The Client (TV series)

The Client (also referred to as John Grisham's The Client) is an American legal thriller drama television series developed by Judith Paige Mitchell that aired on CBS for one season, premiering with a two-hour pilot on September 17, 1995,^[1] and airing new episodes through April 16, 1996. The series was based on the 1994 film The Client, itself adapted from the 1993 John Grisham novel. It starred JoBeth Williams, John Heard, and Polly Holliday in the roles created in the film by Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones, and Micole Mercurio, respectively.

The Client
Promotional poster
Genre	Legal drama Thriller
Based on	Characters from The Client by John Grisham
Developed by	Judith Paige Mitchell
Starring	JoBeth Williams John Heard Polly Holliday David Barry Gray Ossie Davis
Theme music composer	Stephen Graziano Dino A. Moriana
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22
Production
Executive producers	Judith Paige Mitchell Mitchell Binder
Cinematography	Lowell Peterson
Editors	Robert L. Sinise M. Edward Salier
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Michael Filerman Productions Judith Paige Mitchell Productions Regency Enterprises Warner Bros. Television
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 17, 1995 (1995-09-17) – April 16, 1996 (1996-04-16)

Cast

Main

• JoBeth Williams as Reggie Love
• John Heard as Roy Foltrigg
• Polly Holliday as Momma Love
• David Barry Gray as Clint McGuire
• Ossie Davis as Judge Harry Roosevelt (13 episodes, 1995–96)

Recurring

• Valerie Mahaffey as Ellie Foltrigg (4 episodes, 1995–96)
• Mac Davis as Waldo Gaines (3 episodes 1995–96)
• David Michael Mullins as Lewis Maddox (7 episodes, 1995–96)
• Burke Moses as Jackson Love (6 episodes, 1995–96)
• William Converse-Roberts as Dr. Gus Cardoni (6 episodes, 1995–96)
• Derek McGrath as Arnie (4 episodes, 1996)
• Thom Barry as Judge Waite-Barkley (4 episodes, 1996)
• Brixton Karnes as Officer Brill (4 episodes, 1995–96)
• Harry Lennix as Daniel Holbrook (3 episodes, 1995–96)
• Emilio Borelli as Nick (3 episodes, 1996)
• Allen Williams as Howard Straithe (3 episodes, 1995–96)
• Timothy Carhart as Walon Clark (3 episodes, 1995)
• Emmanuelle Bach as Nicole (3 episodes, 1995–96)
• Ray McKinnon as Lenny Barlow (3 episodes, 1995)

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Pilot"	Paul Shapiro	Judith Paige Mitchell	September 17, 1995 (1995-09-17)
2
3	"A Perfect World"	Steven Robman	Judith Paige Mitchell	September 19, 1995 (1995-09-19)
4	"Them That Has..."	Peter Levin	Robert Nathan	September 26, 1995 (1995-09-26)
5	"The Peach Orchard"	James Quinn	Joe Cacaci and Judith Paige Mitchell & Grace McKeaney	October 10, 1995 (1995-10-10)
6	"Drive, He Said"	Steven Robman	Grace McKeaney	October 17, 1995 (1995-10-17)
7	"The Burning of Atlanta"	James Frawley	Emily Skopov & Eddie Richey	October 24, 1995 (1995-10-24)
8	"Dear Harris"	Helaine Head	Judith Paige Mitchell & Grace McKeaney	October 31, 1995 (1995-10-31)
9	"The Prodigal Father"	James Hayman	Randy Anderson	November 7, 1995 (1995-11-07)
10	"Child's Play"	Dan Attias	Grace McKeaney	November 14, 1995 (1995-11-14)
11	"Happily Ever After"	Steve Dubin	Judith Paige Mitchell	November 21, 1995 (1995-11-21)
12	"The Way Things Never Were"	James Quinn	Gay Walch	December 19, 1995 (1995-12-19)
13	"Sympathy for the Devil"	Vern Gillum	Grace McKeaney	January 9, 1996 (1996-01-09)
14	"Motherless Child"	Win Phelps	Randy Anderson	January 11, 1996 (1996-01-11)
15	"Private Lives"	Helaine Head	Edward Tivnan	January 16, 1996 (1996-01-16)
16	"Winning"	Michael W. Watkins	Gary Johnson	January 30, 1996 (1996-01-30)
17	"The Morning After"	Vern Gillum	Story by : Grace McKeaney & Mitchell Binder Teleplay by : Grace McKeaney	February 6, 1996 (1996-02-06)
18	"Damn Yankees"	Win Phelps	Gary Johnson	March 19, 1996 (1996-03-19)
19	"The High Ground"	Michael W. Watkins	Brad Markowitz	March 26, 1996 (1996-03-26)
20	"Past Imperfect"	Michael Pavone	Judith Paige Mitchell	April 2, 1996 (1996-04-02)
21	"The Good Samaritan"	Sharron Miller	Brad Markowitz	April 9, 1996 (1996-04-09)
22	"Money Talks"	Michael Pavone	Gary Johnson & Edward Tivnan	April 16, 1996 (1996-04-16)

Ratings

The Client averaged at 7.9 million viewers, ranking at #22 for the network and #82 overall.^[2]

Syndication and home media

The TNT Network rebroadcast the series five nights a week, March 1999 through February 2001.^[3]

While the full series is not available on DVD or Blu-ray, the 1995 pilot episode of the series was included as a bonus feature on the 2013 Blu-ray release of the 1994 film.^{[citation needed]}