Top row, left to right: Alan Rachins, Jimmy Smits,
Blair Underwood and Corbin Bernsen.
Middle row: Susan Dey, Harry Hamlin
Larry Drake and Susan Ruttan.
Bottom row: Richard Dysart, Michele Greene
Michael Tucker and Jill Eikenberry.
September 15, 1986: L.A. Law premieres on NBC. Executive producer Steve Bochco, as he had with Hill Street Blues, teamed up with composer Mike Post for another great TV theme song.
The show was set at a firm which, at the show's beginning, was named McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney & Kuzak -- but usually just referred to by its original name, "McKenzie-Brackman." Leland McKenzie, the senior partner, was played by Richard Dysart. He was the firm's guiding light, its conscience, concerned with doing the right thing.
Alan Rachins played the other senior partner, Douglas Brackman, whose father had founded the firm with McKenzie. He was concerned with making money for the firm. At the show's beginning, his marriage was breaking up, due to his infidelity. Both were traits he inherited from his father.
Norman Chaney, the 3rd named partner, was found dead in his office at the start of the pilot by Arnold Becker, the firm's family law guy, played by Corbin Bernsen; and his secretary, Roxanne Melman, played by Susan Ruttan. Harry Hamlin played Michael "Mickey" Kuzak, the 4th named partner and the firm's main criminal defense attorney.
Kuzak was in a relationship with Deputy District Attorney Grace Van Owen, played by Susan Dey, formerly of The Partridge Family. Jimmy Smits played Victor Sifuentes, another criminal defense attorney, who was hired by the firm in the pilot. Eventually, Kuzak and Van Owen broke up, Van Owen joined the firm, and she and Sifuentes became a couple.
Jill Eikenberry played Ann Kelsey, a junior partner. Michael Tucker played Stuart Markowitz, the firm's tax specialist. Eikenberry and Tucker were married in real life, and, in the pilot, Kelsey tells Markowitz of her attraction to him. (Which, based on looks alone, made little sense, but Stuart was a great guy.)
Michele Greene played Abby Perkins, an associate. In Season 2, Blair Underwood joined the cast as associate Jonathan Rollins. An uncomfortable storyline developed over whether to make Abby one of the other female partners or to make Jonathan the firm's 1st black partner, complicating a strong friendship that some viewers were hoping would develop into romance, but never did. When Abby was chosen, Jonathan took the high road, saying, "It's about time."
Hamlin, Smits and Greene left the show after Season 5. Jonathan was promoted to partner. Already with the show as associates, with their roles increased, were Amanda Donohoe as associate Cara Jean "C.J." Lamb, John Spencer as associate Tommy Mullaney, Sheila Kelley as law intern and eventual associate Gwen Taylor, and Cecil Hoffman as Assistant D.A. Zoey Clemmons.
Diana Muldaur was added in Season 5, as Rosalind Shays, a high-roller new partner who ruffled a lot of feathers. Most of the firm hated her, but even most of those at least respected her ability. One who didn't hate her was McKenzie, and they developed a relationship. Eventually, she ticked off everybody else, and resigned. But she and McKenzie kept things going, until she fell down the firm's elevator shaft and died. It was one of the most approved-of deaths in the history of the fandom of any TV show.
In Season 5, to settle a financial dispute between Becker and the other partners, Becker agreed to a compromise that did not benefit him, in exchange for getting his name put on the firm. After Hamlin left, Kuzak's name was taken off.
Dey and Donohoe left after Season 6. There was more retooling for Season 7. Chaney's name was finally removed from the firm, and it became McKenzie, Brackman, Becker, Kelsey & Markowitz. Soap opera veteran A Martinez was added as partner Daniel Morales, a single father that the single female lawyers fawned over. Among these was the newly-added Melina Paros, played by Lisa Zane. Hoffman and Kelley left after Season 7.
Bochco had created Civil Wars, a legal drama for ABC. It was better-written than L.A. Law, and at least as well-acted, but it never caught on. When it was canceled, Bochco moved the characters of lawyer Eli Levinson, played by Alan Rosenberg, and his secretary Denise Iannello, played by Debi Mazar, to L.A. Law for Season 8, which turned out to be the last.
