L.A. Law
Encyclopedia
L.A. Law is a US television legal drama
that ran on NBC
from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion
, racism
, gay rights, homophobia
, sexual harassment
, AIDS
, and domestic violence
. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. Created by Steven Bochco
and Terry Louise Fisher
, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features, including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off the wall humor.
In 1997, the episode "Good to the Last Drop" was ranked #91 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
-based law firm McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak, and featured attorneys at the firm and various members of the support staff. The exteriors for the law firm were shot at the Citigroup Center
in downtown Los Angeles, which was known as the 444 Flower Building at the time.
as either bisexual or a gay man while still married.
A running gag
throughout the series was the overtly promiscuous lifestyle of divorce lawyer Arnie Becker, and his chronic and constant liaisons with women, up to and including bedding some of his own clients. This would end up causing problems when a client would use him to set up her (estranged) husband to be murdered. Series producer Steven Bochco used a similar incident in Hill Street Blues
when a woman bedded one of the police officers in the squad and tricked him into shooting her ex-husband when he (apparently) broke into her house.
To some extent, the sexual peccadilloes of almost the entire cast would become fodder for episodes of the series.
After Grace Van Owen makes a comment that Michael Kuzak would have to be a monkey before she'd be interested in him, he woos her on the courthouse steps in a monkey suit. Douglas Brackman becomes involved with a sex therapist. Benny Stulwitz, a mentally retarded clerk at the office, has sex with the mentally retarded daughter of a client of the firm. Leland McKenzie and Rosalind Shays, antagonists, secretly become lovers.
The show tied itself into the events of the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which were prompted by the acquittal of four white police officers who were put on trial for the videotaped beating of African American motorist Rodney King
. In a scene reminiscent of the Reginald Denny incident, tax attorney Stuart Markowitz is struck on the head by a rioter, and ends up having serious head injuries, causing a number of problems for him and his wife for several episodes as a result.
In one scene later in the series, the writers enacted an inside joke: "The easiest way to get rid of a soap opera character is to just have them fall down an elevator shaft." In her final scene, the character of Rosalind Shays steps into the empty shaft (expecting an elevator car when the doors open) and falls to her death.
The show did not shy away from controversy, with a scene in the episode "He's a Crowd
" where one of the female lawyers, Abby Perkins, has an on-screen romantic kiss
with C.J. Lamb, another female lawyer who is openly bisexual.
, and was itself eventually replaced by another hit ensemble drama, ER
. Bochco had been fired from Hill Street Blues
in 1985. L.A. Laws original time period was Friday 10PM following Miami Vice
but after struggling there, NBC moved it to Thursdays as Hill Street Blues was winding down. The original two-hour movie aired on Monday, September 15, 1986. The series was a critical favorite before it had premiered. An encore of the movie aired in place of Saturday Night Live
on September 27, being a rare scripted rerun in that late-night slot.
The car with the California "L A LAW" rear license plate was originally a Jaguar XJ
6, but was replaced with a Bentley
in the final seasons; its registration sticker was updated at the start of every new season. One episode's cold-open scene depicts an angry circus performer withdrawing knives from a trunk and throwing them at divorce attorney Arnold Becker, who shouts to his secretary, "Roxanne, close the trunk! Close the trunk!" The credits immediately begin with their signature closing of the car's "trunk." Two different openings for the show's theme were used: a saxophone
riff, for episodes that were lighter in tone; and an ominous synthesizer chord, for more serious storylines.
Co-creator Terry Louise Fisher
was fired from the series in season 2 and filed a well-publicized lawsuit with Bochco and the studio. Bochco and Fisher had also co-created the 1987 John Ritter
series Hooperman
for ABC
.
The scene where Leland McKenzie (Richard Dysart
) was shown in bed with his enemy Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur
) was ranked as the 38th greatest moment in television (the list originally appeared in an issue of EGG Magazine). Rosalind's demise—falling into an open elevator shaft—has also been a famous scene from the series and was referenced in The Star Trek Encyclopedia
(Muldaur also played Dr. Katherine Pulaski
during season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation
; Pulaski's biography says "There is no truth to the rumor that an ancestor of Dr. Pulaski was killed falling down the elevator shaft at a prestigious Los Angeles law firm.").
