The USA Network has made a name for itself as the best place on the basic cable dial to find new dramatic series, but given TNT’s current slate, it’s beginning to look as though USA had better start watching their ass; they’ve already got two solid entries in “The Closer” and “Saving Grace,” and now that they’re bringing in “Raising the Bar” and “Leverage,” things are looking even more impressive.
“Raising the Bar” is the latest contribution from Steven Bochco, the man who brought you such television classics as “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “NYPD Blue,” and…yes!…”Cop Rock.” (Hey, he likes it.) As you may have guessed from the show’s title, Bochco is returning to the judicial system again, and he’s bringing another fantastic ensemble with him, including Mark-Paul Gosselaar (“NYPD Blue”), Jane Kaczmarek (“Malcolm in the Middle”), Gloria Reuben (“E.R.”), and J. August Richards (“Angel”).
“This is a show that’s not just about criminal attorneys or prosecutors,” clarified Bochco. “It’s a show about the judicial system. We wanted to access legitimate points of view, not just from the defense side or the prosecution side, but from the judge’s point of view as well; we felt that we really needed to have a consistent representative voice for the series.” Enter Kaczmarek, who’ll be playing a judge for the second time in her career…though she’ll be a little less animated this time. (Her previous judicial role was as Judge Harm on “The Simpsons.”)
Seeing Gosselaar in the cast isn’t as big a surprise this time as it was when Bochco hired him for “NYPD Blue” back in 2001, but Bochco stands by his decision then and now. “Mark-Paul is one of the small, handful of best actors that we have in television today,” he said. “I hate to talk about a guy who is sitting here, but Mark-Paul has a big heart, and it’s been evident in his work ever since we got together, so when David and I started working on “Raising the Bar,” we always had Mark-Paul in our heads as an image for this guy. I’ve never worked with anybody who gives more of himself to the work process. He’s a wonderful professional; the ego gets checked at the door. That’s very refreshing.”
After he shook off the compliments, Gosselaar addressed Bochco’s comments, revealing that his first encounter with the legendary producer was when he auditioned for Bochco’s short-lived ABC series, “Philly.” “I knew the name,” he said, “(but) I had never seen an episode of ‘NYPD Blue.’ I didn’t see ‘Hill Street.’ So I just did my work, and then I remember him saying right in the room, ‘You are good.’ He had such an honest quality about him. To say that to an actor…I didn’t know how to take that. And then from that, I didn’t get ‘Philly,’ but three weeks later, he said that he would think about another character on ‘NYPD Blue,’ and half a year later, I was on that show. I’m in shock from that meeting, that he is able to see a quality in an actor and take him through a process. I feel like I blossomed and developed on that show to do the work that I’m doing now. He creates an environment that allows actors to do that, and you feel safe being with him. That’s what he does.”
Okay, enough back-patting. Let’s talk about the show itself.
“Raising the Bar” emerged from the work of David Fiege, writer of Indefensible. Apparently, there had been some interest from television about adapting it in some capacity, so Fiege wanted Bocho to take a look at it. “So I happily read it,” said Bochco, “and I thought it was wonderful. The book really chronicles his 12 to 15 years as a public defender in the Bronx. But I said I didn’t want to do a series about a public defender. We had done ‘Philly,’ with Kim Delaney, which I thought was a terrific show, but I didn’t feel that audiences really identify particularly with attorneys who represent scumbags by and large. So I said, ‘Great book. Thank you very much and goodbye.’ Next thing I know, I get this 10-foot-long e-mail from this guy within an impassioned defense of that world and why it’s a worthy world. And I said to Dayna, my wife, ‘You know, this man is so passionate about what he does and what he believes in, we should be in business with passionate people, because that’s what we do.’ And so I coincidentally wound up having a meeting with Michael Wright (of TNT) just to say ‘hello’ – we’d never met before – and in talking about ideas, I said, ‘Well, you know, I’ve been talking to this author in New York because he wrote this book…’ And, literally, within two minutes, Michael said I should do that show.
