The first episode of the new law TV series “Harry’s Law” I saw on NBC Saturday night was flooded with so many liberal causes I drowned. And, I’m a liberal.
For an hour, one favorite progressive ideologue after another was piled on top of the other with so much corn fructose that my blood sugars elevated 100 points in that span, a record in that time slot.
It was so much overkill that if my conservative lady friend had joined watching it with me she would have demanded a channel shift or walk out of my life forever.
The political tone bashed into our heads with the scriptwriters’ hammer is sad for they have written crisp dialogue for the actors and created a worn but workable legal beagle show.
Kathy Bates steals, is, carries and dominates the show as Harriet “Harry” Korn, a fired $600,000-a-year patent attorney who forms a new law firm in a Cincinnati ghetto. As usual, she gives award-winning believable performances.
Harry is not a rigid progressive on gun control. In an opening scene, a rat scurries across the low income former shoe store converted to law offices. She pulls a .38 revolver from her desk drawer and shoots it.
Harry’s first “client” is an old black lady living all her life in the community but faces a minimum three years in prison for robbing a store at gunpoint because she’s broke and starving.
During the trial, the government was accused of failing the woman, essentially demanding a death sentence to prison because of her age, spending billions on bailouts than helping the poor and the only reason she was alive was because of the healthcare reform bill. Oh, the store owner she robbed, she said sold drugs to youths.
The jury verdict: Innocent. Even Harry shook her head in disbelief. Her retainer was a bank bag filled with $26 in coins, the woman’s life savings.
The other story line played out by actor Ami Ameen involved the improbable case of a Cincinnati laundry owner requiring a female employee to one child as in accordance of Chinese Communist policy. The writers emptied the garage on the issue — over population, abortion rights, genocide, birth control, human rights and even the pursuit of happiness despite the jurisdictional gulf in Sino/American relations.
This case goes to the Ohio Supreme Court. My verdict: Don’t let universal facts of law get in a way of a good story.
The thing is I loved the show and the acting and the bantering of crisp dialogue among the cast of characters.
In past years I paid little heed to conservative complaints that the West Wing television series about a Democratic administration was too liberal. And I cringed that the right knocked a docudrama on Ronald and Nancy Reagan off the network air.
But the Harry writers and producers deserve a yellow flag 15-yard penalty for piling on the absurd.
I believe in most progressive causes but seen piled on as a 100-deck sandwich, it’s too much to consume at one sitting.
As the final scene fades from the screen, the old black lady returns to the law office.
“Welcome to the neighborhood,” she said. A tear drop formed in the corner of my right eye.
I keep telling myself this is Hollywood style of entertainment. Of course. Simply ratchet down the apostolizing.
Jerry Remmers worked 26 years in the newspaper business. His last 23 years was with the Evening Tribune in San Diego where assignments included reporter, assistant city editor, county and politics editor.