Canterbury's Law: Right Show, Wrong Place?

After we watched the entertaining if unspectacular pilot of "Canterbury's Law" on Fox, my wife summed it up perfectly. When I said it didn't really seem like a Fox show, she replied it seemed like a cable drama.

And that's it right there. This Julianna Margulies courtroom drama seems to me a fine addition to the genre, but it's languishing on the American Idol network, and I bailed on it, believing it was destined to be axed just as I got involved in it. I can't guarantee that I’d watch it every week were it on sturdier ground, but I can guarantee you I would enjoy it more than the seemingly endless parade of female-fronted dramas that scored commercial and/or critical success on TNT and FX in recent years.

I don't care for series like "The Closer," "Saving Grace," or 'Damages," but I thought "Canterbury's Law" had real potential. Oh, in some ways, it was a lot of stuff we've seen before, even recently. Mrs. Shark made another apt statement in comparing the series to last year's "Justice," in which often-imperious Victor Garber showed some younger colleagues the ropes while conducting investigations for his defense firm.

Margulies is a compelling TV actress who can make the rougher aspects of a character tolerable, and seeing her do her thing in and out of the courtroom made an enjoyable debut episode. There were interesting faces in the supporting cast and guest roster and solid chemistry between here and her screen hubby Aidan Quinn, plus hints of personal dramas yet to be explored.

It seems tailor made for cable. Fox, you have FX sitting there needing some more quality shows--trust me, you may not think so, but it does--and this would have been a quality addition. Instead, it is serving out its final days in the exile of Friday night, where Fox banishes all those who cannot hold the audience of "Idol" or "House." Margulies and her series deserve better.