TV Draft Round 9 – Pick 7 – Paula Selects – L.A. Law

Welcome to the Hanspostcard TV Draft. I hope you will enjoy it! Today’s post was written by Paula at http://paulalight.com

LA Law

 Welcome back to Max’s Power Pop! Today I am discussing the legal drama series LA LAW, which ran for eight seasons – from September 1986 to May 1994 – and was based around a fictional Los Angeles law firm called McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak (later Becker was added to the name). Filming took place in downtown Los Angeles. Steven Bochco and Terry Louis Fisher created the popular show; it won 15 Emmy Awards, four of which were for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. Fisher was fired from the show during the second season and filed a lawsuit against Bochco and the studio, creating a legal drama within a legal drama.

“The show contains many of Bochco’s trademark features, including an ensemble cast, large number of parallel storylines, social drama, and off-the-wall humor. It reflects the social and cultural ideologies that were occurring when the show was produced in the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-button issues such as capital punishment, abortion, racism, homophobia, sexual harassment, HIV/AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflects social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well–paid junior staff.” ~ Wikipedia

The eight main characters on the show pictured above were played by the following actors (first row, left to right): Jill Eikenberry as Ann Kelsey (associate/partner), Richard Dysart as Leland McKenzie (senior partner), Harry Hamlin as Michael Kuzak (partner), and Michele Greene as Abby Perkins (associate). On the second row, left to right, we have Michael Tucker as Stuart Markowitz (associate/partner and husband of Ann Kelsey), Alan Rachins as Douglas Brackman, Jr. (managing partner/interim senior partner), Corbin Bernsen as Arnie Becker (partner), and Jimmy Smits as Victor Sifuentes (associate).

Additionally, there were a number of recurring roles, such as Susan Ruttan as Roxanne Melman (secretary), Susan Dey as Grace Owens (deputy district attorney, etc.), and Blair Underwood as Jonathan Rollins, an associate who cross-examined a man to death (one of my favorite scenes!). The show also featured relatively unknown guest stars that went on to greater success, such as Jeffrey Tambor, Kathy Bates, David Schwimmer, Bryan Cranston, Kevin Spacey, William H. Macy, Christian Slater, Steve Buscemi, and Lucy Liu. There were also some famous faces who appeared as themselves in cameos, such as Buddy Hackett and Vanna White.

The show presented so many interesting and varied storylines about the law, business practices in general, romantic and other relationships, and family life. I particularly enjoyed the episodes where Roxanne had a significant role. Unfortunately, LA Law ended abruptly after the eighth season without any wrap-up or finale. Shows about lawyers remain a popular theme though, and there have been many other legal dramas since LA Law, including Suits, with our favorite duchess Meghan Markle, and Better Call Saul, the prequel sequel to Breaking Bad.

~*~

Paula Light is a poet, novelist, flash fiction fan, cupcake connoisseur, mom, grandma, cat mommy, etc. Her blog can be found at http://paulalight.com.

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player. View all posts by Badfinger (Max)