Television

Standard Of Review: Suggesting Some Legal Spinoff Television Shows

Are there any other attorney characters from non-legal shows who would be perfect for a spinoff sequel or prequel? Here are some ideas.

By Harry Graff on March 19, 2015 12:26 pm

As I have written about twice already, I think that the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, which chronicles the rise of attorney Saul Goodman, has been fantastic so far. I plan to write about the show itself once or twice more this season, but for now, Better Call Saul got me thinking about whether or not there are any other attorney characters from other non-legal shows who would be perfect for a spinoff sequel or prequel. Here are some ideas.

Better Call Jackie Chiles: Jackie Chiles (Phil Morris) was one of the funniest recurring characters on Seinfeld, as his attempts to file suit against various companies on behalf of Kramer (Michael Richards) and receive a big payday inevitably end in some kind of “public humiliation” for Chiles. Chiles is also a parody of famed O.J. Simpson lawyer Johnnie Cochran, as he looks similar, has the same initials, and has the same penchant for loquaciousness. In every episode of Better Call Jackie Chiles, Jackie will sue some big company, believing that he has found his golden ticket. But inevitably, all of his suits fail due to courtroom hijinks. To say that Better Call Jackie Chiles will not be a hit is “outrageous, egregious, preposterous.”

Better Call Barry Zuckerkorn: I was tempted to ask Gob Bluth for a “forget-me-now” to erase my memory of 2013’s subpar fourth season of Arrested Development on Netflix, so I am very hesitant to even suggest a return for any of the Arrested characters. Nevertheless, I think that Better Call Barry Zuckerkorn would be a worthwhile prequel, as long as it does not include any of the other major Arrested characters. The show will explore how Zuckerkorn became a successful attorney despite being completely incompetent, attending law school in the Virgin Islands, and having someone else take the California state bar for him. Because Henry Winkler is pushing 70 (and his son Max Winkler — who played young Barry in a few episodes — probably is not a big enough name to star in a major television show), I think that the show should hire Adam Pally as young Barry. Pally was fantastic on the dearly departed comedy Happy Endings, and has continued his solid run as a short-lived regular on The Mindy Project (I am still not sure why he left) and as an amazingly fantastic guest host of CBS’s The Late Late Show on January 30 (seriously, if you have not yet seen the episode guest-hosted by Pally, watch it on Youtube right now; it is not hyperbole to say that it may be the greatest hosting performance in the history of mankind). I think that it would be appropriate for Better Call Barry Zuckerkorn to include one other minor Arrested character, so the show should also include Wayne Jarvis as a competing attorney who is constantly acting more professionally than Barry. In an Arrested-style twist, young Jarvis should still be played by the hilariously deadpan John Michael Higgins. If anyone on Arrested would have a Wolverine-like ability to never age, it would be Jarvis.

Better Call Bob Loblaw: After Better Call Barry Zuckerkorn is on the air for a while, it is destined to be replaced by Better Call Bob Loblaw, as Bob (Scott Baio) can do anything Barry can do, but skews younger (or, I guess, if Better Call Barry Zuckerkorn is a prequel, Bob would skew older). Better Call Bob Loblaw would tell the story of Bob, who works as an attorney but secretly yearns to follow his true passion and be a writer (not unlike me! I never realized how much I have in common with Bob Loblaw). Bob is constantly attempting to find time to write posts for the Bob Loblaw Law Blog, while occasionally lobbing law bombs at juries.

Better Call Ruxin: The League has gotten a little stale over the years, but I have always thought that self-centered and sarcastic product-liability attorney (don’t call him “Rodney”) Ruxin (Nick Kroll) is the show’s funniest regular character. He would be the perfect subject of a spinoff, which will chronicle Ruxin as he patronizes everyone else at his law firm, often to his own detriment. As supporting characters, Better Call Ruxin should hire occasional The League guest stars Nadine Velazquez as Ruxin’s wife Sofia and Jeff Goldblum as Ruxin’s father Rupert. Velazquez plays a great straight woman to Ruxin’s antics, and Goldblum is unquestionably fantastic in every role he has ever played. Goldblum’s two guest spots on The League were the closest the show ever came to emotional pathos, so he would make a tremendous foil for Ruxin on an episodic basis.

Better Call Scott Braddock: This is a bit of an obscure one, but Braddock (H. Jon Benjamin) — who appeared in the Parks & Recreation second season episode “Kaboom” — was a hilariously high-strung character, as he would do anything to prevent Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) from saying something that would potentially cost the town of Pawnee a cent. I was sad that Braddock never returned to the show, so it is time to right that wrong. Parks creator and showrunner Michael Schur is excellent at world-building, as Parks rivaled The Simpsons in terms of wacky supporting characters. I imagine Schur would create a great show about Braddock and government lawyer co-workers doing everything in their power to prevent nearly-bankrupt Pawnee from paying any money. Benjamin is a superb voice actor (most notably on Archer and Bob’s Burgers), but I think it’s time that his comedic talents are recognized in live action.

Better Call Trevor Nelsson: Nelsson (Marc Evan Jackson) is the other lawyer on Parks & Recreation, as he represented many private individuals over the series’s run. Jackson’s deadpan delivery would be a hilarious contrast with the crazy citizens of Pawnee that seek his legal advice. But more importantly, the Parks writers have used Nelsson’s law firm as an inside joke for baseball sabermetric geeks like me. The firm started out named “Babip, Pecota, Vorp & Eckstein,” and over the years has added additional name partners such as Fwar, Winshares, Gritt, and Eraplus. If you do not understand this joke, then you probably think that runs are a useful baseball statistic and that Miguel Cabrera should have won the 2013 AL MVP. Better Call Trevor Nelsson will be both a legal show and a meta-commentary on baseball statistics. The show should hire former Anaheim Angel and St. Louis Cardinal David Eckstein himself as an attorney who believes that legal success can only be measured by a lawyer’s hard work and scrappiness, whereas Nelsson is cold and calculating, using advanced statistics to determine what cases to take and what legal arguments to make (and again, if you don’t understand this joke, then you probably thought that Trouble with the Curve is a good movie).

Better Call Maury Levy and Rhonda Pearlman: There should be just one joint show that acts as a prequel for the two most notable attorneys on The Wire. Better Call Maury Levy and Rhonda Pearlman will tell the tale of how these two characters began their legal career at the same time, but ended up taking very disparate paths. Not unlike Saul Goodman, Maury Levy (Michael Kostroff) was the criminal lawyer on The Wire, representing members of the Barksdale Organization using some questionable legal tactics. But The Wire never explored how such a schlub initially became involved with gangsters such as Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris) and Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). The show will chronicle Maury’s arc from a wide-eyed idealist defense attorney to a cold-hearted criminal as he is lured by gangsters’ money. The show will also chronicle Rhonda (Deirdre Lovejoy) as she is able to resist the temptation to be the go-to lawyer for gangsters, and instead takes the opposite path, working for the State Attorney’s office to fight organized crime. Nevertheless, Rhonda soon has to grapple the lure of career advancement over justice.

Better Call Dick DeGuerin: No, seriously, Robert Durst literally better call him.

Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at [email protected]. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.