L.A. Law (1986-1994) (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

And this scene at 37:10 from this 1988 Magical World of Disney episode now seems prophetic. Mickey Mouse disappears and Donald Duck is arrested for it; guess who his legal representation is. And it gets weirder since Jill Eikenberry is playing a different character*:



*Cheers and Family Ties started when Michael Eisner was still at Paramount, so that made it easier to get their casts in character. At least the Mouse can't actually claim ownership either of those shows nor Hunter.

 

[The Drifter]

Recently finished L.A. Law S02. Wow. I know I've praised this show in previous posts, but I can't say enough good things about this series. What a f#%#%# brilliant & well-done show - I think the expletive is warranted here.

Some of my favorite storylines/plot points mid-way & through the end of this season:

- Young, ambitious lawyer Jonathan Rollins (Blair Underwood) is prosecuting a case against a scammer who has bilked an elderly woman out of her life savings, but the authorities can't prove anything because the scammer has hidden the money...and arrogantly admits as much in front of his lawyer, Rollins, and Stuart (who is also present at the trial). To add insult to injury, the scammer also has numerous other complaints against him re: his stealing money from other people - but nothing has been proven. And, it's obvious the scammer is arrogant & unrepentant. What a scum-bag. People like this are the worst types of criminals, i.e. those who go after the elderly/ignorant/naive & take advantage of them by cheating them out of their life savings.

Rollins conducts hours of cross-examination against the scammer & is justifiably accusatory towards him.

Spoiler: SPOILER

This culminates in the man dropping dead of a heart attack/stroke - right there in the courtroom. Since the guy was such a douche, this is poetic justice. However, Rollins isn't finished! He then asks the judge if the scammer's assets can be distributed to those he cheated (or something to that effect), and the judge says he will take this into consideration

When the head lawyers at the firm later meet about this incident, most of them condemn Rollins & believe that he was over-zealous in his cross-examination & approach, which led to the scammer's death. However, Stuart completely disagrees with the rest of the team & praises Rollins for being clever, showing initiative, and for having the client's best interests at heart. He closes his monologue by stating, "He's the type of lawyer people hire." Agreed!

Note about this episode: Initially, when the scum-bag dropped dead I thought this was another scam, and he was doing this so he could get out of the trial/prosecution. But, as time went on it became obvious that the character had actually died.

And, one of my favorite comedic scenes in S02:

-Arnie is sitting alone at a table in an expensive-looking L.A. bistro/cafe. Sitting near him (a couple of tables away) are two wealthy women who are talking about divorce/divorce lawyers, etc. Arnie's name is mentioned (though it's obvious neither woman knows he's sitting near them), and he initially smiles, though doesn't let on who he is - thinking the women are going to say something nice/complimentary about him. However, one of them severely bad-mouths him, and describes him as someone who "Dresses like a Vegas pit boss, with a body by Pillsbury (bringing to mind those old commercials about the dough boy), and a hairline that'll need a weave in two years." - HA! HA! Arnie's expression quickly changes from pleased to chagrined in seconds..hilarious

 

[bmasters9]

Recently finished L.A. Law S02. Wow. I know I've praised this show in previous posts, but I can't say enough good things about this series. What a f#%#%# brilliant & well-done show - I think the expletive is warranted here.

Did you notice the instance of the Twentieth Television Fox logo that I told you about before?

 

[The Drifter]

Did you notice the instance of the Twentieth Television Fox logo that I told you about before?

Yes, I did - sorry I didn't mention it in my reviews; I am so floored by the high quality of this show that I focus on the storyline/acting & also the Picture Quality (PQ) of the DVD sets.

 

[bmasters9]

Yes, I did - sorry I didn't mention it in my reviews; I am so floored by the high quality of this show that I focus on the storyline/acting & also the Picture Quality (PQ) of the DVD set.

Fair enough-- didn't realize that's what you were going for; me being autistic, I look at closing logos just as much as I do the show.

 

[chrisbaileyca]

Hello. I bought seasons 1-3 from Shout Factory then later the complete series UK R2 box set when it was on sale and far cheaper than importing the later seasons individually. I never bothered to check out the R2 seasons 1-3, and after reading about the potential PQ differences I pulled them out of storage to compare.

