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From "9-1-1" to "Parenthood" to "Six Feet Under" to the forgotten Carol Burnett comedy "Carol & Company," Peter Krause has been delighting TV audiences for several decades. Over the years, he's appeared in a variety of interesting projects, some more notable than others. His first starring role was in a forgotten legal drama that premiered in 1995: Fox's "The Great Defender."
Created by Frank Renzulli, "The Great Defender" follows a brash Boston attorney named Lou Frischetti, who regularly services clients society has deemed as unsavory and utilizes any available means to get them off of their crimes. Michael Rispoli, who plays Lou, was No. 1 on the call sheet. However, Krause came immediately after. He portrays Crosby Caufield III, a lawyer whose snobby demeanor is a delightful contrast to Lou's personality.
If you don't remember "The Great Defender," that's because it had an extremely short run. Eight episodes are listed on IMDb, and they almost never aired at all.
The Great Defender had an extremely short run
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The pilot episode of "The Great Defender" debuted on March 5, 1995, with the second episode premiering a week later. However, the third episode titled, "Naked Truth," didn't air until July 17, and that's because Fox pulled the show off the air almost immediately after it premiered. According to the Los Angeles Times, "The Great Defender" premiered to abysmal ratings, capturing "6% of the available audience." They noted that the debut had been placed in the same time slot as "60 Minutes," which aired on CBS.
Executive producer George Schenck noted a lack of publicity. "They did not promote it at all, to the point where the first two or three promotions Fox ran, they quoted the main character's name wrong on the air," he said. "His name was Lou; they called him Joe." Executive producer Frank Cardea said, "Obviously, whoever makes the promos never watched the show."
Although the rest of the episodes aired in 1995, "The Great Defender" was otherwise left to fade into obscurity. But it was still quite valuable. Peter Krause's work on the series led to his casting on "Cybill," which he appeared in for 23 episodes between 1995-1997. "Les Moonves, who had been in Warner Bros. when I did 'The Great Defender,' liked me a lot, so they set up this meeting with the people over at 'Cybill,'" he told Pop Entertainment in 1999.
