Courtroom Episode: Difference between revisions

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** The short story ''The Tactful Saboteur'' also features a Courtroom chapter. However, except for a few additions, the courtroom is rather orthodox.
* The first few chapters of the [[Sector General]] book ''The Genocidal Healer'' are framed by a misconduct trial for the book's protagonist, though they mainly consist of a recounting of the events that led to the trial in the first place.
* Most of the [[The Icelandic Sagas (Literature)|Sagas of Icelanders]] contain at least one, with plenty of fancy speeches and occasional bouts of [[Off Onon a Technicality]].
 
 
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* ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'': The 1972 episode "The Fender Benders," where a money-seeking man named Harry Duggan (Jackie Coogan) files a lawsuit against Carol by claiming their minor, non-injury fender-bender in a parking lot resulted in [[Obfuscating Disability|severe whiplash]]. Carol disputes the charges and – just when it appears that the judge will rule in favor of Mr. Duggan – Mike exposes Duggan as a fraud.
* ''[[Family Matters]]'':
** In Season 3's "Citizen's Court": When Carl squashes Urkel's rare Peruvian beetle and – after Urkel complains – reasons that "it was just a stupid beetle," the nerd becomes determined to see if a judge agrees, going to the local TV courtroom show "Citizens Court" (an obvious parody of [[The PeoplesPeople's Court|that show]]). The usual hijinks ensue, with Waldo admitting that Urkel coached him on his testimony and Eddie claiming that his father is an ill-tempered madman (and Urkel trying to get Harriette to admit the same), before Urkel and Carl agree to settle. The opening of the show is directly copied from ''The People's Court'', and takes a humorous dig at litigants of shows similar to Wapner's courtroom show: "These are ticked off people who are unable to settle the cases themselves!"
** Season 5's "Presumed Urkel," where Urkel is accused of causing an explosion in a chemistry classroom at Vanderbilt High. Laura – who was at this point in the series still annoyed by the nerd's plays for love – agrees to defend Urkel's honor when she senses that an academic rival named Dexter Thornhill seems very eager to have him expelled. The matter is held in Vanderbilt's student court. (In the end, Laura uses a blacklight to reveal that Thornhill was responsible; when exposed, Thornhill admits that he did it because he believed that Urkel didn't deserve to win first prize at the science fair.)
* ''[[I Love Lucy]]'': One of the earliest courtroom-based episodes sees the Ricardos and Mertzes feud over a damaged television set. The Ricardos had purchased a TV set for the Mertzes, but when the picture tube blows out, Fred – claiming that Ricky knowingly gave him a defective set – goes to the Ricardos' apartment and breaks their TV. Both are even-steven after a judge hears the bickering couples fight it out.
* ''[[Sister Sister]]'': When Tia accuses twin sister Tamera of distributing copies of her diary to fellow classmates, she takes her to Student Court. But the episode soon focuses on two yuksters who fail to take the concept seriously and turn the matter into one big joke. It isn't long before those two students are exposed as the culprits ... and the principal has a long, stern talk with them about the judicial process and why matters heard in Student Court aren't fun and games.
* ''[[Afterschool Special (TV)|CBS Schoolbreak Special]]'': The 1985 episode "Student Court" focused on the workings of a high school student court – students who assist the administration with conflict resolution and interpretation of school policy. This student court takes on another dimension: determining what punishment, if any, a teen-aged girl accused of shoplifting should face.
* The episode "Testimony of a Traitor" in [[Buck Rogers in The 25th Century]] has Buck accused of treason.
* The ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' episode "Dream A Little Dream" has Zhaan framed for murder on a planet whose [[Planet of Hats|hat]] is that 90% of them are lawyers. Rygel and Chiana have to defend her.
* ''[[Leverage (TV)|Leverage]]'' has two of these:
** In "The Juror #5 Job", Parker is a juror in a wrongful-death suit, and Hardison has to pretend to be a high-powered lawyer in order to stall the case until the rest of the team can finish the con.
** In "The Lost Heir Job", the team takes on a client who's entangled in a probate case; Nate ends up playing a [[Large Ham]] shyster from Vegas.
* ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' does this quite a bit:
** In ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series (TV)|Star Trek the Original Series]]'':
*** "The Menagerie" prominently features Spock being court-martialed for stealing the ''Enterprise''. He did it, but apparently he has [[Hero Insurance]].
*** "[[Star Trek (Franchise)/Recap/S1 E20 Court Martial|Court Martial]]": Captain Kirk is accused of negligently causing the death of a crewman and perjury.
*** "Wolf in the Fold." Scotty is accused of multiple acts of murder and Captain Kirk effectively acts as his defense attorney. The start of [[Boston Legal|Denny Crane]]'s career, no doubt.
** In ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'':
*** In "The Measure of a Man", Picard tries to establish the precedent that Data is legally human, with Riker forced by the Starfleet legal system into arguing against him.
*** "The Drumhead" is centered around a court-martial about sabotage aboard the ''Enterprise'', eventually devolving to a witch-hunt for supposed traitors (while the "sabotage" was merely faulty equipment).
*** "Devil's Due." Picard must prove that an alien being is not the Devil. Data acts as the arbitrator in charge of hearing the case.
*** "A Matter of Perspective." Riker is accused of murdering an alien scientist. His trial includes holographic re-creations of events based on witness testimony.
** ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV)|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'':
*** "Dax" looks like it's going to center around the question of whether Jadzia and Curzon [[The Nth Doctor|Dax]] are considered the same person under Bajoran law, much as "The Measure of a Man" centers around the question of whether Data is considered human under Federation law. {{spoiler|In the end, Curzon [[Clear Their Name|gets exonerated]], so it doesn't matter.}}
*** "Tribunal", in which [[The Chew Toy|O'Brien]] is tried as a terrorist on Cardassia, is more of a [[Kangaroo Court|Kangaroo Courtroom]] Episode.
*** "Rules of Engagement" is about an attempt to extradite Worf to the Klingon empire; Sisko defends him.
** ''[[Star Trek: Voyager (TV)|Star Trek Voyager]]'': ''Death Wish'' focuses on a trial deciding whether to grant asylum to a member of the Q Continuum.
* In the rebooted ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined]]'':
