Law & disorder: The best & worst legal TV shows

Now, famously, there’s plenty of “law” in the world of “Law & Order.” Some of the spinoffs are basically just the investigation of crimes. Part of the hook of the original “Law & Order,” though, was that it was both a cop show and a legal show. While Jack McCoy was a pretty awful DA (the man loved to threaten maximum sentences for paltry drug possession to get what he wants) the show was still compelling enough to last for decades.

“Law & Order” has been on TV for most of the last 30 years. “The Grinder” only lasted for one season. What a season it was, though. The sitcom starred Rob Lowe as an actor who returned to his hometown after eight years starring in a silly law procedural also called “The Grinder.” Lowe’s character believes that his TV experience qualifies him to actually work on cases. Spoiler: It doesn’t, but it was super funny to watch.

“Night Court” was a chaotic sitcom about, well, night court. While Harry Anderson’s Judge Harry Stone was the ostensible lead, John Larroquette’s Dan Fielding stole the show. And the Emmy attention, as Larroquette won four Emmys in a row. He’s also the only one to return as a cast member for the recent reboot which stars Melissa Rauch as the daughter of Harry. It’s fine.

The early Adult Swim shows were all about recontextualizing old Hanna-Barbera cartoons. “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law” is the best of the bunch. The erstwhile superhero Birdman is now Harvey Birdman, who is working as a lawyer. It’s your usual absurdist comedy on Adult Swim, but it’s not just “totally random” and actually has jokes and clever stories and such.

“Breaking Bad” is one of the best crime shows of all time. Somehow, its spinoff “Better Call Saul” is also one of the best legal shows of all time. Oh, there’s plenty of crime in the mix, but there’s also quite a bit of legal procedure and those who have worked in the legal space speak to its quality on that front. Whether or not you can appreciate that, you can appreciate the excellent acting and tense storytelling.

We wanted to shout out one of the first successful legal procedurals. “Perry Mason” debuted in 1957 and ran nine seasons and 271 episodes. Remember when TV seasons would be aggressively long? Raymond Burr played defensive attorney Perry Mason who manages to prove his clients’ innocence each and every time. Burr won two Emmys and that’s all well and good, but here’s a bigger concern: How was the Los Angeles legal system bringing so many innocent people to trial!? Where was the oversight in the chain of command?

If you aren’t of a certain age, you may not remember this, but “L.A. Law” was a super trendy show in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Not only was it a hit, but the show won Outstanding Drama Series at the Emmys four times. The only surprising thing is that “L.A. Law” didn’t birth any real movie stars.

Alright, we wanted to start with a nice selection of good legal shows. Now, we’re moving to the other side of the equation. Tony Randall could do the sitcom thing well. “The Odd Couple” proved that. However, he couldn’t maintain that level of quality in his eponymous sitcom. In classic old-school sitcom fashion, Randall plays a widowed father, but his character is also a judge. Then, he would start teaching a law class as well. If that hard pivot makes you think the show was grasping at straws to try and figure something out, you’d be right. “The Tony Randall Show” ran for two unremarkable seasons.

“Maximum Bob” is a dramedy based on an Elmore Leonard novel, and that sounds promising. In execution, though, this thing was a mess. “Maximum Bob” is so sweaty and packed with cringeworthy “wacky” characters. Beau Bridges starred as an arch-conservative judge who relished in giving people maximum sentences. The show only lasted seven episodes. Frankly, that was about six too many.

Okay, this is going to be controversial to some. “Ally McBeal” was huge! It was super popular! It was also…not good. “Ally McBeal” was over the top, full of irritatingly quirky characters, and was always grasping at headlines in ways that did not serve the show in terms of quality. The cast was talented, but the show was mediocre at best. Plus, that dancing baby was lame.

When you heard there was going to be a legal drama co-created by Dr. Phil, your hopes were not high, right? That is certainly how we felt about “Bull.” We also have mixed feelings on the premise. Dr. Jason Bull is a psychologist and “trial-science expert” who uses his skills to help lawyers select jury members and also then allows lawyers craft their argument to said jury. On the one hand, that’s a new take on the legal drama. On the other hand, it’s a stupid and boring premise for a legal drama.

