Televison Attorneys, in My Opinion

Lawyers and tv - What an opportunity - some sleaze, some beauty, some insanity, lots of variety. Some television lawyers even have a slight resemblance to reality. Legal beagle shows have been a part of my memory forever. As we have watched them, we have learned more about the law in general and about attorneys. Some shows have been better than others. By that I mean that the writers wrote better scripts, not that they were better attorneys. Some were one season wonders and some went on forever. Some were multidimensional and some were caricatures of what an attorney should be. I finally figured out that I needed to sort the subject by show and then individuals within a show.

I thought that "Perry Mason" was going to be on forever-1957to1966 and it is still on in reruns of the series and of the made for tv movies. Raymond Burr was never my favorite. But he must have been a great attorney, since he only lost one or two cases. I don't understand how a man can have so many innocent clients. I much preferred Della Street to Perry. He was one of the first and grown ups loved him. Just not me.

Surprisingly another attorney came to television in the same year and I really liked him. In 1957 I thought that Will Hutchins was wonderful. Not only was "Sugarfoot" an attorney, he was a cowboy too. Kind of an aw shucks ma'am cowboy. I don't remember any of the shows, but still remember what he looked like. I had a crush on him and watched him every week. Believe me he looked nothing like Raymond Burr.

In 1973 John Houseman appeared in "The Paper Chase", a movie which shifted to a tv series. He was impressive as a college law professor, who was very demanding of his students. Although the show tended to focus on the lives of the students, it was Houseman who carried the show. As Kingsfield, he was a demanding and exacting professor, who was the threat over his students' grades. He was most impressive.

Any listing of attorneys could not be complete without at least one of our English cousins. I never saw John Thaw in 'KavenaughQ.C." but I enjoyed Leo McKern in "Rumpole" over and over again. I even have a sweat shirt that says "She who must be Obeyed" which was how Rumpole referred to his wife. He blustered and sometimes was not trying so much to get his clients off, but to get them a lighter sentence, since often they were actually guilty. Since this was a televisions series about a character that first appeared in books, the characters were well drawn. The writing was excellent and varied. Of course the English legal system is a bit confusing to us and our judges don't appear in white wigs, but it is interesting to observe.

When "The West Wing" first appeared in 1999,we began to learn that many of the nation's politicians are attorneys. After a few seasons of getting to know the characters, a season opened with a where did they come from episode. It was amazing to see Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) and Josh Lyman (Bradley Whitford) as practicing attorneys, working for corporate giants. Sam was trying to convince his company to replace faulty oil ships with better ships rather than skirting the law. It was fun to watch Josh lure him out of that meeting to go work on "the Bartlett campaign."

Sam Waterson appeared as Jack McCoy in the very first "Law & Order" in 1990 and is still there. He has progressed from being an assistant District Attorney to being the District Attorney. He has grown in the part, but has always been a very liberal; right is right kind of guy. In 2009 Michael Cutter, played by Linus Roache replaced one of the leaving actors as an Assistant District Attorney under Jack McCoy. I like him, because he is a little flawed. While McCoy was always squeaky clean, Cutter seems to see the ambiguity in the law, and is more multidimensional as a character.

Alicia Florrick shows us that women can fill the role of a strong honest attorney with family complications. Juliana Margulies plays this, betrayed wife, who is forced back into a legal career, while her husband a former D.A. is in prison. The new show has heavy legal drama, with office conflict and family problems thrown in. It is extremely well written and the situations are plausible.

In 1997 "The Practice" first appeared with the very pretty Dylan McDermott and Lindsay Dole, but we much preferred Cameron Manheim's Elinore Frutt, and Steve Harris' Eugene Young. We even liked Jimmy Berluti's insecure Michael Badalucco. Their cases were more interesting, their characters more human. The show was a little gritty and the characters weren't pure as the driven snow the way Jack McCoy was. The show introduced us to our next set of attorneys who spun off this show in 2004.

We love it. We know it has very little basis in real life. We know it was outrageous and quirky. We know it was over liberal, but "Boston Legal" has to have been the funniest of all the legal dramas that ever was. Candace Bergin, as Shirley Schmidt is as strong as the actors/attorneys that she plays against. She plays a grown up woman with style and believe me the other two need someone to keep them in line. It is hard to say who is funnier, Denny Craine as played by William Shatner, (whose comedic ability should have been recognized years ago in "Star Trek") or Alan Shore as played by James Spader. This show began in 2004 and is sadly available only in reruns since last year. The friendship between the two men is fun and touching to watch. The show's attacks on ridiculous laws resemble tilting at windmills. There is usually a basis of injustice in the cases that they take, and unlike Perry Mason, they don't always win.

I have saved my favorite attorney for last. Romo Lampkin as played by Mark Shepherd in the 3rd season of "Battlestar Gallactica." He first appears in the episode titled "The Son Also Rises." He is a very tricky character. He is forced to defend a guilty client and gets him off. Romo is a multi dimensional character; a kleptomaniac. He keeps his wife's cat, even though he doesn't like it which must have been difficult on the space ships. His use of deception is subtle. When he first appears he uses a cane, and leans on it during the trial, but when he leaves the ship after he has won, he leaves the cane and does not limp. It is interesting to watch him manipulate people into doing what he wants. He is flawed and shaded and Mark Shepherd is wonderful. For interesting information about the character or the actor, google either name. I think that he is an attorney that could figure out how to get what was best for him. I could gush on, but it would be better for you to check it out yourself.