After co-writing the feature film, From the Hip
, Boston attorney David E. Kelley
was hired by Bochco during the first season of L.A. Law. Kelley went on to critical and commercial success as show-runner of the series before leaving to create Picket Fences
. While on L.A. Law, Kelley and Bochco co-created Doogie Howser, M.D.
as the first Steven Bochco Productions series for a major, ten-series deal with ABC. Shortly after, Bochco was offered the job as President of ABC Entertainment but turned it down.
At the height of the show's popularity in the late-1980s, attention was focused upon a fictitious sexual technique named the "Venus Butterfly
". The only clue describing the technique was a vague reference to "ordering room service". Fans and interested persons flooded the show's producers with letters asking for more details about this mysterious technique.
During the seventh season, the executive producers John Tinker
and John Masius
were fired midseason, and while the show went on hiatus, William Finkelstein was brought in to fix it. Bochco and Kelley each returned to pen episodes until Finkelstein took over. Tinker and Masius had brought a whimsical, soapy tone to the series which they were known for on St. Elsewhere
. Dan Castellaneta
(who does the voice of Homer Simpson
) appeared in a Homer costume and hired the attorneys in the seventh-season premiere. That episode also reflected on the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Finkelstein reined in the series, returning to the serious legal cases that made the series famous.
In the eighth and final season, the characters of Denise Ianello (Debi Mazar
) and Eli Levinson (Alan Rosenberg
) were transplanted from the canceled Bochco legal series Civil Wars
, which had run on ABC from 1991–93. Eli Levinson was revealed to be Stuart Markowitz's cousin. During the final season, the series was rested in January 1994 to launch the second season of Homicide: Life on the Street
. When that series succeeded wildly with a guest appearance by Robin Williams
, it was expected that L.A. Law would conclude that May and Homicide: Life on the Street would succeed it on Thursdays in the fall. However, ER
tested so well that Warner Bros.
executives campaigned network president Warren Littlefield
to give that series the prized Thursday slot.
The series ended in 1994, though a one-off reunion show, L.A. Law: The Movie
, aired in 2002, and featured most of the main cast from the series (except Smits, Underwood, Donohoe and Spencer).
On May 24, 2007, the AmericanLife TV Network
announced that it would begin rebroadcasting L.A. Law starting June 3, 2007, Sundays at 10 pm.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3i100bdf32d950877f573862c0ee5ccedc From 2000 until 2004, A&E
had been rebroadcasting the show. http://web.archive.org/web/20001016053643/www.aande.com/perl/tv/tvlistings.pl?search=LA+Law&channel=aetv&get=search&srchby=6
Lifetime Television
also reran the show until the late 1990s. The series also ran for a short time on the AmericanLife TV Network.
The Series is being released on DVD in the UK through Revelation Films
in 2012.
Over the run of the show, additional cast members included:
for Outstanding Drama Series in 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991. Some of the actors, such as Larry Drake and Jimmy Smits, also received Emmys for their performances. The series shares the Emmy Award record for most acting nominations by regular cast members (excluding the guest performer category) for a single series in one year with Hill Street Blues
and The West Wing
.
For the 1988–1989 season, nine cast members were nominated for Emmys. Larry Drake was the only one to win (for Supporting Actor). The others nominated were Michael Tucker (Lead Actor), Jill Eikenberry and Susan Dey (for Lead Actress), Richard Dysart and Jimmy Smits (Supporting Actor), Amanda Plummer, Susan Ruttan and Michele Greene (for Supporting Actress).
LA Law won a Latino Image Award.
It was listed as #42 on Entertainment Weekly's
list of The New Classics in the July 4, 2008 issue.
Legal drama
A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...
that ran on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, gay rights, homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
, sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
, AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, and domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. Created by Steven Bochco
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco is a US television producer and writer. He has developed a number of popular television hits including Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue, as well as some notable flops such as Cop Rock....
and Terry Louise Fisher
Terry Louise Fisher
Terry Louise Fisher is an Emmy Award-winning American television producer, screenwriter and novelist.-Early career:...
, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features, including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off the wall humor.
In 1997, the episode "Good to the Last Drop" was ranked #91 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time.
