14 October 2009
Posted in Writers - Brian Ross
“When you’re down & out, there’s no meaner place to live than Hollywood” – Dominick Dunne
See below for a CONVERSATION WITH BRIAN ROSS
God decided to take the devil to court and settle their differences once and for all. When Satan heard this, he laughed and said, "And where do you think you're going to find a lawyer?"
What: Dead lawyers who may, at one time in life, have shown promise as human beings are given a chance to redeem themselves in a parallel universe on their way up or down where, in the bodies of their former selves at the time they “lost their way;” they will now play for the opposing team - prosecutors are now defenders, defenders now prosecutors. Their jobs – to argue for or against second chances for humans on the cusp of finality. Their success or failure in this new guise will dictate their ultimate “stop.”
Who: Gaby Munroe, a recently deceased 72 year old prosecutor, is perplexed but nevertheless thrilled to discover when passing a mirror that she is, once again, 26 years old and gorgeous. Gaby, who won her first case at age 26 and continued on to win all of her cases over the next 40 years, 136 cases in all, knew that a number of the defendants were innocent but that justice would have cut into her record; everything was secondary to her career. The beginning of her path to redemption will be her defense of Michael Chapman, a recently jilted young man whose life hangs in the balance, literally and figuratively, as he is frozen in time, about to fly off a mountain precipice on his motorcycle. Investigating Michael Chapman’s life, Gaby discovers a long string of poor romantic choices. Not a bad sort, but always choosing flash over substance, Michael found himself abandoned at the aisle by his fiancée; distraught, he sped off on his motorcycle. Opposing counsel is Ewan McKattraig, 60, a law school hero of Gaby’s in her former, or should we just say “life” who is less admirable than she could have imagined, and Ronald McKattraig, 10, Ewan’s grandson and former partner. Ronald first went astray of his potential power for justice and balance at boarding school in the 5th grade in a case involving a teacher’s missing thong underwear; it was downhill from there. Present age notwithstanding, he is a formidable competitor.
Gaby presents an impressive defense that Michael, a physician of great promise, deserves one more chance at life in general and romance in particular. The McKattraigs are decidedly against giving anyone so prone to poor choices another chance. Listening to arguments and presiding at the bench is…God, who is fine with being called “Your Honor” as opposed to “Your Holiness,” which He considers a bit too papal. If a miracle is won, it will be accompanied by trick conditions that must be fulfilled by the defense attorney, in order that the miracle not look miraculous.
No Meaner Place: I loved the sly humor and especially the overall concept of a series-long lawyer joke. I have no idea why this script didn’t create more buzz as it is clever, well written and original (could that be why?). Perhaps because Ross’s previous credits had been in MOWs and there is a tendency to pigeon-hole writers and not let them out of their cages (and yes the pun was intended) he didn’t get the read he deserved. Lack of representation for a time may also have played a part, but luckily Ross now has great representation by the Rothman-Brecher Agency. Still, this script points out another problem – that of how networks, studios and even audiences perceive the legal profession - with earth-shattering importance. Every year one or more legal shows premier and rarely do any of them exhibit any humor. “L.A. Law,” often delved into the quirks of the law and human foibles with magical humorous moments, something David Kelley also did with "Boston Legal." Kelley was often criticized for the off-the-wall situations and characters found on “Ally McBeal,” but that was the whole point; comedies, by nature (keeping in mind that “Ally McBeal” won an Emmy in the comedy category) jump the shark all the time. When a panel of 9 lawyers, 2 scholars and a critic were asked by the ABA journal to pick the top 25 television law shows, the only comedies chosen were “Ally McBeal” and “Night Court.” In fairness, “Harvey Birdman” a Hanna Barbera creation on Adult Swim also made the top 25; so lawyers may, actually, have a sense of humor (or they’re watching the Cartoon Network with their kids). But seriously, doesn’t anyone remember “The Associates” created by James Brooks, Charlie Hauck, Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels?!
Both the absurdity and humor of lawyers condemned to Purgatory in arguing against their nature is hilarious with Greek Sisyphean overtones; that God is the judge makes it juicier and brings to mind the delightful interchange about God between Dudley Moore’s Stanley and Peter Cook’s George Spiggot aka Beelzebub in “Bedazzled.”
Stanley Moon: Apart from the way He moves, what's God really like? I mean, what colour is He? George Spiggott: He's all colours of the rainbow, many-hued. Stanley Moon: But He is English, isn't He? George Spiggott: Oh yes. Very upper class.
Of course God might be a She.
Life Lessons for Writers: Lawyer jokes are more popular than Legal Shows, but apparently lawyer jokes don’t sell advertising.
Conversation with the Writer:
Neely: Where on earth, or whatever, did this come from?
Brian: The genesis was a call I got from my agent at the time saying one of the networks wanted to do a series on miracles, and still hadn't found it. I remember hanging up the phone and thinking, yuck, not another earnest show about angels and providence and other general sappiness. And then I thought of twelfth grade and my English teacher putting "corn" on the board as a homework essay topic. There were a lot of pages handed in about golden sheaves waving on the prairies, but only mine on this robust grain's journey through the digestive tract. So what if I absolutely had to come up with a show on miracles? What would it be? My favorite show at the time (and still one of my all time favorites) was Boston Legal. I really admired the combination of genuine substance and import surrounded by the most outrageous irreverence. I wondered if I could do the same sort of thing for miracles, and create an anti-sappy show about divine providence that would leave people both thinking and laughing (or at least goofily smiling) at the end. I came up with a pitch that my agency really liked and we took it straight to the network.
Neely: What was the reaction? What kind of comments did you get?
Brian: The pitch went great--the execs got it, laughed and asked all the right questions--but in the end they said it was just too out-there for them at that time. We pitched it to a second network, whose wheelhouse we also thought it was in, and got basically the same reaction.
Neely: So how did you come to actually write the pilot?
Brian: Around the same time, a friend who heads up drama at one of the studios was encouraging me to write something original, without a sale in mind, just something to introduce my work to drama execs who didn’t know me yet. As these characters were now living and breathing in my head, and I was constantly getting excited about directions the series could go in, it was really the only thing I wanted to write, and so I did.
Neely: And how was the reaction to that?
Brian: The initial response was very positive and gratifying (but that doesn’t however, put any food on the table!). I was really glad that I had written it and that people out of the MOW world were becoming familiar with something that was purely my voice. There were a few of the vague "liked the writing, but not for us" comments, but most--after claims of looking for really original, out-of-the-box stuff--were of the "we want something more grounded" variety. I remember one exec thought there should have been more "law", i.e., time spent in the courtroom, and less "character stuff" (I never quite got that one for a series, unless it was an attempt to make it a more traditional legal-procedural), while another suggested just the opposite. And then there was the exec who liked the premise, but didn't feel the script was the right "approach" to it. When pushed for what that might be, however, we never got anything concrete.
Neely: And what's happening with the script now?
Brian: Well, it's interesting that you ask. In this climate of cost-cutting, there's been a lot of interest in international co-productions, and as I'm both Canadian and British, and as the script deals with a type of universal law not tied to any particular country, there have been some recent inquiries. I don't want to jinx anything, so I'll have to keep you posted.
I'd love to have your comments.
Next up: "The Eastmans"
