L.A. Law

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L.A. Law (1986 - 1994) was one of the most popular American television shows of the late 1980s. As with its contemporary thirtysomething, L.A. Law reflected important social and cultural issues of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Set in and around a Los Angeles law firm McKenzie Brackman Chaney and Kuzak (later on it was changed to McKenzie Brackman Chaney Kuzak and Becker, and then McKenzie Brackman Chaney and Becker, and eventually to McKenzie Brackman Becker Kelsey Markowitz and Morales).

It was created by Steven Bochco (who would later create another successful drama series, ABC's NYPD Blue).

The show won numerous awards, including the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in 1989, 1990, and 1991. Some of the actors, such as Larry Drake, also got Emmy's for their performances. It returned for a single broadcast in 2002 as L.A. Law: The Movie.

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Cast and characters

Image:LA Law.jpg The show's original ensemble cast:

Harry Hamlin as Michael Kuzak the firm's top litigator;
Susan Dey as Assistant District Attorney (later Judge, and an associate lawyer) Grace Van Owen;
Corbin Bernsen as Arnold "Arnie" Becker, the firm's womanizing chief divorce lawyer;
Jimmy Smits as Victor Sifuentes, the firm's pro-bono lawyer;
Jill Eikenberry as Ann Kelsey, another associate lawyer;
Alan Rachins as Douglas Brackman Jr., the cynical managing partner;
Michele Greene as Abigail "Abby" Perkins, another lawyer;
Michael Tucker as Stuart Markowitz, the firm's tax lawyer;
Susan Ruttan as Roxanne Melman, a secretary to Arnie Becker,
Richard A. Dysart as Leland McKenzie the firm's founder and senior partner.

Over the run of the show additional cast members included:

Larry Drake as Benny Stulwitz, a developmentally disabled office support worker;
Blair Underwood as Jonathan Rollins, an aggressive litigator;
Diana Muldaur as the ambitious and manipulative Rosalind Shays;
John Spencer as Tommy Mullaney, a somewhat seedy trial lawyer, and later District Attorney;
Amanda Donahoe as Cara Jean "C.J." Lamb, a trial lawyer from England;
Lynne Thigpen as Chief District Attorney Ruby Thomas;
Cecil Hoffman as Assistant District Attorney Zoey Clemmons;
Sheila Kelly as secretary Gwen Taylor;
Conchata Farrell as the brash entertainment lawyer Susan Bloom;
Michael Cumpsty as Bloom's conniving associate Frank Kittridge;
A Martinez as lawyer Daniel Morales;
Lisa Zane as lawyer Melina Paros;
Alexandra Powers as Christian fundamentalist lawyer Jane Halliday;
Alan Rosenberg as lawyer Eli Levinson, a character from the former TV series Civil Wars whom joined the firm;
and Debi Mazar as secretary Denise Ianello, another character from the series Civil Wars.

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Trivia

Image:TVGuidelalaw.jpg

At the height of the show's popularity in the mid-1980s, attention was focused upon a fictitious sexual technique mentioned by one of the show's characters called the "Venus Butterfly." Fans and interested persons flooded the show's producers with letters asking for more details about this curious kink.
Famously (or infamously), in the March 21, 1991, episode – cheekily titled "Good to the Last Drop" and unofficially called "Rosalind Gets the Shaft" – litigator Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) plummeted to her death down an empty elevator shaft. Some critics claimed that at this point the show "jumped the shark".
Greene quit the show rather than play a character in a lesbian relationship with Donohoe's character.
Its familiar theme song, composed by Mike Post, features a saxophone solo by famed smooth jazz artist David Sanborn.
During the 1994 season, the custom licence plate fell off of the Bentley at the beginning of the show, reflecting a crash scene that had just occurred between Arnold's Bentley and another car.
The beginning of the theme song would reflect the type of episode that it was going to be. If it started with a saxophone, it was a light-hearted episode. If it started with strings, it was a more dark, serious episode.
Long time holder of NBC's prized Thursday night at 10PM (9PM Central) time slot, which it took over from another Bochco-produced show, Hill Street Blues. The show would be replaced by another hit ensemble drama, ER, which still is on at that time today.