Harry's Law pilot review

The Good: Kathy Bates is awesome. Her character is hilarious. It’s sort of a Dr. House of lawyers, only she’s not quite as brilliant as he is yet. She quit patent law, because it is boring (word), and became a defense attorney pretty much overnight. The show is funny, the characters are cute, there’s a nice sort of whimsy, and the show gets you to root for criminals easily. Plus, Brittany Snow sells shoes out of the law office.

The Bad: If you know anything about the law, the rules of evidence, courtroom procedure, judges, lawyers, criminal law, or trials, you will not be able to watch this show without being pulled out of it by common sense. It is outlandish, to say the least. Ern (the blog’s law student) thought of sending the pilot to some of her professors to give them a good laugh. We're pretty sure you don't have to be a law student, lawyer, professor, or paralegal to notice this. It really takes some of the cuteness out when you realize how little in that show would actually slide by in real life. And there’s only been one episode! Also, this show likes to get on its soapbox about the poor, minorities, and criminals. Although we agreed with most of what Kathy Bates (Harry) said about the drug trade and drug criminals, not everyone will, and the blatant sermonizing will annoy a lot of people. ESPECIALLY since, in real life, she would not have been able to say those things when and where she said them. COURTROOMS HAVE RULES, PEOPLE. Also, the show is full of clichés and it's all really heavy-handed.

Bottom Line: Turn off your brain and turn on your funny bone, and you might be able to make it through this one. Not recommended though.

Episode grade: C-