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Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Weak ‘Justice’ debuts on Fox
“Justice,” the new legal drama starring former “Alias” honcho Victor Garber, is slick, cynical and horribly disappointing.
There probably is a series to be made about the media spin of high-profile criminal cases, but “Justice”, which debuts tonight at 8 on Fox, isn’t it.
Yes, we are privy to all the shenanigans that filthy-rich defense firms employ — unmarried attorneys wear wedding rings so that jurors will like them, focus groups guide the show, shadow juries predict verdicts, publicity manipulation is king.
“This is trial by TV,” Garber’s well-dressed legal eagle Ron Trott proclaims proudly.
But what should be fascinating — essentially, an exploration of the trickle-down effect of the O.J. Simpson murder trial — is little more than an annoyingly quick-edit scamper around all the cosmetic details. The drama needs to slow down, get serious and lighten up on the superficial elements.
Tonight’s opener involves a generic murder in which a man is accused of killing his cheating wife. Trott takes on the media circus and assigns a younger, handsomer and more sympathetic lawyer from his firm to handle the courtroom duties. It’s over, in terms of any kind of suspense, before the first commercial.
Garber is too good an actor for such fluff, and creator-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has too good a track record to allow this to continue. Either “Justice” will get better or it’ll be gone before Halloween.
Bye Bye, Bob
Speaking of gone …
Dependable-as-daylight Bob Schieffer takes a bow on the “CBS Evening News” Thursday night, and the network, which is practically drowning in its own obsessive promotion of soon-to-debut (Tuesday) anchor Katie Couric, is hinting that the Perky One might pop in for the farewell.
Schieffer deserves a nice tribute, doesn’t he? When all heck was breaking loose with Dan Rather last year, it was Rather’s former “Deputy Dog” who stepped in and calmed the turbulent waters. During Schieffer’s “temporary” 18-month run, CBS’s news has gained viewers. It’s still behind NBC and ABC, but it has picked up a sizable chunk of audience.
Schieffer will continue to anchor his Sunday stalwart “Face the Nation” and be a weekly commentator on Couric’s “Evening News.”
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