Location
The series is set in and around the fictitious Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
-based law firm McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak, and featured attorneys at the firm and various members of the support staff. The exteriors for the law firm were shot at the Citigroup Center
Citigroup Center (Los Angeles)
Citigroup Center is a 48-story skyscraper at 444 S. Flower Street in the Bunker Hill area of downtown Los Angeles, California...
in downtown Los Angeles, which was known as the 444 Flower Building at the time.
Story
The show often combined humor and drama in the same episode. For example, in the opening of the first episode of the series, only the back and hand of partner Chaney gripping the pages of a tax manual while seated at a desk is seen before he drops dead of a heart attack. Later in that episode, in front of his partners, friends and his wife, a man appears to speak at Chaney's eulogy, to announce how he first met him at a gay bar, revealing Chaney had been in the closetIn the closet
In the closet may refer to:* Closeted, a reference to undisclosed sexual orientation, sexuality, or sexual behavior.** Coming out, or "coming out of the closet", the voluntary public revealing of one's homosexuality....
as either bisexual or a gay man while still married.
A running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
throughout the series was the overtly promiscuous lifestyle of divorce lawyer Arnie Becker, and his chronic and constant liaisons with women, up to and including bedding some of his own clients. This would end up causing problems when a client would use him to set up her (estranged) husband to be murdered. Series producer Steven Bochco used a similar incident in Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
when a woman bedded one of the police officers in the squad and tricked him into shooting her ex-husband when he (apparently) broke into her house.
To some extent, the sexual peccadilloes of almost the entire cast would become fodder for episodes of the series.
After Grace Van Owen makes a comment that Michael Kuzak would have to be a monkey before she'd be interested in him, he woos her on the courthouse steps in a monkey suit. Douglas Brackman becomes involved with a sex therapist. Benny Stulwitz, a mentally retarded clerk at the office, has sex with the mentally retarded daughter of a client of the firm. Leland McKenzie and Rosalind Shays, antagonists, secretly become lovers.
The show tied itself into the events of the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which were prompted by the acquittal of four white police officers who were put on trial for the videotaped beating of African American motorist Rodney King
Rodney King
Rodney Glen King is an American best known for his involvement in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles Police Department on March 3, 1991...
. In a scene reminiscent of the Reginald Denny incident, tax attorney Stuart Markowitz is struck on the head by a rioter, and ends up having serious head injuries, causing a number of problems for him and his wife for several episodes as a result.
In one scene later in the series, the writers enacted an inside joke: "The easiest way to get rid of a soap opera character is to just have them fall down an elevator shaft." In her final scene, the character of Rosalind Shays steps into the empty shaft (expecting an elevator car when the doors open) and falls to her death.
The show did not shy away from controversy, with a scene in the episode "He's a Crowd
He's a Crowd
"He's a Crowd" is a 1991 episode of the American legal drama L.A. Law. In it, attorney Michael Kuzak defends a man with multiple personalities accused of murder, attorney Rosalind Shays helps her lover Leland McKenzie help a client, attorney Arnold Becker's divorce proceeds and attorneys Abby...
" where one of the female lawyers, Abby Perkins, has an on-screen romantic kiss
Lesbian kiss episode
The "lesbian kiss episode" is a sub-genre of the U.S. television media created in the 1990s. Beginning in 1991 with a kiss on L.A. Law episode "He's a Crowd" between C.J...
with C.J. Lamb, another female lawyer who is openly bisexual.
Series history
L.A. Law took over NBC's prized Thursday 10PM (9PM Central) time slot from another Bochco-produced show, Hill Street BluesHill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, and was itself eventually replaced by another hit ensemble drama, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. Bochco had been fired from Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
in 1985. L.A. Laws original time period was Friday 10PM following Miami Vice
Miami Vice
Miami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
but after struggling there, NBC moved it to Thursdays as Hill Street Blues was winding down. The original two-hour movie aired on Monday, September 15, 1986. The series was a critical favorite before it had premiered. An encore of the movie aired in place of Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
on September 27, being a rare scripted rerun in that late-night slot.
The car with the California "L A LAW" rear license plate was originally a Jaguar XJ
Jaguar XJ
Jaguar XJ is the designation that has been used for a series of luxury saloon cars sold under the British Jaguar marque. The first XJ was launched in 1968 and the designation has been used for successive Jaguar flagship models since then. The original model was the last Jaguar saloon to have had...
