L.A. Law (TV series)
"L.A. Law" is a legal drama television series that premiered on NBC in 1986, becoming a significant part of the network's Thursday night lineup. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, the show features a diverse cast of characters working at a Los Angeles law firm, led by the experienced Leland McKenzie. The series centers around the conscientious attorney Michael Kuzak, portrayed by Harry Hamlin, and includes a range of other attorneys with different specialties and personalities, such as divorce lawyer Arnold Becker and powerful litigator Ann Kelsey. Throughout its run, "L.A. Law" was noted for its feminist sensibility and its innovative approach to ensemble storytelling, influencing future television dramas.
Despite its initial success, the show faced challenges in later seasons due to the departure of key players, including Bochco, Fisher, and several main cast members. This led to a decline in quality, with the emergence of melodramatic plots and less engaging characters. Ultimately, "L.A. Law" concluded in 1994, leaving behind a legacy of shaping prime-time television and providing a nuanced portrayal of legal and social issues of its time.
L.A. Law (TV series)
Identification Television drama series
Producers Steven Bochco, David E. Kelley, and William M. Finkelstein
Date Aired from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994
Though inspired by the tradition of courtroom hits like Matlock, this popular legal drama represented a new and influential television form that featured good-looking, slick, well-educated professionals engaged in both heated legal debates and passionate affairs, sometimes with one another.
Key Figures
Steven Bochco (1943- ), one of the producers ofMatlock David E. Kelley (1956- ), coproducerWilliam M. Finkelstein (1952- ), coproducer
Part of the long-standing National Broadcasting Company (NBC) tradition of a strong Thursday night lineup, L.A. Law debuted in a two-hour pilot during the fall of 1986 with dramatic theme music composed by Mike Post and a cast of relatively unknown but very attractive actors. Harry Hamlin played Michael Kuzak, a conscientious liberal attorney who worked at a Los Angeles law firm headed by Leland McKenzie (Richard Dysart), the wise old partner who still had some youthful passion and humor. Kuzak was joined by opportunistic divorce attorney Arnold Becker (Corbin Bernsen), powerful litigator Ann Kelsey (Jill Eikenberry), tax attorney Stuart Markowitz (Michael Tucker), and Douglas Brackman, Jr. (Alan Rachins), the son of an original partner. Kuzak’s on-again, off-again sparring (and bedroom) partner at the district attorney’s office was Grace Van Owen (Susan Dey, in her first major television role since The Partridge Family). Jimmy Smits joined the firm later in the first season as junior partner Victor Sifuentes. Throughout the show’s seasons on the air, other attorneys came to the boardroom table, and the composition of the firm changed frequently, especially after the exodus of Hamlin, Smits, and Dey in 1991 and 1992.
Impact
L.A. Law was Steven Bochco’s first successful follow-up to Hill Street Blues, and it established that the innovative, ensemble-driven television drama could succeed in more than one incarnation. Bochco teamed with Terry Louise Fisher, the creator of Cagney and Lacey, who brought a feminist sensibility to the show’s depiction of women in the workplace. The show was not necessarily innovative when compared with its creators’ previous efforts, but by following in their wake, it established that the changes wrought by Bochco and Fisher would continue to shape prime-time network television during the 1980’s.
Subsequent Events
Producer and writer David E. Kelley left L.A. Law in 1991 to pursue other projects. By this time, Bochco and Fisher had already left as well. These departures, along with the loss of the three stars, took a major toll on the quality and appeal of the show. Later seasons featured melodramatic plots and ridiculous characters, and the show died with a relatively small and disappointed audience in 1994.
Bibliography
Brigham, John. “L.A. Law.” In Prime Time Law: Fictional Television as Legal Narrative, edited by Robert M. Jarvis and Paul R. Joseph. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 1998.
Brooks, Tim. The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows: 1946-Present. 8th ed. New York: Ballantine, 2003.
Schwartz, Tony. “Steven Bochco Goes from Hill Street to the Taut Glitz of L.A. Law.” New York, September 15, 1986, 62.
Thompson, Robert J. Television’s Second Golden Age: From “Hill Street Blues” to “ER.” Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1997.