L.A. Law

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L.A. Law
The L.A. Law opening title featured a personalized license plate mounted on a Jaguar XJ6.
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The L.A. Law opening title featured a personalized license plate mounted on a Jaguar XJ6.
Genre Legal drama
Running time 45 minutes
Creator(s) Steven Bochco
Terry Louise Fisher
Starring (See entire cast list below)
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
Original channel NBC
Original run September 15, 1986–May 19, 1994
No. of episodes 172

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, Cheney and Kuzak 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) and former entertainment lawyer Terry Louise Fisher.

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.

[edit] Cast and characters

The show's original ensemble cast:

Over the run of the show additional cast members included:

[edit] 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.
  • The building shown to represent the McKenzie Brackman law firm is the Citigroup Center in Los Angeles. Sometimes called the "444 Building" or "The Fantastic Four Building", it is located at 444 S. Flower Street and is adjacent to the U.S. Bank Tower. It bears a striking resemblance to the fictional Marvel Comics Fantastic Four Headquarters set in New York City. An office building featuring four large 4s on top.
  • 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." The only clue describing the technique was a vague reference to "ordering room service". Fans and interested persons flooded the show's producers with letters asking for more details about this curious kink.
  • Series creator Steven Bochco was so taken with the show being parodied on the cover of the October 1987 issue of Mad Magazine that he staged a photo shoot with the show's actors in the exact same positions that their caricatures had appeared on the magazine's cover. Mad Magazine ran the photo in a subsequent issue.
  • 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.
  • Series co-creator Terry Louise Fisher, former deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, former entertainment lawyer for 20th Century Fox, and producer-writer for Cagney & Lacey, composed a form letter she was thinking of sending to lawyers who complained about the show: "Dear So-and-so: If I were a good lawyer, I'd still be practicing law. Instead, I'm stuck in Hollywood, making 10 times as much money. I hope you are as conscientious about your clients as you are about our show. Thank for your writing."
  • 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.
  • In early 1991, a Season 5 episode had two female characters, Abby, played by Michele Greene and the newcomer C.J., played by Amanda Donohoe kissing each other after a really tough case. That was recognized as the first kiss between two women in a prime time series and was considered quite controversial.
  • The sticker on the license plate during the introduction of the show would list the year the episode was produced ('86, '88, '93, etc.) The technique was used later on the Fox sitcom That 70's Show, but with the year that the episode supposedly took place ('76,'79, etc.).
  • John Spencer and Jimmy Smits were later reunited on The West Wing.

[edit] External links

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