The Trials of Rosie O'Neill

*The Trials of Rosie O'Neill*
The Trials of Rosie O'Neill
	Sharon Gless (left) as Rosie O'Neill; Tyne Daly (right) appeared in one episode.
Genre	Drama
Created by	Beth Sullivan & Joe Cacaci
Written by	Beth Sullivan; Joe Cacaci; Josef Anderson; Nicole Yorkin & Dawn Prestwich
Directed by	Sharron Miller; Reza Badiyi; Nancy Malone; James Frawley; Joel Rosenzweig; David Carson; Victoria Hochberg; Ron Lagomarsino; Gwen Arner; David Hugh Jones
Starring	Sharon Gless; Dorian Harewood; Ron Rifkin; Georgann Johnson; Lisa Rieffel; Robert Wagner; Ed Asner; David Rasche
Theme music composer	Ron Ramin
Opening theme	"I Wish I Knew" performed by Melissa Manchester
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	34
Production
Executive producer	Barney Rosenzweig
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	MTM Enterprises; The Rosenzweig Company
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 17, 1990 –; May 30, 1992

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill is an American drama television series which aired on CBS from September 17, 1990 to May 30, 1992. The show stars Sharon Gless as Fiona Rose "Rosie" O'Neill, a lawyer working in the public defender's office for the City of Los Angeles.^[1]^[2] The show marked the return of Gless to series television after her run on Cagney & Lacey.^[3]

"Rosie" was created by Beth Sullivan and Joe Cacaci, and produced by Cagney & Lacey producer Barney Rosenzweig, whom Gless married in 1991.^[4] The writing staff included Beth Sullivan, Joe Cacaci, Josef Anderson, Nicole Yorkin and Dawn Prestwich. The show was cancelled by CBS in 1992.^[5]

Plot

Each episode opens with Rosie talking with her therapist (Rosenzweig), whose face was never seen on camera. Rosie had been at the receiving end of an unwanted divorce, after her attorney husband had an affair. The advertisement for the series which appeared in TV Guide the night the series debuted told the story as follows: "I'm 43 and divorced. He got our law practice, the Mercedes, and the dog. It's only fair that I should be angry. I really liked that dog."

Cast

The show's cast also included Dorian Harewood, Ron Rifkin, Georgann Johnson, Lisa Rieffel and Robert Wagner.^[6] Season 2 saw two new cast additions: Ed Asner joined the cast as the cantankerous Kovac, a retired cop hired by Rosie's law firm as one of their investigators. David Rasche was cast in a recurring dramatic role as Patrick Ginty, Rosie's ex-husband who was often referred to but never seen in the first season. Adding Asner to the regular cast squeezed out Dorian Harewood, who was billed as "Special Guest Star" in all season 2 episodes.

