''Canterbury's Law'' is an American

legal drama Legal drama, also called courtroom 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 wh ...

television series, which aired from March 10 to April 18, 2008 as a

mid-season replacement In American network television scheduling, a mid-season replacement is a television show that premieres in the second half of the traditional television season, usually between December and May. Mid-season replacements usually take place after ...

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

. The show was created by

Dave Erickson David C. Erickson is an American television writer and producer best known for co-creating ''Fear the Walking Dead'' with Robert Kirkman, for which he was showrunner until the end of the third season; he stepped down in order to make more shows f ...

and executive produced by

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Born in Massachusetts, he first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song " Asshole") and th ...

Jim Serpico Jim Serpico is the American co-founder, along with Denis Leary, of Apostle, a production company in New York City, specializing in television production. Career Serpico was also an executive producer for Leary's stand-up shows from the 1990s, in ...

Walon Green Walon Green (born December 15, 1936) is an American documentary film director and screenwriter, for both television and film. Career Green produced and directed documentaries for ''National Geographic'' and David Wolper, including '' The Hellstr ...

, John Kane, and

Mike Figgis Michael Figgis (born 28 February 1948) is an English film director, screenwriter, and composer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his work on '' Leaving Las Vegas'' (1995). Figgis was the founding patron of the independent filmmakers' ...

, who also directed the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

. The series revolved around Elizabeth Canterbury (portrayed by

Julianna Margulies Julianna Margulies (; born June 8, 1966) is an American actress. After several small television roles, Margulies received wide recognition for her starring role as Carol Hathaway in the NBC medical drama series '' ER'' (1994–2000; 2009), fo ...

), a rebellious defense attorney willing to bend the law if it protects the wrongfully accused. A rising star, she puts her career on the line to take on risky and unpopular cases, even when they take a toll on her personal life. Produced by

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

and Apostle, the series aired Mondays at 9:00 pm and was broadcast in Australia and Canada on

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

and

Global Global may refer to: General *Globe, a spherical model of celestial bodies *Earth, the third planet from the Sun Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 198 ...

respectively. Due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, only six of the 13 episodes ordered were able to be produced. On March 20, 2008,

announced that ''Canterbury's Law'' would move to the Friday 9:00 pm slot for the remaining episodes. On May 15, 2008, Fox officially canceled the series.

Plot

Elizabeth and her law professor husband, Matthew (

Aidan Quinn Aidan Quinn (born March 8, 1959) is an Irish-American actor. He made his film debut in '' Reckless'' (1984), and has starred in over 80 feature films, including ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' (1985), '' The Mission'' (1986), '' Stakeout'' (1987) ...

), are both haunted by the disappearance of their young son (Jeremy Zorek) and have just settled in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, in an attempt to distance themselves from the tragedy and put their relationship back together. But even as they try to move on beyond the tragedy, those goals become elusive whenever Elizabeth's work provides a stark reminder of the justice absent in their own lives. At work, Elizabeth must also deal with coworkers Russell Krauss (

Ben Shenkman Ben Shenkman (born September 26, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the comedy-drama series '' Royal Pains'' and the acclaimed HBO miniseries ''Angels in America'', which earned him both Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe ...

), a former

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

, who was forced out of his job by his financially strapped boss and whose knowledge will guide Elizabeth in their cases, even if she doesn't want to hear his reasoning or logic; Chester Fields ( Keith Robinson), a congressman's son who wants to distance himself from his political family; and Molly McConnell ( Trieste Dunn), a headstrong individual who's not afraid to switch sides, even if it's against Elizabeth. Frank Angstrom ( James McCaffrey) is a private investigator with whom Elizabeth has a sometime affair.

Cast

Main characters

as Elizabeth Canterbury *

as Russell Krauss * Trieste Dunn as Molly McConnell * Keith Robinson as Chester Fields *

Terry Kinney Terry Kinney (born January 29, 1954) is an American actor and theater director, and a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with Gary Sinise and Jeff Perry. Kinney is best known for his role as Tim McManus on HBO's prison drama ...

as Deputy Attorney General Zach Williams *

as Matthew "Matt" Furey * James McCaffrey as Frank Angstrom

Recurring characters

David Call David Steven Call (born August 14, 1982) is an American actor. Early life Call was born in Issaquah, Washington. He is a graduate student of the Tisch School of the Arts and the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School. Career Call's first acti ...

as Martin, the receptionist Jocko Sims was originally cast as Chester Fields but the role was re-cast in June 2007.

Linus Roache Linus William Roache (born 1 February 1964) is a British actor. He played Executive ADA List of Law & Order characters#Michael Cutter, Michael Cutter in the NBC dramas ''Law & Order'' (2008–2010) and ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2011 ...

was also replaced by

in August 2007 after the former landed a regular starring role in ''

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

''.

Reception

The show received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. Review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 58% approval rating, based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's consensus reads, "While ''Canterbury's Law'' births an amoral and intriguing antihero that Julianna Margulies plays with aplomb, the series is weighed down by uninspired courtroom drama."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gave the show 66 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Episodes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0956036 2008 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2000s American legal drama television series American English-language television shows Fox Broadcasting Company television dramas Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows filmed in New York (state) Television shows set in Rhode Island