TV Weekend: Legal Shows

Posted on by Teagan Riordain Geneviene
Friday, December 5, 2025
“OMG! Velma, this picture makes my butt look huge.”
“Calm down, Daphne. It’s the camera angle.”
Welcome, everyone.  Let’s start the weekend early.  The weather is actually very nice in this neck of the woods, but I know that is not the case for many of you. It might be a good time to stay inside and watch some old television shows.  Various legal matters overwhelm my news feed, so maybe a few lawyer shows will do the trick.

Let’s start with the old “Perry Mason” series. The New York Post photo below shows Barbara Hale and Raymond Burr circa 1957.  That was a little before my time, but even in old reruns, the courtroom scenes were impressive.

Barbara Hale and Raymond Burr.

Yes, I knew there had been plenty of lawyer TV shows… but I didn’t realize just how many until I started writing this post.   So, I’m going to limit this to a few that were my favorites.
Recently I’ve found show set in Australia called “Newton’s Law.” I’ve watched a few episodes and enjoyed it.  I haven’t looked things up to know how old it may or may not be. However, I’m sure it’s much more current than the others I’m showing here.   I like the assortment of characters.  The incongruity of the fact that some of the characters secretly have their office in the basement of a parking garage makes me smile.

Here’s the full first episode on YouTube:
You can see that I lean toward the funnier shows. For instance, “Suits.”  Below is a video set tour showing some of the offices.
Then there was Boston Legal.  I adore James Spader and William Shatner in everything I’ve ever watched from them. HOWEVER, their characters on this show…  Well, saying that I would have been upset with them is the understatement of the century.  But they were so outrageous and ludicrous that I always had to laugh despite myself.  The building at 500 Boylston Street is seen on the television show and in the photo below, from the Boston Globe.

500 Boylston in Back Bay to fill in its courtyard - The Boston Globe

As nice as the building is, I think my favorite scenes were on the balcony.  Here’s a YouTube example below.

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Pass the popcorn…  Thanks for joining me.  Friendly comments are encouraged.  Hugs!

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I must include the obligatory shameless self-promotion.
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69 thoughts on “TV Weekend: Legal Shows”

    1. Huh… my own comment disappeared from my own blog… The WordPress gremlins are in rare form. 🙂 Hi, Robbie. Courtroom fiction seems like a genre unto itself. These days the court scenes can be too intense, too contentious for me. But the more humorous shows often appeal to me. Wishing you a wonderful weekend. Hugs.

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  2. I loved Boston Legal – I’m a big Spader fan. My favorite scenes were also those of him and Shatner having a drink and a cigar on the balcony reflecting on cases and life. I also watched Suits. Harvey’s the best.

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    1. You brought up a fun/interesting point, Jennie — I still remember the theme songs from many of the shows I watched as a kid. I agree about learning. There is much to be gleaned from ordinary TV shows if one is paying attention. Many thanks for reading and commenting. Hugs.

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  4. I really enjoyed watching Suits on Netflix and still catch YouTube shorts from time to time—they’re so stylish and fun. I’ll definitely check out some of the other shows you mentioned. Thanks for the great recommendations, Teagan!

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  5. Love the photo, Teagan, and thanks for the legal show suggestions. Perry Mason was before my time, but I remember watching it, a classic. And I’ve heard good things about “Suits.” It’s time for the popcorn. Enjoy your weekend! 🥰🍿

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    1. Fisk… I’ll make a point of looking for it. Thanks for the recommendation, Brian. In recent years I found several shows from Australia and New Zealand — and a couple from Turkey (which surprised me) on Netflix. However I don’t have Netflix anymore. This weekend I ran across one on YouTube that I *think* was Australian, which was pretty funny… I think the name was Mr & Mrs Murder, about crime scene cleaners. I hope your week is off to a great start. Hugs.

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  8. Daphne! As a professional I guarantee you that the camera adds 10 pounds. You must be kitten size.

