Dragon Blogger Review of TNT Network’s Raising the Bar

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While not a super fan of TV Drama’s about lawyers, courtrooms, judges or anything related to law.  I occasionally found a show particularly interesting, imaginative and/or filled with acting that captured my attention.  One show that really grabbed my attention this year is TNT’s new Legal Drama called Raising the Bar.

The show stars Mark Paul Gosselaar as a Public Defender who seems to be personally vested in each of his clients, a lawyer with a heart and one who cares about his clients and the future and fate of his clients.  This gets in the way of his job and puts him at odds with the Prosecution as well as the judges numerous times.  His portrayal of his character Jerry Kellerman is so convincing and honest that you can’t help but really like the character, who he stands for and how he fights for his clients.  The show has a fair sized cast and I like all of the characters on the show.  Gloria Reuben plays Rosalind Whitman who heads up the Public Defender’s office and oversees and assists her public defenders with their cases.  Currie Graham plays Nick Balco who heads up the Prosecutors office where his team of legal staff try their best to convict the guilty as he boldly states in one episode “We are paid to convict”.  In watching the first three episodes of Raising the Bar, one of clear key players in the show beside Mark Paul Gosselaar is Jane Kaczmarek who plays Judge Trudy Kessler.  For those of you who don’t know, Jane Kaczmarek was perfect as Lois from Malcom in the Middle, and to see her role as a Judge who has a very shady view of her position of power was a bit of a shocker.  She plays a very powerful character both from a professional standpoint (her decision decides a client’s fate) but also her character is very bold, brash, stubborn and spiteful.  In the first few episodes alone she goes out of her way to teach Public Defender Jerry Kellerman a few lessons, and in one episode throws him in jail in contempt for disagreeing and arguing with her in her in the courtroom.

The show has other interesting characters as well though they don’t get the screen time as the ones mentioned above.  J. August Richards plays Marcus McGrath who is a Prosecutor working for Nick Balco.  Jonathan Scarfe is one of the more interesting characters on the show playing Charlie Salansky who is a good friend to Jerry Kellerman, and also is very close to Judge Judy Tressler and helps Jerry by convincing the Judge to be lenient and sides with him.  Charlie is also more than just a personal contact with Judy, and is hinted that he has some sort of romantic affairs with her, yet he hides his true identity, that he is a gay man from everyone around him for fear it will damage his career.  Melissa Sagemiller plays a Prosecutor who also had a romantic relationship with Jerry but after getting her first Murder trial she uses unethical tactics to attempt to win her case which bitters the relationship very quickly.  Teddy Sears plays Richard Patrick Woolsley IV, who is a lawyer coming from money.  But instead of being pompous and prickish and becoming a rich corporate lawyer, he becomes a public defendant and instead helps the guilty and innocent alike who need someone to defend him.  He is also another lawyer who gets involved emotionally with his clients and cares about them more than just another number in the legal system.  His character also leverages his family’s wealth on occasion to help his fellow public defenders which shows just how noble his character strives to be.

Bottom line, this show is very realistic in portrayal of the courtroom system.  Where being Guilty or Innocent and what you are sentenced to isn’t just what the jury decides, but what deals the lawyers make between each other, the whims of the Judges mood that day.  A defendant could get very lucky if the Judge is happy, or very unlucky if the Judge is in a bad mood.  It portrays the real fact that emotions sometimes drives a guilty or innocent verdict and what the sentence is as it is sometimes in the real legal system.

All actors play their characters very well, but without a doubt  Mark Paul Gosselaar and Jane Kaczmarek are the most stunning and brilliant performances in the show.

I highly encourage anyone if you liked Boston Legal, Law and Order, Canterbury’s Law (Another outstanding Legal Show), then you probably will like this show.

The show air’s on Monday nights on TNT, you can read more about the show and its characters on TNT Website.

Here is a snippet of the last episode I found on YouTube you can watch and get a sample of the show:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tckAskHUsG8

-Dragon Blogger