Previewing Franklin & Bash

One could argue that you can judge a lawyer show by its cases and in the first season of Franklin and Bash the lawyers will take up cases like death by vagina (the defendant in question being Justified’s Natalie Zea which begs the question who would be against that kind of death?), a woman who thinks she was fired from a men’s magazine for being too attractive (despite barely being a five), a Robin Hood in the form of Jason Alexander (Listen Up) who has a change of heart when his terminal diagnosis turns out to be not as terminal as he thought), and Bash’s ex-girlfriend’s current fiancée asking him to get him off on a solicitation charge (yes, woman twenty-five to forty, Zack Morris will go head to head Dawson Leery, start rummaging for your old Tiger Beat issues now).

And what better way to start a series that a scantily clad guest star Mircea Monroe (Nobody’s Watching) trying to sell you mattresses on a video billboard (do not worry ladies, Zack Morris shows much more skin than Mircea later in the episode). Naturally a car accident happens and Franklin and Bash were staking out the intersection for just an occasion. Breckin Meyer (Road Trip) is the quick witted Franklin while Zack (Dead Man on Campus) plays the suave Bash.

Their ability to win unorthodox cases catches the eye of Malcolm McDowell (Easy A), the senior partner at a big law firm that brings the duo in and gives them free reign to continue taking on their typical cases. And since every man child needs a straight laced antagonist, Franklin and Bash has McDowell’s nephew at the firm, Reed Diamond (Journeyman) who just so happened to have dated Garcelle Beauvais (Wild Wild West) who Franklin just so happens to also have eyes for.

Along for the ride are Franklin and Bash’s associates from their pre-big time days are Dana Davis (Prom Night) as the duo’s paralegal slash private investigator and Kumail Najiani (Michael and Michael Have Issues), their researcher and writer who has come down with a case of agoraphobia and never leaves Franklin and Bash’s apartment which used to serve as their law office until their upward mobility.

Neither of the two characters really add much to the story while Diamond and Beauvais seemed as if they were written straight from the stereotype character handbook and McDowell is not always convincing as the aloof boss while Meyer and Morris do not have the strongest comic rapport, and some the writing is not that clever (the resolve of the Natalie Zea case is practically slap your head stupid) yet there is plenty to laugh at, as this was originally developed for TNT’s less serious sister station TBS. Maybe because it is summer and bar is considerably lower in terms of quality, Franklin and Bas is a good summer escape.

Aside from the previous mentioned, there is a slew of notable guest stars stopping by the law offices the first season and TNT’s press releases hypes the appearances of Fred Ward, L.A. Law’s Harry Hamlin, Tom Arnold, Beau Bridges, Tommy Chong, Kathy Najimy, and Trisha Helfer. What the press release does not tell you is the show will also be graced by Tomas F. Wilson. Yes, Biff Fracking Tannen. And since he is playing McDowell’s spiritual adviser, here’s hoping he will be making more stops by the show.

Franklin and Bash airs Wednesdays at 9:00 on TNT. You can stream episodes after they air on TNT.tv. You can also download Franklin and Bash on iTunes. Fallowing the show will be the remaining episodes of season two of Men of a Certain Age (see my preview here).