    Thanks for the Legal Eagle post, Teagan. Admittedly I am a huge fan of Perry Mason. I have DVD’s and have watched them may times over. LOVE Raymond Burr.

    Of the others…seen nary a one. I did work with Lisa Gay Hamilton from The Practice, but that was 20 years ago.

    Still, I do enjoy a good courtroom movie. There’s a few out there.

    Thanks Teagan! Think I’ll go fire up a Perry Mason!

    Hugs!

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    1. Hi, Resa. Good courtroom movies can be so intense! Your comment reminded me of “12 Angry Men.” I had to read it in high school, and I was amazed that it could be so exciting. (Of course, now every cop or detective show seems to have to do its own version one person changing the minds of the rest of the jury, and those are tiresome.)
      Raymond Burr was unique and wonderful. I loved his speaking voice too. Hugs winging back to you.

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        1. I actually enjoyed It inside a lot, back in the day. As a kid, it took a little while to grow on me, and I don’t remember a ton of details. But I remember one particular episode where the victim had a Chihuahua the detectives could control, but eventually Ironside wheeled up, spoke to the dog in Spanish, and all was well. LOL. Anyhow, here I just made a distinction between legal shows and detective shows. 🤗

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          1. Cool, nothing like a good distinction!
            I do wonder why they don’t stream/rerun the old Perry Mason series? Everything else is available.
            Anyway, love the chihuahua episode memory. What a neat thing to remember.
            Hugs… or Abrazos, as Ironsides might say!

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        1. These days I’m definitely into “predictable”… more so that I could wish. My C-PTSD problems make it necessary for me. The worry about being badly triggered (aka sent into a panic attack) by something in a show or a book causes me to “re-enjoy” a lot of things. LOL.

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  10. What a fun idea for a weekend, Teagan. I have enjoyed many of the old legal shows over the years, from L.A. Law and Boston Legal to Perry Mason and even Ally McBeal. There is something compelling about watching people wrestle with justice on screen. We see the tension between right and wrong, but also the many shades in between. These stories remind us that justice is rarely simple and that every decision comes with consequences. They help us look at both sides of an argument, and they sharpen our ability to think critically about the world around us. Sending many hugs on speedy wings to you and the Scoobies!!

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    1. I’m glad you enjoyed, Rebecca. I was just looking for a happy aspect of these stories. I’m need something to smile about, times and places when the law and the constitution were followed. I woke up to a report that ICE is in my town now. It’s not as if that’s unexpected… Hugs.

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          1. You’re good, my friend. I was thinking that in Law & Order, the first characters in the opening scene usually don’t have anything to do with the rest of the plot, except for finding the dead body and calling the police. With that hilarious opening, I was thinking that Newton’s Law is a good show to watch.

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  14. It’s ALWAYS the camera angle to blame. No truer words were ever spoken. Teagan, you had me at “some of the characters secretly have their office in the basement of a parking garage” when it comes to Newton’s Law. I hadn’t heard of this before but I’m gathering some “intel” about it now and I like what I see. Getting that on the to-be-watched list. Mrs. B and I watched every episode of Boston Legal during its run, and some of the stuff they did on that show was off-the-wall for sure. I do recommend that for anyone who has not seen it. Perry Mason is an all-time classic! Hugs for you and the Scoobies.

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    1. Hi, Bruce. I’ve seen about 5 episodes of Newton’s Law now (I wrote most of this post a few weeks ago), on Amazon’s Prime Video, and I still like it. That’s saying a lot for me to get past the first few episodes and still like something. It’s a good assortment of characters — not really like Boston Legal exactly, but the way the characters are sort of puts me in mind of Boston Legal. I’m not explaining that well, but maybe you get it. Hugs winging back to you.