6, but was replaced with a Bentley
Bentley
Bentley Motors Limited is a British manufacturer of automobiles founded on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley known as W.O. Bentley or just "W O". Bentley had been previously known for his range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later...
in the final seasons; its registration sticker was updated at the start of every new season. One episode's cold-open scene depicts an angry circus performer withdrawing knives from a trunk and throwing them at divorce attorney Arnold Becker, who shouts to his secretary, "Roxanne, close the trunk! Close the trunk!" The credits immediately begin with their signature closing of the car's "trunk." Two different openings for the show's theme were used: a saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
riff, for episodes that were lighter in tone; and an ominous synthesizer chord, for more serious storylines.
Co-creator Terry Louise Fisher
Terry Louise Fisher
Terry Louise Fisher is an Emmy Award-winning American television producer, screenwriter and novelist.-Early career:...
was fired from the series in season 2 and filed a well-publicized lawsuit with Bochco and the studio. Bochco and Fisher had also co-created the 1987 John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...
series Hooperman
Hooperman
Hooperman is a U.S. television series starring John Ritter. It ran for two seasons on ABC, from 1987 to 1989. A comedy-drama, the series was created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher who were the team responsible for creating L.A. Law....
for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
The scene where Leland McKenzie (Richard Dysart
Richard Dysart
Richard A. Dysart is an American actor, perhaps best known for his role as Leland McKenzie on the NBC legal drama L.A. Law....
) was shown in bed with his enemy Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur
Diana Muldaur
Diana Muldaur is an Emmy-nominated American film and television actress.-Career:Born in New York City, but raised on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Muldaur started acting in high school and continued on through college, graduating from Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 1960. She studied acting...
) was ranked as the 38th greatest moment in television (the list originally appeared in an issue of EGG Magazine). Rosalind's demise—falling into an open elevator shaft—has also been a famous scene from the series and was referenced in The Star Trek Encyclopedia
The Star Trek Encyclopedia
The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future is an encyclopedia of all the in-universe information from the Star Trek live-action television series and films. The Encyclopedia was written by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, with Debbie Mirek, and illustrated by Doug Drexler...
(Muldaur also played Dr. Katherine Pulaski
Katherine Pulaski
Commander Katherine Pulaski, MD; played by Diana Muldaur, is the replacement chief medical officer for Dr. Beverly Crusher during the second season of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Overview:...
during season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
; Pulaski's biography says "There is no truth to the rumor that an ancestor of Dr. Pulaski was killed falling down the elevator shaft at a prestigious Los Angeles law firm.").
After co-writing the feature film, From the Hip
From the Hip (film)
From the Hip, is a 1987 comedy film directed by Bob Clark from a screenplay by Bob Clark and David E. Kelley. The film stars Judd Nelson, Elizabeth Perkins and John Hurt. Nelson's performance earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor....
, Boston attorney David E. Kelley
David E. Kelley
David Edward Kelley is an American television writer and producer, known as the creator of Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Boston Legal and Harry's Law, as well as several films. Kelley is one of the only screenwriters to have had a show created by him run on...
was hired by Bochco during the first season of L.A. Law. Kelley went on to critical and commercial success as show-runner of the series before leaving to create Picket Fences
Picket Fences
Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States...
. While on L.A. Law, Kelley and Bochco co-created Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....
as the first Steven Bochco Productions series for a major, ten-series deal with ABC. Shortly after, Bochco was offered the job as President of ABC Entertainment but turned it down.
At the height of the show's popularity in the late-1980s, attention was focused upon a fictitious sexual technique named the "Venus Butterfly
Venus Butterfly
The Venus Butterfly is a term used for various sexual techniques, one of which being the subject of the 1988 book The One Hour Orgasm. It was first publicly mentioned in a 1986 episode of the American television drama L.A. Law, although a technique of the same name appears in the book The Sensuous...
". The only clue describing the technique was a vague reference to "ordering room service". Fans and interested persons flooded the show's producers with letters asking for more details about this mysterious technique.
