For the legal term sometimes referred to as "day in court", see
due process
.
Day in Court
was an American
dramatized court show
that ran on
ABC Daytime
starting on October 13, 1958 until its cancellation in February 1965.
[1]
Day in Court
|
---|
Genre
| Dramatized court show
|
---|
Written by
| Kenneth M. Rosen
|
---|
Directed by
| Paul Nickell
|
---|
Starring
| Edgar Allan Jones, Jr.
William Gwinn
|
---|
Country of origin
| United States
|
---|
Original language
| English
|
---|
No.
of seasons
| 7
|
---|
|
Producer
| Gene Banks
|
---|
Production locations
| Los Angeles
, U.S.
|
---|
Running time
| 30 minutes
|
---|
|
Network
| ABC
|
---|
Release
| October 13, 1958
?(
1958-10-13
)
??
February 1965
?(
1965-02
)
|
---|
|
|
Background and Overview
edit
In the summer of 1957,
ABC
owned-and-operated
Los Angeles affiliate
KABC
began broadcasting a show entitled
Traffic Court
. The series presented re-enactments of traffic court cases and arraignments.
[2]
First the series aired locally but became part of ABC's national daytime schedule. It was soon followed by
Divorce Court
which premiered on, then, local Los Angeles
independent station
KTTV
, (now a
Fox
owned-and-operated
television station
), in 1957. The show became nationally syndicated in 1958.
[
citation needed
]
Day in Court
premiered on October 13, 1958 as part of
ABC's daytime schedule
. The program aired five days a week in the afternoon.
[2]
The program provided viewers with as realistic a look as possible at how real trials are conducted and decided. Re-enactments of actual cases were used, with real attorneys making their arguments in front of real judges. Only the defendants and witnesses were actors.
[3]
Edgar Allan Jones, Jr. and William Gwinn played the judge on alternating days. Jones had a law degree from the University of Virginia, was a member of the UCLA law faculty and a labor arbitrator.
[4]
Gwinn was an actor.
By 1964,
Day in Court
was daytime TV's top-ranked program, with 20 million viewers. But when it slipped to second behind the daytime soap
General Hospital
, ABC decided to turn its courtroom hit into a soap opera. Jones quit in October 1964, and the series was cancelled four months later in February 1965.
[5]
- ^
Terrace, Vincent (2009).
Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2007
(Volume 1). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.
ISBN
978-0-7864-3305-6
.
- ^
a
b
c
"TV Courtroom Shows Proliferate in the Late 1950s"
. www.metnews.com
. Retrieved
January 19,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Chun, Wendy Hui Kyong; Keenan, Thomas (June 2004).
New Media, Old Media: A History and Theory Reader ? Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Thomas Keenan, PH
. Taylor & Francis.
ISBN
9780203643839
. Retrieved
December 11,
2012
.
- ^
"UCLA School of Law Faculty Profiles"
. www.law.ucla.edu. Archived from
the original
on May 9, 2012
. Retrieved
January 19,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
"Edgar Allan Jones Jr. dies at 92; law professor played judge on TV courtroom shows"
. articles.latimes.com
. Retrieved
January 19,
2015
.