Jump to content

L.A. Law

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Jiawen (talk | contribs) at 10:31, 11 August 2006 (→‎Cast and characters). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

L.A. Law
Created bySteven Bochco
Terry Louise Fisher
Starring(See entire cast list below)
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes172
Production
Running time45 minutes
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 15, 1986 –
May 19, 1994

L.A. Law (1986 - 1994) was one of the most popular American television shows of the late 1980s and early 1990s. As with its contemporary thirtysomething, L.A. Law reflected important social and cultural issues of the 1980s and early 1990s.

The series was set in and around the fictitious Los Angeles law firm McKenzie Brackman and featured attorneys at the firm and various members of the support staff.

It was co-created by Steven Bochco (who would later co-create another successful drama series, ABC's NYPD Blue).

The show won numerous awards, including the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series in 1989, 1990, and 1991. Some of the actors, such as Larry Drake, also received Emmys for their performances.

After the end of the regular series in 1994, it returned for a single broadcast in 2002 as L.A. Law: The Movie.

Cast and characters

The show's original ensemble cast:

  • Harry Hamlin as Michael Kuzak the firm's top litigator;
  • Susan Dey as Assistant District Attorney (later Judge, and an associate lawyer) Grace Van Owen;
  • Corbin Bernsen as Arnold "Arnie" Becker, the firm's womanizing chief divorce lawyer;
  • Jimmy Smits as Victor Sifuentes, the firm's pro-bono lawyer;
  • Jill Eikenberry as Ann Kelsey, another associate lawyer;
  • Alan Rachins as Douglas Brackman Jr., the cynical managing partner;
  • Michele Greene as Abigail "Abby" Perkins, another lawyer;
  • Michael Tucker as Stuart Markowitz, the firm's tax lawyer;
  • Susan Ruttan as Roxanne Melman, a secretary to Arnie Becker,
  • Richard A. Dysart as Leland McKenzie the firm's founder and senior partner.

Over the run of the show additional cast members included:

Trivia

  • The full name of the law firm at the beginning of the series was McKenzie Brackman Chaney and Kuzak. During the series it was changed to McKenzie Brackman Chaney Kuzak and Becker, then McKenzie Brackman Chaney and Becker, and finally, McKenzie Brackman Becker Kelsey Markowitz and Morales.
  • At the height of the show's popularity in the mid-1980s, attention was focused upon a fictitious sexual technique mentioned by one of the show's characters called the "Venus Butterfly." Fans and interested persons flooded the show's producers with letters asking for more details about this curious kink.
  • Famously (or infamously), in the March 21, 1991, episode – cheekily titled "Good to the Last Drop" and unofficially called "Rosalind Gets the Shaft" – litigator Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) plummeted to her death down an empty elevator shaft. Some critics claimed that at this point the show "jumped the shark".
  • Its familiar theme song, composed by Mike Post, features a saxophone solo by famed smooth jazz artist David Sanborn.
  • During the 1994 season, the custom licence plate fell off of the Bentley at the beginning of the show, reflecting a crash scene that had just occurred between Arnold's Bentley and another car.
  • The beginning of the theme song would reflect the type of episode that it was going to be. If it started with a saxophone, it was a light-hearted episode. If it started with a long, deep synthesized note, it was a more dark, serious episode.
  • Long time holder of NBC's prized Thursday night at 10PM (9PM Central) time slot, which it took over from another Bochco-produced show, Hill Street Blues. The show would be replaced by another hit ensemble drama, ER, which still is on at that time today.
  • In the United Kingdom the series was shown nationally on the ITV Network at 9.05pm on Thursdays for the majority of its run. During the 1992 season Anglia Television broke away from the Network screenings choosing the later 10.40pm slot for the show. Central Television soon also switched to the later slot.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=L.A._Law&oldid=68995943"