Cracks In Sidewalks

So far this fall season I’d have to say my favorite brand new show has been Steven Bochco’s “Raising The Bar.”  The creator of such hits as “LA Law,” “Hill Street Blues,” and “NYPD Blue,” has in my estimation struck gold again with his newest series “Raising The Bar,” that premiered this fall on the TNT network following one of TNT’s other hits, “The Closer.”

Pitting young Public Defenders against their young District Attorney counterparts all of whom are friends, the show brings up the legal moral battles and questions they each face.  It showcases their ambitions, what they will do to win, and how far they will go to achieve their win.  It touches on their lusts and loves and in some cases lack of love, how their professions affect their persons, the type of lives they lead, and the personal issues they deal with both at work and at home.  Taking place in NYC the show demonstrates a bit of the grit that one would think would come with jobs like theirs in an urban environment of that proportion.  It also displays the unexpected goodness and humanity that can sometimes be found in that same large urban environment.

The series starts with a difficult Judge named Trudy Kessler, an aspiring but closet gay law clerk with whom she’s having an affair and obviously doesn’t know he’s gay, an antagonistic tough District Attorney, and aspiring young Assistant DA’s.  Then on the other side is the Public Defender’s Office with their head played by actress Gloria Reuben, and several younger idealistic attorney’s who work for her, most notably the handsome I will do whatever it takes lawyer, Jerry Kellerman, played by actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar who I hadn’t seen before this series but will soon surely be well-known to many.

Gosselaar and Reubin play the moral compass roles in the show and the others seem to be the reflections of that always do right code playing off these two characters and discovering where they stand, at times shocking and disappointing one another with the favors they ask.  Whichever side of the fence they land, they each do “their” job as best they can, given their own priorities.  Many times on the other end their friends cannot comprehend how one of their own can take the stand that they have taken, especially given their personal backgrounds.  These obstacles surface through their friendships and often over drinks at the bar where the young lawyers gather weekly.

The moral dilemmas the shows characters face and dynamics are juxtaposed in such a way to create weekly interesting and compelling friction amongst the different attorney’s and Judge Kessler, while at the same time showing the humanity of each.  Having recently finished their first rounds of episodes you can go to the link below to find out more about the show and to watch full episodes so you can be up to date when the next season begins.  I think you’ll enjoy “Raising The Bar.”  It is much more than a courtroom drama.  When you have some time check it out for yourself and tell me what you think.  And if you’ve already been watching the show, feel free to leave a comment below expressing your opinion.  I’d love to know how others are viewing Bochco’s new drama.

To access the link below, simply cut and paste it and put it into your browser.

http://www.tnt.tv/series/raisingthebar/

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 13th, 2008 at 8:29 am and is filed under Daily Crack. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.