# The Public Defender (TV series)

The Public Defender is an American legal drama television series that was broadcast on CBS from March 11, 1954, to June 23, 1955.

## Premise

Reed Hadley had the title role of public defender Bart Matthews. Each episode opened with him in a courtroom setting explaining the role of a public defender and the increase in the number of public defenders from the first one (created in January 1913). In each episode Matthews sought to show that his client was not guilty or to at least obtain a shorter sentence if the person was guilty. He sometimes had to investigate to learn more facts about the client's situation. Hadley portrayed Matthews as "such a character as butter will not melt in his mouth. His hollow eyes and sepulchral voice are enlisted in the defense of parties at odds with the law by force of circumstances."
Episodes were adapted from actual cases that occurred across the United States when people accused of crimes who could not afford an attorney were provided with one at no charge to them. Matthews defended clients whose crimes ranged from bullying and hazing in schools to murder. Some of them ended up going to jail, while some who were guilty avoided punishment. Producer Hal Roach Jr. initially was concerned that the series might encounter a shortage of ideas for stories, but as it progressed "a rich vein of dramatic material" was found to be available.
At the end of each episode, a real-life public defender was recognized for outstanding work in that profession.

## Community involvement

Members of the public sometimes contacted Hadley, requesting his help with legal matters. He received 30 requests of that type per week when the show was most popular. He and Edward N. Bliss Jr. of the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office, who was the series's technical advisor, traveled around the United States for 20 days in early 1955 speaking to groups of people about the work of public defenders and advocating the creation of additional public defenders' offices.

## Cast

* Reed Hadley as Bart Matthew

## Episodes
### Season 1 (1954)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
| 1 | 1 | "The Case of the Parolee" | Erle C. Kenton | Howard J. Green | March 11, 1954 (1954-03-11) |
| 2 | 2 | "The Unfit Mother" | Unknown | Unknown | March 18, 1954 (1954-03-18) |
| 3 | 3 | "Lost Cause" | Unknown | Unknown | March 25, 1954 (1954-03-25) |
| 4 | 4 | "The Forger" | James Tinling | Marianne Mosner | April 1, 1954 (1954-04-01) |
| 5 | 5 | "The Prize Fighter Story" | Budd Boetticher | Unknown | April 8, 1954 (1954-04-08) |
| 6 | 6 | "The Clown" | Erle C. Kenton | Jerry D. Lewis | April 15, 1954 (1954-04-15) |
| 7 | 7 | "Behind Bars" | Unknown | Unknown | April 22, 1954 (1954-04-22) |
| 8 | 8 | "Two Brothers" | Unknown | Unknown | April 29, 1954 (1954-04-29) |
| 9 | 9 | "Badge of Honor" | Unknown | Unknown | May 6, 1954 (1954-05-06) |
| 10 | 10 | "Let Justice Be Done" | Unknown | Unknown | May 13, 1954 (1954-05-13) |
| 11 | 11 | "Pauper's Gold" | Unknown | Unknown | May 20, 1954 (1954-05-20) |
| 12 | 12 | "Step Child" | Budd Boetticher | Marianne Mosner | May 27, 1954 (1954-05-27) |
| 13 | 13 | "Auto Accident" | Unknown | Unknown | June 3, 1954 (1954-06-03) |
| 14 | 14 | "Confession of Guilt" | Unknown | Unknown | June 10, 1954 (1954-06-10) |
| 15 | 15 | "Hobo Story" | Unknown | Unknown | June 17, 1954 (1954-06-17) |
| 16 | 16 | "The Modern Fagin" | Unknown | Unknown | June 24, 1954 (1954-06-24) |
| 17 | 17 | "Third Floor Rear" | Unknown | Unknown | July 1, 1954 (1954-07-01) |
| 18 | 18 | "Out of the Past" | Unknown | Unknown | July 8, 1954 (1954-07-08) |
| 19 | 19 | "A Call in the Night" | Budd Boetticher | David Dortort | July 15, 1954 (1954-07-15) |
| 20 | 20 | "Escape" | Unknown | Unknown | July 19, 1954 (1954-07-19) |
| 21 | 21 | "High Stakes" | Unknown | Unknown | July 26, 1954 (1954-07-26) |
| 22 | 22 | "Lisa" | Unknown | Unknown | August 2, 1954 (1954-08-02) |
| 23 | 23 | "Baby for Sale" | Unknown | Unknown | August 9, 1954 (1954-08-09) |
| 24 | 24 | "Think No Evil" | Budd Boetticher | Unknown | August 16, 1954 (1954-08-16) |
| 25 | 25 | "Little Egypt" | Erle C. Kenton | John Tucker Battle | August 23, 1954 (1954-08-23) |
| 26 | 26 | "The Last Appeal" | Budd Boetticher | Donald S. Stanford | August 30, 1954 (1954-08-30) |

