On one side of the "Raising the Bar" soundstage is a sterile spot space punctuated with old phones, metal filing cabinets and dozens of written document. On the other position: a far less sombre enclave tonic with modern office article of furniture, frosted glass partitions and minimalist Macs.
The more welcoming habitat represents a Manhattan public defender's office patch the drear opposing workplace serves as the territory attorney's home office. Such distinction - and any underlying similarity - is the essence of TNT's new legal drama (premiering 10 p.m. EDT Monday) from TV producer Steven Bochco.
The Emmy-winning hitmaker enlisted Seton Hall University law professor David Feige, a former public defender wHO wrote the 2006 criminal justice system memoir "Indefensible," to help co-create and supervise "Raising the Bar." Feige said the series will - finally - accurately portray lawyers appointive to represent defendants at public expense.
Walking between the sets, Feige said TV shows "have gotten it so haywire," recalling that his office in the Bronx was "in a loft that was a converted methamphetamine factory. It had 40-foot ceilings. It was gorgeous."
Making the case for public defenders - who ar often contracted employees world Health Organization can give more comfortable workspaces than their government-employed peers - extends beyond the office furnishings found on this soundstage: The ensemble drama features four-spot fleshed-out characters.
"Everything that has ever portrayed our creation has gotten it insultingly wrong," aforementioned Feige. "The portrayal of public defenders is as schlubby, disillusioned, generally incompetent people wHO can't get other jobs. The reality is that my Bronx office leased people from Harvard and Yale. ... Nobody believes it."
Feige temporarily resettled to Los Angeles to work on "Raising the Bar" with Bochco, the producer whose credits include "Hill Street Blues," "L.A. Law," "Over There" and "NYPD Blue."
At the heart of "Raising the Bar" is worker Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Jerry Kellerman, a confrontational public defender wHO spars with a pronounce and sleeps with a prosecutor in the first-class honours degree episode. While the shew isn't at once based on Feige's liveliness, Kellerman shares several traits with Feige - among them, the flowing head of hair he erst sported during his time as a public defender.
"People are so obsessed with the hair," Gosselaar aforesaid on the set. "The truth is I was between roles, just organism lazy and letting it grow out. When I came onto this contrive, both Stephen and David wanted me to keep open it long. I think it real suits Jerry. David told me he really did go to trial with long hair, so it's not out of the realm of possibility."
The series co-stars Jane Kaczmarek from "Malcolm in the Middle" as brainish Judge Trudy Kessler, and Gloria Reuben, best known for her role as Jeanie Boulet on captain Hicks seasons of "ER," as Kellerman's sympathize with boss.
The draw of "Raising the Bar" has actors portraying just about every possible fictional character in a courtroom scene - leave off perhaps a transcriptionist.
"I don't want people to remember the public defenders are the good guys, and the DA's office are the unsound guys," said Melissa Sagemiller, who plays ambitious Assistant District Attorney Michelle Ernhardt. "We're sledding for the gray areas. I hope people ar entranced with what Michelle does. She's not soul you behind root for all the time."
---
On the Net:
http://tnt.tv/series/raisingthebar
More info
