''Hawkins'' is an American legal drama and murder mystery

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

which aired for one season on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from 1973 and

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. The series starred

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

as rural-bred lawyer Billy Jim Hawkins, who investigated the cases in which he was involved.

Premise

Billy Jim Hawkins had given up his position as a deputy

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

and opened a small-town private law practice in the fictional town of Beauville,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

.McNeil, p. 365.Brooks & Marsh, pp. 444–445. Despite the rural, small-town location of his law office, fancy clients from all over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

come to him for a legal defense in murder cases. Hawkins has a pleasant, homespun manner and speaks slowly, but underneath this unassuming demeanor he is a shrewd and determined defense lawyer. He travels widely to investigate the cases he takes on, seeking evidence that will clear his clients and identify the real murderers. His cousin R. J. Hawkins travels with him and assists him in his investigations.

Cast

as Billy Jim Hawkins *

Strother Martin Strother Douglas Martin Jr. (March 26, 1919 – August 1, 1980) was an American character actor who often appeared in support of John Wayne and Paul Newman and in Western films directed by John Ford and Sam Peckinpah. Among Martin's memorable pe ...

as R. J. Hawkins

Production

David Karp David Karp (born July 6, 1986) is an American webmaster, entrepreneur, and blogger, best known as the founder and former CEO of the short-form blogging platform Tumblr. Karp began his career, without having received a high school diploma, as ...

created ''Hawkins'', and Arena Productions produced the series in association with

MGM Television MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/dis ...

. The show bore similarities to James Stewart′s 1959 hit movie ''

Anatomy of a Murder ''Anatomy of a Murder'' is a 1959 American courtroom drama and crime film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Wendell Mayes was based on the 1958 novel of the same name written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Vo ...

'', in which he also played a small-town lawyer who investigated the cases in which he was involved. ''Hawkins'' was Stewart′s second attempt at starring in a television series; he had made his debut in series television in the unsuccessful

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

The Jimmy Stewart Show ''The Jimmy Stewart Show'' is an American situation comedy starring James Stewart as a college professor in a small town who shares his home with three generations of his family. Twenty-four episodes of the show were broadcast during the 1971� ...

'', which aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

for a single season from

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

. ''Hawkins'' was a far better fit for Stewart′s acting talents; it received good critical reviews and Stewart won a 1973

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best Actor in Television Drama Series for his portrayal of Billy Jim Hawkins. However, the series was cancelled after the production of only eight episodes (its

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 ...

episode and one season of seven episodes). Stewart requested the cancellation because he believed that the quality of scripts and directors in television could not continuously measure up to the level to which he was accustomed with theatrical films. He did not return to series television.

Norman Felton Norman Francis Felton (April 29, 1913 – June 25, 2012) was a British-born American television producer, known for his involvement in shows such as ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' and '' Dr. Kildare''. Background Felton was born in London, the son ...

was the show's

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

and Karp wrote or co-wrote the

and the regular-season episodes.

Jud Taylor Judson Taylor (February 25, 1932August 6, 2008) was an American actor, television director, and television producer. Early years Born in New York City, Taylor graduated from the University of California, Berkeley. Career Taylor is perhaps best ...

directed the pilot and some of the regular-season episodes, and

Paul Wendkos Abraham Paul Wendkos (September 20, 1925 – November 12, 2009) was an American television and film director. Early life and education Wendkos was born in Philadelphia to parents Simon Wendkos and Judith Wendkos. Wendkos served in World War II ...

Robert Scheerer Robert Scheerer (December 28, 1929 – March 3, 2018) was an American film and television director, actor, and producer. Scheerer was born in Santa Barbara, California, on December 28, 1929. Scheerer's work in films began with his dancing, inc ...

directed the rest.

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the Rambo (franchise) ...

wrote the theme music.

Broadcast history

The pilot episode of ''Hawkins'' aired as a 90-minute television movie on March 13, 1973. As a regular series, it premiered on October 2, 1973, airing on

on Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. throughout its run. Like the series pilot, each regular-season episode was 90 minutes long. It was broadcast every third week as part of the "

wheel series A wheel series, wheel show, wheel format or umbrella series is a television series in which two or more regular programs are rotated in the same time slot. Sometimes the wheel series is given its own umbrella title and promoted as a single unit ins ...

" ''

The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies ''The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies'' (known as ''The New CBS Friday Night Movies'' in its first season) was a weekly 90-minute motion picture made expressly for television. The series aired on CBS from 1971 to 1974. During its first two seasons, ...

'', alternating in its time slot with '' Shaft'' and a

made-for-television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

. The "wheel series" was a popular programming strategy in television entertainment programming during the late 1960s and the 1970s in which two or more regular programs were rotated in the same time slot. However, ''Hawkins'' attracted a starkly different viewer demographic from ''Shaft'', which probably worked against it finding an audience as part of ''The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies''. With ''Hawkins'' suffering from low ratings and Stewart expressing his desire to bring the show to an end, its last new episode aired on March 5, 1974. Reruns of ''Hawkins'' ran in prime time during its regular time slot until September 3, 1974.

Episodes

SOURCES"Tuesday TV & Radio Schedule," ''Schenectady Gazette'', March 5, 1974, p. 15.
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References

Citations

Bibliography

*Brooks, Tim & Marsh, Earle (1995). ''The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946-Present''. Ballantine Books. . * *McNeil, Alex (1996). ''Total Television''. Penguin Books USA, Inc. .

External links