| Genre: | Crime/legal drama |
| Theme Music Composer: | Bronisław Kaper |
| Composer: | Franz Waxman |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 30 |
| Executive Producer: | Frank P. Rosenberg |
| Camera: | Single-camera |
| Runtime: | 90 mins. |
| Company: | Universal Television |
| Channel: | ABC |
Arrest and Trial is a 90-minute American crime/legal drama[1] [2] series that ran during the 1963-1964 season on ABC, airing Sundays from 8:30-10 pm Eastern.
The majority of episodes consists of two segments. Set in Los Angeles, the first part ("The Arrest") followed Detective Sergeants Nick Anderson (Ben Gazzara) and Dan Kirby (Roger Perry) of the Los Angeles Police Department as they tracked down and captured a criminal. The apprehended suspect was then defended in the second part ("The Trial") by criminal attorney John Egan (Chuck Connors), who was often up against Deputy District Attorney Jerry Miller (John Larch) and his assistant, Barry Pine (John Kerr, who later became an actual lawyer).
Gazzara agreed to play the role of Anderson only after extracting a promise from the producer that scripts would avoid stereotypical depictions of police officers.
In a 1963 TV Guide interview, Gazzara described his portrayal of Anderson: "I'm supposed to be a thinking man's cop. I'm a serious student of human behavior, more concerned with what creates the criminal than how to punish him. In other words, I'm not the kind of cop who asks, 'Where were you the night of April 13th?' It's my job to show that there is room for passion and intellectualism and personal display even within a policeman."
Arrest and Trial debuted on September 15, 1963. Its last telecast was on April 19, 1964, with reruns continuing until September 6, 1964.[1] On April 24, 1964, it became the first American import to be broadcast on the UK's BBC2.
The same premise was adopted decades later by a more financially successful series, Law & Order, although the second half trial portion is focused on the prosecutorial side for that series, rather than the defense.
Arrest and Trial earned four Emmy nominations in 1964. Two were for Martine Bartlett and Anjanette Comer for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actress, one was for Roddy McDowall for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor, and the other was for Danny Landres, Milton Shifman and Richard Wray for Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing for Television.[3]
On November 22, 2011, Timeless Media Group released Arrest and Trial- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1. The 10-disc set features all 30 episodes of the series.[4]