** Most of "Crossroads" (the season 3 finale) is taken up by Baltar's trial for treason. Apollo ends up playing lawyer; Adama is randomly selected to be one of the judges.
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*** "Pretense" consists of a trial to determine whether Skaara or the Goa'uld [[Puppeteer Parasite|inhabiting his body]] has a right to it. Daniel and Jack share lawyering duty.
*** A third case ''almost'' happens in "Collateral Damage" when Mitchell is apparently responsible for killing someone, but avoids an actual court case since the charges were quickly glossed over under the pretense of Mitchell having diplomatic immunity. Instead the point of the episode is to prove Mitchell's innocence.
** The ''[[Stargate Atlantis (TV)|Stargate Atlantis]]'' episode "Inquisition", which doubles as a [[Clip Show]] and features a [[Joker Jury]], has the main Atlantis team put on trial by the Coalition of Planets (which consists of the various weakling civilizations in Pegasus who were brutalized by the Wraith) for their numerous [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] moments and general [[Moral Dissonance]] throughout the series. The episode ended with them bribing one of the judges to vote in their favor, his vote being the swing vote.
** The ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'' episode "Justice" is centered around an investigation and informal trial about {{spoiler|the death--eventually shown to be suicide--of Sergeant Spencer}}.
* The ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'' episode "Justice" puts Rimmer on trial for the murder of the ''Red Dwarf'' crew.
* ''[[The Tenth Kingdom]]'' has one when Wolf is accused of killing livestock.
* In ''[[The Odd Couple]]'' episode "The Dog Story," Felix is arrested for kidnapping a performing dog mistreated by its agent. He insists on defending himself in court, in his hilariously pompous and arrogant Large Ham manner.
* Several ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episodes, most notably the finale.
* The flashforwards in the ''[[Lost]]'' episode "Eggtown."
* ''[[Criminal Minds (TV)|Criminal Minds]]'': "Tabula Rasa", in which a killer previously tracked down by the BAU it put on trial after awakening from a coma...with total retrograde amnesia.
* Courts-martial figure in several ''[[M*A*S*H (TV)|Mash]]'' episodes:
** In "The Trial of Henry Blake", the titular C.O. is accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy after Majors Burns and Houlihan file a complaint about the lack of discipline under his command.
** In "The Novocaine Mutiny", Hawkeye is tried for mutiny after temporary commander Major Burns is accidentally knocked unconscious during an argument between the two men in the O.R. This leads to the two men providing [[The Rashomon|widely conflicting versions of the same events]] in their testimony.
** In "Snappier Judgment", the second installment in a two-part episode, Klinger is tried after circumstantial evidence pins him to a rash of thefts at the 4077th.
* Episodes of ''[[Bones]]'' usually end with apprehending the killer, but occasionally the court case is included as well. Also, sometimes the killer is already in custody and the episode centers around finding evidence and presenting it in court.
* ''[[Married... Withwith Children]]'' has a few examples.
** In one, Al/Peggy/Steve/Marcy sue a motel for videotaping their exploits.
** The Bundys also went to court because of a car crash. They thought they'd win because Marcy was testifying for them but it turned out she was biased against anyone who owned Mercedes cars because her ex-husband had one.
** Another happens when Bud is caught "relieving some tension" at the school library.
** At one point Al is sued by the guy that tried to rob him.
* ''[[Get Smart (TV)|Get Smart]]'': "The Day Smart Turned Chicken." Smart is a witness in the court against KAOS, and they decide to frame him. Then he calls additional witnesses in his defense.
* ''[[The Steve Harvey Show]]'' had two:
** The first one had Lovita suing Steve after the TV she bought from him stopped working and he refused to give Lovita her money back. Lovita even tried to sway the jury by using the closing argument speech from ''[[A Time to Kill]]''. The judge turned out to be {{spoiler|a woman who was a backup dancer during Steve's Hi-Top days}}.
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* ''[[Frasier]]'' has the episode "Crane Vs. Crane", where Frasier and Niles are expert witnesses on opposite sides of a court case.
* ''[[The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog]]'' has an episode where Angus placed in a trial for a crime he was framed, he has to defend himself while taking advice from a fairy who is secretly acting as his lawyer. Thing clear out when Ivar brings in the real culprit and Angus let off.
* An episode of ''[[Twenty Four24]]'' from late in the second season, [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming|4:00am to 5:00am]], has [[Reasonable Authority Figure|President Palmer]]'s cabinet vote on whether to remove him from office under the 25th Amendment. It takes place in a conference room, rather than a courtroom, but they call [[Surprise Witness|surprise witnesses]], debate the spirit versus the letter of the law, and have impassioned closing arguments. The President himself even declares it "the trial of David Palmer."
* [[Little House Onon the Prairie (TV series)|Little House On The Prairie]] had two. The first was "Barn Burner", where town bigot Mr. Larabee is accused of burning down the Garvey Barn. The second is "Blind Justice", where a man is put on trial after being accused of swindling the citizens of Walnut Grove in a land scandal.
 