I was surprised to see that only the R2 season 1 suffers from "PAL speedup"... seasons 2 and 3 have almost identical running times to their R1 counterparts +/- 15 seconds. No higher pitch sound, yet still running at 576i/25fps.

The R2 season 1 definitely has better PQ. The R2 season 2 looks slightly better than R1 (less noise), but with more muted colors. Season 3 varies episode to episode.

Many of the same episodes have different 20th television / 1980's era 20th Century Fox logos.

Unfortunately a mixed bag on picking a "better" version to stick with season to season.

Finally, all seasons in the UK box set are REGION FREE. Your DVD player would just need to be able to play a PAL disc without objecting, then output at NTSC.

 

[The Drifter]

Good to know. As someone who's on the verge of watching S03 of the R1 DVD set, I'm sure I'll be going into L.A. Law "withdrawal" (ha ha) once I finish S03 & can't get the rest of the show on DVD.

I'm still hazy on whether or not my R1 Blu player would play R2 DVD's. Years ago, I remember one of my older players had issues playing certain DVD's, and I couldn't understand why. I'm hesitant investing money in a R2 DVD set of L.A. Law (if I can even get ahold of this) unless I'm 100% sure these DVD's will work on my player.

Of course, there's always streaming.

 

[chrisbaileyca]

Good to know. As someone who's on the verge of watching S03 of the R1 DVD set, I'm sure I'll be going into L.A. Law "withdrawal" (ha ha) once I finish S03 & can't get the rest of the show on DVD.

I'm still hazy on whether or not my R1 Blu player would play R2 DVD's. Years ago, I remember one of my older players had issues playing certain DVD's, and I couldn't understand why. I'm hesitant investing money in a R2 DVD set of L.A. Law (if I can even get ahold of this) unless I'm 100% sure these DVD's will work on my player.

Of course, there's always streaming.

What make/model of BD player do you have?

Regarding ordering, Amazon.co.uk is super easy to deal with. Often it has cheaper prices than Amazon.com (ie X-Files complete series) and sometimes seasons are only released outside the US (Homeland S7...).

EDITED UPDATE: turns out LA Law complete series is OOP on Amazon.co.uk

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Hello. I bought seasons 1-3 from Shout Factory then later the complete series UK R2 box set when it was on sale and far cheaper than importing the later seasons individually. I never bothered to check out the R2 seasons 1-3, and after reading about the potential PQ differences I pulled them out of storage to compare.

I was surprised to see that only the R2 season 1 suffers from "PAL speedup"... seasons 2 and 3 have almost identical running times to their R1 counterparts +/- 15 seconds. No higher pitch sound, yet still running at 576i/25fps.

The R2 season 1 definitely has better PQ. The R2 season 2 looks slightly better than R1 (less noise), but with more muted colors. Season 3 varies episode to episode.

Many of the same episodes have different 20th television / 1980's era 20th Century Fox logos.

Unfortunately a mixed bag on picking a "better" version to stick with season to season.

Finally, all seasons in the UK box set are REGION FREE. Your DVD player would just need to be able to play a PAL disc without objecting, then output at NTSC.

I was also glad to know that I need to buy Shout's S1 but everything else is good.

 

[The Drifter]

Some more comments on S02 of L.A. Law:

-Roxanne (Arnie's secretary) is one of my favorite characters on the series; she seems like a genuinely nice & kind person. Unfortunately, up to S02 she was too trusting. And, this led to her getting romantically involved with a con man & then having to go to prison because of some questionable financial "investments" she made due to his coertion/influence/direction.

And, despite her having hit rock-bottom...it was great to see her decide to testify against the P.O.S. that was responsible for her problems...after she found out that he had scammed other women in exactly the same way.

However, even after she got out of prison...subsequent scenes involved her having to declare bankruptcy (because of her financial problems due to the con man fiasco). This was something that was especially humiliating for her, given that she'd been self-sufficient & working since she was 19 - as she mentioned to other women at the firm. I hope she's able to get back on her feet in future seasons.

