''Rex Is Not Your Lawyer'' was a proposed

legal drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice play ...

from actor Andrew Leeds and novelist David Lampson. A pilot was shot in December 2009, starring

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

Jerry O'Connell Jerry O'Connell (born February 17, 1974) is an American actor and television host. He is known for his roles as Quinn Mallory in the television series ''Sliders'', Andrew Clements in ''My Secret Identity'', Vern Tessio in the film '' Stand by M ...

Abigail Spencer Abigail Leigh Spencer (born August 4, 1981) is an American actress. She began her career playing Rebecca Tyree on the ABC daytime television soap opera ''All My Children'' (1999–2001) before going on to star in the Lifetime crime drama series, ...

Jane Curtin Jane Therese Curtin (born September 6, 1947) is an American actress and comedian. First coming to prominence as an original cast member on the hit TV comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1975, she went on to win back-to-back Emmy Awards for ...

and

Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Michael Tambor (born July 8, 1944) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles such as Jeffrey Brookes, the uptight neighbor of Stanley and Helen Roper in the television sitcom ''The Ropers'' (1979–1980), as Hank Kings ...

, but was not picked up, and the project was shelved.

Plot

''Rex is Not Your Lawyer'' (2010) starred

as Rex Alexander, a top litigator who becomes so crippled by panic attacks that he can no longer appear in the courtroom and starts coaching his clients to represent themselves. The pilot episode, titled "Mabel Howard's Wrongful Termination," focused on a case involving private school bus driver Mabel Howard (

Cleo King Harriet Cleo King is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on television, particularly ''Mike & Molly'' (2010–2016). Early life King was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was the youngest of seven children. She graduated from U ...

Cast

as Rex Alexander, an attorney who suffers an anxiety disorder *

as Alexander's psychiatrist who also suffers from anxiety disorders *

as Lindsey Steers, an ambitious attorney and Alexander's fiancée *

as Alexander's mother and a successful law professor *

as a good-natured attorney who is secretly in love with Steers *

Lindsey Kraft Lindsey Brooke Kraft (born January 23, 1983) is an American actress, model and writer. She is best known for playing Marguerite Macaw on '' Getting On'', Leslie Curry on ''Living Biblically'', and Allison on ''Grace and Frankie''. Kraft has als ...

as Alexander's legal assistant *

as Alexander's client in a wrongful termination case

Production

''Rex Is Not Your Lawyer'', from

Universal Media Studios Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

and

BermanBraun Whalerock Industries is an American media and technology company. Based in West Hollywood, Whalerock partners with public figures and brands to create, build and operate direct-to-consumer multi-media apps which integrate music, video, live stream ...

, was first sold to NBC in Spring 2007 (on a "first-look" agreement through BermanBraun) but the production was stalled because of the Writer's Strike. The program was re-considered and then rejected for the 2008 season as well. With new programming executives in charge at NBC, and Barry Schindel from ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'' on board as showrunner, the show was recommissioned in October 2009. On November 3, 2009, Scottish actor

, who had recently concluded a run as the lead actor on ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'', was announced as the lead actor in the role of Rex Alexander. ''Heroes'' actor

Sendhil Ramamurthy Sendhil Amithab Ramamurthy (born May 17, 1974) is an American actor. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Ramamurthy is best known for his roles as geneticist Mohinder Suresh in the NBC sci-fi drama ''Heroes'', Gabriel "Gabe" Lowan in ''Beauty and t ...

was cast as Bruce Sweet, Rex's best friend—an ambitious but good-natured lawyer who was in Rex's shadow until Rex's career switch; Bruce's friendship with Rex becomes complicated when he falls in love with his pal's ex-fiancée, Lindsey Steers (

). Other cast members in the pilot included

as Rex's mother Ellen,

as Doctor Barry Fineman (originally "Doctor Barry Cohen" in earlier drafts of the script),

as Sophia Kraft (Rex's assistant), and

as Mabel Howard. The pilot was directed by

David Semel David Semel is an American film and television director and producer. His television directing credits include ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', ''Person of Interest (TV series), Person of Interest'', ''Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Public'', ''7th ...

. The original setting for the

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

script was

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, but it was changed to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

prior to filming. Production began in late November or early December 2009, and scenes for the pilot were shot in and around Los Angeles, utilizing various streets and businesses in the downtown area including the Hilton Checkers (

Hilton Hotels & Resorts Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide, Hilton. The original company was founded by C ...

) and

Los Angeles Center Studios Los Angeles Center Studios, located in the Westlake District of Los Angeles, California, is a multipurpose facility in the former Unocal Center building (opened as Union Oil Center in April 1958) next to the 110 Freeway. Architect William Perei ...

. On December 5, actor

was spotted on location and the next day it was announced that O'Connell had replaced Ramamurthy as Bruce. Golf scenes between Tennant and O'Connell were shot in three locations—at the

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

National Golf Course in

Palos Verdes The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the Sou ...

, at a driving range in

Koreatown A Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...

, and outdoors on the Los Angeles Center Studio lot—and filming for the pilot was completed a few days before December 25. During the December 2009 filming, on-set rumors indicated that the show could begin filming its regular series episodes within a matter of weeks, pending network approval. At the January 2010

Television Critics Association The Television Critics Association (TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian television critics, journalists and columnists who cover television programming for newspapers, magazines and web publications. The TCA accepts app ...

Press Tour, NBC's Angela Bromstad and Jeff Gaspin said that the pilot would be reviewed by executives and that "Rex" could become either a fast-track program airing in Spring 2010 (to help cover NBC's scheduling nightmare regarding the

2010 Tonight Show conflict The 2010 ''Tonight Show'' conflict was a media and public relations conflict involving the American television network NBC and two of its late-night talk show hosts, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, over the timeslot and hosting duties of long-runn ...

) or it could be an early Fall 2010 program. During the early months of 2010, there were at least two test screenings for the pilot in April, one at

Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Parks & Resorts, also known as Universal Studios Theme Parks or solely Universal Theme Parks, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme par ...

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

and another at a screening room in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. However, it was reported on January 24, 2010, that the sets had been dismantled and stored, and the pilot was later passed over for both the Spring and Fall network schedules. In August 2010, Tennant confirmed during an interview at the 2010 Emmys that the show was "truly and sincerely dead"; later that year he spoke candidly about the pilot in several British interviews.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title Unaired television pilots Television pilots not picked up as a series