This Premise Must Die

Hopefully, this will become a new, regular blog series that will lift me into the stratosphere of the blogosphere!

This is where I will highlight a premise I keep seeing over and over in TV shows that must die. Some of these shows are on the air, but many are just sold to the networks where don't make it to series.

Perhaps my all time favorite example of this is a sitcom that kept getting sold a few years ago. The premise? Three different couples in different stages of their relationships. One of the couples has just hooked up, another is recently married, and the other has been married for a long time. 

Networks could not get enough of this. It got to the point where everyone realized that it was silly and overdone, and then they bought 5 more. I think it's dead now, but it lived far too long.

Well, today on "This Premise Must Die", we venture into the realm of the one hour drama. It's a very common premise that will probably be with us forever, but I'm not sure who enjoys this show. 

THE PREMISE:

A disgraced/disbarred/recently fired/low rent lawyer uses his/her non-traditional tactics to solve cases week after week.

Today's example (via Deadline Hollywood):

David Shore will write and executive produce the untitled drama, described as a high-end, character-driven procedural about a former cop who’s now a cunning but charming low-rent lawyer who uses his street smarts to work the system for his clients while battling his own demons and wooing his ex-wife.

Hmm. A procedural. Character driven. Battling demons. Wooing his ex. Sounds a little like House. Well, get ready for this, David Shore is the guy who created House!

As my dad always says, "dance with the one that brung ya".

Here is one that will probably also be on next fall (also via Deadline):

The project centers on William “Billy” Remz, a brilliant, morally questionable defense attorney who, after being falsely convicted of fraud and stripped of his legal license, uses his unorthodox methods to solve the cases he’s been prohibited from handling. 

How about this one:

A drama about a white-shoe lawyer coming back from disbarment for mixing business and pleasure and an enterprising black lawyer - who run a small storefront law firm specializing in ambulance chasing and defending the defenseless

That one isn't exactly perfect, but I love how lawyers in these shows are not allowed to be doing great as lawyers. They're always disgraced in some way and must use their non-lawyer skills to get shit done.

Here's another:

A drama about a high-powered Minneapolis lawyer who gets fired (under mysterious circumstances) and starts his own firm as a defense attorney, accompanied by an eclectic batch of colleagues.

That's a buzz word, "eclectic". I blame David E. Kelley. Okay, one more:

A drama about a vigilante lawyer who uses any means necessary to defend his clients against a corrupt district attorney and city establishment.  

A vigilante lawyer?! Whoa. I was gonna go into environmental law, maybe copyright law, but ultimately I wanted the excitement of vigilante law.

I'm probably being stupid with this, and it's actually just any lawyer show that bothers me. I think that's the lesson, really, let's knock it off with lawyer shows for awhile. We've got "Franklin and Bash", what more do you need? Nothing is going to match that.

Of course, I have neglected the lawyer shows that actually made it to air...

"Harry's Law" got canceled last year, guess what that was about? A recently fired patent lawyer.

"Fairly Legal": It's about a lawyer who decides to quit being a lawyer. 

And "Suits"? That's about a guy who got kicked out of law school but somehow works as a lawyer. He didn't even get the chance to get disbarred!

So this gives me an idea. I'm going to pitch a show about a BOOK-smart lawyer, at a great firm, fully barred, who uses traditional methods to win cases. Also, he's happily married.

Hand over the money, please. 

Luckily, development season is really picking up, so we'll see if more of these get sold. If they do, you will see it here first, that is my vow.