New Fall 2010 TV Lawyer Shows Court Fans of TV Legal Dramas

Every summer I look forward to reading up on the new lawyer shows on the fall TV line-up, hoping for another Judging Amy or L.A. Law. These courtroom dramas are my guilty pleasures, the delicious hot fudge sundae or soothing bubble bath to escape with at the end of a long day. As a loyal fan of TV lawyer shows, last spring's new legal drama, The Deep End, was a big disappointment. This sophomoric show, ostensibly about attorneys, seemed more concerned with depicting the sexcapades of its hot, young lawyers than developing believable plots, most of which were as thin as cheap bathroom tissue.

Should The Deep End Be Sued for Criminal Ignorance?

What the cynical producers of The Deep End overlooked is the real reason more TV shows revolve around lawyers and judges than dentists or insurance agents -- dramatic potential. The challenging, adrenaline charged lives of lawyers give rise to infinite plot possibilities and psychologically complex characters, a powerful argument for why the court room drama has been a popular TV staple since Perry Mason first said, "I object" in a TV courtroom in 1957. Since then high-quality legal drama shows on TV have included Judd for the Defense, Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law, The Practice, Matlock, Damages, The Defenders, The Practice, Boston Legal, Law and Order, L.A. Law, Judging Amy, and last year's well-deserved breakout hit for CBS - The Good Wife.

Which 2010 TV Lawyer Show Will Be the Next L.A. Law, Judging Amy?

Based on video clips from the networks' official websites and promotional blurbs about the new TV lawyer shows and courtroom dramas premiering in the fall of 2010, here are some new legal dramas that could win over even the most hard-boiled jury of TV viewers. Excluded from this list is Law and Order: Los Angeles, a grandchild of the long-running Law and Order TV franchise of which you've already heard (unless you just returned from a two-decade vacation on Jupiter. (More info on LOLA here).

The Defenders: CBS Wednesday nights

Think Sears vs. Nordstrom, James Belushi and Jerry O'Connell are not your usual self-important glammed up lawyers. The pair's seat of the pants lawyering, set in shaky, roll-the-dice Las Vegas, could make this show a compelling watch if it does not devolve too much into the potentially smarmy O'Connell character's musical bedding of showgirls and flight attendants. Writers could use the bromance between the two straight male lawyers as a means to reveal more about male friendships, ala TNT's Men of a Certain Age. (View video clip of The Defenders here.)

Outlaw: NBC Friday nights

What is it with gambling lawyers this year? Though not set in Las Vegas, NBC's new 2010 legal show Outlaw features the soulful brown-eyed Jimmy Smitts as a gambler who takes the biggest gamble of his life. He dramatically resigns from a highly coveted life-time appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court so he can make an even bigger difference in people's lives, using his inside knowledge of the legal system to help "the little guy." I have to sheepishly admit the preview video clip on NBC's website almost had me in tears as Smitts successfully appealed the case of a death row prisoner, an emotional response that was ham handedly manipulated by the schmaltzy VH1 music. Still, this show promises to have it all, stellar acting, gripping plots and psychologically 3D characters (as opposed to the Avatar kind). (View video clips of Outlaw here.)

Harry's Law: (NBC, Night and Premiere Date TBA, possible mid-season replacement)

Okay, this legal drama may not technically premiere in the fall of 2010, but I would watch Kathy Bates on a denture commercial; she's that compelling an actress. Fortunately, Bates is cast here as the star of a legal drama about a grizzled older lawyer named Harriet Korn (the character was originally supposed to be played by male actor Lewis Black, thus the name Harry's Law). The refreshingly un-Botoxed Bates is a nice change from television's standard lady lawyers, many of whom could be interchanged with news anchors or even porn stars. In the show's trailer, Bates warns a colleague, "If you're about to mentally undress me, I promise it won't be pretty." The Bates character is a successful patent attorney who becomes bored by her career and opens up a walk-in legal clinic in a former shoe store. With David Kelly as executive producer and Kathy Bates as the star of Harry's Law, this new legal show should be a shoe in with fans of TV legal dramas, and its theme of starting over will likely resonate with Baby Boomers battling their own mid-life crises. (View video clip of Harry's Law here.)

The Whole Truth: ABC Wednesday Nights

The intriguing concept of The Whole Truth is that there are three sides to every criminal case, the defense, the prosecution and the truth. ABC is billing The Whole Truth as a new kind of legal drama which "goes beyond the verdict to reveal what really happened." Each episode will show how each side of the courtroom crafts two completely different stories from the same set of facts. In a unique spin, at the end of each episode viewers will learn the story of what actually happened, a.k.a. "the truth." Intelligent acting by Rob Morrow as a streetwise criminal defense attorney and Maura Tierney as a Deputy Bureau Chief in the District Attorney's office, coupled with with an intriguing new concept for a legal drama, should help seal this show's verdict as a guilty pleasure. (View The Whole Truth video clip here.)

Sources:
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http://www.nbc.com/news/2010/05/14/nbc-adds-to-new-scripted-lineup-with-four-new-series----the-cape-outlaw-harrys-law-and-friends-with/
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_defenders/