Fairly Legal

Fairly Legal

Fairly Legal intertitle
Genre Legal drama
Created by Michael Sardo
Starring Sarah Shahi
Michael Trucco
Virginia Williams
Baron Vaughn
Ryan Johnson
Opening theme "The Yellow Brick Road Song" by Iyeoka Okoawo
Country of origin United States
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 10 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Michael Sardo
Steve Stark
Russ Buchholz
Location(s) Vancouver
Running time 44 minutes
Production company(s) Universal Cable Productions
Garfield St. Productions
Steve Stark Productions
Broadcast
Original channel USA Network
Original run January 20, 2011 (2011-01-20) – present
External links
Website

Fairly Legal is a USA Network television series starring Sarah Shahi, Michael Trucco, Baron Vaughn, Virginia Williams, and Ryan Johnson.[1] The one-hour drama premiered on January 20, 2011.[2] On May 2, 2011, USA Network announced that Fairly Legal has been renewed for a second season of 13 episodes which will go into production later in 2011 and begin airing in the spring of 2012.[3] On January 4, 2012, it was announced the second season of Fairly Legal will premiere March 16, 2012. The series will move to Friday at 9:00 PM, paired with In Plain Sight.[4]

Contents

Overview

Main article: List of Fairly Legal episodes

Kate Reed changes her profession from lawyer to mediator and works at the San Francisco law firm her father started. As the series opens, Kate's father has just died, leaving Kate and the firm to adjust to the loss.

Cast

Main characters

Recurring characters

Development and production

Fairly Legal first appeared on the development slate for USA Network in August 2009, under the working title Facing Kate.[7] The series was created and written by Michael Sardo, who also serves as an executive producer.[2] Casting announcements began in late October, when Sarah Shahi was cast in the main role of Kate Reed.[8] Michael Trucco and Virginia Williams joined the cast in early November.[9][10]

The 75-minute pilot episode was directed by Bronwen Hughes.[11] The series was given the green-light for a first season on March 15, 2010 with an additional 11-episode order.[12] Production began in June in Vancouver.[5] In September, the total number of episodes was cut from twelve to ten due to scheduling issues.[13]

Music

The theme song, "The Yellow Brick Road Song", is performed by spoken word poet and musician Iyeoka Okoawo. Co-written by producer David Franz, it is the lead single off of her album Say Yes.[14]

Reception

Fairly Legal attracted 3.9 million viewers upon first airing, with approximately one-third of viewers being in the key 18-49 ratings demographic. The episode lost about 500,000 viewers from its lead-in, the mid-season debut of the medical drama Royal Pains.[15]

Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Darren Franich noted the similarity in formula of Fairly Legal to other successful USA Network series and described the show as "a perfectly prefabricated USA treat". He lauded Shahi's performance as Kate, saying she "makes you believe that the woman is simultaneously an anxious wreck and a brilliant mediator", and applauds some of the "interesting chances" the creators took. However, he took the show to task for not utilizing its San Francisco setting as well as other USA series use their locales and chided Fairly Legal for not knowing "whether it wants to be a somber drama or a zippy legal quirkfest".[16] Robert Bianco for USA Today concurred in the assessment of Shahi's performance, calling it "instantly likable", and described the series as "a well-constructed piece of popular entertainment from a dependable provider of the same, with an easy-to-like star and an easy-to-grasp premise".[17]

Ratings

Season Episodes Original Airing Viewers
(in millions)
Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season
1 10 January 20, 2011 March 24, 2011 2011 4.6[3]
2 13 2012 2012 TBA

DVD releases

Universal Pictures UK will release Fairly Legal Season 1 on Region 2 DVD on March 5, 2012.[18]

DVD Name Ep# Release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
The Complete First Season 10 N/A March 5, 2012[18] N/A

References

  1. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (October 28, 2011). "Scoop: Meet Fairly Legal's New Legal Eagle". TV Line. http://www.tvline.com/2011/10/usa-network-fairly-legal-season-2-ryan-johnson/. Retrieved October 28, 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Seidman, Robert (October 8, 2010). "'Fairly Legal' (fka 'Facing Kate') Premieres January 20; 'Royal Pains,' 'White Collar' Return". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/10/08/fairly-legal-fka-facing-kate-premieres-january-20-royal-pains-white-collar-return/67211. Retrieved October 21, 2010. 
  3. ^ a b Gorman, Bill. "Freshman Series 'Fairly Legal' Renewed By USA". TV By the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/05/02/freshman-series-fairly-legal-renewed-by-usa/91200. Retrieved May 2, 2011. 
  4. ^ Gorman, Bill (January 4, 2012). "USA's Fairly Legal and In Plain Sight move to Fridays, Premiere March 16". TV By the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/01/04/usas-fairly-legal-in-plain-sight-move-to-fridays-premiere-march-16/115278. Retrieved January 4, 2012. 
  5. ^ a b Wightman, Catriona (June 21, 2010). "Richard Dean Anderson joins 'Facing Kate'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.com/ustv/news/a230981/richard-dean-anderson-joins-facing-kate.html. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
  6. ^ USA's "Facing Kate" Includes Gay Male Character
  7. ^ "USA Network Announces New Cast of Characters on Its Development Slate". The Futon Critic. August 5, 2009. http://www.digitalspy.com/ustv/news/a230981/richard-dean-anderson-joins-facing-kate.html. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
  8. ^ Porter, Rick (October 22, 2009). "Casting call: Sebastian Roche stays on the 'Fringe,' Sarah Shahi is USA's 'Kate'". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/10/casting-call-sebastian-roche-stays-on-the-fringe-sarah-shahi-is-usas-kate.html. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
  9. ^ Nguyen, Hahn (November 9, 2009). "'Battlestar's' Michael Trucco faces 'Kate,' 'Wizards' actress is 'Harriet the Spy'". Zap2it. Tribune Media Services. http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2009/11/battlestars-michael-trucco-faces-kate-wizards-actress-is-harriet-the-spy.html. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
  10. ^ "Development Update: Monday, November 9". The Futon Critic. November 9, 2010. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2009/11/09/development-update-monday-november-9-33405/8378/. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
  11. ^ Seidman, Robert (March 15, 2010). "USA Network Greenlights New Original Series "Facing Kate"". TV by the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/03/15/usa-network-greenlights-new-original-series-facing-kate/44951. Retrieved October 21, 2010. 
  12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (March 14, 2010). "USA gives series order to 'Facing Kate'". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/usa-gives-series-order-facing-21617. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
  13. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 1, 2010). "CABLE NOTES: 'Memphis Beat' Looks Good For Renewal, 'Army Wives' Spinoff A No-Go, 'Facing Kate' Order Trimmed". Deadline.com. http://www.deadline.com/tag/usa-facing-kate/. Retrieved November 25, 2010. 
  14. ^ "The Yellow Brick Road Song is USA Network show Fairly Legal’s theme song!". Iyeoka.com. January 20, 2011. http://www.iyeoka.com/2011/01/the-yellow-brick-road-song-is-usa-network-show-fairly-legals-theme-song/. Retrieved January 27, 2011. 
  15. ^ "Fairly Legal" has fairly decent debut
  16. ^ 'Fairly Legal' season premiere: Lawyers and cross-dressers and 'Wizard of Oz' references, oh my!
  17. ^ 'Fairly Legal' follows the USA formula, but the formula works
  18. ^ a b "Fairly Legal - Season 1". Amazon UK. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fairly-Legal-Season-1-DVD/dp/B004VMHUNS/. Retrieved July 29, 2011. 

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