DTHOmnibusThursday,' February 2, 19897
Lawyers in love
'L-A- Law5 rests its
By WINSTON P. LLOYD
Staff Writer
Some would have you believe
that "LA Law" is nothing more
than "Dr. Ruth in a $500 suit"
That's from a letter to the editor
in next week's "TV Guide."
Yes, they do get a little risque,
but as series producer Steven
Bochco said, they dont act like
"children run amok." in fact, "LA
Law" is an elaborate combination
of crime drama, personal drama,
comedy, and soap opera.
Always a critic's favorite (it
sweeps the Emmys every year)
the legal drama got off to a fairly
good start in the ratings, thanks
to the Cosby-Cheers-Night Court
lead-in. This season it has consist
ently penetrated the top 10.
The writing seems often to
avoid the tried and true plot lines
in order to give the audience a
different twist on an old idea It
is easy to write about a minority
being screwed by the system, but
do we expect to see a minority
(James Earl Jones, last week) trying
to exploit the idea of racism in
order to win a case? Or a very
moral cop who bends the laws in
favor of justice, but at the cost
of the actual letter of the law?
One of the main themes of "LA
Law" seems to be that the letter
of the law must be followed and
the system must be allowed to run
its course. You not only cant fight
dty hall, but It's morally wrong to
even attempt to circumvent the
system.
in one of last season's episodes,
Ann Kelsey Uill Eikenberry) success
fully defended a murder suspect.
After the trial, she wanted
nothing more than to have the
case reopened, and to convict her
client. These characters can do
wrong. But her husband, the
idealist Stuart Markowitz (Eiken-
An experiment delving into MTV's hot sweaty world
By BILLY STOCKARD
Staff Writer
MTV. Veg-TV. Music Television
24 hours a day. As an experiment
I spent an afternoon watching
nothing but this fascinating chan
nel and I concluded that it's truly
original, imaginative TV. I saw
some groups that I hadnt ever
heard of before I expanded my
musical horizons. Wedged in
between the commercials, there's
actually something for everybody
(well, almost everybody).
The first video I saw was Wing
er's "Seventeen " A lot of people
have strong feelings about this
heavy metal music,- a lot of people
would probably have strong
things to say about these videos.
Whatever else can be said, though,
I can tell these Winger folks really
get into their music. This video has
a lot of shadows and bright red
lights. The members of this group
perform onstage, sweating and
berry's real-life husband Michael
Tucker) talks her out of pursuing
it.
This season, Mike Kuzak (Harry
Hamlin), in an effort to avoid a
mistrial and further cost and
misery for his client, covered up
the f act that the opposing counsel
was not actually a lawyer. A well
organized, logical decision ... but
not to the review board of the
California State Bar. He was sus
pended for a month.
Even Assistant District Attorney
Grace van Owen isnt immune.
When she got a murder conviction
based on illegally-obtained evi
dence, she tried to reopen the
case. The. police didnt agree, and
when they allowed a new case,
they also allowed the newly
released felon to be killed, by the
people they got him to rat on.
These are the stories that make
"LA Law" ( much more intelligent
than other shows on TV, according
to John Eason, a senior business
major. Although it's only fiction,
"at least if s related to reality," he
said. And that's one of the ways
"LA Law" excels. The character
descriptions are realistic and it
doesnt jump out and grab your
throat with its "realism" by its
depiction of the human condition.
If you wanted to be obvious, you
would have your characters
smacking their food, talking, and
tapping forks on china during a
dinner conversation about the
Institution of marriage. Like
"thirtysomething."
But "LA Law" is not trying to
be cute, it may be quite cerebral
at times, but it can also be silly.
The producers havent restricted
themselves to only "realistic"
situations. Look at the caricature
of Roxanne's (Susan Ruttan) new
husband. He's a joke, but his
purpose is to develop the person
jumping and shaking their long
hair, and gradually they find a way
to take off some part of their
clothing. The scenes jump from
shots of the band to the one girl
whose face is never completely
revealed. I got the feeling that
Winger was singing to her or at
her, but I'm not sure I believe she's
17, judging from what she does
reveal.
As I said, there's something for
everybody. The next performer I
saw was none other than Michael
Jackson with "Leave Me Alone."
Michael goes on an ego trip in this
video (what a surprise). The video
starts off with newspaper head
lines featuring stories about him,
and from there, Michael throws
himself into a whirlwind of differ
ent activities, like floating down
a stream into a huge mouth that
keeps opening and closing. Where.
Winger had its attention on that
l7year-old- girl, Michael empria-
case on
ality of Roxanne, and probably her
relationship with her. boss Arnold
Becker.
Now, to erase the need for
anyone to continue watching
"Knots Landing," here is a guide to
the happenings at Los Angeles law
firm MackenzieBrackman &
Associates:
Mike Kuzak (Harry Hamlin):
Mickey was originally the main
thrust of the stories, sort of the
resident Perry Mason, but as often
happens with an ensemble cast,
others are becoming popular. As
of the last new episode, Kuzak was
out of work after being suspended
for questionable ethics. He lives
with Grace Van Owen, with whom
he has had a very on-again, off
again romance.
Grace van Owen (Susan Dey):
watch one episode and forget all
about the "Partridge Family." She's
an assistant district attorney who
is always losing to James Earl
Jones, a sneaky defender. Lucky for
Grace, he's only on the show once
in a while, van Owen's conscience
has one of the loudest voices on
the show, and Dey does a good
job showing her inner turmoil.
Arnold "Arnie" Becker (Cor
bin Bernsenk He's the good-time
lawyer. Mainly concentrating in
domestic matters, he has now put
out a successful video tape on how
to get a divorce. Next week the
firm asks for a piece of the action.
