This story is free to read because readers choose to support LAist. If you find value in independent local reporting, make a donation to power our newsroom today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Taking the law into his own hands
While not always on the top of our Tivo to do list, David E. Kelly has come up with some pretty good televsion shows over the years. "Ally Mc Beal", "The Practice" and "Boston Legal" were all solid, if somewhat overly-dramtic tv that served to cement his popularity and his reputation for quality programming.
What does a man like this do for an encore? Why get into reality television, of course. Following the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" school of philosophy, Kelly has joined forces with the creators of such sterling entertainment as "The Surreal Life" and "Blind Date" to produce a reality show called "The Law Firm".
Much like "The Aprentice" with a little "People's Court" thrown in, the show will feature a group of lawyers who will work on actual cases and be kicked off one by one every week until one of them gets the big $250,000 prize at the end. Kelly says that this show will be different from other reality shows.
Because he was always a critic of the genre, he is in a better position to make sure that the show is of high quality and will be taken seriously. That sounds great. We just hope we don't have another "The Real Gilligan's Island" on our hands.