who were county sheriffs. In two episodes, "Tempest In A Texas Town" and "Firebrand," reference was made to Judd's sheriff father in fictitious Amos County, Texas and Foreman's father actually was sheriff of Polk County, Texas, according to his biography by Michael Dorman in 1969.

It is unfortunate Judd For The Defense never received the following it deserved by much of the viewing public.