Courtroom Episode / Live-Action TV

Courtroom Episodes in Live-Action Television Series

• The 10th Kingdom has one when Wolf is accused of killing livestock and murdering shepherdess Sally Peep, with Virginia attempting to act as his defence until Tony finds evidence that proves Sally was really killed by her grandfather.
• An episode of 24 from late in the second season, 4:00am to 5:00am, has 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 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."
• Both Adam-12 and Dragnet have had courtroom-based episodes, featuring on the roles police officers play in the judicial process and problems that invariably arise. For instance, the Adam-12 episode "Courtroom" centered around the importance of obtaining a search warrant when the defendant (standing trial on drug charges) claims that Reed had failed to obtain one. Another was a Poorly Disguised Pilot for a show about the DA's office...good luck finding that show's pilot to see the conclusion.
• The Addams Family had the episode "The Addams Family in Court", where Grandmama is taken to court for illegally telling people's fortunes.
• All in the Family and Archie Bunker's Place: The long-running sitcom featuring Archie Bunker as the central character had courtroom episodes which bookended the series:
  • The ninth episode in the first season of All in the Family was "Edith Has Jury Duty". This Rogue Juror story sees Edith hold out for a Hispanic man's innocence in a capital murder trial, wearing on everyone's patience — Edith's roommate as the jury is sequestered (due to racial sensitivities and extensive media interest), and at home ... a lazy Archie. At home, Archie isn't even that grateful for his wife's sacrifice.
  • The Archie Bunker's Place show was "Small Claims Court," the second-to-last originally aired episode. Here, Archie's longtime friendship with best bud Barney Hefner is on the line when he blames him for damaging a television set during its installation at the bar.
• Arrowverse:
  • The Flash (2014) has "The Trial of the Flash", where Barry is accused of murdering the season's Big Bad Clifford DeVoe.
  • The Arrow episode "Docket No. 11-19-41-73" has Oliver on trial for being the Green Arrow, with the caveat that the judge and, likely, the jury have been bought by the Big Bad.
• Battlestar Galactica (1978) has an episode in which Starbuck is on trial for murdering another pilot.
• Battlestar Galactica (2003):
  • The first season episode "Litmus" revolves heavily around a military tribunal created in the wake of a suicide bombing.
  • 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.
• The Big Bang Theory: The episode "The Excelsior Acquisition" has Sheldon going to court to fight a red light camera ticket from when he drove an injured Penny to the hospital in a previous episode on the same day he is supposed to meet Stan Lee, only to commit contempt of court and is sent to jail for one hour until he apologizes to the judge.
• Blackadder:
  • In "Witchsmeller Pursuivant", Edmund, Percy, and Baldrick enduring a Kangaroo Court of a witch trial with the hammiest prosecutor in history.
  • There's a rather memorable one in "Corporal Punishment", when General Melchett hosts a court-martial against Captain Blackadder for murdering his prized pigeon (and disobeying some orders). What ensues is quite possibly the best courtroom scene in sitcom history.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• The Brittas Empire has "The Trial". Said episode has Gordon Brittas put on trial for the procession of drugs, the murder of seven gangsters, and the grievous bodily harm of three old women, with flashbacks being used to show How We Got Here.
• The episode "Testimony of a Traitor" in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century has Buck accused of treason.
• 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 teenage girl accused of shoplifting should face.
• The Charmed (1998) episode "Crimes and Witch-Demeanors" has the Charmed Ones arguing for Darryl's life before a tribunal that's charged to keep magic secret, and has manipulated reality to frame him for murder in order to do so.
• The final episode in Chernobyl is the trial of Bryukhanov, Dyatlov, and Fomin, where the lead-up to the explosion (and the critical error in the RMBK design that allowed it to happen) is finally discussed and shown.
• Chespirito did a few of these in several of his programs, the most memorable being one in El Chavo del ocho, where the cast holds a trial in Quico and Doña Florinda's house against El Chavo for killing Quico's cat with a bicycle. Profesor Jirafales was the judge, Don Ramón the defense attorney and Doña Florinda the prosecutor. In the end el Chavo is declared Not Guilty when he explains that he ran over the cat to avoid hitting a man who was "standing like an idiot in the middle of the street watching a pretty lady". That man was Profesor Jirafales himself.
  • This was remade in a skit starring el Dr. Chapatín, the main changes were that it happened in an actual courtroom, he ran over a lady's dog with his car, and instead of the judge looking at a pretty woman, he was jay walking while drunk.
