''Common Law'' is an

American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that premiered on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on September 28, 1996. The show stars

Greg Giraldo Gregory Carlos Giraldo (December 10, 1965 – September 29, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian, television personality, and lawyer. He is remembered for his appearances on Comedy Central's televised roast specials, and for his work on ...

as a Latino

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

at a mostly white law firm. The series was created by

Rob LaZebnik Rob or ROB may refer to: Places * Rob, Velike Lašče, a settlement in Slovenia * Roberts International Airport (IATA code ROB), in Monrovia, Liberia People * Rob (given name), a given name or nickname, e.g., for Robert(o), Robin/Robyn * Ro ...

, and produced by

Witt/Thomas Productions Witt/Thomas Productions is an American television and movie production company run by TV producers Paul Junger Witt and Tony Thomas. The company was consistently productive between its founding in 1973 and 1999, but is still active, producing a ...

in association with

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

. Due to low ratings, the series was pulled from ABC's schedule after four

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek term ''epeisodion'' (), meaning t ...

s had aired.

Synopsis

''Common Law'' focuses on John Alvarez (

), the seemingly-token

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

at a large,

WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

y law firm. John has a degree from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

, but never forgets his working-class

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

roots, nor the idea that law is about protecting the "little guy" from the major corporations that are his firms' key clients. He has started a clandestine affair with fellow attorney Nancy Slaton (

Megyn Price Megyn Samantha Price (born March 24, 1971) is an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Claudia Finnerty in the Fox/ WB sitcom ''Grounded for Life'' (2001–05), Audrey Bingham on the CBS sitcom ''Rules of Engagement'' (2007 ...

), clandestine because the firm forbids lawyers from dating each other to minimize claims of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

. To the disgust of his barber father, Luis (

Gregory Sierra Gregory Joseph Sierra (January 25, 1937 – January 4, 2021) was an American actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amengual on ''Barney Miller'', Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican neighbor of Fred G. Sanford on ''Sanford and Son'' ...

), John wears his hair long and plays

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

; his father views him as a

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

. Greg Giraldo was in reality a graduate of Harvard Law School nearly top of his class, and became a lawyer for a while before becoming a comedian. After a year as an attorney, Giraldo fell out of love with the profession and launched his comedy career, only referring to his law background very occasionally on the stand-up circuit, until he starred in this series. Supporters of ''Common Law'' pointed to the Saturday 9:30/8:30 time slot as a factor in its poor ratings and subsequent cancellation despite having the long-running ABC sitcom ''

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

'' as its lead-in. The series garnered much praise from the Latino community, who were happy to see a character and entertainer of Latino descent starring in such an upscale role. Subsequently, they gave ABC much backlash when the show was canceled.

Cast

as lawyer John Alvarez *

as lawyer Nancy Slaton *

David Pasquesi David Pasquesi (born December 22, 1960) is an American actor and comedian. His screen credits include ''Groundhog Day'', ''Strangers with Candy'', ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', ''Return to Me'', '' The Ice Harvest'', ''Veep'', ''At Home with Amy Sed ...

as Henry Beckett *

Carlos Jacott Carlos Jacott (born July 28, 1967) is an American actor. He has guest-starred in numerous television series, such as ''Seinfeld'', ''Firefly'', ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel''. He has starred in film ...

as Peter Gutenhimmel *

Diana-Maria Riva Diana-Maria Riva (born July 22, 1969) is an American actress, known for her performances on television. She was regular cast member in series including '' Philly'' (2001-02), ''Side Order of Life'' (2007), '' The Good Guys'' (2010), ''Telenovela ...

as receptionist Maria Marquez *

as John's father Luis Alvarez * John Di Maggio as John's childhood friend Francis

Episodes

References

*Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, ''

The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

External links

*{{imdb title, 0115142, Common Law 1990s American sitcoms 1996 American television series debuts 1996 American television series endings 1990s American legal television series American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Television shows set in New York City Latino sitcoms