Series Description

The Young Lawyers was a 60 minute legal/drama series on ABC about a group of law students from a prominent Boston University and their time-honored supervisor who open a law office to help poor people with their legal problems.

The Young Lawyers Cast

Lee J. Cobb .... David Barrett
Judy Pace .... Pat Walters
Zalman King .... Aaron Silverman
Phillip Clark .... Chris Blake (1971)

The Young Lawyers Trivia

The Young Lawyers had some real competition for an audience. CBS had their hit series, "Gunsmoke" on during the same time slot and NBC was airing the "Red Skelton Show" during The Young Lawyers' first half hour and then "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in" during the final half hour! Then, beginning with the January 20, 1971 episode, The Young Lawyers was moved to another time slot and day. That's bad enough for a show's chances at a second season, but in addition to that, it then had "Hawaii Five-0" to compete against!

The Young Lawyers was an attempt by ABC to draw younger viewers by making heroes of three young college students. The 18-25 year olds had more spendable income than ever before in history and advertisers were dying to reach them.

Lee J. Cobb is probably best known in his role as Judge Henry Garth on the 1962-1966 series, "The Virginian", however, he also appeared in many films and as a guest star on numerous other TV series. In the 1950s, he was one of the unfortunate people in show business who was charged will being a communist by the House of Representative's "Un-American Activities Committee". Cobb had been a member of the "Group Theater" in the 1930s and any organized group of workers in the entertainment business was considered to be a communist organization. The committee would call in marginal cases like Cobb and give them a choice. Either testify against your friends or lose your right to work! To make matters worse, Cobb's wife had already suffered a nervous breakdown by the time he was called to testify, so he cooperated and named names. The vast majority of those called did the same thing when hounded by the Congress of the United States. It was a sad state of affairs that must never happen again!

The final episode of The Young Lawyers titled, "I've Got A Problem" reflected the real-life conflict in 1970 over the Vietnam War. A man on the radio told young men that if they didn't agree with the war, they should leave the U.S. or simply refuse to serve in the military. The radio station responded by firing the guy. The episode really "aped" the "pro-war"/"anti-war" conflict that was tearing U.S. citizens apart at the time!

In 1968, Judy Pace's role as "Lillian Walters" on the TV series, "Peyton Place" earned her the distinction as the first black woman on TV with an evil personality. Judy's first husband, "Don Mitchell", co-starred from 1967-1974 on the TV series "Ironside". Judy was also the first black woman to appear on "The Dating Game". Ironically, her second husband, baseball legend "Curt Flood" saw her on that show but they didn't get married until twenty years later!

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

TV Pilot:

The Young Lawyers (10/28/1969)

The First And Only Season

1. Is There A Good Samaritan In The House? (9/21/1970)
2. A Simple Thing Called Justice (9/28/1970)
3. The Two Dollar Thing (10/5/1970)
4. The Alienation Kick (10/12/1970)
5. Where's Aaron? (10/19/1970)
6. We May Be Better Strangers (10/26/1970)
7. The Glass Prison (11/2/1970)
8. The Russell Incident (11/9/1970)
9. At The Edge Of The Night (11/16/1970)
10. Are You Running With Me, Jimmy? (11/23/1970)
11. A Busload of Bishops (11/30/1970)
12. The Legacy of Miles Turner (12/7/1970)
13. Remember Chris Gately? (12/14/1970)
14. MacGillicuddy Always Was a Pain in the Neck (12/21/1970)
15. False Witness (1/4/1971)
16. Legal Maneuver (1/20/1971)
17. The Outspoken Silence (2/3/1971)
18. The Victims (2/10/1971)
19. The Bradbury War (2/17/1971)
20. And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (2/24/1971)
21. Down at the House of Truth, Visiting (3/3/1971)
22. The Whimper of Whipped Dogs (3/10/1971 )
23. Conrad And The Taxi Squad (3/17/1971)
24. I've Got A Problem (3/24/1971)