Fiscal Chase

The fatal flaw in this show is that it does not even come close to accurately representing the criminal justice process. "Law & Order" remains the most accurate representation (though not perfect) of the procedural aspects of a criminal investigation and prosecution, albeit abbreviated. The first (and last) episode of "Close to Home" I watched last night (abusive husband who locks family in house) was ridiculously inaccurate.

1. Mom can't refuse to testify; 2. Mom can't prevent kids from testifying; 3. Recalcitrant witness (Mom) would be forced to testify and impeached with her original statements to police and D.A.; 4. Depositions are not taken in criminal proceedings; 5. Witness testimony is not excluded for failure to take deposition (see No. 3 above); 6. Prosecutors do not have perfect records, unless they cherry pick their cases, and even then, not likely; 7. Prosecutors with THAT solid of a case (such as last night's episode) do not plea bargain on threat of appeal by defense attorney; 8. Defense attorneys do not get to decide on whether to accept the plea deal. The defendant is the ONLY party that can accept or reject. Defense attorney is required to relay the offer (whether he/she agrees with it or not) and let the client decide. Last night's episode implied that defendant (husband) was convicted on his attorney's decision.

Yes, I realize it's a television show, but to wholly make up procedures and processes for the sake of drama is not necessary. The story last night was a great idea, and "Law & Order" would have done it justice without all of the fantasy. If this were a fantasy show, then I could accept the premise. However when the premise is "real life," then it falls flat.

After watching the pilot of this TV show, I'm convinced that CBS have a winner on their hands. The lead character, Annabeth Chase, played by the talented Jennifer Finnigan, is portrayed as a realistic working mum. On her first day back at work, she has to deal with a difficult case and also her emotions regarding her baby whom she misses. She's also unyielding in her resolve to bring the perpetrator of a heinous crime to justice and Finnigan plays Annabeth with a wealth of fiery passion that is lacking in most other shows on air at the moment.

Though it feels at times that it might be bordering on melodrama, it never crosses the line. The writing for this pilot was top-notch and though there is always room for improvement, it was a delight and a breath of fresh air. I hope this series will be picked up for a full season by CBS because it would be a waste should it be cancelled.

Well... first when i heard of this show, i thought that this will be a mixture of CSI and Law and Order. When i heard that Jennifer Finnigan will be playing the lead in the series i thought that she will bring the "soap opera" acting in this show. But when i saw the show i was proved wrong. Jennifer Finnigan plays a brilliant lawyer and a mother of a child. When i saw her acting i realized that she has forgotten all about the soap acting and created a new taste in her acting. In the start of the show, she is taking care of her new baby and her career as a lawyer and struggling to maintain both jobs at a good position. Her husband is played by the former Angel's villain Christian Kane. He is a loving husband and is helping his wife to maintain her job and take care of their baby. CBS has done a great job of picking up this show and taking actors who are best for this show. This show should continue for many seasons and all of my friends loved it. I recommend it to everyone to watch it.

I keep waiting for this show to turn into something worthwhile. It has a fine cast, fairly decent plot ideas, and deals with popular subject matter -- but continues to have no character development, plot holes large enough to drive a Mac truck through, and dialogue that falls flat. Since somebody went to the trouble to move it into a slightly more promising time slot (sure, Friday nights stink -- but not as badly as opposite Law and Order: SVU when you're going for the same audience!), I sure hope they go to the trouble to find some decent writers. It might also behoove them to get some legal advice. There is generally at least one large legal error in each script -- unforgivable, when dealing with an audience that considers itself fairly sophisticated.

This show is designed for a classic CBS audience, the same audience that watched Murder She Wrote and Cold Case. Unfortunately, it will have to improve greatly to maintain that audience.

This show is the most poorly produced/directed program to show up on a major network in years! All the hollow actors speak in monotones and appear to be reading their lines. The script is so dumb as to make you question whether this is not a satire from a certain late Saturday night program.

Our group, who watched it for the first time, endured 30 minutes before deciding it was indeed a serious attempt at entertainment but absolutely unwatchable. Click! How has Close to Home survived this long?

How can a program this bad survive this long? The American public may soon discover that reading books is preferable to this garbage.