The Judge and Jake Wyler

The Judge and Jake Wyler is a 1972 American TV movie directed by David Lowell Rich. The teleplay was written by Richard Levinson, William Link, and David Shaw. It was produced by Universal Television and broadcast by NBC on December 2, 1972.

The Judge and Jake Wyler
Genre	Drama
Written by	Richard Levinson William Link David Shaw
Directed by	David Lowell Rich
Starring	Bette Davis Doug McClure Eric Braeden
Theme music composer	Gil Melle
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Richard Levinson William Link
Production locations	Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California
Cinematography	William Margulies
Editor	Buddy Small
Running time	120 min.
Production company	Universal Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	December 2, 1972 (1972-12-02)

The title characters are a hypochondriac former judge who owns a private detective agency and her parolee partner. The two are hired by Alicia Dodd to investigate the alleged suicide of her father, whom she suspects was really a murder victim.

Production notes

The film was a pilot for a proposed weekly series that failed to make the network's schedule. Earlier that year, Bette Davis had starred in Madame Sin, a pilot for ABC that also failed to sell.

In 1973, the character of Judge Meredith resurfaced in the form of Lee Grant in the TV movie Partners in Crime, scripted by Shaw and directed by Jack Smight.^[1] This, too, was a pilot that went no further than its initial airing.

Cast

• Bette Davis as Judge Meredith
• Doug McClure as Jake Wyler
• Eric Braeden as Anton Granicek
• Joan Van Ark as Alicia Dodd
• Gary Conway as Frank Morrison
• Lou Jacobi as Lieutenant Wolfson
• Kent Smith as Robert Dodd

Principal production credits

• Producers: Jay Benson, Richard Levinson, William Link
• Original Music: Gil Melle
• Cinematography: William Margulies
• Art Direction: Alexander A. Mayer
• Costume Design: Burton Miller