Becker seems shallow but it's
weighed against caring for his shy
secretary, Roxanne, and for the
retarded office gopher, Benny
(Larry Drake). Overall, he is the
"coolest character on the show,"
says LA Law fan Alex Barnett, a
junior EconHistory major from
Raleigh. Barnett cites the time
Arnie came to grips with one of
his shallow relationships. After
selling himself in a charity auction,
izes dogs dressed up in men's suits
and riding down roller coasters.
This is creative, although the
constant flowing motion and
changing is just like Peter Gabriel's
"Sledgehammer." Michael does
have a way of getting attention,
doesnt he?
Next in line was R.E.M. Wow! Talk
about creativity. I'm not really
sure (in fact, I'm really confused)
but R.E.M.'s "Stand" seems to
emphasize nature and people's
understanding of where they are.
is that about right? I'm open for
other interpretations but people
are dancing all over the globe
talking about "standing in the
place where they live." This video
was shorter than the others.
Whatever the case, I'm beginning
to realize that videos arent nearly
as mindless as some critics claim.
Anyway, R.E.M. certainly makes its
stand.
' After some commercials which"
intelligent writing
Arnie starts a relationship with his
purchaser, realizing later that she
only cares about the physical part.
He complains that she doesnt care
about him (my goodness, she
wears his newly-pressed shirts)
and that "everytime you put your
foot on the dash of my Porsche,
you scuff the leather."
Douglas Brackman (Alan
Rachlns): This poor guy could
have come right out of "The
Young and the Restless." After the
death of his father he decided to
start sleeping with his step
mother, then his half brother
(maybe only stepbrother) caught
him, and attempted blackmail.
Then his wife, Sheila, decided to
sleep with his half brother,
because she found out about his
(Douglas's) affair with a bailiff of
his court. The affair was revealed
to the half brother when the
bailiff's legs came out from under
the desk where Douglas was
seated. So much for "cerebral."
Then there was something with
a marriage counselor and the wife
and . . . you get the idea. Needless
to say, the guy is divorced (with
the help of Arnie). And he's not as
sleazy now, and Barnett says he
seems "more human since the
divorce." Since the AIDS tests, too,
I suppose.
Ann Kelsey and Stuart Mar
kowltz: They give you an idea of
Michael J. Fox and Sigourney
Weaver together. The two lawy
ers turned a good friendship into
a successful relationship, and then
a happy marriage, only to find tax
specialist Stuart to be less than
fertile (you see, taxes are bad for
you). They have spent the last few
months trying to conceive and
then adopt, and last time, in a very
emotional airport scene, they
finally got a girl
Victor SIfuentes (Jimmy
are incredibly frequent), Bobby
Brown came on with "My Prerog
ative," a stage performance video,
complete with the screaming fans.
The whole band gets into helping
Bobby keep things going, but just
watching him dance is enough to
hold a video together. He's cer
tainly not boring. The sweat and
exposure of bodies in other videos
was missing, and, while some
people think less is more, I guess
that's anybody's prerogative.
The next 30 minutes offered up
Ratt's "Way Cool Jr.," which ends
with a nude girl walking away with
a guitar strapped across her
behind; Eddie Money's "The Love
in Your Eyes," which is different
because it is entirely in black and
white; and even Tone Loc with
"Wild Thing." This video sort of
reminds me of Robert Palmer's
videos. That may sound lame, but
arent those the same emotion
less, dancing women?" '
Smits): He's Hispanic and one of
the better lawyers. His ethnic
background provides a plot device
that would be easy to exploit, but
the excellent writers have avoided
the idea for the most part. He's
currently seeing the producer of
the divorce video, much to
Becker's interest.
Abigail Perkins (Michele
Greene): A petite and vulnerable
new lawyer- who is taking steps
to overcome both handicaps. She
carries a gun, which she has had
to use with deadly, efficiency. She
also quit MackenzieBrackman
after not being asked to be a
partner. Abbie has just opened her
own office and is in financial
trouble, but Markowitz is sending
cases her way.
Jonathon Rollins (Blair
Underwood): A hotshot right out
of school, the other lawyers were
upset at his high starting salary.
He's so cocky his first shot at
litigation had to be saved by
Sifuentes, then by himself, when
he realized that a jury cant like
an arrogant counselor. He is black
but once again the writers have
tried not to write the cliched
stories.
Along with the previews at the
beginning of the next episode, you
should be easily caught up in this
intelligent show, it's a refreshing
change from many of the other
static fare passing itself off as
drama. YouH see little gun play, no
car chases, and some occasional
sex, along with a lot of ethics, law,
and emotional problems to think
about. And when the writing
falters, there is still the energetic
direction. This creative direction is
unneeded but adds great style to
something which could be photo
graphed like a soap opera, but
, instead uses classy creativity.
Steve Winwood's "Holding On"
closed out my MTV afternoon. This
video is full of flashing cameras
and posing people. Winwood just
walks around rather seriously in a
long white coat. What is he trying
to say? What are these people
"holding on" for? Once again, I've
been stumped by a video.
The abundance of commercials
are also interesting. They include
bizarre cartoon sequences, 10
second films, ads that contained
only words, plus truly original
ways to advertise the MTV's title.
. Never let it be said that all videos
mean nothing. I'm not quite sure
what they do mean but there are
probably people that do. Since
MTV came along, there have been
faces matched with some of the
voices l hear on the radio. I enjoyed
myself the other day,- the next
time l have a chance, I'm going to
turn on MTV again . . . maybe then
Nl toe able to understand it. "