La loi de Los Angeles

Very excited to start binging LA Law. I watched it when it aired originally back when I was around 9 and 10. I always stayed up late to watch these dramas back then because my dad would watch them and he didn't mind me staying up. I was also a big St. Elsewhere fan as well. My favorite part of this show is the conference room meetings. Often funny, well written and well acted. Reminds me of Hill Street Blues roll call segments. So far, I find myself still chuckling at the comedic scenes so I guess they hold up better than the hairstyles. I don't know if this was the heyday of television, but it is to me. The nostalgic feeling it gives me, mid to late 80s tv like this, just brings me back to a much simpler time. And I sure had a boyhood crush on Michelle Green, too.

This show concerning the lives of lawyers at an LA law firm was a breakout hit during its first season for its well written plots and great characters. This of course was because of some incredible writers and great actors. However as the show entered about it's sixth season the best writers and actors began to leave en masse the plotlines fell apart and the show became much more stale. Avoid this period if you can.

It's the L.A. law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak. In the pilot opening, divorce lawyer Arnie Becker (Corbin Bernsen) and his secretary Roxanne Melman (Susan Ruttan) find senior partner Norman Chaney dead in his office. Leland McKenzie (Richard Dysart) and Douglas Brackman, Jr. (Alan Rachins) are the other senior partners. Michael Kuzak (Harry Hamlin) is the rising star partner. They and the other various characters over the years deal with court as well as life.

Steven Bochco created one of the most popular series of the '80s. It's a legal drama about a law firm in L.A. It featured some great actors who created some iconic characters. On top of that, they had great chemistry. Their interactions is half of the fun. It made a mythical sexual position an actual thing. Now that's popularity. With such a great large cast, a few defections do happen. And that is one of the reason for this show's demise. By 1992, some of the cast starts to disappear. At that point during its initial run, I lost interest. This show relies on its characters and it lost too many of them. This award winning show had 8 seasons and a movie.

L.A.Law was a standout drama from '86-'94. At the end, as many drama's have happen, it became somewhat stale and may cause many to forget the gripping storylines Bochco, Kelley etc. created. The acting was superlative from the mainstays Dysart, Rachins, Tucker, Eikenberry, Ruttan, Bernsen, Hamlin etc. As the show expanded Law brought forth additional characters played by Dey, Smits, Greene, Underwood, Donohoe, Spencer, Drake, Muldaur etc. These actors made their roles and characters as unforgettable as the originals made there's.

Probably the best thing that can be said about this show is that no one player was the focal point. No one character had to be the "lightning rod" for the show to be great. In an interview for the 100th show Richard Dysart, who played Leland McKenzie, the paternal "glue" of McKenzie, Brackman, Cheney, Kuzack, and Becker, told Jane Pauley that the actors weren't the genius of the show...the writers were. Awful high praise from an actor at a very candid moment.

Catch it in syndication on A&E each Monday thru Friday. You'll love it the second time around.

I have begun bingeing it on Prime Video after a couple of decades and found it both enjoyable and cringe-worthy - those 1980s clothes and hair! LOL The first five seasons had the best cast, but after Hamlin, Smits, and Greene (then Dey after season 6) left it began a downhill slide. The remaining characters weren't all that interesting and except for John Spencer as Tommy Mullaney the new additions were forgettable at best. The 7th season was terrible with the extended arc of Stuart getting harmed in the Rodney King riots and descending into buffoonery before he made something of a mild comeback. That was a terrible plot device and what has kept me from revisiting the rest of season 7 and season 8. At least we had 5 decent seasons to enjoy.