ABC Reviving Classic NBC Show

Just as NBC revived Law & Order, another one of the network’s legal dramas is making moves towards a return. However, it will be on ABC instead of the “Peacock Network.” Per The Hollywood Reporter, a revival of L.A. Law is entering the pilot phase at the Disney-owned channel. This update means ABC is committed to producing a test episode of the reboot with hopes it will be good enough to proceed with a full season. Currently, only Blair Underwood, who played Jonathan Rollins, is attached to return. However, others from the original L.A. Law are expected to come aboard in time.

THR included a synopsis of this sequel series in its report: “From former attorney turned TV writer Marc Guggenheim and his Arrow-verse collaborator Ubah Mohamed (Legends of Tomorrow), the new L.A. Law will see the venerable law firm of McKenzie Brackman reinvent itself as a litigation firm specializing in only the most high-profile, boundary-pushing and incendiary cases. The ABC take will see Underwood’s Rollins having gone from idealistic to more conservative as he clashes with millennial JJ Freeman to decide the best path forward for the firm to effect political and legal change.”

Notably, no one has been cast in the role of JJ Freeman, who will presumably share lots of screen time with Underwood, who joined the original show during Season 2 and stayed through Season 8. (Underwood was however absent from 2002’s L.A. Law: The Movie.) The cast of the original show included Alan Rachins, Corbin Bernsen, Jill Eikenberry, Michael Tucker, Susan Ruttan, Harry Hamlin, Jimmy Smits, Susan Dey and the now-deceased Richard Dysart.

Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher created the original show. Fisher is not involved in this revival, and Bochco died in 2018. However, Bochco’s widow Dayna and son Jesse will serve as executive producers alongside Guggenheim, Mohamed and Underwood. Anthony Hemingway, a director known for his work on shows like American Crime Story and CSI: NY, will helm the pilot.