Raising the Bar proves that lawyers make compelling TV.  And despite unfavorable reviews, Steven Bochco's new legal drama is arguably off to a good start with its groundbreaking premiere that set the bar high for TNT. But will the rest of the episodes live up to the show's hype?

Read on for a preview of tonight's episode.

In the pilot episode of Raising the Bar, moralistic public defender Jerry Kellerman tried to defend a man accused of rape on rather flimsy evidence and got a fairly good plea bargain offer from persecutor Michelle Ernhardt.  However, Judge Trudy Kessler, the judge that despises him, had other plans as she refused to let the plea bargain go through.  Michelle, on the other hand, was forced to carry on with the case.

In the second episode of Raising the Bar called “Guatemala Gulfstream,” Jerry defends a man accused of murder.  However, his effort to defend the suspect's name are thwarted when the only key eyewitness is stuck in Guatemala and is possibly hold up there by crooked inside forces.

Meanwhile, Michele has an opportunity to try her first murder trial, Richard defends on a racially explosive assault case and Charlie finds himself in an awkward situation when he runs into a former lover in the courtroom.

Raising the Bar, the series that revolves around a group of law school classmates who find themselves on opposite sides of the criminal law, stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Jerry Kellerman, Jane Kaczmarek as Trudy Kessler, Melissa Sagemiller as Michelle Ernhardt, Teddy Sears as Richard Patrick Woolsley, Currie Graham as Nick Balco, Gloria Reuben as Rosalind Whitman, J. August Richards as Marcus McGrath, Jonathan Scarfe as Charlie Sagansky and Natalia Cigliuti as Roberta "Bobbi" Gilardi.

Catch a new episode of Raising the Bar every Monday at 10pm on TNT.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TNT
(Image courtesy of TNT)