''The Partner'' is an unaired American

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

series planned for broadcast by the

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...

(Fox). The series was set to premiere on November 7, 2004, for a ten-episode run, although it was cancelled by the network less than a month before its planned broadcast. ''The Partner'' depicted a series of

mock trial A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisti ...

competitions between two teams of attorneys for a position at a prestigious law firm. One team was composed of attorneys who graduated from

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

schools while the other team was composed of attorneys who graduated from less prestigious schools. The mock trials, which were based on real-life cases, were argued in front of a jury of laypersons. Following these arguments, the jury deliberated over which attorney to eliminate from the competition. ''The Partner'' was a part of Fox's intent to capitalize on the longtime success of arbitration-based reality court programs. The series, however, faced criticism from many attorneys who believed it would promote a negative portrayal of the legal field. Shortly after Fox announced ''The Partner'', the network decided to delay the series until early 2005; the network delayed the series in favor of broadcasting the reality television series '' My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss''. In October 2004, the network announced that they had shelved the series due to an influx of legal-themed unscripted series on air.

Format

The series depicted a competition among two teams of attorneys; one team composed of

graduates while the other team composed of graduates from less prestigious law schools. The two teams competed in a series of

s that were based on real-life cases. These mock trials were judged by a jury of laypersons, in which the jury would vote on which attorneys should leave the competition. The losing attorneys then went on trial in front of a celebrity judge who decided which contestants should be eliminated from the competition. Whichever contestant remained at the end of the competition was rewarded "a lucrative position in a prestigious law firm."

Production

On March 30, 2004, Fox announced that it had given an eight-to-ten-episode commitment to ''The Partner''. The series was conceived by

Mike Darnell Michael H. Darnell (born 1962) is an American television executive and former child actor. He is currently the president of unscripted and alternative television at Warner Bros. He spent nearly 19 years at the FOX network as president of alterna ...

, the president of alternative entertainment at Fox, who was inspired by the success of other legal programs, such as ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...

'', '' Law & Order'', and ''

Judge Judy ''Judge Judy'' is an American arbitration-based reality court show presided over by former Manhattan Family Court Judge Judith Sheindlin. The show featured Sheindlin as she adjudicated real-life small-claims disputes within a simulated courtr ...

''. Danrell emphasized the "natural drama" of the legal field and described the series' concept as "almost like the perfect idea for bringing something from the fictional world to reality." The series, which went under a

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of ''The Legal Show'', was produced by Rocket Science Laboratories, with Chris Cowan and Jean-Michel Michenaud serving as executive producers. Casting calls for ''The Partner'' took place from May to August 2004, in major cities, including

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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

, and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Supervising casting director Tyler Ramsey posted a

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums. Craig Newmark began the ...

advertisement, in which he sought "Charismatic young lawyers ocompete in mock trials/courtroom showdowns on prime-time TV." In order to scope out contestants from Ivy League schools, the casting crew visited popular bars in cities that were frequented by law school students and graduates, such as those from

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

. Over 100 attorneys tried out for the series, with the casting crew claiming that many auditioned in order to gain "exposure". Applicants were required to have passed the

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associ ...

since April 2003, and not yet secured a full-time job at a law firm.

Cancellation

''The Partner'' was initially set to air on November 7, 2004, although Fox opted to air the reality television series '' My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss'' instead. As a result, the series was delayed until early 2005. In October 2004, however, Fox and Rocket Science Laboratories released a joint statement in which they confirmed the cancellation of the series. The network and production company attributed the series' cancellation to the influx of legal-themed unscripted series at the time. They stated: "With the numerous boardroom-type unscripted programs on the various network’s schedules, we have decided to focus our mutual efforts on other unscripted material." ''The Partner'' was the second project between Fox and Rocket Science Laboratories to be shelved, following the cancellation of '' Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay'' in May 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partner 2000s American reality television series American English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company reality television shows Television series by Rocket Science Laboratories Unaired television shows

Format

Production

Cancellation

See also

References