“I called David and I said, ‘You know, if you want to start with a blank page and really do a show about a dysfunctional criminal justice system where the point of view isn’t skewed just towards public defenders but to prosecutors and judges as well, that’s something I’d be very interested in doing.’ And he said, ‘I’d like that, sure, let’s do that.’ And I said, ‘Well, okay, because I’ve just sold it.'”
“At which point,” Feige continued, “I said, ‘So what exactly does that mean?’ And he said, ‘I’ll send you a plane ticket. Come out to California.'”
And the rest of the story…i.e. how it turned out…will be airing on TNT in the very near future. But from what I’ve seen thus far, it looks like another classic Bochco production. If there’s any complaint, it’s the fact that, for all of the likeable actors in the cast, there aren’t necessarily a lot of likable characters on the show, based on the first episode, but that’s kind of the challenge, isn’t it? If anyone can make me like these characters, it’s Steven Bochco, and I look forward to seeing if he can pull that off.
The other drama being trotted out by the network during the tour is “Leverage,” an ensemble drama which is described as the story of a bunch of slightly reformed bad guys, a collection of hackers, thieves, con men and grifters, who decide to put their unique skills to work to help out people being taken advantage of by those more powerful than themselves. “It’s sort of in the spirit of an ‘Ocean’s 11’ or ‘Mission: Impossible,'” said TNT’s Michael Wright. “It’s incredibly inventive, very, very stylish, and, most of all, it’s great fun.” Fair enough, and it all sounds great – there’s nothing I enjoy more than characters who veer between hero and anti-hero – but, truth be told, they already had me on board from the moment I heard that Timothy Hutton was leading the cast.
“I read the script and just thought this would be really kind of a great journey to go down,” said Hutton. “I like the whole setup of it. I like the character. I like all of the different situations we’re going to find ourselves in. It just was a very exciting opportunity; I felt to be excited again to go to work each day. John (Rogers, producer) and Dean (Devlin, director) are very collaborative, and we had a fantastic time doing the pilot. Dean was incredible to work with as a director and pushed all of us to explore things that I don’t know we would have done on our own, and we had a great time doing it, and we all trust these two guys enormously.”
Rogers, who also wrote the script for the pilot, spoke lovingly of the series as well. “This is a fun show and it’s a break-in show, a lot of cool action and stunts,” he said, “but the heart of the show is that these are five people who are all broken in some way or another, and they find that when they’re together something magical happens. It’s a little bit like the ’84 Celtics: separately not so great, together remarkable. And that’s what these guys are, and they find themselves creating this unusual family, and it somehow works for them. And that’s kind of the interesting thing we want to explore is how do those people, who don’t trust anyone, who are loners, stay together and work together?”
Also in the cast is Gina Bellman, recently seen on BBC America’s “Jekyll” but probably best known for her role on the original BBC version of “Coupling” (i.e. the funny one). Her appearance on “Leverage” is not, however, a case of making a run for the big American bucks. “I’m definitely an actor that goes with the writing,” she assured us. “I’ve been very lucky in England, and I’ve worked a lot with writers like Steven Moffat, who wrote ‘Coupling’ and ‘Jekyll.’ I do a lot of theater in London. I started my career with Dennis Potter. So, for me, it’s always been about the writing, and I’ve never had a real urge to come to the U.S. and do something, although I’ve always been open to it. But I did read John’s script, and I just loved it. I think what’s great about the show is that it seems to me that all the shows that are a success right now all have a balance of smart and fun; they’re always a little bit mentally engaging, but also a fun and a little tongue in cheek. I think this show balances that perfectly, and I’m really excited to be able to use both of my skills as a comic actress and a dramatic actress in this series.”
I know you’re probably skeptical at the excitement of the producers and writers, but “Leverage” really does look pretty damned good. Thus far, they’ve only filmed the pilot, so it’ll be a little while before we see if the series as a whole lives up to the pilot’s promise, but with that case, it’s worth remaining hopeful.
