However, in the debut season the police work forming the setting of The Protectors resulted in its order being reduced by two because of the new politically induced mandate by the networks to their suppliers, the studios, to curtail on-screen violence, action and danger which of course cop shows would not exist without at least some mayhem.
Both violence-free The New Doctors and The Lawyers segments of The Bold Ones received pick-ups for a second season while The Protectors became a sacrificial lamb of sorts to be replaced by The Senator starring Hal Holbrook.
While The Senator was by far the most critically acclaimed of the four versions of The Bold Ones, NBC dumped it in favor of alternating every week The New Doctors and The Lawyers for the third season.
During the course of the three seasons, James Farentino was written out of 6 episodes—two during a three-week suspension in 1969, and four in order to appear in a number of theatrical and television films between 1970 and 1972.
This segment broke new ground for television[citation needed] as it concentrated on legal matters but incorporated topical racial and political elements.
The episodes featured an opening narration by a fictional deadpan radio presenter named "Al Raymond".
While its sixteen episodes were double that of its first two, full seasons when it was on every third week, 'The New Doctors' succumbed as a mid-season casualty with NBC pulling the plug January 1973.
[2] The Senator, which lasted for only eight episodes,[3] earned nine Emmy nominations in 1971, winning five, including best drama, best "continued performance" by an actor (Hal Holbrook), and three additional separate awards for outstanding achievement in writing, direction, and film editing, respectively.