• Chucky: Half of the episode "Jennifer's Body" is dedicated to Tiffany standing trial for all the crimes she's committed since she took over Jennifer Tilly's body back in Seed of Chucky. She tries to go for an Insanity Defense by means of confessing to who she really is so the jury will think she's crazy, but it doesn't work and she gets a death sentence.
• The City Guys episode "Presumed Innocent" has this as a plot device by way of the school starting an "Introduction to Law" class. Jamal accuses a student named Lewis Brown of being a skinhead (based on his shaved head, tattoos and style of dress similar to those of the white supremacist group). After getting into a fight with each other after Jamal's locker is defaced with the word "jerk" in spray paint, the issue is taken into a court case as part of the class class and leads to the revelation that Louis is not a skinhead but suffers from cancer.
• While Community loves to gleefully jump into whatever genre catches its fancy, having an ex-lawyer as the main character means that this comes up rather often. Considering one took place in a pool, another was about a squashed yam and the last had a main character being possessed by an evil self from an alternate universe (or just having a mental breakdown), none were exactly "normal".
• Criminal Minds: "Tabula Rasa", in which a killer previously tracked down by the BAU is put on trial after awakening from a coma... with total retrograde amnesia.
• CSI: "Invisible Evidence," where the court threw out evidence due to a warrant problem and 'Eleven Angry Jurors,' which crossed this trope with Forensic Drama when a juror died.
• CSI: NY has "...Comes Around", in which Mac has to prove that he didn't kill Clay Dobson when Dobson jumped off a roof in handcuffs.
• Doctor Who:
  • "Sentence of Death", Part 5 of "The Keys of Marinus", features Ian being charged with murder where the verdict is Guilty Until Someone Else Is Guilty, with the Doctor as his barrister.
  • Season 23 of the classic series, The Trial of a Time Lord, is all about the Doctor facing a Kangaroo Court.
• Doogie Howser, M.D. had "Eleven Angry People…and Vinnie" where in a take on 12 Angry Men, the defendant is a young man accused of assaulting his employer. Vinnie's not convinced of his guilt.
• Drake & Josh: "Honor Council" has Drake being framed for somehow getting the English teacher, Mrs. Hayfer's car inside her classroom. So Josh defends Drake and have him attend an honor council in order to exonerate the latter. However, Mindy Crenshaw, Josh's rival, becomes the opponent to find whatever dirt she could use to convince the jury that Drake is guilty. She almost wins, until Josh shows her a copy of her report card showing that she got a B in Mrs. Hayfer's class, thus causing Mindy to retaliate by putting Mrs. Hayfer's car in the classroom and framing Drake for the crime, all for terminating her perfect 4.0 grade point average.
• The Dukes of Hazzard: "Coltrane vs. Duke" saw Rosco, frustrated after years of being the Wile E. Coyote in his usual cat-and-mouse game with the Duke boys, stepping things up another notch by faking serious injuries and suing the Dukes for $50,000, the amount of their mortgage. Boss and Rosco rehearse the case, with Boss calling on his corrupt friend Dr. Crandall to testify as to the extent of Rosco's "injuries." Of course, in the end, Rosco is exposed and his case is thrown out of court but not after plenty of Courtroom Antics, Rosco calling on Boss to be his butler (including a hilarious reading of Jack and the Beanstalk) and some high drama as — when the case appears lost — Jesse has his niece and nephews pack up the furniture and he sadly concedes defeat to his longtime enemy.
• Elementary episode Tremors centers around Joan and Sherlock's hearing about their credibility as consultants for the NYPD and after a series of events that lead to Marcus to get shot due to Sherlock's abrasiveness.
• Face The Facts, a short-lived CBS game show from 1961, had two actors, respectively playing plaintiff and defendant, re-enacting small claims court cases. Four contestants wager points on who they think will win the case.
• 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 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 while working on his science project. 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 exposes Thornhill as the real culprit using a blacklight to determine that he tampered with Urkel's science project with explosive chemicals; when exposed, Thornhill admits that he did it because he believed that Urkel didn't deserve to win first prize at the science fair. Steve is cleared of all charges and Thornhill instead gets expelled and was likely arrested.
