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.
Starring	Sharon Gless
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	26
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	MTM Enterprises The Rosenzweig Company
Distributor	20th Television
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	September 17, 1990 – May 30, 1992

The Trials of Rosie O'Neill is an American drama 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. The show marked the return of Gless to series television after her Emmy-winning run on Cagney & Lacey.

"Rosie" was produced by Cagney & Lacey producer Barney Rosenzweig, whom Gless married in 1991. The show did not sustain a sizable audience, and was canceled by CBS in 1992.

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."

The show's cast also included Dorian Harewood, Ron Rifkin, Georgann Johnson, Lisa Rieffel and Robert Wagner. 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.

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.