''The Judge and Jake Wyler'' is a 1972 American TV movie directed by

David Lowell Rich David Lowell Rich (August 31, 1920 – October 21, 2001) was an American film director and producer. He directed nearly 100 films and TV episodes between 1950 and 1987. He was born in New York City. He began directing on a regular basis in 1 ...

. The teleplay was written by

Richard Levinson Richard Leighton Levinson (August 7, 1934 – March 12, 1987) was an American screenwriter and Television producer, producer who often worked in collaboration with William Link. Life and career Levinson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. H ...

William Link William Theodore Link (December 15, 1933 – December 27, 2020) was an American film and television screenwriter and producer who often worked in collaboration with Richard Levinson. Biography Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ...

, and David Shaw. It was produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

and broadcast by NBC on December 2, 1972. The title characters are a hypochondriac former judge who owns a private detective agency and her parolee partner. The two are hired by Alicia Dodd to investigate the alleged suicide of her father, whom she suspects was really a murder victim.

Production notes

The film was a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

for a proposed weekly series that failed to make the network's schedule. Earlier that year,

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

had starred in ''

Madame Sin ''Madame Sin'' is a 1972 British thriller film directed by David Greene and starring Bette Davis, Robert Wagner, Denholm Elliott and Gordon Jackson. The screenplay was written by Greene and Barry Oringer. Plot summary The title character is ...

'', a pilot for ABC that also failed to sell. In 1973, the character of Judge Meredith resurfaced in the form of

Lee Grant Lee Grant (born Lyova Haskell Rosenthal; October 31, during the mid-1920s) is an American actress, documentarian, and director. She made her film debut in 1951 as a young shoplifter in William Wyler's ''Detective Story'', co-starring Kirk Dougl ...

in the TV movie ''Partners in Crime'', scripted by Shaw and directed by

Jack Smight John Ronald Smight (March 9, 1925 – September 1, 2003) was an American theatre and film director. His film credits include ''Harper'' (1966), '' No Way to Treat a Lady'' (1968), ''Airport 1975'' (1974), '' Midway'' (1976), and ''Fast Break'' ...

.''Partners in Crime'' at the Internet Movie Database
/ref> This, too, was a pilot that went no further than its initial airing.

Cast

as Judge Meredith *

Doug McClure Douglas Osborne McClure (May 11, 1935February 5, 1995) was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1971 ...

as Jake Wyler *

Eric Braeden Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941) is a German-born film and television actor, known for his roles as Victor Newman on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series ''The Rat Patrol ...

as Anton Granicek *

Joan Van Ark Joan Van Ark (born June 16, 1943) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Valene Ewing on the primetime soap opera ''Knots Landing.'' A life member of The Actors Studio, she made her Broadway debut in 1966 in ''Barefoot in the P ...

as Alicia Dodd *

Gary Conway Gary Conway (born February 4, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. His notable credits include a co-starring role with Gene Barry in the detective series '' Burke's Law'' from 1963 to 1965. In addition, he starred in the Irwin Allen sci ...

as Frank Morrison *

Lou Jacobi Lou Jacobi (born Louis Harold Jacobovitch; December 28, 1913October 23, 2009) was a Canadian character actor. Life and early career Jacobi was born Louis Harold Jacobovitch in Toronto, Canada, to Joseph and Fay Jacobovitch. Jacobi began acting ...

as Lieutenant Wolfson *

Kent Smith Frank Kent Smith (March 19, 1907 – April 23, 1985) was an American actor who had a lengthy career in film, theatre and television. Early years Smith was the son of Mr. and Mrs. James E. Smith. He was born in New York City and was educated ...

as Robert Dodd

Principal production credits

* Producers: Jay Benson, Richard Levinson, William Link * Original Music:

Gil Melle Gil or GIL may refer to: Places * Gil Island (disambiguation), one of several islands by that name * Gil, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran * Hil, Azerbaijan, also spelled ''Gil, a village in Azerbaijan * Hiloba, also spelled ''Gil, ...

* Cinematography: William Margulies * Art Direction: Alexander A. Mayer * Costume Design:

Burton Miller Burton Miller (January 17, 1926 – March 5, 1982) was an American costume designer. He was perhaps best known for his work on the TV shows ''The Six Million Dollar Man'' and ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents''. He tend to work on TV. He had one Acade ...

References

External links

* 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1972 television films 1972 films 1970s mystery drama films NBC network original films Fictional duos Films directed by David Lowell Rich American mystery drama films Films scored by Gil Mellé {{mystery-film-stub