Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely brilliant

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

These episodes seem shallow and the characters lack depth compared to today's programs and even some of the older ones throughout the 60s and 70s. This is more of a docudrama style of film and the episodes are well done for that period. What's really intriguing for me is finding out what parts of L.A. most of these episodes were filmed at. Where in particular is/was the police station located at that's regularly shown in some of the episodes?

I thought, from the episodes I have seen, that this was an excellent series that took a more compassionate look and tried to show how innocent people could look guilty when circumstantial evidence was all the police had. John Douchette played Lt. Jim Weston, a tough no nonsense policeman who, every episode, is forced to eat his words when when attorney Herbert L. Maris (played by Macdonald Carey) shows him that the person he has usually pounced on as being guilty in the first five minutes is really an innocent bystander. Based on the case histories of a prominent attorney, every episode Herbert L. Maris is drawn into a criminal case because of his uncanny ability of character reading and knowing when a person is telling the truth. His creed is "a person is innocent until proved guilty" and even though I haven't seen a lot of episodes, I have seen enough to know that this is an above average crime series. Most of the episodes I have seen have been written by Robert Bloch, author of "Psycho".Another big plus are the guest stars, they are a mix of up and coming stars (Mary Tyler Moore), old timers (Jackie Coogan) and others who should have had bigger careers than they did (Wanda Hendrix and June Vincent who was memorable in 1946's "Black Angel" and then just seemed to disappear). "The Case of Nan Havens" featured Mary Tyler Moore as an innocent young girl caught up in her sleazy boyfriend's espionage activities, "Society Doctor" was about the death of a doctor's wife and focused on his receptionist who had an unhealthy hero worship of the doctor - the surprise was that she was not the killer!!!

Herbert L. Maris was a real corporate attorney in Philadelphia who devoted his spare time helping wrongly accused persons. Maris strongly believed in the fundamental canon of English/U.S. law: a person is innocent until proved guilty. The 78 episodes in the Ziv syndicated series are each based on a case history from the personal files of Herb Maris, who is played by MacDonald Carey.This series is more police investigation like Dragnet than Perry Mason as there is little courtroom drama. Circumstantial evidence is the key element in each story and is used to discredit a suspect. But, Herb Maris always triumphs because as he says "this case is about justice." Each episode has a strong moral message but they are not obtrusive or offensive. Lock Up is a window into America before the 60s cultural revolution. This is America in the late 1950s before Viet-Nam, the Summer of Love, and the beginning of FM radio stations playing rock 'n' roll.If you like programs with simple story lines and actors who can act, then you will enjoy Lock Up. If you like unscripted television programs without actors, then just keep watching American Idol, the Great Race, or poker games.

I have to admit, the first time I saw LOCK UP I had to laugh but I truly enjoyed it. This syndicated show, first aired in 1959, is based on a real-life Philadelphia lawyer, Herbert L. Maris which was played by MacDonald Carey. Maris was devoting his career to defending the wrongly accused. What I found so humorous is his relation to his friend; police detective Weston, played brilliantly by John Doucette. Doucette puts the bad guys behind bars and Carey uses him to find the same guys innocent. I really doubt that Barry Scheck goes to the police or the prosecutors for assistance in freeing an innocent person. Doucette lets Carey walk in at anytime and goes through his files; all this makes the show fun to watch. It's like Perry Mason asking Lt. Tragg for help in finding his client innocent! How would it look if a LAW & ORDER defense attorney were to walk in on Briscoe and Green? Carey finds the bad guy on his own while Doucette is there by his side to make the arrest. And get this, Carey's character is a corporate not a criminal lawyer. He seems to have more than one secretary, all blonde and dumb, and he drives some cool wheels, usually a Dodge. Carey has the same long, sad face as John Kerry! All in all, LOCK UP is enjoyable. These days, with our rights being trampled on, society needs people like Scheck and Carey's character to protect the innocent from over-zealous prosecutors………..Richard