Belushi and O'Connell Are 'The Defenders' - TCA Report

Just when you thought that there wasn't room for another legal drama on prime-time, along comes 'The Defenders,' a new hour-long procedural set in Las Vegas. Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell are defense attorneys based on a couple of real-life Vegas lawyers, who were joined on the panel by co-stars Jurnee Smollett and Tanya Fisher, exec-producers Harry Gantz, Joe Gantz, Carol Mendelsohn, Kevin Kennedy and Niels Muller, and showrunner Greg Walker.

Since the show hasn't started shooting yet, there wasn't much in the way of dirt from filming, but Jim Belushi kept the panel lively despite some truly dire questions from attending critics. A rundown of highlights follows after the jump.

-- Although the show shares a name with a CBS legal drama from the '60s, that's where the similarities end, according to Jerry O'Connell. They based the concept on a documentary that the Gantz brothers shot around two real-life defense attorneys.

-- How similar are Belushi and O'Connell's characters to the real thing? Very! "These guys are real characters, they're so bright, they have great strategies in the courtroom," Belushi said. "But, like our characters, they're not so good with women; there's a great comic element there. It intrigued me that these guys were so cool on the floor and so useless with women."

-- Unlike other procedurals that focus on downtrodden, sympathetic cases, O'Connell pointed out that "they represent a lot of people that not even public defenders would represent." Belushi added, "They have strong morals, they believe that everyone has the right to a fair trial, regardless of what they might have done."

-- There will be a healthy mix of guilty defendants and innocent. Apparently Las Vegas is notorious for overcharging, so it will be a case of the characters often fighting for their clients to be charged for the right crime.

-- 'Friday Night Lights' alum Jurnee Smollett will play a recently graduated new hire for the partners, who paid her way through law school by stripping. "We hit the ground running, I learn by doing, I learn to throw away a lot of stuff I learned in law school and use my street smarts," she explained.

-- 'CSI' producer Mendelsohn said that they will shoot in Vegas when necessary, but that they've recreated Vegas casinos all over Los Angeles without anyone being the wiser.

-- If you notice that O'Connell seems twitchy in the pilot, it's because he was chugging pep pills to stay awake through the 13-hour, overnight shooting schedule. "It definitely lent something to the character," he joked. "It's intense shooting!"

Are you intrigued by the thought of Belushi and O'Connell as a legal team? Give us your thoughts on 'The Defenders' after the jump.