THE VERDICT IS IN . . . And NBC's new reality show about lawyers, The Law Firm, is a train wreck of a show. Even if you can get past the way the show grossly distorts the way law is practiced, the host, lawyer Roy Black, lacks the sort of cartoonish appeal that Donald Trump brings to The Apprentice. Black's a dud, in other words, and the show suffers because of it.

Not to fear, however. While you won't learn much about law on the show, you'll learn plenty from the young lawyers about clever accessorizing. I liked the new style of glasses many of the contestants wore, which made them look both bookishly wise and attractively hip at the same time. And their briefcases, carried with them at all times, were very shiny.

By the way, I'm something of an authority on the lawyer's briefcase.* If I watch any more of the show--purely for research purposes, mind you--it's those briefcases I'll be focused on.

*See The Collected Four-Part Examination of the Lawyer's Briefcase, One of an Ongoing Series of Essays on "Things Important to Every Lawyer."

Comments

[Marie]

We go gaga for Roy Black. But, sadly, the show is a waste. It was so disappointing to so quickly identify the the Trump formula.

[mobar]

I enjoy watching it just to see how terrible the contestants are. My law school trial ad class featured better performances, and we didn't even have the shiny briefcases.

[Evan]

mobar: You have a point. The show definitely has some unintentional comic value.

[Lawgirl]

It may be a train wreck, but it will be a train wreck that the public will tune in to watch every week.

[Evan]

Lawgirl: No doubt that's a possibility. In fact, now that I think about it, a show that featured nothing but train wrecks would make the producers a billion dollars. Who wouldn't want to watch a train wreck?

On further reflection, I chose a bad metaphor.

[Tim]

There were quite a few shows about train wrecks, car wrecks, and the like a few years back. Most of 'em ran on Fox, natch. I believe they were called something to the effect of The World's Scariest Crashes or somesuch. My friends and I watched them religiously. Heck, you can catch reruns of The World's Wildest Police Videos on Spike TV if your cable/satellite provider carries it, and it's very nearly a sure thing that you'll catch at least one very spectacular car wreck, some of them involving trains, per episode.

Back in my drinking days, my friends and I had a drinking game for that show - every time the host, Sherriff John Bunnell, said some variation on "Miraculously, no one was hurt," we did a shot. For those of you familiar with the show, it should be quite apparent just how hammered you could get on a single episode.