  • Season 8's "The Jury," where Urkel and Carl ended up serving on the same jury for David Hayes, a janitor at a jewelry store accused of stealing the store's merchandise. It seems the video footage has Hayes dead to rights and everyone seems to think he is guilty, but Urkel believes he is innocent and helps reveal the real criminal: the jewelry store's head of security, Joey Bozelli, who doctored and edited the footage to make it look like Hayes committed the crime, but didn't count on anyone taking a closer look at the footage, which shows his reflection in a mirror.
• The Farscape episode "Dream a Little Dream" has Zhaan framed for murder on a planet whose hat is that 90% of them are lawyers. Rygel and Chiana have to defend her.
• Frasier has the episode "Crane Vs. Crane," where Frasier and Niles are expert witnesses on opposite sides of a court case.
• 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 Golden Girls had a couple...one had Dorothy caught up in allegations about an apartment building Stan owned.
• An episode of Happy Days had Howard suing Fonzie for damage to his roof after putting a birdhouse up on it.
• Hi Honey, I'm Home!: When Elaine gives Lloyd an old clock that turns out to be worth $3000, they go to The Person’s Court over the money.
• The second series of Horatio Hornblower, titled "Mutiny" and Retribution", is told as a series of flashbacks intercut with Horatio and the other lieutenants of HMS Renown being court-martialed for removing the mentally unstable Captain Sawyer from command. The flashbacks occur as various characters are called to testify and we are repeatedly reminded that the penalty for mutiny is hanging. (This is an expansion from the book, where they only faced a board of inquiry — a preliminary hearing to determine if the full trial was needed — which was largely an excuse to brush the whole matter of Sawyer's insanity under the rug.)
• 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 kicks their TV. Both are even-steven after a judge hears the bickering couples fight it out. At the end, the Judge manages to blow out his own TV and then kick in the screen.
• The first season of JAG featured onscreen courtroom scenes (as in American UCMJ proceedings) in only one episode: "Defensive Action." Onscreen courtroom scenes became much more frequent in the seasons that would follow.
• Leverage has two of these:
  • In "The Juror #6 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.
• Life With Lucy: When Kevin's teddy bear is accidentally sold, Lucy offers a $50 reward for it. The woman who bought it demands $500 and Lucy takes her to small claims court.
• 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.
• The flashforwards in the Lost episode "Eggtown."
• MacGyver (1985): "The Spoilers" spends much time on MacGyver and the Phoenix Foundation building a case against the villains.
• Married... with 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.
• Courts-martial (or preliminary hearings for them, at least) figure in several M*A*S*H 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 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.
• Midsomer Murders: Much of "Last Year's Model", takes place in a courtroom during the trial of woman who was arrested for murder the year before, as Barnaby starts to have serious doubts regarding her guilt.
• The Mind Your Language episode, "Guilty or Not Guilty", where the entire class ends up in court from various offenses (mostly stemming from misunderstanding due to the casts' mediocre understanding of English). The class principal Ms Courtney gets to be the judge, while the teacher Mr. Brown acts as their attorney.
• Murder, She Wrote had one where Jessica was called as a witness (amusingly, this one actually lampshades her status as a Mystery Magnet, as a cross-examining lawyer casts aspersions on her and her family for being involved in so many murder cases) and another one where she had Jury Duty and realized that a different man than the accused killed the victim.
• The Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Agent for H.A.R.M." has Mike Nelson being put on trial destroying three planets. Courtroom Antics ensue.
• The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nóg 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 is let off.
• MythQuest: Episode 11, "Blodeuwedd," has Cleo on trial as Blodeuwedd for supposedly murdering her husband, the king. An odd example, in that it takes place in pre-Arthurian Wales.
• The Odd Couple (1970) did a number of these:
  • In "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.
  • "Murray the Fink": Oscar rides Murray about being a bad cop to the point where Murray raids the weekly poker game. Oscar tries to accuse Murray; Felix tries to defend him, and chaos ensues.
  • A Whole Episode Flashback episode in which Felix refuses to let Hugh Hefner publish a nude photo he took of his girlfriend Gloria.
  • One of the show's many origin episodes explaining how Felix and Oscar first met, in this case as jurors on a murder trial.
  • And perhaps the most famous one — Felix is accused of trying to scalp an extra theater ticket.
    Felix: ...when we ASSUME —- we make an ASS out of U and ME!
• Odd Squad:
  • The Season 1 episode "Disorder in the Court" revolves around Olive being falsely accused of committing the odd crime of shrinking the town museum by Odd Todd, with her fighting to prove her innocence and prevent her from being fired from Odd Squad.
