Television

A Modest Review of Outlaw

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It’s not often that those of us in the legal field get a television show to call our own. So very few shows attempt to capture our passion — our calling — on the small screen. So it was with great anticipation that I watched the pilot of Outlaw, a show that premiered last Wednesday on NBC and features Jimmy Smits as Justice Cyrus Garza, an uber-conservative Supreme Court justice who abruptly steps down from the bench to fight for the little guy.

Great anticipation? Just kidding. Lat heard this show was written for idiots by idiots (“FIBI”), and so he immediately thought I’d have a good time watching it.

Even though numerous television reviewers have skewered the show, often with groan-inducing legal puns, I was curious to see whether it could rise to the level of guilty pleasure and take up residence on my DVR.

I’ve previously tried my hand at screenwriting, and that experiment went so well that I thought I’d throw on the television reviewer’s hat and give you a succinct and well-reasoned review of “Outlaw”.

Without further ado, here is my verdict….

THIS SHOW IS A PIECE OF S**T.

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Don’t believe me (or want some slightly less cursory reactions)? Here are the opinions of professional TV critics:

  • Mark Perigard, Boston Herald: “Smits should know a good legal drama from his days on L.A. Law, but this show violates so many tenets of storytelling, it deserves to be tossed in the clink. Outlaw is about as entertaining as a legal brief on the case of Wall v. Paint Drying.”
  • Glenn Garvin, Miami Herald: “I can imagine no conceivable rationale in the known universe to turn on Outlaw. Silly, hackneyed and suffering from a lethal overdose of Hollywood political smugness, it’s the biggest lawyer joke of all.”
  • Linda Stasi, New York Post: “NBC’s idiotic drama, Outlaw, is so bad it should be listed as a Class A felony.”
  • Paige Wiser, Chicago Sun-Times: “[P]repare yourself for preachiness in the third degree…. [Justice Garza’s] imperious contradictions wore thin. Quickly.”

For those of you who had the misfortune of watching Outlaw, feel free to discuss it — and guess how many episodes it will run before getting pulled — in the comments.

Outlaw [NBC]
Smits’s show a criminal offense in 1st degree [New York Post]
Three more law firms belly up to TV bar [Chicago Sun-Times]
Smits’ ‘Outlaw’ should be thrown out of court [Boston Herald]
‘Outlaw’: What is this, some kind of joke? [Miami Herald]

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