On the one hand, L.A. Law had some great acting and some great storylines. It discussed issues of race (including handling the 1992 Los Angeles riot), gender and sexuality (Lamb was bisexual, and had a brief relationship with Perkins). The character of office assistant Benny Stulwicz, played by Larry Drake, showcased questions of developmental disabilities. As he would later do on The West Wing, Spencer played a lawyer who was a recovering alcoholic, so questions of substance abuse were addressed. And, of course, this show meant that we no longer had to think of Susan Dey as Laurie Partridge.
On the other hand, it really pushed the envelope in terms of what could be shown on TV. Bochco mostly got away with it: He got in more trouble for having Tucker, as Markowitz, dealing with infertility issues, say, "I feel like such a goddamn wimp" than he did for all the show's implied nudity and sex scenes. It showed him he could go further. In 1993, he did, with NYPD Blue.
L.A. Law's opening credits had to be redone a couple of times, as the Los Angeles skyline grew significantly between 1986 and 1994, including the opening of what's now named the U.S. Bank Tower in 1989. The building shown as the firm's headquarters is 444 South Flower Street, in downtown Los Angeles.
When the show's cold open was humorous, the opening credits would start with a saxophone solo; when it was deadly serious, the start would be an ominous synthesizer chord. Then a car trunk would be shut, showing a personalized California license plate reading "LA LAW." For each calendar year, the registration sticker would change: "86," "87," and so on up to "94."
The car in question was a silver 1986 Jaguar XJ Series III, and it appeared in the very first scene of the show, as Becker's car, stuck in traffic, with the license plate reading "LITIG8R" -- "litigator." At the start of Season 8, Arnie bought a new car, a black 1993 Bentley Continental R, and this became the car in the opening credits.
Note the 4 Presidents in the intro: Dysart played Harry Truman twice and Dwight D. Eisenhower once, Jimmy Smits played Matthew Santos on The West Wing, and Blair Underwood played a fictional President on the science-fiction TV series The Event.
Dysart also played Secretary of War Henry Stimson. He and Drake (in separate films, of course) both played FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Harry Hamlin has never played a President, but he has played an NBC anchorman who's interviewed them, Tom Brokaw. Corbin Bernsen has played a Supreme Court Justice, Harry Blackmun, so that's a promotion from litigation lawyer; and one of the Watergate defendants, Attorney General Richard Kleindienst.
And John Spencer, of course, went on to play the White House Chief of Staff, Leo McGarry, on The West Wing. Sheila Kelley's real-life husband, Richard Schiff, played White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler. Bochco had nothing to do with The West Wing, but Bernsen was one of several actors from Bochco shows who would guest-star on it, in his case as a nasty Republican Senator.
Spencer died in 2005, Dysart in 2015, and Drake in 2016. As of September 15, 2022, all of the other castmembers mentioned above are still alive. (UPDATE: Alan Rachins died in 2024.)
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September 15, 1986 was a Monday, although the show eventually became part of NBC's big Thursday night lineup. "Reality TV" star Heidi Montag and YouTube personality Jenna Marbles were born on this day.
On ABC Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 21-10 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Yankee Stadium. Former Oriole Tim Stoddard outpitched Mike Boddicker. Don Mattingly went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and 3 RBIs. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-4 with 2 stolen bases. For the Orioles, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken each went 1-for-5 with an RBI.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Ron Darling pitched 9 innings of 4-hit shutout ball. In contrast, Cards starter John Tudor left due to injury after 3 innings, and Ricky Horton pitched the next 7, without allowing a run. The game went to the bottom of the 13th inning, when Roger McDowell loaded the bases, and walked Curt Ford, making a winning pitcher of Todd Worrell. It didn't matter: The Mets clinched the National League Eastern Division title 2 days later.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 7-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Don Carman pitched a 4-hit shutout. Mike Schmidt, on his way to a 3rd National League Most Valuable Player award, hit his League-leading 36th home run of the season, the 484th of his career. Rookie Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Knuckleballer Tom Candiotti pitched a 7-hit shutout.
* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-5 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Reggie Jackson went 0-for-4.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 2-for-5. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with a walk.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* And the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Mariners, the Atlanta Braves, the Cincinnati Reds, the Houston Astros, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants were not scheduled.
