'Fairly Legal' Takes the Law Into Its Own Hands, With Mediocre Results

'Fairly Legal' (10PM ET Thursday, USA) has everything you expect from a USA show: An appealing lead actor, a glossy aesthetic, supporting characters who are either mildly quirky or majorly good-looking (or both), and stories that wrap up within the hour. What it doesn't have is anything that will make it stand out from the cable crowd.

Sarah Shahi plays Kate Reed, who left the legal profession in order to help people, in what she thinks is a more concrete and personal way, through the process of mediation. When not dealing with the fallout of her father's recent death, she finds out what issues are really bothering people and somehow gets them to drop all the negativity and come to some kind of settlement.

Shahi is charming and the show's supporting cast is certainly adequate, but 'Fairly Legal,' which clings ferociously to a very tame formula, fails to come alive in any real way.

All USA shows have formulas, of course, but some of them are spiced up with so many extra flavors that the formula goes down easy: 'Burn Notice' has genuine camaraderie, great spy voiceovers and occasionally serialized storytelling; 'Psych' offers goofball chemistry between its leads and gleeful take on pop culture; and I'm not particularly a fan of 'Covert Affairs' but I can see the appeal of an attractive blonde woman doing cool spy stuff.

'Fairly Legal,' on the other hand, merely asks the question, "Will Kate be able to figure out the personal and emotional problems that are preventing a settlement in Case X?" This is USA, the land of positive endings, where do-gooders are always able to do good. Of course she gets to "the heart of the matter" (her words) and all turns out well.

Shahi makes a valiant attempt to make these stories entertaining, and the fact that she succeeds part of the time is a testament to her energy and skills. But the progression of the plots and the resolutions are so pat that there's almost no suspense in these stories.

What's a little strange is that most USA shows have at least one slightly serialized, ongoing story thread, but 'Fairly Legal' has almost none of that, unless you count Kate's romantic and professional dealings with her "almost-ex-husband," Justin (Michael Trucco). Even that relationship feels a little convenient -- Justin is an assistant district attorney who has frequent legal dealings with Kate, so he's there in large part to keep the plots moving.

Virginia Williams plays Lauren Reed, Kate's stepmother, who's also trying to keep the family legal firm afloat. It's a thinly written role that asks Williams to do little besides wear designer clothes and spar with clients and her stepdaughter.

Even though the episodes I saw featured multiple story lines, a reasonable pace and decent guest actors, l have no inclination to watch USA's light take on the legal profession again. For any drama to work, legal or otherwise, the outcome of something must be in doubt, but that's never the case here. It's admirable to want to provide the TV equivalent of comfort food, but this time, the network has played it far too safe.



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