During the seventh season, the executive producers John Tinker
John Tinker (producer)
John Tinker is an Emmy award winning American television producer and writer. Tinker is the co-creator of the CBS drama Judging Amy, and has been an executive producer and writer on American television shows such as the CBS drama Chicago Hope, the ABC drama The Practice, and the NBC drama The Book...
and John Masius
John Masius
John Masius is an American writer and producer of television series, credited for creating the series Touched by an Angel , Providence and HawthoRNe ....
were fired midseason, and while the show went on hiatus, William Finkelstein was brought in to fix it. Bochco and Kelley each returned to pen episodes until Finkelstein took over. Tinker and Masius had brought a whimsical, soapy tone to the series which they were known for on St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
. Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
(who does the voice of Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
) appeared in a Homer costume and hired the attorneys in the seventh-season premiere. That episode also reflected on the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Finkelstein reined in the series, returning to the serious legal cases that made the series famous.
In the eighth and final season, the characters of Denise Ianello (Debi Mazar
Debi Mazar
Deborah "Debi" Mazar is an American actress, perhaps best known for her Jersey Girl-type roles; as sharp-tongued women in independent films; and for her recurring role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage.-Early life:...
) and Eli Levinson (Alan Rosenberg
Alan Rosenberg
Alan Rosenberg is an American actor of both stage and screen. From 2005 to 2009, he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, the principal motion picture industry on-screen performers' union.-Early life:...
) were transplanted from the canceled Bochco legal series Civil Wars
Civil Wars (TV series)
Civil Wars is an American legal drama that aired on ABC from November 1991 to March 1993. The series was produced by Steven Bochco, known for his work on NYPD Blue, L.A. Law, and Hill Street Blues.-Synopsis:...
, which had run on ABC from 1991–93. Eli Levinson was revealed to be Stuart Markowitz's cousin. During the final season, the series was rested in January 1994 to launch the second season of Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
. When that series succeeded wildly with a guest appearance by Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, it was expected that L.A. Law would conclude that May and Homicide: Life on the Street would succeed it on Thursdays in the fall. However, ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
tested so well that Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
executives campaigned network president Warren Littlefield
Warren Littlefield
Warren W. Littlefield is an American former television executive.A protégé of Brandon Tartikoff, Littlefield developed Cheers, The Cosby Show, and The Golden Girls as senior and executive vice president of NBC Entertainment under Tartikoff...
to give that series the prized Thursday slot.
The series ended in 1994, though a one-off reunion show, L.A. Law: The Movie
L.A. Law: The Movie
L.A. Law: The Movie , is a television movie which reunited most of the original cast of the 1986-1994 television drama L.A. Law. Prominent castmembers who did not return included Blair Underwood , Jimmy Smits , Amanda Donohoe and John Spencer .The movie's initial working title was L.A...
, aired in 2002, and featured most of the main cast from the series (except Smits, Underwood, Donohoe and Spencer).
On May 24, 2007, the AmericanLife TV Network
AmericanLife TV Network
Youtoo TV, formerly known as American Life TV Network , GoodLife TV Network, and Nostalgia Television, is an American cable-television channel launched on May 1, 1985. It now claims over 15 million subscribers throughout the U.S...
announced that it would begin rebroadcasting L.A. Law starting June 3, 2007, Sundays at 10 pm.http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/business/news/e3i100bdf32d950877f573862c0ee5ccedc From 2000 until 2004, A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
had been rebroadcasting the show. http://web.archive.org/web/20001016053643/www.aande.com/perl/tv/tvlistings.pl?search=LA+Law&channel=aetv&get=search&srchby=6
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
also reran the show until the late 1990s. The series also ran for a short time on the AmericanLife TV Network.
The Series is being released on DVD in the UK through Revelation Films
Revelation Films
Revelation Films is a British distributor of entertainment programmes on DVD.It was perhaps most well known as the company through which as of November 2006, the American anime company FUNimation Entertainment has launched its titles in the United Kingdom on region 2 DVD...
in 2012.