### Season 2 (1954–55)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
| 27 | 1 | "Return of the Dead" | Unknown | Unknown | September 6, 1954 (1954-09-06) |
| 28 | 2 | "Road to Nowhere" | Unknown | Unknown | September 13, 1954 (1954-09-13) |
| 29 | 3 | "The Big Race" | Harve Foster | William E. Raynor | September 20, 1954 (1954-09-20) |
| 30 | 4 | "The Fire Bell" | Unknown | Unknown | September 27, 1954 (1954-09-27) |
| 31 | 5 | "Bertha Polaski" | Unknown | Unknown | September 30, 1954 (1954-09-30) |
| 32 | 6 | "The Do-Gooder" | Unknown | Unknown | October 7, 1954 (1954-10-07) |
| 33 | 7 | "Where Credit is Due" | Unknown | Unknown | October 14, 1954 (1954-10-14) |
| 34 | 8 | "Crash Out" | Erle C. Kenton | Al C. Ward | October 21, 1954 (1954-10-21) |
| 35 | 9 | "Destiny" | Erle C. Kenton | Frank L. Moss | October 28, 1954 (1954-10-28) |
| 36 | 10 | "Hot Rod" | Harve Foster | Edward E. Seabrook & Homer McCoy | November 4, 1954 (1954-11-04) |
| 37 | 11 | "Color Blind" | Erle C. Kenton | Jerry D. Lewis | November 11, 1954 (1954-11-11) |
| 38 | 12 | "Hijacked Truck" | Unknown | Unknown | November 18, 1954 (1954-11-18) |
| 39 | 13 | "Circumstantial Evidence" | Unknown | Unknown | November 25, 1954 (1954-11-25) |
| 40 | 14 | "Murder Photo" | Unknown | Unknown | December 2, 1954 (1954-12-02) |
| 41 | 15 | "Open Season" | Unknown | Unknown | December 9, 1954 (1954-12-09) |
| 42 | 16 | "Socrates" | Unknown | Unknown | December 16, 1954 (1954-12-16) |
| 43 | 17 | "Moonshine" | Unknown | Unknown | December 23, 1954 (1954-12-23) |
| 44 | 18 | "The Man Who Couldn't Remember" | Unknown | Unknown | December 30, 1954 (1954-12-30) |
| 45 | 19 | "Another World" | Erle C. Kenton | Jerry D. Lewis | January 6, 1955 (1955-01-06) |
| 46 | 20 | "Deep Ditch" | Unknown | Unknown | January 13, 1955 (1955-01-13) |
| 47 | 21 | "Gunpoint" | Unknown | Unknown | January 20, 1955 (1955-01-20) |
| 48 | 22 | "Your Witness" | Unknown | Unknown | January 27, 1955 (1955-01-27) |
| 49 | 23 | "The Director" | Unknown | Unknown | February 3, 1955 (1955-02-03) |
| 50 | 24 | "Mama's Boy" | Erle C. Kenton | Jerry D. Lewis | February 10, 1955 (1955-02-10) |
| 51 | 25 | "Big Steel" | Harve Foster | Lee Loeb | February 17, 1955 (1955-02-17) |
| 52 | 26 | "Jackpot" | Unknown | Unknown | February 24, 1955 (1955-02-24) |
| 53 | 27 | "A Knowledge of Astronomy" | Unknown | Unknown | March 3, 1955 (1955-03-03) |
| 54 | 28 | "The Hitchhiker" | Unknown | Unknown | March 10, 1955 (1955-03-10) |
| 55 | 29 | "Brutality" | Erle C. Kenton | Jerry D. Lewis | March 17, 1955 (1955-03-17) |
| 56 | 30 | "Cornered" | Harve Foster | William P. Rousseau | March 24, 1955 (1955-03-24) |
| Guest: Charles Bronson ||||||
| 57 | 31 | "Time to Kill" | Unknown | Unknown | March 31, 1955 (1955-03-31) |
| 58 | 32 | "The Sapphire Mink" | Unknown | Unknown | April 7, 1955 (1955-04-07) |
| 59 | 33 | "Stepfather" | Unknown | Unknown | April 14, 1955 (1955-04-14) |
| 60 | 34 | "A Pair of Gloves" | Unknown | Unknown | April 21, 1955 (1955-04-21) |
| 61 | 35 | "End of the Line" | Unknown | Unknown | April 28, 1955 (1955-04-28) |
| 62 | 36 | "Clifford Pike" | Unknown | Unknown | May 5, 1955 (1955-05-05) |
| 63 | 37 | "Charge It, Please" | Unknown | Unknown | May 12, 1955 (1955-05-12) |
| 64 | 38 | "Condemned" | Unknown | Unknown | May 19, 1955 (1955-05-19) |
| 65 | 39 | "Operation: Fleet" | Unknown | Unknown | May 26, 1955 (1955-05-26) |
| 66 | 40 | "In Memory of Murder" | Unknown | Unknown | June 2, 1955 (1955-06-02) |
| 67 | 41 | "The Bad Ones" | Unknown | Unknown | June 9, 1955 (1955-06-09) |
| 68 | 42 | "The Jockey and the Nun" | Unknown | Unknown | June 16, 1955 (1955-06-16) |
| 69 | 43 | "The Failure" | Unknown | Unknown | June 23, 1955 (1955-06-23) |

## Production

Mort Lewis and Sam Shayon created The Public Defender, which was produced by Hal Roach Studios/Official Films. Carroll Case was the producer. Directors included Budd Boetticher. The show was filmed in black-and-white.
The show debuted as the summer replacement for Philip Morris Playhouse. It was initially sponsored by Philip Morris cigarettes, and in March 1955, Revlon Products Corporation became the alternate-week sponsor. "Grand Canyon Suite" was the theme. It was initially broadcast from 10 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursdays. In July 1954 it was moved to 9-9:30 p.m. ET on Mondays as the summer replacement for I Love Lucy. In September 1954 it returned to its original time slot.

## Critical response

Hal Erickson, in his book, Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series About Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, 1948-2008, wrote, "Public Defender was distinguished by a mile-wide streak of maudlin sentimentality."