7.9/1042 votes#1 - Quality of Mercy
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 9/16/1961
Dr. Bill Conrad's patient, Leona Warner, delivers a baby with Down Syndrome.
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Reginald Rose
- 8.4/1047 votes
#2 - Killer Instinct
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/23/1961
When mild-mannered Jim McLeery kills an abusive stranger, it seems a clear-cut case of self-defense. But the prosecution reveals that, in his army days, McCleery was trained to kill.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Writer: John Vlahos
- 8.4/1035 votes
#3 - Death Across the Counter
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 9/30/1961
No description available
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Reginald Rose
- 7.9/1028 votes
#4 - The Riot
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 10/7/1961
No description available
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Max Ehrlich
- 7.3/1027 votes
#5 - The Young Lovers
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 10/14/1961
No description available
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: John Vlahos
- 7.5/1025 votes
#6 - The Boy Between
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 10/21/1961
No description available
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Writer: Robert Thom
- 8.1/1029 votes
#7 - The Hundred Lives of Harry Simms
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 10/28/1961
Frank Gorshin stars as an impressionist accused of murder who claims he's innocent because ""Jimmy Cagney did it""—and breaks into his multiple personality of Cagney on the witness stand as the Prestons are questioning him.
Director: John Brahm
Writer: Alvin Boretz
- 7.3/1022 votes
#8 - The Accident
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/4/1961
No description available
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Reginald Rose
- 8.0/1025 votes
#9 - The Trial of Jenny Scott
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 11/11/1961
No description available
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Reginald Rose
- 7.8/1018 votes
#10 - The Man with the Concrete Thumb
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 11/18/1961
No description available
Director: Ralph Nelson
Writer: Ernest Kinoy
- 7.5/1020 votes
#11 - The Treadmill
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 11/25/1961
No description available
Director: Don Richardson
Writer: Peter Stone
- 8.4/1025 votes
#12 - Perjury
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 12/2/1961
No description available
Director: Boris Sagal
Writer: Adrian Spies
- 8.6/1030 votes
#13 - The Attack
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 12/9/1961
No description available
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Writer: John W. Bloch
- 7.7/1024 votes
#14 - The Prowler
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 12/16/1961
No description available
Director: Paul Bogart
Writer: David Shaw
- 6.5/1026 votes
#15 - Gideon's Follies
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 12/23/1961
No description available
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
Writer: Robert J. Crean
- 7.9/1021 votes
#16 - The Best Defense
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 12/30/1961
No description available
Director: Paul Stanley
Writer: Ernest Kinoy
- 8.2/1023 votes
#17 - The Bedside Murder
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 1/6/1962
No description available
Director: Fielder Cook
Writer: Max Ehrlich
- 8.2/1024 votes
#18 - The Search
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 1/20/1962
No description available
Director: John Brahm
Writer: Reginald Rose
- 7.8/1018 votes
#19 - Storm at Birch Glen
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 1/27/1962
No description available
Director: John Brahm
Writer: Jerome Ross
- 7.9/1015 votes
#20 - The Point Shaver
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 2/3/1962
Stacy Phillips, star college basketball player, is accused of taking money from gambler Vince Fargo to fix a game. The Presons, alumni of the college, are hired to defend Phillips before the State's Senate Rackets Committee.
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: Mann Rubin
- 8.1/1019 votes
#21 - The Locked Room
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 2/10/1962
No description available
Director: David Greene
Writer: Ernest Kinoy
- 7.7/1017 votes
#22 - The Empty Chute
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 2/17/1962
No description available
Director: Jack Smight
Writer: Max Ehrlich
- 7.6/1012 votes
#23 - The Crusader
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 2/24/1962
No description available
Director: Daniel Petrie
Writer: Jerome Ross
- 7.5/1016 votes
#24 - The Hickory Indian
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 3/3/1962
No description available
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Writer: David Karp
- 7.9/1014 votes
#25 - The Iron Man
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 3/10/1962
No description available
Director: Buzz Kulik
Writer: David Davidson
The Best Episodes of The Defenders Season 1
Every episode of The Defenders Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Defenders Season 1!
The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys who specialized in legally...
Genre:Drama
Network:CBS
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"Quality of Mercy" is the best rated episode of "The Defenders" season 1. It scored 7.9/10 based on 42 votes. Directed by Buzz Kulik and written by Reginald Rose, it aired on 9/16/1961. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "Killer Instinct".