Nielsen ratings
- Season 1 (1986–87): #21 (15.2 million viewers)
- Season 2 (1987–88): #13 (16.2 million viewers)
- Season 3 (1988–89): #13 (15.9 million viewers)
- Season 4 (1989–90): #16 (16.0 million viewers)
- Season 5 (1990–91): #23 (13.7 million viewers)
- Season 6 (1991–92): #19 (13.7 million viewers)
- Season 7 (1992–93): #33 (12.3 million viewers)
- Season 8 (1993–94): #35 (12.0 million viewers)
Cast and characters
The show's original ensemble cast:- Harry HamlinHarry HamlinHarry Robinson Hamlin is an American film and television actor, known for his role as Perseus in the 1981 fantasy film Clash of the Titans, and as Michael Kuzak in the legal drama series L.A...
as Michael Kuzak (1986–91; seasons 1–5) - Susan DeySusan DeySusan Dey is an American actress, known primarily for her roles in film and television. Her more prominent parts came as elder daughter, Laurie Partridge, on the 1970s sitcom The Partridge Family, and as Grace Van Owen, a California assistant district attorney and judge on the dramatic series, L.A...
as Grace Van Owen (1986–92; seasons 1–6; not including the pilot) - Corbin BernsenCorbin BernsenCorbin Dean Bernsen is an American actor and director, known for his work on television. He is best known for his roles as divorce attorney Arnold Becker on the NBC drama series L.A. Law, and as retired police detective Henry Spencer on the USA Network comedy-drama series Psych...
as Arnie Becker (1986–94; seasons 1–8) - Jimmy SmitsJimmy SmitsJimmy Smits is an American actor. Smits is perhaps best known for his roles as attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s legal drama L.A. Law, as NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s police drama NYPD Blue, and as Congressman Matt Santos on The West Wing...
as Victor Sifuentes (1986–91; seasons 1–5) - Jill EikenberryJill EikenberryJill Eikenberry is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is best known for her role as lawyer Ann Kelsey in L.A. Law...
as Ann Kelsey (1986–94; seasons 1–8) - Alan RachinsAlan RachinsAlan Rachins is an American television actor, best known for his role as Douglas Brackman in L.A. Law, which earned him both Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, as well as for his portrayal of Dharma's hippie father, Larry, on the hit television series, Dharma & Greg...
as Douglas Brackman, Jr. (1986–94; seasons 1–8) - Michele GreeneMichele GreeneMichele Dominguez Greene is an American actress, singer, and songwriter, perhaps most well-known for her role as attorney Abigail "Abby" Perkins in L.A. Law from 1986 - 1991. She returned to that role in 2002 for the TV "reunion" film L.A...
as Abigail "Abby" Perkins (1986–91; seasons 1–5) - Michael TuckerMichael Tucker (actor)Michael Tucker is an American actor and author, most widely known for his role in L.A. Law, a portrayal for which he received Emmy nominations three years in a row....
as Stuart Markowitz (1986–94; seasons 1–8) - Susan RuttanSusan RuttanSusan Ruttan is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne Melman on L.A. Law . She reprised the role in 2002 for the TV reunion L.A...
as Roxanne Melman (1986–93; seasons 1–7) - Richard A. Dysart as Leland McKenzie (1986–94; seasons 1–8)
Over the run of the show, additional cast members included:
- Larry DrakeLarry DrakeLarry Drake is an American actor.Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Lorraine, a homemaker, and Raymond Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company. Drake is renowned for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on the television show L.A...
as Benny Stulwitz (1987–94; seasons 2–8) - Blair UnderwoodBlair UnderwoodBlair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award...
as Jonathan Rollins (1987–94; seasons 2–8) - Dana SparksDana SparksDana Sparks is an American television actress.-Biography:Sparks is most well-known for her work as JAG lawyer Lt Commander Carolyn Imes in JAG. She is also noted for her roles as Vicki Giobertti in Falcon Crest and as Grace Bennett/Faith Standish in Passions. Sparks reprised the role of Grace in...
as Jennifer Kepler (1988–89; season 3; recurring) - Dann FlorekDann FlorekEzekial Dann Florek , professional name Dann Florek, is an American actor and director.-Early life:Florek was born in Flat Rock, Michigan. He attended Eastern Michigan University, but never graduated...
as Dave Meyer (1988–90; seasons 3–4; recurring) - Diana MuldaurDiana MuldaurDiana Muldaur is an Emmy-nominated American film and television actress.-Career:Born in New York City, but raised on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, Muldaur started acting in high school and continued on through college, graduating from Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 1960. She studied acting...
