Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

bpatrick-8 I remember watching this show with my dad on Friday nights at 10; I actually preferred this show to the more successful "Man From U.N.C.L.E." running on NBC at the same time. Even at age 11, I found the show amusing, especially O'Brien's repeated efforts to stall ex-wife Katie (Joanna Barnes, on whom I've had a crush ever since) in her demands for her alimony checks. I think one problem with this show is that the public's image of a lawyer in those days was straight-arrow Perry Mason; had "O'Brien" come along when "Columbo" did, I think it would have been a major hit, since by the '70s the public was willing to embrace heroes who didn't seem to fit the mold, like Kojak, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, and--of course--Columbo.There are two important differences between Peter Falk's two famous characters: O'Brien does spruce himself up when he's in court (of course, when he's in his office the jacket comes off, the tie is loosened, and the shirtsleeves rolled up); also, we know Columbo is happily married (maybe for old times' sake Joanna Barnes could have shown up once as Columbo's wife, but some viewers might remember she was O'Brien's ex-wife and not buy into the idea).The writing was also about two levels above most of what passed for prime time in the 1965-66 season. And I've read that Peter Falk actually liked doing this show better than he did "Columbo," supposedly because of fewer money hassles with "O'Brien"'s studio, Filmways, than with "Columbo"'s, Universal.I'd love to see this show again on DVD.

ckaikini I enjoyed this Series very much back in the Sixties and used to stay up late just to watch it. Peter Falk has always been one of my favourite actors and was excellent in this series and I enjoyed the comedy in it - especially the frequent references to "the Great McGonagle". I always thought and hoped it would achieve a higher profile and was very disappointed when it just "disappeared" from the TV schedules and I've never seen it since. However, Peter Falk went on to achieve more success with "Columbo". I also enjoyed the performance of Joanna Cassidy, who I think was the actress who played the former wife of Peter Falk's character in "Trials". There was good chemistry between them. I would love to watch it again but don't know where to look for it!

marilynreece This series was way ahead of its time, with a main character who was a divorced, cynical, slightly seedy lawyer, and was very rumpled -- a Columbo prototype. Peter Falk's charm was evident, and David Burns added a vaudeville touch. The plots were clever, although not memorable after forty years. But I thought it was terribly sophisticated at the time, and, yes, I can still hum the theme music. Even the cast was ahead of its time. In its one year, the guest cast featured the up-and-coming Frank Langella, Cloris Leachman, Faye Dunaway, Estelle Parsons, Britt Ekland, David Carradine, Gene Hackman, Martin Sheen, Alan Alda, Charles Grodin, Tony Roberts, and Brock Peters; and it was a veritable who's who of familiar faces like Vincent Gardenia, Murray Hamilton, Will Geer, Tammy Grimes, Norman Fell, Jack Albertson, Philip Bosco, Barnard Hughes, Angela Lansbury, Tony Musante, and Al Freeman Jr., among many others. Even the playwright Marc Connelly! I've never caught any reruns, but I would love to see some episodes again to see if it was as good as I thought it was. Doesn't anyone else remember The Trials of O'Brien?

big_bellied_geezer Any show that starred Peter Falk and Elaine Stritch can't be all that bad! I've heard the theme music on a old Ray Martin LP from the mid 60's and the music sounds great. If anyone remembers this show, please share your memories about the show! I'm very suprised that nobody has written about it considering the enduring popularity of it's stars.