In 1950 he moved to Southern California where he began an illustrious career as a television scenarist, writing over 400 teleplays for such shows as The Untouchables, The Fugitive, Have Gun, Will Travel, Kraft Suspense Theatre, The F.B.I., The Virginian, Ben Casey, Bat Masterson, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Rawhide, Ironside, The Name of the Game and many others.
With Brinkley as executive producer, the show was also lauded for employing female writers and directors and for hiring disabled actors.
Because of its social and political impact, that particular episode was cited by the California Legislature and awarded a certificate of merit by the American Cancer Society.
In July 1988 the Museum of Broadcasting in New York set aside two nights to honor Don Brinkley with a retrospective of his career in television.
While still in High School and in his collegiate years at Hofstra University, he began writing and selling radio scripts to the major networks.