“Boston Legal” mastermind David E. Kelley returns to TV tonight with “Harry’s Law,” starring Kathy Bates in a role once slightly earmarked for Comedy Central fixture Lewis Black.
It’s about a Cincinnati patent attorney who strikes out on her own when she’s caught by a senior partner smoking dope and watching genius Warner Bros. cartoons in her office.
Her co-stars include NBC vets Nate Corddry (“Studio 60”) and Brittany Snow (“American Dreams”).
(Digression. Kelley just told members of the Television Critics Association that his proposed “Wonder Woman” series might yet find traction under the new management at NBC or on cable. End digression.)
I did not get a copy of “Harry’s Law” for review. Maybe NBC hasn’t input my new address. Or something.
… though Kelley sympathizes with and stands up — on a soapbox — for the underclass, he stacks the deck in a way that does them a disservice. … For all its flaws, there's something attractively amiable about "Harry's Law." A little more grit, a little less speechifying, and a better verdict might yet arrive.
The San Francsico Chronicle says:
… the goofiness is appealing, but once everyone has met cute and Harry has opened her firm, the show stumbles with predictability … the jury is still out on whether "Harry's Law" is going to have the kind of longevity that Kelley got from "Boston Legal."
… an excuse to set up the usual Kelley levels of overbearing wackiness - the sort that it often takes him half a season to reach, but which he achieves within minutes of the premiere. … Kelley has made some of the great law shows of all time, and also some of the worst (anyone remember "girls club"?), and often times the same series will qualify for both categories at different points in its run. At that press conference, Kelley said that even his kids told him, "'Dad, please, not another law show.'" In this case, he should've listened.
… You might think it impossible for NBC to top the absurdity of its fall legal drama “Outlaw,” in which Jimmy Smits starred as a conservative Supreme Court justice turned liberal defender. Leave it to David E. Kelley to make that short-lived vehicle seem quaint. … From “L.A. Law” to “Boston Legal,” Kelley has spun compelling cases mixed with withering social criticism. “Harry” fails on both counts. …
Some shows are so stunningly, embarrassingly bad, you're not sure whether to be angry or sorry. … the show gets even worse next week, with a maudlin outing built around a tough-talking, gun-toting old black woman who steals to survive. It's an "inner-city" story so inauthentic and shallow, it makes you cringe. …
… Kathy Bates is just the person to deliver David E. Kelley's tart dialogue, and he surrounds her with enough quirky characters to make this Cincinnati-set spiritual companion to "Boston Legal" a breezy diversion. …
10 p.m. Monday. NBC.
