Premiere of 'Justice'

[sheri]

Well, tonight's the night Victor Garber fans have been waiting for. SpyDaddy is back in the saddle again with the series premiere of Fox's legal drama, 'Justice'. And just a few months after the finale of 'Alias'----we did not even have to wait long at all!

The ads look good, the reviews have been very positive. So remember to tune in to watch VG in action again tonight...9PMEastern/8PM Central. I'll try to get back on after the show and post my comments. I'll be curious to see what you guys think as well.

[Victor Medina]

By the way, Victor has an interview (of sorts, EW's Q&A is kinda wierd) in the latest Entertainment Weekly.

I'm looking forward to the show myself. I've heard a lot of good things.

Vic

[sheri]

Thanks for the info, Vic. Will check into that.

Re: Justice
[note:I've said before that I am not a crime/courtroom drama fan, so please view my comments in that light.]

The premise of Justice is enticing. It's refreshing to see this type of thing done from a defense perspective. (And if you ever get the chance to watch CourtTV with me you'll see that I usually stand with the defense from the get-go, making the prosecutor prove beyond a reasonable doubt....like they are supposed to. A friend of mine was put in prison for years for a crime she did not commit, and was blasted in the press....til she was exhonerated. I don't trust the system that much any more.)

That being said, I think the creative team behind Justice knows that there are a heck of a lot of crime shows out there....and because of that, I think that they are trying too hard to do too much. Hopefully, that will only apply to the pilot that we watched last night and they will tone down once they 'find themselves.'

Without going into the plot details, for those who may not have seen the show yet, I'll tell you that this is a show trying very hard to be hip and cutting edge. The cameras go hither and yon, the high-tech computer screens rock and roll, and the editing cuts are timed for maximum 'umph'.

But it all seemed very forced to me. There was no rhythm that I could fall into while watching it. Maybe that was what they were trying to achieve---a state of unease---but I didn't care for it much. I have enough stress in real life, you know?

Victor was good in it, but often even his performance seemed forced.....like he was being directed to be more frenetic. In the moments he was being more natural, he was much more effective. Like the scene where he was explaining to his client why the defense team has to do what they have to do, what the man was up against 'out there'. Very good. Also on the positive side, there was an underlying humor that came through many times. I even got the sense that there were times of deliberate character irony, like he (via the writers) was almost winking at his 'Alias' fans, indicating how unJack-like this new character is. Examples: "Ugh. Math. Not going to play well with the jury" (when he comes into the conference room that has complicated charts and graphs on the wall) or "What does THAT mean? Does it mean she fell down?" (when their genius expert uses a string of long scientific words).

Again, I am hoping that the kinks will be taken out eventually and that the show will achieve a clear and unified voice, because I really enjoyed where they were coming from and what they were trying to do. The cast members were effective, the writing was interesting, and the references to the female bulldog of CourtTV, Nancy Grace, in the person of the host of 'American Crime,' were spot-on.

(One question I have to ask, though, since this show follows 'Bones' in the schedule: Do all women experts in forensics have to look so svelt on these dramas? For shows that claim they want to be 'real', they sure don't stick to what the average expert in that field looks like. I know, I know.....svelt sells. LOL)

To sum up: 'Justice' was good. It could be better. I'll continue to watch out of loyalty to Mr. Garber, but it would not be a show I would watch for myself otherwise. But that's just me.

[Victor Medina]

I really liked Justice, the style was a nice counter to Law and Order (any version) which is also a show I liked. I think it runs the risk of being too gimmicky with the MTV editing like you said as well as the reach to be so high tech, it doesn't have to be CSI: Attorneys. I think the balance between Victor's character and the young, idealistic attorney will be what carries the show. Looking foward to more of it.

I was kicking myself after I saw Prison Break last night. They filmed a scene literally BLOCKS (ok, about a mile) down the street from my house. SCOFIELD!

Vic