The Court of Last Resort is an American television

Television in the United States

Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...

 drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 series which aired on the NBC from 1957 through 1958. It was co-produced by Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner

Erle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories, best known for the Perry Mason series, he also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J...

's Paisano Productions

Paisano Productions

Paisano Productions was a Los Angeles, California-based company established in 1957 and owned by mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner.Paisano was named after Gardner's ranch, Rancho del Paisano southeast of Los Angeles near Temecula, California, United States where he settled in 1937....

, which also brought forth the long-running hit television program, Perry Mason

Perry Mason (TV series)

Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...

 on CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

.
Its approach to dealing with potential miscarriages of justice in an entirely extra-judicial format was adopted by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 series Rough Justice

Rough Justice (TV series)

Rough Justice was a BBC television series which investigated alleged miscarriages of justice. It was broadcast between 1982 and 2007, and played a role in securing the release of 18 people involved in 13 cases involving miscarriages of justice. The programme was similar in aim and approach to The...

 in the 1980s.

Summary

The Court of Last Resort, an organization founded by Erle Stanley Gardner in 1948, centers on seven attorneys who take on the cases of wrongly accused or unjustly convicted defendants. Episodes dramatized various cases investigated by the Court from its inception through "the present". The members of the Court were portrayed by actors during the episode, but the actual members often appeared at the conclusion of the program, with one of them reflecting on the case that had just been dramatized.

The series aired from 1957 to 1958 at 8 p.m. EST on Fridays following Saber of London

Saber of London

Saber of London is a half-hour 1950s detective television series about a British police captain named Mark Saber, who works, in the original version of the program, in the homicide department of a large American city. Tom Conway portrayed Mark Saber from October 1951 to June 1954...

. It was rebroadcast on ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 during the 1959-1960 season at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Series regulars

Actor	Role
Robert H. Harris Robert H. Harris Robert H. Harris was an American character actor born in New York City, New York.-Career:...	Raymond Schindler
Carleton Young Carleton Young Carleton Scott Young was an American character actor born in New York City, New York and known for his deep voice.-Private life:...	Harry Steeger Harry Steeger Henry "Harry" Steeger co-founded Popular Publications in 1930, one of the major publishers of pulp magazines, with Harold S. Goldsmith. Steeger handled editorial matters while Goldsmith took care of the business side. Both were veterans of the pulp magazine business. Steeger had edited war pulps at...
S. John Launer S. John Launer S. John Launer , was an American television and film actor. Launer was born in Cleveland, Ohio, United States.-Career:...	Marshall Houts
John Maxwell John Maxwell (actor) John Maxwell was an American film and television actor who appeared in over 100 films of the 1940s and 1950s. Many times the actor appeared in films uncredited. Occasionally he played larger roles in movies, such as in The Prowler...	Alex Gregory
Robert J. Anderson Robert J. Anderson Robert J. Anderson , better known by his stage name Bobby Anderson , was an American actor and television producer, most famous for his role as Little George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life.Anderson grew up in a Hollywood family...	Park Street Jr
Lyle Bettger Lyle Bettger Lyle S. Bettger was a character actor known most for his Hollywood roles from the 1950s, typically portraying villains...	Sam Larsen
Paul Birch Paul Birch (actor) Paul Birch was an American actor of stage and film.Birch was born Paul Smith in Atmore, Alabama. He was a veteran of 39 movies, 50 stage dramas and a number of television shows including the Hallmark Hall of Fame...	Erle Stanley Gardner
Charles Meredith Charles Meredith (actor) Charles Meredith was an American film and television actor. When Meredith died, The Incredible Mr. Limpet was said to be his last film.-Selected filmography:...	Dr. LeMoyne Snyder

Episode list

Episode #	Episode title	Original airdate
1-1	"The Gordon Wallace Case" (pilot)	October 4, 1957
1-2	"The Tomas Mendoza Case"	October 11, 1957
1-3	"The Forbes-Carroll Case"	October 18, 1957
1-4	"The Wesley Ferguson Case"	October 25, 1957
1-5	"The George Zaccho Case"	November 1, 1957
1-6	"The Karl Hooft Case"	November 8, 1957
1-7	"The Conrad Murray Case"	November 15, 1957
1-8	"The Darlene Fitzgerald Case"	November 22, 1957
1-9	"The James Dawson Case"	November 29, 1957
1-10	"The Clarence Redding Case"	December 6, 1957
1-11	"The Jim Thomson Case"	December 13, 1957
1-12	"The John Smith Case"	December 20, 1957
1-13	"The Westover Case"	January 3, 1958
1-14	"The Arnold McHugh Case"	January 10, 1958
1-15	"The Steve Hrdlika Case"	January 24, 1958
1-16	"The Phillip Huston Case"	January 31, 1958
1-17	"The Peter Stevens Case"	February 7, 1958
1-18	"The Lester Arnold Case"	February 14, 1958
1-19	"The Frank Clark Case"	February 21, 1958
1-20	"The Jacob Loveless Case"	February 28, 1958
1-21	"The Joe Credo Case"	March 7, 1958
1-22	"The Stephen Lowell Case"	March 14, 1958
1-23	"The Mary Morales Case"	March 21, 1958
1-24	"The Joel Sheldon Case"	March 28, 1958
1-25	"The Todd-Loomis Case"	April 4, 1958
1-26	"The Allen Cutler Case"	April 11, 1958

External links

• The Court Of Last Resort — the TV drama prototype