The Jury

As a longtime fan of "Twelve Angry Men," the classic You-Are-There jury drama, and as someone who's thoroughly enjoyed Levinson and Fontana's previous TV work, like "Oz," "Homicide" and "The Beat" (does anyone else remember "The Beat"? What a great show!), I had to check this out. I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed by the two episodes I just watched, but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it improve once the creators really get comfortable with the format. Unfortunately, though, if I have one complaint, it is with that very format, which seems to aim to present for us too many perspectives for its own good. Much of the appeal of the courtroom drama -- and of the jury drama -- stems from the knowledge that there may never be a clear answer, and that any decisions that are made may very well go unconfirmed. Having watched two episodes already, though, I know that the creators mean to reveal to us the nature of the crime at the end of its respective episode - in other words, to let us know whether the jury judged correctly. This simply strikes me as too neat, and I'm afraid that, by putting too much distance between the viewer and the jury, the inherent drama of the deliberations will be undermined. But I may be wrong. In any case, it's a very stylish show, and it's definitely worth a look.

When I saw the promos for this show, i thought... could be good. So thankfully I finished my school work before 8 o'clock so I could check this show out. For the first half hour, I didn't know whether or not I liked it. I like the aura surrounding it but something with the way they kept flashing back I didn't like. I felt a bit dizzy. I think if they were going to do that, they should make the previous occurrences appear different like a haze over the screen or something. I just began losing track of where I was, when it was happening and I began not to care. I think it'll be interesting to see how they pull of different main characters every week. I'll tell you though, it's putting a lot more actors into jobs. Why can't shows be like this for that one specific reason!?

From the official site at FOX.com, "the show offers a glimpse into a world that is rarely depicted on television." Well, there's a reason why this stuff is rarely depicted on television...it's BORING. As of this commentary, I've had the unfortunate opportunity to waste away in front of the two first episodes and I can't say I'm any more entertained for it. The show appears to focus it's attention on the deliberation of 12 ordinary citizens who're nothing more than cookie cutter stereotypes that don't deserve the viewer to care about or even sympathize with. The cases appear to unfold in such a slow, fragmented and unconvincingly skewed way that there's little reason for the viewer to get emotionally involved in the story. It's not worth the effort. Additionally, the judge and trial lawyers appear to be the sole bit of consistency in this series.

Unfortunately, the regulars appear to put less effort into their characters than the jury and, ultimately, come across as less convincing in their roles than the jury does. So much so that, on screen, the regulars look more like amateurish drama students having trouble finding the inspiration for their characters after months of rehearsal. I walk away from the first two episodes severely disappointed and bored out of my mind! Sadly...and this is downright pathetic...I'd have felt better off watching reruns of the Swan and liking it (ick!!). This show absolutely fails to live up to the hype surrounding weeks of advertising for this "groundbreaking new series." And the "twist" at the end of each episode that reveals whether or not the jury was right in their decision? Who's idea was THAT!? Bad enough that the show never builds up the suspense...the anticipation of a climax...but to completely eliminate ANY reason to discuss ones opinions of the verdict with other viewers the next morning at work? That's just wrong. Deep down, I'm hurt and disgustingly insulted. Even by Fox standards. Truth be told, I had high hopes and expected better from Barry Levinson and the creators of OZ. I really hoped this series would fly but in the end, it doesn't even get to taxi down the runway. Said it once and I'll say it again, this show deserves the death penalty...

Thanks to law shows today, like the many Law and Order spin-offs and the god-awful CSI franchises, people want cop/court shows to be over the top, contain lots of fights, have twists and turns in the evidence and be in your face. This show builds slowly and focuses on the fact that average people are deciding someone else's fate. I don't usually like court shows (I can only watch L&O up until when the case goes to trial, because the trials are so boring), but I like this show. The problem is that I wouldn't have bothered to notice this show if it wasn't a Fontana/Levinson project. Because I loved Homicide so much, I can appreciate what they're trying to do here. There's only been three episodes so far, but I like that the cases have been "average." TV shows always have to have a case that's been "ripped from the headlines," and is so sensational that it's impossible to believe. Instead, The Jury had an episode about an inmate who killed a priest during a riot. One juror wondered what the point was of trying him, because either way the man was going back to jail to finish his sentence from a previous crime. Yet the writers (including James Yoshimura, who wrote Homicide's much-celebrated "Subway" episode) still use that "back-page" subject matter. It is their willingness to go into typical crimes that makes this show interesting. Instead of going for the shocking like CSI does, they find shocking things in everyday life.

Yeah I remember The Beat too. ;)

The show is somewhat hard to follow and made worse when some actors are awful. In the "Memories" episode aired Friday, July 9, the jurors were pretty captivating. But, the woman attempting to play the mother seemed like someone who had won [or bid on ebay] a guest spot on a TV show. [I don't want to say much because I don't want to spoil this for someone who has not seen the episode] Having large casts every week shouldn't be a good excuse for not finding good talent. There are a lot of good actors looking for work. This week's episode has a guest judge, which will be a welcome change. Kind of stretches the imagination to think one judge would have all these tough cases.