L.A. Law

I binge watched LA Law through Season 5 over the span of a few weeks. (I found that I could just listen to it, and got as much out of it as watching it.) The acting was great and the writing mostly great for those seasons. Am I the only one who liked Diana Muldaur as Roslyn Shays? She was spectacular; I loved how her presence affected everyone on staff differently. Larry Drake was a fantastic Benny. Binge watching did underscore, though, how yelly the litigators were.

With Season 6 came a lot of drama and overemotional scenes plus hack writing. I'm assuming it just gets worse, so I'm not continuing.

This was a seminal show -- probably the first "lawyer show" that wasn't really a detective program in disguise. L.A. Law introduced us to many of the particulars of a law firm: The staff meeting, administrative hearings, appellate court argument, as well as almost all aspects of criminal and CIVIL litigation. It was an amazing program that, when it focused on the intriguing cases that came to the firm, was arguably the best show on television in the late 80s and early 90s. If I recall correctly only Hill Street Blues, The West Wing, and L.A. Law won 4 Emmys for best drama (now maybe Mad Men?). There's a reason this show ranks in the upper echelon of television dramas.

To be fair to its critics, however, I can't remember ANY program that was this good that, almost abruptly, became so bad! Although I continued to watch it until the end, it was hit-and-miss at best, and sometimes just plain terrible after the fifth season.

Very excited to start binging LA Law. I watched it when it aired originally back when I was around 9 and 10. I always stayed up late to watch these dramas back then because my dad would watch them and he didn't mind me staying up. I was also a big St. Elsewhere fan as well. My favorite part of this show is the conference room meetings. Often funny, well written and well acted. Reminds me of Hill Street Blues roll call segments. So far, I find myself still chuckling at the comedic scenes so I guess they hold up better than the hairstyles. I don't know if this was the heyday of television, but it is to me. The nostalgic feeling it gives me, mid to late 80s tv like this, just brings me back to a much simpler time. And I sure had a boyhood crush on Michelle Green, too.

I used to watch this off and on back when it was originally on and recently started re-watching from the beginning. For three seasons, it was a great show; great people who created a family. They had their issues and problems but they always worked everything out in the end. Unfortunately, in Season 4 they introduced the character of Rosalind Shays and ruined it completely. All the continuity and camaraderie that made the show great was gone. Suddenly there was nothing but controversy, back-stabbing, manipulation, lying and it became increasingly uncomfortable to watch. I'm currently almost at the end of Season 4 and honestly doubt I will watch much more; it's just no fun anymore.

I absolutely loved the first few seasons of this show. The original actors were a great ensemble cast and each character was believable and likable. The story lines were unique and entertaining. But after they started leaving the show, the replacement characters just were not interesting and the storylines became silly and contrived. The acting suffered. When they added the religious character that was really the death knell. Not only was it illogical that the firm would have hired her, but her acting was subpar to say the least. Season 7 was awful. Thats as far as I got. I just didn't want to waste anymore time.