The Witness is an American television show broadcast on the CBS network in the United States from September 29, 1960 to January 26, 1961, in which a fictional "Committee" of lawyers cross-examined actors portraying actual people from the recent past of the United States who had been considered criminal or suspicious.
Contents
Production
David Susskind was the executive producer, Murray Susskind (David's brother) and Nick Mayo were line producers, and the production company was Talent Associates. The show was created and written by Irve Tunick, and filmed in the CBS studios in New York City.
Scheduling
The show initially was on Thursdays in the 7:30–8:30 PM (EST) timeslot; in December 1960 it was moved to the 9 PM E. T. slot on Thursdays. Seventeen episodes were produced and broadcast. The pilot episode was never aired. A planned eighteenth episode (on Huey Long) may also have never aired.
Background
The premise of the show was explained in the opening narration:
"This show is not a trial, not a court of law, not a legislative inquiry, but a simulated hearing before a simulated committee representing the morality and the conscience of today, with the power to call before it the famous, the infamous, the evil and controversial figures of yesterday."
Regular Cast
Verne Collett played the Court Reporter.
William Griffis played the Court Clerk.
The Committee Members were played by members of the New York Bar — not all of them appeared together in every episode:
Paul McGrath
William Smithers
Frank Milan
Charles Haydon
Richard Steel
William Geoghan Jr.
Benedict Ginsberg
Episodes/stars/air dates
Pilot episode: "Arnold Rothstein" starring Telly Savalas (never aired)
Arnold "The Brain" Rothstein (1882–1928) was a New York kingpin of organized crime, widely reputed to have been behind baseball's Black Sox Scandal, in which the 1919 World Series was "fixed" to benefit certain gamblers.
Episode 1.1: "Lucky Luciano" starring Telly Savalas (series premiere on September 29, 1960)
Charles "Lucky" Luciano (1897–1962) was a Sicilian-born American mobster, considered the father of modern organized crime in America. Telly Savalas' portrayal of him in this episode was considered "superb".
Episode 1.2: "Jimmy Walker" starring Murray Hamilton (October 6, 1960)
Jimmy Walker (1881-1946) was a popular mayor of New York City, 1926-1932, during the Jazz Age; because of a corruption scandal, he was forced to resign.
Episode 1.3: ? (October 20, 1960)
Episode 1.4: ? (October 27, 1960)
Episode 1.5: Roger 'The Terrible' Touhy starring Telly Savalas (November 3, 1960)
Roger Touhy (1898–1959), a Prohibition-era bootlegger and a Chicago rival of Al Capone, died a year before this broadcast, gunned down by unknown assailants twenty-two days after his release from prison where he had spent most of his adult life.
Episode 1.6: "Police Lt. Charles Becker" starring Nehemiah Persoff (November 10, 1960)
Charles Becker (1870–1915) was a corrupt New York City police lieutenant who had been tried, convicted, and electrocuted in 1915 for the murder of Herman Rosenthal. Rosenthal was an underworld bookmaker and part-time gambler who had been forced to make Becker a partner in his gambling operation. Rosenthal was killed when he threatened to reveal Becker's role as an underworld figure.
Critical reception
When the show first came on the air, TIME magazine said:
The Witness (CBS) is one of the more exciting shows to appear on TV in a long time. Packaged by David Susskind, it effectively utilizes a formula first laid out by more modest shows like Day in Court and The Verdict Is Yours: the simulated hearing or trial. The first episode grilled a fictional "Lucky" Luciano. While the case did not unfold too coherently, and the crowd noises in the simulated hearing room were badly overdone, the program spectacularly captured the disorderly drama of committee hearings, with all their rambling language and flashing anger. Telly Savalas, a comparatively unknown actor, was superb as Luciano—full of gutter cynicism, arrogance, brutality, and yet at moments pathetic. The show's spontaneity derived partly from the fact that the lawyers involved were real, some of the best courtroom performers in New York (Richard Steel William Geoghan Jr., Charles Haydon,' Benedict Ginsberg), who ad-libbed much of their argument.
However, several months later, daily newspaper television columns disagreed—for example:
Despite medical care and extensive surgery, CBS' "The Witness" series will succumb after the Feb. 2 show. The end, when it comes, is the result of faulty ratings which even a change of climate—from an earlier to a later slot in the Thursday night schedule—failed to improve.