I've *just* finished watching this movie on a fuzzy, out-of-range over-the-air television station and I completely agree with the previous comment that this is a good little made for television movie and it could have made a pretty enjoyable series. It's undeniably Matlockesque, but with Walter Matthau as the nosy attorney it has a markedly different tone than that of the popular series starring Andy Griffith.
The "differentiator" for this show is that it's set as a period piece, though the writing isn't especially deft at pulling you into the time period and some of the details (such as prisoner's clothing) is likely incorrect for the period.
IMDb indicates that there are two more of these shows... and sure enough, even as I write this comment, the second "episode" of this "movie series" has started running on that over-the-air station. You can't help but think that this may have been an abortive (or unsteady) attempt to take these characters into a regular series.
Really, if you have the chance to catch it on cable or order it from your favorite DVD rental house, give this show a whirl. If nothing else, you'll enjoy seeing Harry Morgan (of M*A*S*H fame) playing a crusty old judge with a strange hate/pity relationship with Matthau's lazy-man attorney... good stuff!
