Fairly Legal was a USA Network original series that ran just two seasons from 2011 to 2012. It starred Sarah Shahi (at that point best known for her roles on the series Alias, the other short-lived series Life, and the L-Word). She plays Kate Reed, a lawyer who worked in her father's law firm, but stopped practicing law to become a mediator because she thought that the legal system treated people unfairly. She still works for the firm, which is managed by her "evil" stepmother, Lauren, played by Virginia Williams. The rest of the main cast is rounded out by Michael Trucco, who plays the assistant district attorney for San Fransisco and Kate's ex-husband, Justin, Baron Vaughn who plays Kate's sarcastic assistant, Leo, and in the second season, Ryan Johnson, who plays a new partner at the firm, Ben Grogan. Gerald McRaney and Esai Morales have substantial recurring roles as well.
The series is mainly a case-of-the-week format in which kate has to mediate some dispute, either involving a client of the firm or via court-ordered mediation. To say she does things in a very informal way is an understatement, and the show definitely makes the process seem more exciting than it actually is. In the second season, the show takes on more of a soap opera-like tone with a love triangle between Kate, Justin, and Ben. Unfortunately, the show never really managed to boost its ratings and was canceled after the second season. The writers were definitely setting up storylines for a third season that would never materialize and does leave fans feeling a bit underwhelmed as there are threads that get dangled in the series finale that will never be paid off.
This set is just the first and second season DVD sets packaged together. So, the extras are just what was included on the individual season sets. For the first season, the extras included commentary tracks on select episodes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. In season two, there are just deleted scenes and a gag reel. Shahi is great on the commentary tracks and ends one of them with a pretty funny story about her first day of filming on the L-Word that ends the commentary in a very colorful way.
Overall, the series is very good and deserved a longer run. I would not say that it was as good as series like Psych and Burn Notice but was definitely on par with series like Covert Affairs and In Plain Sight. That, of course, is very subjective, but for me, that is where it falls compared to the other series that were airing on the network at the time. I cannot guarantee that everyone will love the show, but if you have not seen it and are looking for a good dramadey, it is worth checking out.
The series is mainly a case-of-the-week format in which kate has to mediate some dispute, either involving a client of the firm or via court-ordered mediation. To say she does things in a very informal way is an understatement, and the show definitely makes the process seem more exciting than it actually is. In the second season, the show takes on more of a soap opera-like tone with a love triangle between Kate, Justin, and Ben. Unfortunately, the show never really managed to boost its ratings and was canceled after the second season. The writers were definitely setting up storylines for a third season that would never materialize and does leave fans feeling a bit underwhelmed as there are threads that get dangled in the series finale that will never be paid off.
This set is just the first and second season DVD sets packaged together. So, the extras are just what was included on the individual season sets. For the first season, the extras included commentary tracks on select episodes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. In season two, there are just deleted scenes and a gag reel. Shahi is great on the commentary tracks and ends one of them with a pretty funny story about her first day of filming on the L-Word that ends the commentary in a very colorful way.
Overall, the series is very good and deserved a longer run. I would not say that it was as good as series like Psych and Burn Notice but was definitely on par with series like Covert Affairs and In Plain Sight. That, of course, is very subjective, but for me, that is where it falls compared to the other series that were airing on the network at the time. I cannot guarantee that everyone will love the show, but if you have not seen it and are looking for a good dramadey, it is worth checking out.
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