Conviction

The series is smart and engrossing, though not in a particularly novel way, and that is not a bad thing.

As with most things Wolf, it is superbly cast, almost too well... But every small role is well cast too -- the judges, the defendants, the policemen. They help create a lively world that's more believable than it sometimes deserves to be, and it is almost always engaging.

Maybe they all graduated from the Melrose Place College of Law.

The odd thing about "Conviction" is the awkward way it lurches between the legal maneuverings and the personal issues of the central characters. While the courtroom scenes are entertaining, if frequently obvious, the up-close-and-personal stuff is what proves to be a real trial.

The characters' lives just aren't fascinating, and by reverting to a more traditional way of telling crime stories, Wolf simply reminds us how superior his other version is.

Despite the obvious, desperate attempts to inject youth appeal, Conviction is as tired as it is undistinguished.

A far cry from Boston Legal or even The Practice, this is so clumsy in its mix of the procedural and the personal that it should barely be legal.