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Several [[Bio WareBioWare]] games (''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'', and ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'') have sidequests where you either act as an attorney for a quest-giver, or are accused of something and have to defend yourself. Usually they involve all of collecting evidence, interviewing people, and making the right statements at court.
 
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Several ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'' episodes, as well as a significant part of the last movie.
{{quote| '''Bender''': Court's kind of fun when it's not ''my'' ass on the line.}}
* Several episodes of ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'' too; among them are "Bart gets hit by a Car", "The Boy Who Knew Too Much", and "The D'Oh-cial Network."
* ''[[Justice League (Animationanimation)|Justice League]]'' has one episode where [[Green Lantern]] stands trial for blowing up a planet. Flash is his lawyer. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (Animation)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'': "Plankton vs. Krabs."
* The ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' episode "[[LA Law|La La Law]]."
* ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Animation)|The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]]'': "Keeper of the Reaper." [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Fred Fredburger, yes!]]
* ''[[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]]'' episode "Trial of the Monarch" has the Monarch as the defendant, acting as his own lawyer. He doesn't care for having the jury described as his "peers."
* ''[[101 Dalmatians (Disney)|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]: The Series'': "Twelve Angry Pups"
* ''[[Beavis and Butthead (Animation)|Beavis and Butthead]]'': "The Trial"
* ''[[Garfield and Friends]]'' episodes: "Binky Goes Bad", "Trial & Error"
* ''[[Duck Dodgers]]'' episode "The Trial of Duck Dodgers"
* ''[[Capitol Critters (Animation)|Capitol Critters]]'' had one episode where two characters were taken to the cockroaches' courtroom. [[Hilarity Ensues|One of the defendants complained about being treated like a human being]].
* A good deal of ''[[Wild West Cowboys of Moo Mesa]]'' episode "Bulls of a Feather" was about Sheriff Terribull being taken to courtroom to be tried for the crimes of his criminal alter ego The Masked Bull.
* ''[[Quick Draw McGraw]]'' once had to protect a key witness (Baba Looey) for a trial.
* ''[[Recess]]'': "The Trial" is the best example, but other episodes include "The Story of Whomps" and "The Biggest Trouble Ever"
* Episode 4 of ''[[Clerks (Animationanimation)|Clerks: The Animated Series]]'' revolved around Jay pursuing a [[Frivolous Lawsuit]] against Dante for slipping on a puddle of spilled soda.
 
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