as Rosalind Shays (1989–91; seasons 4–5; recurring) - John SpencerJohn Spencer (actor)John Spencer was an American film and television actor. He was most widely known for playing White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the NBC political drama series The West Wing, which earned him an Emmy Award in 2002.-Early life:Spencer was born as John Speshock, Jr. in New York City, and...
as Tommy Mullaney (1990–94; seasons 5–8) - Amanda DonohoeAmanda DonohoeAmanda Donohoe is an English film and television actress. She is known for her 1980s relationship with popstar Adam Ant and her later work on television — including L.A. Law and Emmerdale — and her roles in successful movies including Liar, Liar.-Early life:Donohoe was born in London, the daughter...
as Cara Jean "C.J." Lamb (1990–92; seasons 5–6) - Cecil HoffmanCecil HoffmanCecil Hoffman is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of district attorney Zoey Clemmons in the television series L.A. Law....
as Zoey Clemmons (1991–92; seasons 5–6) - Sheila KelleySheila Kelley (American actress)Sheila Kelley is an American television actress. She is best known for her roles as Gwen Taylor on L.A. Law and as Dr. Charlotte "Charley" Bennett Hayes on Sisters.-Early life:...
as Gwen Taylor (1990–93; seasons 5–7) - Conchata FerrellConchata FerrellConchata Galen Ferrell is an American actress. She is best known for playing Berta the housekeeper in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, for which she received two Emmy Award nominations in 2005 and 2007.-Personal life:...
as Susan Bloom (1991–92; season 6) - Michael CumpstyMichael CumpstyMichael Cumpsty is a British actor. He has been acting since childhood. He has worked extensively performing Shakespeare, as well as both musicals and dramas on Broadway...
as Frank Kittridge (1991–92; season 6) - A MartinezA MartinezAdolfo Larrue Martinez, III , better known as A Martinez, is an American actor and singer with roles in the daytime soap opera Santa Barbara and the primetime dramas L.A. Law and Profiler.-Early life:...
as Daniel Morales (1992–94; seasons 7–8) - Lisa ZaneLisa ZaneElizabeth Frances "Lisa" Zane is an American actress and singer who has starred on stage, in film and television.-Personal life:...
as Melina Paros (1992–93; season 7) - Evan R. PressEvan R. PressEvan Rosner Press, , is an American film, stage and television actor. Born in Philadelphia, as the only child to Dr. Herman London Press and Rhona Sybil Rosner Press, the family moved to Princeton, New Jersey in the 60's...
as Dr. Samuel Voorhees (1992–93; season 7) - Alexandra PowersAlexandra Powers-Early life:Powers was born in New York City. She grew up in an artsy, liberal environment on both coasts with her divorced parents. Her father teaches acting. She said in an interview that her parents, "encouraged me to find my own truth". Commenting on her faith, she stated, "I pray whenever I...
as Jane Halliday (1993–94; season 8) - Alan RosenbergAlan RosenbergAlan Rosenberg is an American actor of both stage and screen. From 2005 to 2009, he was president of the Screen Actors Guild, the principal motion picture industry on-screen performers' union.-Early life:...
as Eli Levinson (1993–94; season 8) - Debi MazarDebi MazarDeborah "Debi" Mazar is an American actress, perhaps best known for her Jersey Girl-type roles; as sharp-tongued women in independent films; and for her recurring role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage.-Early life:...
as Denise Ianello (1993–94; season 8)
Awards
The show won numerous awards, including the EmmyEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Drama Series in 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991. Some of the actors, such as Larry Drake and Jimmy Smits, also received Emmys for their performances. The series shares the Emmy Award record for most acting nominations by regular cast members (excluding the guest performer category) for a single series in one year with Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
and The West Wing
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
.
For the 1988–1989 season, nine cast members were nominated for Emmys. Larry Drake was the only one to win (for Supporting Actor). The others nominated were Michael Tucker (Lead Actor), Jill Eikenberry and Susan Dey (for Lead Actress), Richard Dysart and Jimmy Smits (Supporting Actor), Amanda Plummer, Susan Ruttan and Michele Greene (for Supporting Actress).
LA Law won a Latino Image Award.
It was listed as #42 on Entertainment Weekly's
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
list of The New Classics in the July 4, 2008 issue.
External links
- Interview with Steven Bochco from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Currently this video may not be available in some countries outside the U.S.