Mark-Paul Gosselaar in Raising the Bar courtesy TNT
Posted by JennieO...Jeers to TNT for its over-the-top overpromotion of Steven Bochco's tepid "new" series Raising the Bar. And many more jeers to Mr. Bochco himself for hiring third-graders to rewrite discarded Hill Street Blues episodes to bring them into the late '80s. That he is misusing such a talented cast so badly, and obviously not allowing any barbers on the set, is terribly sad. I hope this show goes swiftly into that dark night.• Share your own raves and rants about other shows on the Reader Cheers & Jeers discussion board.• We may feature your Cheer or Jeer on TVGuide.com or in TV Guide magazine!
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Mark Paul Gosselaar and Jay August Richards by Karen Neal/TNT, Steven Bochco by Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com
The man who gave TV such memorable dramas as Hill Street Blues and LA Law has a new story to tell It involves a group of stalwart public defenders led by Mark-Paul Gosselaar Saved By the Bell and Gloria Rueben ER and the other legal types including Malcolm mom Jane Kaczmarek as a judge to be reckoned with who inhabit their world Does TNTs Raising the Bar premiering tonight at 10 pmET fill a need that TV viewers may not realize they have TVGuidecom invited Steven Bochco to preview his new drama Matt MitovichTVGuidecom Whenever the idea for a new legal drama pops into your head and I have to imagine that happens every now and again do you ever think Does TV really need another one Is there anything new we can do here stillSteven Bochco Absolutely First of all I dont think that there are a lot of legal dramas on television A lot of what passes these days for legal drama and historically what has passed for le
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Question: Do you have any info on Steven Bochco's new show for TNT? I'm a big fan of his, and after his last few tries, he's due for another hit. All I know so far is that Gloria Reuben is in the cast (yay!), and it seems to be about a group of lawyers. Should I get my hopes up?
Answer: Look for Raising the Bar to show up on TNT on Labor Day. I've seen a few episodes and was personally underwhelmed by what seemed to be pretty ordinary storylines involving public defenders and prosecutors and a mercurial judge (Jane Kaczmarek) who continually locks horns with the rumpled young hero, played by Bochco repertory vet Mark-Paul Gosselaar. I'll give it another look closer to the premiere date, and at the very least, I think that even if it isn't another blockbuster like The Closer, it's the kind of show that might feel right at home nestled among old repeats of Law & Order. But is it the next NYPD Blue? Not by a long shot ...
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TNT has given a 10-episode order to Raising the Bar, a new legal drama from Steven Bochco and starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar as a public defender. Gloria Reuben (ER) plays Zack's boss, Jane Kaczmarek (the Malcolm parent currently not cooking up crystal meth) is an erratic judge (what I like to call "The Holland Taylor Role"), and all the while Mr. Belding wags his finger at that reckless young lawyer.
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Rose Byrne in Damages by Barbara Nitke/FX
This Saturday, FX is running the entire first season (up to now) of its legal thriller Damages as an all-day marathon, which means theoretically there will be viewers who will get to experience this show the way it might work best: as a rock ’em, sock ’em miniseries, compounding all of the story’s elaborate and sometimes preposterous shocks and twists into a roller-coaster ride that doesn’t require waiting a week between chapters.The ratings have been, even by cable standards, a disappointment, and as I write this, FX had yet to confirm a second-season renewal (although as I’ve said before, any network that would keep Dirt and The Riches going and fail to renew this gritty gem has some explaining to do). I’ve wondered if the show’s elaborately serialized structure, with an entire season built around a single case and its murderous fallout, may have kept viewers away (shades of ABC’s short-lived Murder One).The brutality and darkness of Damages...
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Dean Cain by Jemal Countess/WireImage.com
Broadway legend Ben Vereen has been tapped to guest on Grey's Anatomy this fall. In his episode, tentatively scheduled to air on Oct. 4, he'll play a burn victim. If we're lucky, a singing, dancing burn victim. (It's Ben Vereen, for crying out loud!)Find more on this Grey's news here. First Christopher Reeve, now Dean Cain is guesting on Smallville. The onetime star of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman will appear in the fall season's fourth episode as a baddy named Dr. Curtis Knox. As in knoxious. Although Steven Bochco's new TNT legal drama doesn't have a title, it's certainly packed with big names: Jane Kaczmarek, Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Gloria Reuben have all signed up. Kaczmarek will play a wacky judge; Gosselaar, a public defender; and Reuben, his boss.Six Feet Under's Mathew St. Patrick has joined fellow All My Children alum Abigail Spencer in NBC's neighborhood-watch-group pilot, Backyards and Bullets.
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It isn't enough for CBS to be the most-watched network. At the presentation of its new fall schedule, network execs announced they want their shows to be talked about, too.It's a new version of an old tune. For years, CBS has had the largest number of viewers, but many of them were old and not as desirable to advertisers. Recently, the network has gotten much more competitive for the 18-to-49-year-old crowd that Madison Avenue pays most for. Yet shows such as ABC's Ugly Betty get a lot more ink and watercooler chatter than the higher-rated Two and a Half Men or Survivor (CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler drove the point home to the audience at Carnegie Hall by citing how Betty's ratings have dropped 40 percent since its premiere).With a solid foundation of dependable hits, Tassler says this is the year she can afford to take a few programming risks to improve her share of buzz. Even if CBS' new shows fail, its regular program lineup will deliver ratings close to what it did t...
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• Steven Bochco, who gave FX the short-lived Iraq War series Over There, is now developing "a supernatural-themed thriller with family elements" for the cabler, says the Hollywood Reporter.• Simon Cowell is partnering with the producers of Footballer$ Wives on Rock Rivals, a U.K. drama pegged as "The X Factor meets Dallas," and concerning two TV talent-show judges whose marriage falls apart. Talks about a U.S. adaptation are already under way, says Variety.• HBO Films is developing a biopic about legendary blues musician Robert Johnson, with Ray's James L. White set to pen the screenplay.
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Question: I am so disappointed that ABC canceled Commander in Chief! I know many other people are upset, too. Geena Davis received a Golden Globe, the episodes were so believable, and even though there were serious breaks in the season, it was a great show. Do you think the head honchos at ABC received pressure from certain political parties to silence the show? I know that the writers or directors were changed midstream, but I think the show was still good and could have come back given support, creative freedom and consistency in its airdates. Do you think politics were involved?
Answer: Nope. Just a bad case of network mismanagement, which ABC now admits. They should never have taken the show away from its creator, Rod Lurie. As great a producer as Steven Bochco is, this was not a good fit. The creative disarray, which I thought became quite noticeable on screen, doomed the show, along with ABC's erratic scheduling once the powers-that-be gave up on it. Had nothing to do with it ...
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Corbin Bernsen, Psych
It's easy to take potshots at Corbin Bernsen. Although he was nominated for a pair of Emmys during his eight-year run as womanizing divorce attorney Arnie Becker on L.A. Law, his subsequent projects have been spotty. For every A-list appearance — a recurring role on The West Wing, the first two Major League films — he's made D-grade duds, numerous low-rent TV-movies and th
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