Episodes

Season 1: 1990–91

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Starting Over"	Ron Lagomarsino	Beth Sullivan & Joe Cacaci	September 17, 1990 (1990-09-17)
2	2	"The Rapist"	Sharron Miller	Beth Sullivan & Dawn Prestwich & Joe Cacaci & Nicole Yorkin	September 24, 1990 (1990-09-24)
3	3	"So Long Patrick"	David Carson	Josef Anderson	October 1, 1990 (1990-10-01)
4	4	"Late Night Callers"	Reza Badiyi	Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin	October 15, 1990 (1990-10-15)
5	5	"Shalom"	Reza Badiyi	Story by : Kip Orgullo & Beth Sullivan & Joe Cacaci and Nicole Yorkin & Dawn Prestwich Teleplay by : Nicole Yorkin & Joe Cacaci & Dawn Prestwich	October 22, 1990 (1990-10-22)
6	6	"An Act of Love"	Joel Rosenzweig	Judy Merl & Paul Eric Myers	October 29, 1990 (1990-10-29)
7	7	"When I'm 44"	Sharron Miller	Beth Sullivan & Josef Anderson & Joe Cacaci & Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin	November 5, 1990 (1990-11-05)
8	8	"Rosie Gets the Blues"	James Frawley	Terry Abrahamson	November 19, 1990 (1990-11-19)
9	9	"The Gang's All Here"	Nancy Malone	Josef Anderson	November 26, 1990 (1990-11-26)
10	10	"Mr. Right"	Reza Badiyi	Joe Cacaci	December 3, 1990 (1990-12-03)
11	11	"The Man from E.L.F."	Reza Badiyi	Josef Anderson	December 17, 1990 (1990-12-17)
12	12	"Mother Love"	Victoria Hochberg	Nicole Yorkin & Dawn Prestwich	December 31, 1990 (1990-12-31)
13	13	"State of Mind"	Sharron Miller	Story by : Beth Sullivan & Barbara Schiffman Teleplay by : Beth Sullivan	January 7, 1991 (1991-01-07)
14	14	"Time Will Tell"	Gwen Arner	Debbie Smith & Danna Doyle	January 14, 1991 (1991-01-14)
15	15	"Reunion"	Nancy Malone	Story by : Michael Corey Teleplay by : Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin & Josef Anderson	January 28, 1991 (1991-01-28)
16	16	"A Conflict of Interest"	Joel Rosenzweig	Joe Cacaci	June 9, 1991 (1991-06-09)
17	17	"Environmental Robin Hood"	Reza Badiyi	Barry Schkolnick	June 16, 1991 (1991-06-16)
18	18	"Special Circumstances"	Sharron Miller	Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin	June 23, 1991 (1991-06-23)

Season 2: 1991–92

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
19	1	"Real Mothers"	Unknown	Carol Mendelsohn	September 12, 1991 (1991-09-12)
20	2	"Knock Knock"	Unknown	Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin	September 19, 1991 (1991-09-19)
21	3	"Domestic Silence"	Unknown	Susan Miler	September 26, 1991 (1991-09-26)
22	4	"Wolf Pack"	Unknown	Kathy McCormick	October 3, 1991 (1991-10-03)
23	5	"This Can't Be Love"	Unknown	Eric Overmyer	October 31, 1991 (1991-10-31)
24	6	"Life Support"	Unknown	Cai Emmons & Richard Howorth	November 7, 1991 (1991-11-07)
25	7	"Happy Birthday or Else"	Unknown	Nicole Yorkin & Dawn Prestwich	November 14, 1991 (1991-11-14)
26	8	"Dr. Psychedelic"	Unknown	Carol Mendelsohn	November 15, 1991 (1991-11-15)
27	9	"Family Business"	Unknown	Joe Cacaci	November 22, 1991 (1991-11-22)
28	10	"Battle Fatigue"	Unknown	Babs Greyhosky	December 12, 1991 (1991-12-12)
29	11	"Lady Luck"	Unknown	James Kramer	December 19, 1991 (1991-12-19)
30	12	"The Other Woman"	Unknown	Carol Mendelsohn	April 11, 1992 (1992-04-11)
31	13	"Heartbreak Hotel"	Nancy Malone	Susan Miller	April 18, 1992 (1992-04-18)
32	14	"Sweet Sixteen"	Unknown	Dawn Prestwich & Nicole Yorkin	April 25, 1992 (1992-04-25)
33	15	"Double Bind"	Unknown	Tim Raphael & Sally Nemeth & James Kramer	May 9, 1992 (1992-05-09)
34	16	"Role Reversal"	Unknown	Story by : Sherri Ziff Teleplay by : Cai Emmons & Richard Howorth and Nicole Yorkin & Dawn Prestwich	May 30, 1992 (1992-05-30)

Production

Production of the series was rushed for airing as a last-minute replacement for the intended Monday night vehicle, Face to Face with Connie Chung, in order to meet the air date.^[7]

Notability

The series received some notoriety for its debut episode in which O'Neill jokes about getting breast augmentation surgery. She does so by asking if she "should get my tits done". The use of the word "tits" (famously cited by George Carlin as one of the seven dirty words that could not be said on television or radio) led to some controversy.

