Storyline

The Trials of O'Brien is a 1965 television series starring Peter Falk as a sordid Shakespeare-quoting lawyer and featuring Elaine Stritch as his secretary and Joanna Barnes as his ex-wife. The series ran for only 22 episodes. Among its guest stars: Milton Berle, Robert Blake, David Carradine, Faye Dunaway, Britt Ekland, Tammy Grimes, Buddy Hackett, Gene Hackman, Frank Langella, Angela Lansbury, Cloris Leachman, Roger Moore, Rita Moreno, Estelle Parsons, Joanna Pettet, Brock Peters, Tony Roberts and Martin Sheen. Falk often said that he actually liked this financially unsuccessful series much better than his later smash-hit Columbo.

First Aired

1965-09-18
Last Aired

1966-03-18
Creator

Gene Wang
Genre

Drama, Comedy
Seasons

1
Episodes

22
Status

Ended
Language

English
Network

CBS

Keywords:

lawyer

Stream and watch The Trials of O'Brien

Season 1

1. Over Defense is Out

O'Brien represents a client who was charged with murder after being released from prison. Guest star: ...More

O'Brien represents a client who was charged with murder after being released from prison. Guest star: Vincent GardeniaLess

48mins 1965-09-18

2. Bargain Day on the Street of Regret

O'Brien wins the contract of boxer Joe Rooney (Robert Blake) in a dice game, but the pugnacious Rooney...More

O'Brien wins the contract of boxer Joe Rooney (Robert Blake) in a dice game, but the pugnacious Rooney is in jail for stealing money from his former manager. Guest Stars include Hershel Bernardi (star of series ""Arnie"", a Broadway ""Fiddler"", and much more), Tony Musante (""Toma"") and Albert Dekker (""Dr.Cyclops"", ""Experiment Perilous"", probably one of his last roles before his strange auto-erotic death) and the lovely, talented Judi West (""Fortune Cookie""), in her television debut, as Joe's girlfriend.Less

48mins 1965-09-25

3. Notes on a Spanish Prisoner

Eva Grimaldi (Mary Tahmin) cons the con: she borrows $2500 from her boyfriend Ollie Maxwell (Buddy Ha...More

Eva Grimaldi (Mary Tahmin) cons the con: she borrows $2500 from her boyfriend Ollie Maxwell (Buddy Hackett) to ransom her millionaire father, who is being held prisoner in Latin America.Less

48mins 1965-10-02

4. Never Bet on Anything That Talks

O'Brien's English bookie is charged in the death of an accountant, but the person who can clear him is...More

O'Brien's English bookie is charged in the death of an accountant, but the person who can clear him is nowhere to be found.Less

48mins 1965-10-09

5. What Can Go Wrong

After discovering that a man is dating his ex-wife (Joanna Barnes), O'Brien delightedly sets him up as...More

After discovering that a man is dating his ex-wife (Joanna Barnes), O'Brien delightedly sets him up as a "pigeon" in order to trap a killer. Guest stars: Roger Moore and Michael Constantine.Less

48mins 1965-10-16

6. Goodbye and Keep Cool

A woman (Cloris Leachman) is accused of murdering her husband, and retains O'Brien to defend her. Gues...More

A woman (Cloris Leachman) is accused of murdering her husband, and retains O'Brien to defend her. Guest star: Robert Loggia.Less

48mins 1965-10-23

7. A Gaggle of Girls

O'Brien is retained by a Mother Superior in order to persuade the owner of an adjoining cafe to permit...More

O'Brien is retained by a Mother Superior in order to persuade the owner of an adjoining cafe to permit St. Anthony's Youth Center to use its garden.Less

48mins 1965-10-30

8. The Trouble with Archie

O'Brien investigates the death of a partner in the Seventh Avenue Dress House where his ex-wife works....More

O'Brien investigates the death of a partner in the Seventh Avenue Dress House where his ex-wife works. Guest stars: Lou Jacobi, Theodore Bikel, Simon Oakland and Alice Ghostley.Less

48mins 1965-11-06

9. How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?

A "heist artist" who is accused of fatally stabbing a dealer of rare violins is defended by O'Brien. G...More

A "heist artist" who is accused of fatally stabbing a dealer of rare violins is defended by O'Brien. Guest stars: Norman Fell, Dana Elcar, Kurt Kasznar, Frank Langella, and former boxer Jake LaMotta.Less

48mins 1965-11-13

10. Charlie Has All the Luck

While being bugged by his ex-wife to sign the lease on her luxurious apartment, O'Brien must defend a ...More

While being bugged by his ex-wife to sign the lease on her luxurious apartment, O'Brien must defend a client involved in a fatal shooting that follows a fixed horse race. Guest stars: Martin Sheen, Tony Roberts, and Philip Bosco.Less

