''Trial by Jury'' is an American dramatized court show that aired in

first-run syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

during the 1989-90 television season.

Cast and characters

The series features real-life courtroom cases that were reenacted by actors. The series was hosted by

Raymond Burr Raymond William Stacy Burr (May 21, 1917September 12, 1993) was a Canadian actor known for his lengthy Hollywood film career and his title roles in television dramas ''Perry Mason'' and '' Ironside''. Burr's early acting career included roles ...

portraying the character of Judge Gordon Duane (not to be confused with judging the cases, his character rather served as the program's

presenter A presenter is a person or organization responsible for the running of a public event, or someone who conveys information on media via a broadcasting outlet. Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a new ...

, uninvolved with the actual proceedings). The series featured an actor judge as well as actor attorneys. Actress

Madlyn Rhue Madlyn Soloman Rhue (née Madeline Roche, October 3, 1935 – December 16, 2003) was an American film and television actress. Personal life - youth and education Rhue was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Los Angeles High School, and st ...

played the judge role during the cases. Rhue performed the role from a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

, a detail that was unseen to viewers as she sat behind the bench while presiding (she suffered from

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

that began prior to this series and which caused her need for a wheelchair). Rhue was notable in her presence on the program as a female performing in the role of judge, novel for court shows to that point as typically only men played judge roles.

Joseph Campanella Joseph Anthony Campanella (November 21, 1924 – May 16, 2018) was an American character actor. He appeared in more than 200 television and film roles from the early 1950s to 2009. Campanella was best remembered for his roles as Joe Turino on ' ...

performed the role of

prosecuting attorney A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

and

Charles Siebert Charles Alan Siebert (March 9, 1938 – May 1, 2022) was an American actor and television director. As an actor, he is probably best known for his role as Dr. Stanley Riverside II on the television series ''Trapper John, M.D.'', a role he portra ...

performed the role of

defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various ...

Format overview

Actress Madlyn Rhue presided over the program as judge. Episodes commenced with Burr's character, Judge Gordon Duane, serving as interactive host with television viewers. Despite the judge title, Judge Gordon took no active role in the court proceedings themselves. The character, rather, opened each episode from a

judge's chambers A judge's chambers is the office of a judge, where the judge may hear certain types of cases, instead of in open court. Description A judge's chambers is the office of a judge, where certain types of matters can be heard "in chambers", also kn ...

donning a judicial robe. As Judge Gordon Duane, he broke the forth wall by speaking directly to viewers, asking questions about the case, providing answers to those questions, sharing his views of the case and about points of law. The show's courtroom audience got a chance to decide its own verdict before the scripted jury verdict was handed down. In a September 1989 interview just prior to the court show's debut, Burr detailed the making and scripted nature of the program, the popular trend of court shows at the time. Burr was quoted as making the following statements:

We couldn't do a show that was not based someplace along the lines of real cases. It's like a phrase in music—there is no new phrase, everything has already been
written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
. But it will happen some time that the show will appear on a Thursday and the same day the
headline The headline or heading is the text indicating the content or nature of the article below it, typically by providing a form of brief summary of its contents. The large type ''front page headline'' did not come into use until the late 19th centur ...
s will reflect a similar case and people will say we got the show right out of the headline. We tried to be pretty
contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
, but the show was written six months ahead of time. Once we went on the air with a story involving two ministers being kidnapped in Canada. When it went on the air, that's exactly what had happened. The government of Canada asked us not to put the show on because it would be dangerous for the two ministers and it was not put on in Canada.

The program is chiefly remembered for featuring then-unknown singer

Tori Amos Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. She is a classically trained musician with a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Having already begun composing instrumental pieces on piano, Amos won a full ...

in an episode in which she portrayed a woman accused of murdering her married lover. It also marked one of the first television appearances of Cuba Gooding Jr.

References

External links

Trial by Jury on IMDb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trial By Jury (TV Series) 1989 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings 1980s American drama television series 1990s American drama television series Television series by Bob Stewart Productions Television series by Dick Clark Productions Dramatized court shows Television series by CBS Studios First-run syndicated television programs in the United States English-language television shows