-The law firm gets a then-new shredder, that they have to learn to use; it's obvious this technology was new to them at the time, since a lot of people in the office were unfamiliar with this. There was a scene when Benny mistakenly shredded some documents that he was supposed to make copies of - something that could happen to anyone. This shredder was obviously old-skool, in that it shredded the paper into long strips. So, if someone had enough time/patience, they could - with difficulty - definitely reconstruct some of these pages.

Subsequently, more recent shredders were designed to cut the paper into tiny little pieces that would be impossible to reconstruct.

 

[The Drifter]

What make/model of BD player do you have?

EDITED UPDATE: turns out LA Law complete series is OOP on Amazon.co.uk

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure which BD player I currently have since it's not in front of me. However, as I said in my previous post I would be extremely hesitant to invest money in any kind of DVD set that may not work on my player. From past experience, the only way to be 100% certain any disk will work is to actually try to play this. Hell, I've had issues with R1 disks (either DVD/Blu) not working in my R1 Blu player. So, any R2 disk would be questionable - just by definition.

I also had looked up on Amazon uk to see if the L.A. Law complete series was available (in R2) and saw that it was sold out.

Again, here's hoping a R1 DVD/Blu release of the entire L.A. Law series (all 8 seasons) comes out at some point...but I won't be holding my breath.

True enough-- of course, for some, that will be in the furthest recesses of their minds; they'll take the show any way they can get it, whether the picture quality is pristine or horrible.

Exactly! If I can only see S04-on of L.A. Law via a sub-par print, that's better than not watching it at all. Several years ago I watched the entire underrated Midnight Caller series (1988-1991) via crummy streams. However, it was better than nothing. As it turns out, MC still hasn't hit physical media - and maybe never will.

 

[The Drifter]

General comment about L.A.:

There's a lot of talk on the show about the high cost of living in the area. Ain't that the truth! I don't know how anyone can afford to live in a decent place there (home or apartment) - unless you bought a place years ago when the prices were reasonable; are loaded to begin with; and/or make a hell of a lot of money....This seems like it would be true in the late '80's (when the show is initially set) through today.

I briefly considered moving to that area back in the '90's, but quickly realized I couldn't afford it. Back in the early 200X's, I was in L.A. on vacation & it was instantly obvious that everything was more expensive than in many other areas. Even eating at McDonalds was more $ than I typically paid in other states/cities. I went to a party there, and was talking to a local young woman who had recently finished college & gotten a good job. However, she still had to move back in with her parents because she couldn't afford to get her own place. She said (and I quote), "You have to pay to breathe out here." It sounds like this isn't that much of an exaggeration - ha ha.

 

[MatthewA]

Finally, all seasons in the UK box set are REGION FREE. Your DVD player would just need to be able to play a PAL disc without objecting, then output at NTSC.

Mine aren't. Every time I load them into the Blu-ray drive hooked via USB into my MacBook air, the DVD Player app loads and asks me to reset the region. I get around this by playing them through VLC.

 

[The Drifter]

Though it's taken me a while, I finally started watching L.A. Law S03 on the DVD set. And, just based on the first four episodes (Disk 01), this is going to be a hell of a season. As with the previous two seasons, this series boasts an incredible cast & extremely good & clever writing/plots. Very impressive.

-EP01 starts with one of my favorite openers in the series (so far): The firm is having their regular weekly?! office meeting, and somehow the controversial issue of gun control/citizens owning guns comes up. Abby mentions that given that she is a single woman with a child & living in a high crime area, she owns a handgun for protection - and displays it for the group to see. Mike Kuzac asks her if she would be able to use it if necessary, and she replies: "For my protection?! Or, for my son's protection?! You bet your a$$."

-Victor prosecutes a security/alarm company that failed to protect a woman & her husband from a vicious criminal who broke in the house & assaulted the woman - despite the company's claims that they could provide this protection.

-A case that Gracie is prosecuting involves a man who has a habit of harassing women with unwanted attention; the specific offense he is being prosecuted for involves him getting "frisky" with a strange woman in a movie theater, who brings him up on charges.