  • Downplayed in the first part of the Season 2 finale, "Who is Agent Otis?" At the climax of the episode, Otis is put on trial due to the fact that the X's believe that he is still a villain.
• Our Miss Brooks: "Trial by Jury" sees Miss Brooks defend herself in court for "speeding, going through a red light, reckless driving, driving on the sidewalk and hitting a fruit stand." The episode was a remake of "Reckless Driving" which played on the radio.
• The Outer Limits (1995):
  • While the original 1964 version of "I, Robot" involves a robot named Adam being tried for the murder of his creator Dr. Link, the 1995 remake involves a capacity hearing to determine whether Adam deserves a trial or should be simply dismantled.
  • The Season Three episode "Bodies of Evidence" takes place in 2037 and involves Captain William Clark being put on trial for the murder of three other members of the crew of the space station Meridian. He is defended by his ex-wife Robin Dysart.
  • The Season Six finale "Final Appeal" (which was originally intended as the Series Finale) takes place in 2076 in a world that has banned technology in the aftermath of a devastating nuclear war in June 2059 which killed 80% of the world's population (6.8 billion people). It features Dr. Theresa Givens (a returning character from Season Two's "A Stitch in Time") appealing her death sentence for using her time machine before the United States Supreme Court.
  • The Season Seven episode "Rule of Law" involves Judge Joshua Finch, newly arrived on the colony planet Daedalus, presiding over the trial of a Medusan who is accused of the murder of three humans.
• Pair of Kings: Brady and Boomer were taken to court for blowing up the royal castle. (They were innocent.)
• Parks and Recreation has a comedic version of this in "The Trial of Leslie Knope," where Leslie is put through an ethics hearing by Chris and must prove that her relationship with Ben never presented any conflicts of interest.
• Private Practice had "War," in which Violet and Pete go head-to-head for custody of their son Lucas. The episode is extremely divisive episode among fans, with some finding it a breath of fresh air for the lackluster third season, but others finding it just as bleak and mean-spirited as all the other episodes for which the season was being criticized. Either way, it was a one-time deal, with the anticipated episode about Pete's trial never happening due to his death.
• The Professionals: In "The Rack", a court of enquiry is held when a suspect dies in CI5 custody after being punched by Doyle. A firebrand civil rights lawyer uses the opportunity to hold a trial-by-media over the existence of what is a Secret Police in all but name.
• Radio Enfer: After Carl launches a rubber band and hits one of his teachers' eye, Mr. Giroux wants to give him two weeks of detention. Vincent then suggests that a trial should be made in relation to this because he was outraged by Giroux using more disciplinary methods due to the school inspector Carole Péloquin. The trial is approved by Péloquin herself, who serves as the judge for this trial, which also has Giroux as the plaintiff, Vincent as Carl's lawyer, and Jean-Lou as the witness.
• The Red Dwarf episode "Justice" puts Rimmer on trial for the murder of the Red Dwarf crew.
• Several Seinfeld episodes, most notably the finale.
• 7th Heaven had an episode "Twelve Angry People," where Rev. Camden is (in an inversion of the usual) the lone juror for a guilty verdict.
• 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.
• The Smart Guy episode "Trial & Error" has Mo involved in a mock court case held at T.J.'s (who serves as Mo's "attorney") insistence to Principal Whitfield, to clear Mo's name when he's blamed for a fire in the chemistry lab taught by his nemesis teacher Mr. Bringleman (it also serves as an audition for T.J. to prove he's fit to play in the school's production of Inherit the Wind). When the testimony of Marcus, Vice Principal Militich and Bringleman practically incriminates Mo, T.J. decides to break into the school to do a chemical runthrough of the basketball playbook Mo left in the classroom, which reveals that Bringleman falsely accused Mo to cover up the fact that he accidentally started the fire by leaving a still-lit cigarette that he smoked lying in the chemistry lab.
• The Society: Episode five has Dewey tried for murder.
• The Stargate-verse has had several:
  • Stargate SG-1:
    • "Cor-ai" has Teal'c being put on trial for a murder he committed before his Heel–Face Turn, and Jack (primarily, but the others do help) has to defend him. The twist is that, according to the rules of the Cor-Ai, the accuser is also the judge. Jack finds the idea ridiculous, although Daniel finds historical precedent and points out that, in a certain way, it makes sense. While the son of the victim ends up finding Teal'c guilty and sentences him to die at midday, a Goa'uld attack and Teal'c heroism in defending the villagers convinces the guy that Teal'c is a different person now, and that the man who murdered his father is dead.