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  19. I loved Perry Mason as a kid! Legal shows are usually a good bet. Law and Order has had some good episodes and every now and then, for a laugh, hubby and I watch Judge Judy. People can be so ridiculous! Have a super weekend with the Scubbies. xo

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  20. I used to like Perry Mason, too. I can’t remember any others. We watched more westerns back when I was a kid. But I do remember one of my earliest writing memories, I wrote a lot of fan fiction and I’d mash up Perry Mason characters with the ones from Bonanza! Wish I’d have kept those. I was still in elementary school when I wrote those and it would be fun to read them again. haha

    Say hi to the Scoobies from me, and y;all have a nice weekend. ❤

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    1. Ha!!! I love the idea of your mashup, Barbara. What a shame that you don’t still have those stories. My dad loved westerns, so that was frequently all that was on at our house. Plus the small town TV stations didn’t run a variety, just the cheapest things they could get, and apparently westerns didn’t cost them much to air. I remember High Chaparral, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, The Guns of Will Sonnettt, and Big Valley (and of course Bonanza). I know there was Rawhide and The Rifleman too but my memories of them are vague. Happy weekend, and hugs.

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  21. My mother absolutely loved, make that LOVED Perry Mason. I don’t think we ever missed an episode of that show. Perry and Della, and Hamilton Burger, Paul Drake, Lieutenant Tragg — I will never forget them. I’ve resisted streaming it because I’m sure I’d get hooked.

    Thanks for that memory jog. I didn’t watch the other shows you highlighted, but I enjoyed the behind the scenes tour.

    I hope you have a great weekend, Teagan.

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    1. Hi, Dan. I’m happy you enjoyed it. I never sat many of the Perry Mason episodes, but the few I’ve watched as an adult impressed me very much. LOL, go ahead and stream it — live dangerously. 😀 It might do to change things up from the Twilight Zone marathon. Yikes! I feel like I just said something sacrilegious. 😮 A terrific weekend to you too. Hugs.

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      1. I say dangerous because I saw an incident of batsh*t crazy driving back in late summer that reminded my of a Hawaii Five-O episode. I looked it up and then proceeded to watch my way through six seasons 🙂

        Haha – I laughed at the comment about the Zone 😂

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  22. I love legal shows, too. I am NOT too old to have seen Perry Mason during its original run, and it was a never-miss watch. Mom and I used to watch it in reruns after I was an adult. It was on on Sunday afternoon, and we would nap through the whole episode and wake up for the courtroom scene. lol!

    We also loved Boston Legal. We aren’t violent women, but we both failed to be outraged when Denny Crane (who never lost a case) “accidentally” shot the knee of the pedophile client he was assigned to defend, and then “accidentally” shot him in the other knee.

    Ooh, My Cousin Vinny is probably my favorite legal movie, and it gets high marks for legal verisimilitude from Legal Eagle.

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    1. Ha! I freely admit that I loved that scene from Boston Legal too, Marian. My Cousin Vinny got so much press that I’m not sure whether I ever watched the entire movie. It came at a time when I didn’t see much TV (or theater). I’ll keep an eye out for it. Hugs.

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  24. I also remember LA Law which helped spawn (or maybe publicized) several 80s trends like padded shoulders and almost cleavage level silk or polyester blouses. I don’t particularly remember big hair,but that doesn’t mean it was not there. One of the female lawyers was killed off because she stepped into an elevator without checking to see if the car was there. Roz definitely got the shaft in that episode. Happy December hugs, Teagan.

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  25. Thanks for the recommendations, Teagan. I do love a good legal show, and movies about legal subjects also. I have watched reruns of Perry Mason, and the odd episode of Boston legal, but I’ll chek Newton’s Law if I get a chance. Even plays are a great option. Witness for the prosecution is an old classic and I love it to death, and there are some other movies based on real trials that are also fascinating. Have a lovely weekend! Big hugs and love to the Scoobies! (The weather is warming up here, and it’s sunny, so no complaints). ♥

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    1. Hi Olga. I’m glad you mentioned “Witness for the Prosecution,” because I’ve been meaning to watch some version of it. I’m happy to hear that it’s nice weather there. Next week we’re expecting to be about 20 degrees above normal. Still nice though. Hugs winging back to you. ❤

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