We like Tatiana Maslany. She’s a delight, and she’s a talented actor. Had she gotten a chance to star in a quality MCU we would have been happy for her and her various bank accounts. Unfortunately, “She-Hulk” may be the worst MCU show, and that’s saying something. They tried over there, to be sure, but the thing was a mess through and through and suffered at the hands of Marvel’s diminished special effects efforts more than any other show or movie.

Before remakes were the coin of the realm, CBS tried to recapture the success of the original “Perry Mason” all the way back in the 1970s. Monte Markham was no Raymond Burr, though. “The New Perry Mason” was a pale imitation of the original, and it only ran for 15 episodes.

We had to get another failed legal sitcom in the mix, and “Eisenhower and Lutz” is the worst we can think of. It starred Scott Bakula, which is not a bad starting point. Hell, the idea of Bakula playing an unscrupulous ambulance chaser isn’t even a bad concept for a sitcom. The problem was in the execution. No wonder “Eisenhower and Lutz” only lasted for 13 episodes. Hey, that quick cancellation opened the door for Bakula to be cast as the lead in “Quantum Leap,” so it all worked out for him.

Alright, the negative portion of this piece is behind us. It’s time to get positive again. As “The Grinder” also showed, just because a show is canceled after one season, it doesn’t mean the show wasn’t good. “Kaz” is a dramatic example of that. Martin Kazinski plays a man who becomes a defense attorney after being released from prison. Ron Leibman actually won Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his sole season playing “Kaz.”

“Suits” is slight, but it was USA’s legal show during the “Blue Skies” era. It was supposed to be slight and fun, and that was the case. The fun lasted for nine seasons and 134 episodes, probably helped pave the way for a royal wedding, and now has spawned a spinoff sequel series set in Los Angeles.

Most legal shows on network television have been procedurals, but not “The Good Wife.” While there would be one-episode stories, and legal proceedings, the show also excelled at overarching, long-term storytelling. Juliana Margulies starred as a woman who goes back to the legal profession in the wake of a sex scandal involving her husband, who happens to be a high-powered state attorney. The acclaimed drama also spawned an acclaimed spinoff in “The Good Fight,” which some saw as a better legal show (if not a better overall show).

When FX was starting to make a splash as a network for original programming, “Damages” helped make that initial splash. While it hasn’t held onto that cultural cache (perhaps in part due to the final two seasons airing on the Audience Network), the quality of the show itself remains just as strong. Glenn Close may not have an Oscar, but she has an Emmy thanks to “Damages.”

David E. Kelley got his start writing on “L.A. Law,” but years later he created “The Practice” to serve as something of a splash of cold water on the “rah-rah” idealized version of the law that the former show trafficked in. “The Practice” may have been more realistic, but that didn’t stop it from running for eight seasons and earned two Outstanding Drama Series Emmys. Some may have forgotten that because it spawned the spinoff “Boston Legal” which starred James Spader and William Shatner and won them both Emmys.

No, not Netflix’s lamentable Marvel superheroes team-up show. Much as with “The Practice,” “The Defenders” was positioned as something of a corrective to “Perry Mason.” It debuted on CBS in 1961 and, get this, sometimes the defense lawyers didn’t win their cases! E.G. Marshall and a pre-“Brady Bunch” Robert Reed starred as father-and-son defense attorneys and the show was much more interested in the law than in delivering simple cases that resolved positively for our protagonists. Why, in the 1960s they did an episode where the two defended an abortion care provider! “The Defenders” won Outstanding Drama Series three years in a row.

We end by returning to David E. Kelley. “Picket Fences” was the first show he created and, well, it was a bit of everything. It was a cop show and a legal show. “Picket Fences” was full of quirky characters, but unlike “Maximum Bob” many of them worked. The show tackled hard issues and controversial subjects, but then would also, like, have cows explode. While it was never a big hit, the Emmys handed it Outstanding Drama Series twice. “Picket Fences” became a cult classic, and when you watch it you can see why a cult following makes sense. The show encompasses a bit of most of these other shows, making it a fitting conclusion.