Franklin & Bash (Season 1)

Starring: Breckin Meyer, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Dana Davis, Garcelle Beauvais, Kumail Nanjani, Malcolm McDowell, Reed Diamond

Creator: Kevin Falls and Bill Chais

Genre: Comedy, Legal Drama

Rating: A-

I was pleasantly surprised by the first season of TNT's Franklin & Dash. The series thus far totally has the feel of being a feel good, buddy cop type show, just with lawyers instead of cops.  It follows Jared Franklin (Meyer) and Peter Bash (Gosselaar) as they transition from being two small-time, streat-wise plaintiff's lawyers into.. well, pretty much the same lawyers, just working for a prestigious firm.

The duo are both self confident, immature playboys with unusual trial methods.  Franklin is the more immature of the pair; the son of a famous trial lawyer, he's basically trying to be everything that his father wasn't, while also being a lawyer.  Prior to the start of the film he swore that he would never work for a big firm - something that gets pointed out to him several times after he joins Infeld Daniels.  Bash is the more mature, and more successful of the pair.  He's somewhat more serious and more likely to know where to draw the line.  Unlike Franklin, Bash has previously worked at a big firm - although he got fired after getting caught having sex with a senior partner's daughter.  Joining this duo at the firm of Infield Daniels is Stanton Infield (McDowell), the eccentric senior partner who hires them; Carmen Phillips (Davis) and Pindar Singh (Nanjiani), an ex-convict and agoraphobic sci-fi nerd who work for Franklin and Bash; and Damien Karp (Diamond) and Hanna Linden (Beauvais), two more serious lawyers and ex-lovers, working for the firm.  Karp, who is also Infield's nephew, is particularly serious and takes on the role of the show's straight-man and at times the villain, as he questions whether hiring Franklin and Bash was a wise decision.

This show really has a feel of being like Ally McBeal, but with more testosterone.  The thing that I really like about it is that while it captures the quirky tone of a show like Ally McBeal it does so without descending to the level of making the characters have questionable sanity - something that McBeal did not succeed in.  Franklin and Bash are both really likeable characters, even if their actions aren't always reasonable.  Their antics do get a bit annoying at times, but it's nice to see that those around them aren't always swayed by them either.  The judges in this show are reoccurring and often call the duo on their more inappropriate actions.  What I disliked about this show (asides from the more episodic feel to it) was the boys' interactions with women.  Half the time Franklin appears to be completely smitten with Hanna, the other half he's trying to get with whatever random hot chick happens to be their client of the week.  The same goes for Bash, although with his ex-girlfriend and Assistant District Attorney Janie Ross (Claire Coffee).  I'm fine with them being man-whores or guys who are trying to get the girl, or being man-whores who are trying to redeem themselves and get the girl...I just get bored when each episode they seem to flip back and forth between the three.  That having been said, though, I think I'm going to stick with this show.