Just Legal

I found this new show to be entertaining, funny and a Don Johnson we haven't seen since Miami Vice. I don't often watch and wait for a specific show but found myself looking forward to Just Legal and sat for several weeks hoping it would come back on. I feel there are many of his fans that are very disappointed and the only reason I am entering this comment is hoping he will get another show. The only reason I watched it originally was to see Don Johnson. It was a great show and I believe it would have received high rating if it had been given the chance. It was very different from the other Law Firm Shows and had great potential for some great story lines of clients that were not rich and would confront some issues for the average person.

The biggest problem with this show wasn't the writing, the acting or the concept. It was simply aired by the wrong network. I'm a huge Don Johnson fan and this part was perfect for him. If only his old network (CBS - "Nash Bridges") had picked it up I believe there would have been a fan base just waiting to embrace it. On another level, it's also a shame NBC...a network looking for a way out of the rating basement...could have possibly seen this show become one of their few winners this season because their demographics are probably far more "mature" than the WB's. It's not a show for very young viewers and as such didn't belong on the WB network at all. It never really stood a chance languishing there.

For me...this is a show that will be missed.

Although I have been familiar with Don Johnson's work since "Miami Vice" and also watched "Nash Bridges" (for the most part because my wife enjoyed it)I have never thought of Johnson as an actor. He was amusing, charming and (in "Vice") showed occasional sparks of talent but hardly to be described as a fine actor; rather more of a celebrity who walked through his roles and made it by dint of his abundance of personality. The first episode of "Just Legal" caused me to radically modify my opinion. Johnson was simply superb. Certainly the writing was above par and the supporting cast was more than adequate, but above all Don Johnson shone as an *actor*. The opening of the episode with the dissipated lawyer behaving immorally (from a legal point of view) is good but the single scene of Johnson putting his head down on the table was enough to evoke laughter out loud. His development through the episode and the fine summary in court at the end was worthy of many a better regarded thespian. Whether the series can produce writing to support this new Don Johnson is open to question. The professional critic from whom I cribbed the summary above said it best: "Don Johnson's best work ever."

This show was a bright light for my wife and me who are retired and can't relate to 80 % of the stuff that's on TV today! I think at the very least some other network should pick

this "Just Legal" show up and make it the big hit it should have been if given the opportunity!

It is a real shame the WB Channel even exist if they are no more fair than this?

With all the repeats being run on so many other channels, why couldn't one of these channels make some money with a show like this?

Richard & Lynn Slusser

Just Right: A review of the WB's newest series Just Legal.

Cast: Jay Baruchel - - - David "Skip" Ross Don Johnson - - - Grant Cooper Susan Ward - - - Kate

So I'm sitting down getting ready to watch the hour-long season premier thinking I'm going to skip (no pun intended) through the old Toshiba during the show, however after the first fifteen minutes of the court drama, (which isn't on the top of my lists for show basses) I'm surprisingly hooked.

Created by the Jonathan Shapiro, the father of TV's "The Practice" and "Boston Legal" and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the show stars Jay Baruchel as Skip Ross, an eighteen-year old law school graduate with a large IQ and passion for justice who teams up with Grant Cooper (Don Johnson) an alcoholic ambulance chaser with a passion for money. They embark on court cases that deal with the wrongfully accused, issues of racism and hard evidence all wound up with an outside conflict like the dirty cop in episode 1 or Jay's infatuation with a bombshell beauty from Law School who is jealous of his quick rise to fame in Santa Monica. The two of them spark chemistry where each one balances the other out with their gritty street smarts or conservative, by—the-book character traits as they eagerly fight for various clients who seem guilty from the get-go. Now let's talk about Jay and Don. Awesome casting. Jay Baruchel's youthful appearance and back-of-the-class disposition makes him a stunning fit for his character of Skip Ross. And Don Johnson, aka Sonny Crockett of "Miami Vice," battles his frustration with the failures his profession has brought him in the past, but begins to slowly regain hope with the company of his associate Skip.

The two characters present us with the majority of the dialogue, and the writing has required them to carry plot on their shoulders, which is a make-or-break situation. In this case Grant and Skip pass with flying colors. The dialogue and plot is well formulated, giving us a wonderful balance of drama and comedy, and moves quick enough to grab our interest and stay through the commercial breaks. The writers have thought up a clever equilibrium of elements that prevents any one person or critic from writing off the show as "another court drama" or "sappy WB drama." So who is this show for? In my opinion the younger generation seems to appreciate the show more than that of their parents or great-uncles who, actual quote say "it has potential, but it's not grabbing my interest enough." Well Uncle Joe, I'm sorry 9 to 10's past your six-thirty bed-time and you're dozing off, but there's really nothing I can do about it. I'll loan you the DVD when it comes out so you can judge it when you're up and at 'em. All in all, "Just Legal" is a fun, snappy show with massive potential wrapped in a bag that slowly opens and spills out more of it's content each week. So on Monday's flip to the WB after the Camden's are done with their daughter's pregnancy battles and take the nine to ten ride dubbed: "Just Legal." Check you later…

~ Sam Jones