Last week, I caught the rerun of the first episode of “Raising the Bar,” another Stephen Bochco law-courtroom-drama television series. The commercials run rampant on TNT and I couldn’t help but to stay glued to the TV set when the rerun caught me by surprise.

It may take a little getting used to Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s non-blonde, longer hairdo, but he plays a pretty convincing legal do-gooder, named Jerry Kellerman. Jane Kaczmarek shines as Trudy Kessler – the judge you love to hate. Another standout in the show is Gloria Reuben, who plays Rosalind Whitman – a woman defending the needy but may face obstacles that question the way she views her future.

The basis of the show takes a decent look into the lives of a collection of former law school classmates (including two lovers at odds with different sides of the law), as they meet up in court – taking on rival clients. While the show isn’t a clear “hit out of the park,” it does shimmer with hints of potentially promising, gritty, honest portrayals of the judicial system. Look out for it on Mondays at 10pm.

Trivia: To date, Stephen Bochco has won 10 Primetime Emmys for his work on “NYPD Blue,” “LA Law,” and “Hill Street Blues.”

This entry was posted on Monday, September 29th, 2008 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.