Sunday, July 1, 2012

FRANKLIN & BASH SEASON ONE: A SUCCESOR TO "BOSTON LEGAL"


I wasn't sure what to expect from the first season of this series. I've enjoyed the actors in other things they've done and was hoping that they weren't just going to rehash their old characters into new names. They haven't and the show is a hoot. Heck it's two hoots.

Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Jared Franklin (Breckin Myer) are two ambulance chasing attorney's who do things their own way. They're not beyond placing a distracting billboard sign near and intersection while waiting for an accident on which they can blame the billboard. They're a quirky duo who have two assistants that aren't any straighter than they are: Carmen (Dana Davis) is an ex-con who does their leg work for them and Pindar (Kumail Ninjiani) is an agoraphobic germ fanatic who does the computer/research for the team. But things are about to change.

Enter Stanton Infield (Malcolm McDowell), the head of one of the biggest firms in the country. Having had his eye on the team for some time, he recruits them to come work for his firm. With no conditions except that they do their best, he sets them up in their own office, gives them anything they want and proceeds to send the oddest of clients their direction. Franklin and Bash proceed to do what they do best: win cases.

Office politics have a place in the story as well. Reed Diamond stars as Damien Karp, the Infield's nephew and the starchy straight laced type lawyer who worries more about important clients than in doing the right thing. Franklin and Bash may twist the law a bit and be unorthodox, but they seem to work for bad guys. Also in the office is Hanna Linden (Garcelle Beauvais), an attractive high powered attorney in her own right, former flame of Damien and possible love interest for Franklin.

All of these elements come into play from one episode to the next and none of the players major or minor are ignored. Rather than simply rely on the two main stars, the series lets everyone have a chance to play in this sandbox and it gives the show a team feeling that works for so many series these days.

As I said in the title, the show is reminiscent of the series BOSTON LEGAL in that you have two off the wall characters involved in the business of law who work for a leader who has so many interests that you never know what he'll be doing next. He never appears to be odd but at the same time he's told the two main characters more than once that they remind him of himself when he was younger. It make for interesting characters and an interesting show as well.

The cases the duo find themselves involved in never seem like the things you see on the front pages of the newspaper. After the pilot show, their first case involves a woman accused of using sex to kill her husband. Another features a somewhat plump young woman fired from a Playboy style magazine who thinks they fired her because she was too pretty. They defend two pole dance instructors who have been accused of stealing from one of their clients. Obviously these are not Perry Mason type cases they're working on.

The thing that makes it work is the two leads. They seem to be completely at ease in their characters. Neither of them makes it seem like they're acting, a true accomplishment in my eyes for great acting. You don't feel like their performing but are being themselves. That could be a scary thing in some cases. As the series unfolds you get to know more about the characters, in particular the fact that Franklin refused to work for his father (Beau Bridges), a high class attorney with little scruples. There is a bitterness that lies between them and it reveals itself in one episode.

I was hesitant to watch this series when it aired on TV. Now I find myself beginning to think that perhaps I should start setting the DVR for this one. Then again maybe I'll just wait for the second season to come out on DVD as well. I know I've thoroughly enjoyed season one and you will too.

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