    • "Pretense" consists of a trial (well, a "triad") to determine whether Skaara or the Goa'uld inhabiting his body has a right to it. Daniel and Jack share lawyering duty. This is the first an only time we see a Goa'uld acting as a defense attorney... and doing a decent job of it, despite his Polynesian outfit.
    • Vala is put on trial by a planet of people she ruled over while host to the Goa'uld Qetesh in "The Powers That Be". Initially, the villagers wanted to execute her immediately when she confessed to not actually being a god, but her teammates convinced them to give her a trial. She was then sentenced to life imprisonment, but this was changed when she saved the lives of several of the villagers.
    • Another 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 murderer used a memory-transference machine to convince Mitchell that he is the killer, but a detailed analysis spotted "artifacts" in the false memory.
  • The 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 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 episode "Justice" is centered around an investigation and informal trial about the death—eventually shown to be suicide—of Sergeant Spencer.
• Star Trek does this quite a bit:
  • In 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.
    • "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 Denny Crane's career, no doubt.
    • And the first half of the second act of Star Trek VI happens in a Klingon courtroom.
  • In Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • Already in the pilot, the crew of the Enterprise stands trial on behalf of all of humanity — and the final episode makes it clear that this trial is never over.
    • 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.
    • "Sins of the Father" is a Klingon version of this, as Worf learns that his deceased father Mogh is being falsely accused of treason and fights to clear Mogh's name and restore his house's honor.
    • "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.
    • "The First Duty" centers around an investigative hearing into the death of a Starfleet Academy cadet while training as a member of the academy's precision flying team. The team leader attempts to cover up the circumstances of his death, leaving Wesley, who is also on the team, forced to choose between his loyalty to his teammates and his responsibility to the truth.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
    • "Dax" looks like it's going to center around the question of whether Jadzia and Curzon 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. In the end, Curzon gets exonerated, so it doesn't matter.
    • "Tribunal", in which O'Brien is tried as a terrorist on Cardassia, is more of a Kangaroo Courtroom Episode.
    • "Rules of Engagement" is about an attempt to extradite Worf to the Klingon empire; Sisko defends him.
  • Star Trek: Voyager: "Death Wish" focuses on a trial deciding whether to grant asylum to a member of the Q Continuum.
  • Star Trek: Enterprise: "Judgment" is about a trial featuring a "Rashomon"-Style retelling of a battle between Enterprise and a Klingon battlecruiser.
  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: "Ad Astra Per Aspera" is Una's Court Martial for being Illyrian.
• 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 a woman who was a backup dancer during Steve's Hi-Top days.
  • The second one had Lydia, Romeo, and Bullethead suing Steve and Regina on the real-life court show Judge Mathis over a confiscated thingamigjig that got broken. Steve and Regina lost the case when it was revealed that Regina broke the kids' computer/pager/PDA/whatever by putting Lovita's awful casserole (that bubbled while COLD) on top of it.
• 3rd Rock from the Sun had "Sensitive Dick", where Dick gets put on "university court" after several student complaints of insensitivity. All the witnesses are people Dick had made Butt Monkeys throughout the series. Hilarity Ensues.
• The Wayans Bros. had one where Marlon sued Shawn because he broke his leg and missed out on a dance competition due to slipping on some coffee that Shawn spilled.
• Welcome Freshmen: "The People Vs. Walter", Walter is accused by Principal Lippman of vandalizing the portrait of him. He holds a trial with the other students serving as the various roles with Walter's Love Interest Erin as his defense attorney. Through her efforts, she not only proves Walter innocent, but also proves he was one of the few people not involved as Principal Lippman is so hated that almost the entire student body and faculty took part in vandalizing the portrait.
• In Workaholics, the guys buy a hovercraft from Montez and use it in their swimming pool. Not unexpectedly, it bounces out of the pool and charges at their neighbour's, breaking it and the fence. When their neighbour asks for compensation, they decide to try getting the money back by suing Montez in small claims court. They have petty squabbles, use rhetoric heard in movies and in one scene, Blake throws a dead dog at the ceiling fan then blood sprays everywhere.
• The series finale of The X-Files, "The Truth", is literally an instance of putting the truth on trial. Mulder is already found guilty on a murder charge before the trial begins.

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