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reality at its best
Forget 'L.A. Law.' Here's how courts really work.
By Andrew Wallenstein
If there are two types of programming the TV industry has exhaustively mined, they are the so-called reality format and the courtroom drama.
But until TLC's new series "Legal Action" (Mondays, 9-10 p.m. ET, began July 2nd), no one outside of Court TV had really merged the two compellingly.
Don't cite "Judge Judy" as an exception. That syndicated hour is about as rooted in reality as "Bugs Bunny."
"Arrest & Trial," another syndicated series from "Law & Order" mastermind Dick Wolf, also filmed real-life trials but didn't survive the 2000-01 season.
Perhaps he was too busy working on yet another "L&O" spinoff, like "Law & Order: Junior High School Hall Monitor" for Nickelodeon.
Who better than TLC to take the cameras into the courtroom?
They've managed to make reality TV work in hospitals with programs such as "Trauma: Life in the ER" way before the genre exploded with the likes of "Survivor."
Now the cable network is smart enough to use the tagline "life unscripted" in order to boast about its area of expertise.
"Action" plays video-voyeur to San Francisco's criminal justice system, following several trials each episode. Excerpts of courtroom proceedings are interspersed with interviews with the attorneys, plaintiffs, defendants, etc., and the full access is impressive.
Why on earth they agreed to have it all taped is beyond me, but their exhibitionism works in the viewers' favor.
The slick editing that allows the principals to comment on their own actions as the proceedings unfold brings a whole new dimension to following a trial. If cross-examination seemed exciting before, wait until you see the lawyers' blunt assessments of witnesses' responses punctuating their replies.
Viewers whose exposure to the American legal system has been based solely on series like "L.A. Law" or "The Practice" may be in for a surprise.
The actual process of jurisprudence moves at a completely different rhythm than what is presented on TV. If smooth-talking Armani-swathed attorneys appear in your mental image of what criminal law is like, get ready for the rumpled, bumbling but occasionally clever lawyers that "Action" follows.
That's just one of the myths perpetuated by courtroom drama that gets thoroughly debunked thanks to TLC.
Here are a few more:
* The victim is always a sympathetic saint.
Not quite. On the premiere episode of "Action" it's difficult to feel sorry for Katie M., who was raped by her boyfriend's friend. The accused friend happens to be a homeless man whom she invited to stay at her place to sleep after a night on the town. That's no excuse for the crime that followed, but her carelessness and ego--on the witness stand she proudly exclaims at one point that many men are attracted to her--make her a difficult person to root for.
* The lawyer is always confident of victory.
Tell that to Katie's counsel, who despite all his hard work and competency, never makes any bold statements assuring they will win at trial. No matter how much evidence he manages to marshal in her favor, he's always quick to add the disclaimer that the unpredictability of juries should have her worried.
* All attractive female lawyers wear miniskirts.
Sorry, David E. Kelley. San Francisco assistant district attorney Kimberly Guilfoyle may be a former model who can give Calista Flockhart a run for her money, but her clothing is a little more concealing. Still, if Court TV needs to find its own equivalent of CNBC's "Money Honey" Maria Bartiromo, it should give Guilfoyle a call.
TLC does give one nod to primetime courtroom dramas.
The narrator of "Action" is Dylan McDermott, star of ABC's "The Practice." Still, the courtroom dramas of primetime are lacquered with a varnish that all but vanishes on "Action," leaving some rough edges that make it all the more interesting.
July 11, 2001 © 2001 Media Life
-Andrew Wallenstein is the television critic for Media Life
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