48mins 1965-11-20

11. Picture Me a Murder

O'Brien represents a movie producer (Alan Alda) who was charged with resisting arrest while filming an...More

O'Brien represents a movie producer (Alan Alda) who was charged with resisting arrest while filming an "underground" movie. Guest stars: Claude Akins, Charles Grodin, Jessica Walter, and Joanna Pettet.Less

48mins 1965-11-27

12. Dead End on Flugel Street

A burlesque comedian (Milton Berle) is involved in murder when his straight man is killed after making...More

A burlesque comedian (Milton Berle) is involved in murder when his straight man is killed after making advances on the comedian's wife.Less

48mins 1965-12-03

13. No Justice for the Judge

An eccentric judge (Burgess Meredith) engages O'Brien to represent him on charges of mental disability...More

An eccentric judge (Burgess Meredith) engages O'Brien to represent him on charges of mental disability that could remove him from the bench. Guest stars: Robert Emhardt, Barnard Hughes, and Ken Kercheval.Less

48mins 1965-12-10

14. Leave It to Me

O'Brien tries to have a will declared invalid before three greedy heirs (Angela Lansbury, George Rose ...More

O'Brien tries to have a will declared invalid before three greedy heirs (Angela Lansbury, George Rose and Thayer David) kill each other in a house that's booby-trapped from cellar to attic.Less

48mins 1965-12-17

15. Alarums and Excursions

A foster father (John McGiver), who is content to keep collecting welfare checks, hires O'Brien to kee...More

A foster father (John McGiver), who is content to keep collecting welfare checks, hires O'Brien to keep seven children with him after an adoption judge takes the youths away from him.Less

48mins 1966-01-07

16. The 10-Foot, 6-Inch Pole

Accountant Jerry Quinlan was an apparent suicide, until it is discovered that he had questions and sus...More

Accountant Jerry Quinlan was an apparent suicide, until it is discovered that he had questions and suspicions about his company's books which he was about to report.Less

48mins 1966-01-14

17. A Horse Called Destiny

O'Brien represents a spiritualist in the murder of a wealthy client whose death he has predicted.

O'Brien represents a spiritualist in the murder of a wealthy client whose death he has predicted.Less

48mins 1966-01-21

18. The Blue Steel Suite

Protesting their living conditions, the prisoners of the state prison's isolation cell block have take...More

Protesting their living conditions, the prisoners of the state prison's isolation cell block have taken 3 hostages whom they will only release if O'Brien will make a public presentation of their case.Less

48mins 1966-01-28

19. The Partridge Papers

James Partridge, who once worked for British Intelligence, believes he was the target of a hit and run...More

James Partridge, who once worked for British Intelligence, believes he was the target of a hit and run driver who was responsible for landing O'Brien in the hospital with a broken leg. This episode was the dramatic television debut of singer Sheila MacRae (wife of Gorden MacRae, and TV wife of Jackie Gleason in his ""Amecrican Scene"" magazine Honeymooners period)Less

48mins 1966-02-04

20. The Greatest Game (1)

""WANTED - Macedonian Art Objects, 17th Century, Contact:Daniel J O'Brien"" With this ad in a Manhat...More

""WANTED - Macedonian Art Objects, 17th Century, Contact:Daniel J O'Brien"" With this ad in a Manhatten peoper, O'Brien begins an international hunt for the Viktor Emblem, a ""jewel encrusted treasure of a Balkan Country"", which has been stolen from a shrine, and is being offered by 4 thieves for $500,000, with a fee for O'Brien to handle the negotiations. Altho this two part episode was broadcast in B&W, in 1966, it was edited into a tv-movie in color, ""Too Many Thieves"" (thanks- Classic TV Archive for that tidbit) It also marked the US tv debut of Britt Ecklund, then the wife of Peter Sellers (and later Rod ""the Mod"" Stewart) Ludwig Donath was know for his Broadway performances in the musicals ""She Loves Me"" and ""A Family Affair""Less

48mins 1966-03-04

21. The Greatest Game (2)

O'Brien's negotiations for the Viktor Emblem get more complicated when the person holding it has his l...More

O'Brien's negotiations for the Viktor Emblem get more complicated when the person holding it has his life threatened.Less

48mins 1966-03-11

22. The Only Game in Town

Taking the bench as an interim judge on the New York Supreme Court, O'Brien deals with the case of a s...More

Taking the bench as an interim judge on the New York Supreme Court, O'Brien deals with the case of a seaman (Alejandro Rey) accused of murdering a co-worker with a longshoreman's hook. Gene Hackman plays the prosecutor in the case.Less