Canterbury's Law pilot review

Canterbury's Law


tough female lawyer



Type of Pilot: Courtroom Drama


Similar Shows: Damages (tough female lawyer does whatever has to be done), Matlock (clever lawyer does whatever has to be done),


The Inner Light: tough female lawyer does whatever has to be done


Strengths: Julianna Margulies


Weaknesses: See it all before. Done better.


Impressive Characters: None.


Impressive Actors: James McCaffrey shines as the private eye who works for Canterbury. He only has a couple of scenes, but he is terrific. I like Julianna Margulies but she does nothing to aid her reputation in this nonsense.


Less-Than-Impressive Characters: All of the characters are idiots.


Less-Than-Impressive Actors: Ben Shenkman brings little or no charisma to the role of Russell Cross. Linus Roache is so bland as her husband, he might as well has phoned in his performance. Jocko Sims & Trieste Dunn have almost no scenes, and when they do appear they fail to make an impact. This show does nobody any favours.


Continuity: None. Who would care?


Rewatchability: Zero. It's pretty darn hard to watch it all through the first time, without attempting a re-watch.

Three Things I Really Like About This Pilot:

Julianna Margulies

Canterbury's relationship with Russell Cross is very interesting. They are on the same side. But they argue a lot. Not the romance-charged fighting you normally see between men and women on TV, but they fight because they disagree. I suppose the writers were going for a House-vibe, or whatever, but I liked it.

James McCaffrey

Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Pilot:

The real bad guy is very easy to spot. Since he is (a) the only suspect, and (b) the actor acts like a nut-job whenever the camera is on him. So, you gotta wonder: how stupid is everybody else in this show? How come Canterbury is the only one who can see that this nut-job is the real killer?

In an effort to make Canterbury seem really clever, the writer's make everyone else seem really stupid. Canterbury is the only one in the room who understands how TV News works. Canterbury is the only one in the room who can see that her client might commit suicide. Canterbury is the only one in the room who can see who the real killer is. Since all of this is obvious to even those with the lowest of low IQs you've gotta wonder what the heck is up with all the morons in this show?

Yet Another Lawyer who does what has to be done to get their client off. Are we ever going to see a show about a lawyer who doesn't give a ****?

Miscellaneous Comments:


What a yawn-inducing, disappointing hour of TV.

GRADE: C