- Image via Wikipedia
The one ABC program that wasn’t available for early review was the Jerry Bruckheimer legal drama “The Whole Truth” starring old TV pros Maura Tierney (“ER”) and Rob Morrow (“Northern Exposure,” “Numbers”).
It premieres at 10 tonight on Channel 7 opposite the much lighter and sillier CBS legal show, “The Defenders.”
After watching “Truth” this morning, I can report it is a well-produced traditional criminal law series with a diverse cast that has a twist: Viewers are shown the different reactions, strategies, angles and spins of the defense and prosecution teams after they get the same information.
Tierney and Morrow (see above) play former Yale Law School classmates, Kathryn Peale and Jimmy Brogan, who are on the different side of the law. They respect and still have feelings for each other out of court, but they battle hard in court with the aid of their respective legal teams.
Tierney works hard as a prosecutor, quotes Benjamin Disraeli and Aristotle (“excellence is not an act but a habit”) and dates younger men. Murrow is a natural defense lawyer and showman.
They face off tonight with a case involving a high school teacher accused of murdering one of his students. The format keeps a viewer guessing about guilt or innocence. The truth is I found the verdict difficult to comprehend, but some viewers might disagree and that’s the fun.
My verdict: “Truth” is far from excellence and unlikely to become a weekly habit. But the acting pros in the leads and the appealing supporting cast make it very watchable.
Rating: 2 and a half stars out of 4
Alan Pergament was the television critic for The Buffalo News for 28 years. He currently is an adjunct professor at Buffalo State College and Medaille College, teaching courses in communications. He also writes a monthly column on the media for Buffalo Spree magazine.
