Canterbury's Law

After 2 episodes it is clear that we are stuck with a tough guy chick surrounded by squishy, wimpy male supporting characters which is disappointing. I thought she was great in the Sopranos! The courtroom scenes presented some good "lawyering" lines in her role. The airings so far have been bereft of any skillful or stimulating ending. I hardly watch prime time series as I discovered years ago that these shows were just too dumbed down or worse yet, made statements that were just too contemptuous (beyond upbeat humorous satire) of the traditional institutions that have been the backbone of this country's greatness. But this show just didn't captivate my interest or worse , it was a turn off. i hope to see Ms Margulies in better roles in the future.

We enjoyed this series immensely and were sorry to see it end. Arm chair lawyers can pick nits with courtroom details, but the series is refreshing because it probes the darker side of the justice system and the irony that breaking its "rules" can on occasion result in more just outcomes. Good scripts and music. Julianna Margulies is excellent and as Canterbury pushes the envelop for female leads in television. She has gone on to great success in The Good Wife, so it's probably unrealistic to think that someday, she might return to this project. Even so, it will remain in her acting portfolio as solid evidence that she's one of the very best around. Thank goodness all six episodes are available on Watch Instantly in Netflix.

I was looking forward to this because I'm a fan of Julianna Margulies' previous work.

What a disappointment!! It's all I could to keep my eyes open through the pilot.

The script was clunky and clearly would have been better served by being a two-hour pilot. The characters were poorly drawn, with very little given to the actors to use. The photography was very poor, with many shots extremely grainy or out-of-focus or plain badly lit.

But most galling was the poor directing by Mike Figgis, who joins a longer and longer list of "feature directors" doing a very poor job directing a pilot. The show had no visual style to speak of, unless shaking the camera and underlighting all the scenes in Canterbury's Office is supposed to pass off as a style.

On the plus side, James McCaffrey was excellent as usual, so was Julianna, but Ben Shankman killed every scene he was in. He looked like he was fresh from amateur hour.

I might give it another try, but I doubt this will last more than a few episodes.

Yet another disappointment in a horrible season for network TV.

I'm enjoying the show, mostly. MOST shows I've grown attached to have a weak start, because they're rushing to show us the new characters - but over time, they spend less time developing the characters, because you know them by then. In the pilot, I thought I would hate the Russell character, because for one, I'd fire him outright, and for another, I don't want some wet blanket always raining on the lead character's ideas. It's weak. He's developing well now, and I think he might prove to be my favorite on the cast.

I wasn't crazy about this latest episode, because the main plot line - her eventual arrest - took the whole hour, while minor plot lines, such as her relationship with her husband - I couldn't care less about. A staff member who is studying law and another who is being encouraged by his dad to jump ship. So basically, an episode where the overall story moved very little - where "nothing happened". I'm willing to keep watching it a few weeks.

I disagree with the previous viewer. I actually am enjoying this new show. The dialogue is smart, and the plots so far have been interesting. I also think it is more multi-layered than most shows of this ilk on TV presently. It's a different role for Julianna Margulies, and I love the character she is playing. It's nice to see a strong "over-29" woman, who is complex and able to think on her feet. She (the character) has been through a huge tragedy, and it gives me pause to think how that might affect her. I also enjoy Ben Shankman in his role and hope Aidan Quinn will get a bigger role in future episodes. I just feel like the series needs time for everything to gel. The cast feels a bit rough in the way they interact, but that often gets resolved within the first season. Give it some time and another view or two!