Spoiler

Gracie decides to give him a break due to his acting contrite. However, right after the trial is over she & Kuzac get on the same elevator with the guy - and witness him harassing & then kissing a woman who doesn't want anything to do with him. As a result, the guy gets sent to jail - LOL.

-Jonathan Rollins & Victor prosecute a company that "highly encourages" it's associates to go rock/mountain climbing with the boss in order to get ahead in the company - which results in an associate falling to his death.

Spoiler

Initially, Jonathan didn't want Victor's help & resented him because he felt Victor was "baby-sitting" him. However, after Victor saves the case (due to Jonathan being too aggressive) - Jonathan sees the value that Victor brought to the table. Excellent scene(s), and Rollins' closing argument was very understated & powerful. Well-done.

 

[The Drifter]

Continuing with my S03 review:

-Kuzac is the defense attorney for a man who clearly assaulted a woman against her will. Kuzac makes her out to be the "bad guy", by exposing a personal diary she had written with her intimate thoughts. This is a classic case of victim-blaming.

Spoiler

Kuzac loses the case, and the victim tells him off in a great scene. This also causes a temporary?! rift between him & Gracie.

-Abby decides to go solo due to not seeing herself getting anywhere professionally in the law office. Though she likes her colleagues, she feels it is best if she opens up her own practice & works alone.

One of her first clients is a plumber who acts like a victim; he claims that he did a lot of work for a health spa that was opening up in the area, and not only did they not pay him but are suing him for breach of contract/negligence, etc.

Spoiler

Abby decides to take the case, but early on she realizes that she has been duped, since the plumper severely misrepresented himself to her. As it turns out, he is the one at fault for doing a terrible job & incorrectly attached the sewer line (instead of the water line) in the health spa - resulting in a disgusting mess on opening day. On top of that, his check to her bounced. Despite his pleas, she tells him that she can't represent him anymore & tries to get out of the situation - and even tells him that he doesn't owe her anything, which she feels should get rid of him.

However, the plumper loses it in her office & starts destroying the place, and then attacks her with a metal pipe. In desperation, Abby takes out her gun and shoots him dead. This scene was obviously foreshadowed by the EP01 opening sequence - well-done!

 

[The Drifter]

My technical review of the L.A. Law S03 DVD set & some other DVD comments (didn't want to make the previous threads too long):

The S03 PQ is comparable to the S02 set. I.e., it's better than S01 & better than a VHS rip - but still not that great.

As I've mentioned before, it's a damn shame that S04-S08 of this series aren't available on Region 1 DVD.

I still hold out some hope for a future Region 1 Blu (or even remastered DVD) set of the entire series. We'll see if that ever comes to pass. I suspect there are enough fans of this show to justify something like this. A company like Warner Archive seems like they would be a logical choice to release this.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I still hold out some hope for a future Region 1 Blu (or even remastered DVD) set of the entire series. We'll see if that ever comes to pass. I suspect there are enough fans of this show to justify something like this. A company like Warner Archive seems like they would be a logical choice to release this.

Well, I'm going to kill that hope right now.

LA Law was owned by Fox, who is now owned by Disney. This show will likely never see any further physical releases because of that. It's in the vault.

It is part of some IMDB TV streaming deal, though, last I read.

 

[David Weicker]

Seasons 1-8 are available on Amazon Prime (possibly via IMDB TV). The picture quality isn't great.

 

[The Drifter]

Well, I'm going to kill that hope right now.

LA Law was owned by Fox, who is now owned by Disney. This show will likely never see any further physical releases because of that. It's in the vault.

It is part of some IMDB TV streaming deal, though, last I read.

Good to know - Thanks. This is disappointing, but not at all surprising. The R1 S03 DVD set came out almost 7 years ago, and there have been no plans to release future seasons. I.e., if it were going to happen - it would have probably happened already.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Good to know - Thanks. This is disappointing, but not at all surprising. The S03 DVD set came out almost 7 years ago, and there have been no plans to release future seasons. I.e., if it were going to happen - it would have probably happened already.

It barely got released in the UK. There was a good 3, 4 year hiatus between seasons 6 and 7 where it looked like it had been abandoned over there. And if Shout couldn't swing it in the US, I don't know who could've.