Raising the Bar

Maybe it's all those Perry Mason novels I devoured as a kid, but I cannot resist a good Courtroom Drama. In the past I have loved The Practice, Law and Order SVU, Ally McBeal and Boston Legal. Looks like I may have discovered a new summer watch.

I was just channel surfing this evening and stumbled on Raising The Bar (TNT 7 & 9 pm Tuesdays). There were only 25 minutes to go when I started watching. Today's case was about a father who posted some semi-clad pictures of his little son innocently on a social networking site and was then prosecuted for child pornography because those pictures ended up on a porn website. As a result of this case, he was reduced to supervised weekly visits with his son, under indictment for child pornography which literally ruined his life and it all started with posting pictures of his son on a social networking site. Raising the Bar stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar (who many may recognize from Saved by the Bell - and boy has he come a long way) as a public defender - the do-gooder type - and he does a stellar job. It co-stars Gloria Reuben, Jane Kaczmarek (from Malcolm in the Middle) and Natalia Cigliuti. All the characters seem well etched from what little I saw and the show appears to be edgy and relevant.

I guess I've found something to do with my Monday evenings this summer. It's only 8 pm. What to watch next?