On a different note, the series was notable^{[citation needed]} for being one of the few television shows to include an observant Jew—Ben Meyer, Rosie's boss, played by Ron Rifkin—as a regular character. Equally notable is that, although the Meyer character wore a kippah (skullcap), his religious identity was, with the exception of occasional instances when it figured directly in the plot, usually treated casually and without overt mention, without either melodrama or condescension.

Theme song

The theme song, entitled "I Wish I Knew", was written by Carole King and performed over the first season's credits by Melissa Manchester. Carole King made a guest appearance in a first season episode, performing an extended version of the song herself along with Gless and a few other series guests. The second season's intro (changed to the dismay of many fans) dropped the Manchester vocals, instead using an instrumental version of the theme. The series would revert to Manchester's vocal later on in the second season, prior to the cancellation by CBS.

Reception

The show gained a modest reception from critics.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

For the episode, State of Mind, in which Rosie becomes preoccupied with curing the ills of a system that allows Irene Hayes (Peggy McCay), a mentally unstable woman, to live on the streets, McCay was awarded a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

References

^ "Trials of Rosie O'Neill, The". Television Academy Interviews. October 23, 2017.
^ Meisler, Andy (22 September 1991). "TELEVISION; Edward Asner's New Cause: 'The Trials of Rosie O'Neill' (Published 1991)". The New York Times.
^ Writer, DEBORAH HASTINGS AP Television (24 January 1992). "TV PRODUCER ROSENZWEIG TAKES ROAD LESS TRAVELED". Greensboro News and Record.
^ "A year of trials for "Rosie O'Neill'". Tampa Bay Times.
^ "CBS GIVES 'ROSIE O'NEILL' A LAST SHOT AT ROMANCE ...". Baltimore Sun. April 11, 1992. p. D.
^ EST, Newsweek Staff On 11/4/90 at 7:00 PM (November 4, 1990). "Monday Night's New Game". Newsweek.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Rosenfeld, Megan (1990-07-31). "A PREGNANT PAUSE FOR CHUNG?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
^ "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill". EW.com.
^ "TV REVIEW : 'Trials of Rosie O'Neill' Wins on Appeal". Los Angeles Times. September 17, 1990.
^ O'Connor, John J. (September 19, 1991). "Review/Television; 2 New Faces Join Crime Dramas (Published 1991)". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
^ O'Connor, John J. (September 24, 1990). "Reviews/Television; Sharon Gless, Helping The Underdogs of Life (Published 1990)". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.

External links

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill at IMDb

[1] "Trials of Rosie O'Neill, The". Television Academy Interviews. October 23, 2017.

[2] Meisler, Andy (22 September 1991). "TELEVISION; Edward Asner's New Cause: 'The Trials of Rosie O'Neill' (Published 1991)". The New York Times.

[3] Writer, DEBORAH HASTINGS AP Television (24 January 1992). "TV PRODUCER ROSENZWEIG TAKES ROAD LESS TRAVELED". Greensboro News and Record.

[4] "A year of trials for "Rosie O'Neill'". Tampa Bay Times.

[5] "CBS GIVES 'ROSIE O'NEILL' A LAST SHOT AT ROMANCE ...". Baltimore Sun. April 11, 1992. p. D.

[6] EST, Newsweek Staff On 11/4/90 at 7:00 PM (November 4, 1990). "Monday Night's New Game". Newsweek.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[7] Rosenfeld, Megan (1990-07-31). "A PREGNANT PAUSE FOR CHUNG?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-11-28.

[8] "The Trials of Rosie O'Neill". EW.com.

[9] "TV REVIEW : 'Trials of Rosie O'Neill' Wins on Appeal". Los Angeles Times. September 17, 1990.

[10] O'Connor, John J. (September 19, 1991). "Review/Television; 2 New Faces Join Crime Dramas (Published 1991)". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.

[11] O'Connor, John J. (September 24, 1990). "Reviews/Television; Sharon Gless, Helping The Underdogs of Life (Published 1990)". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.

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