Harry's Law

An improbably entertaining outing that initially finds Kathy Bates' character reclining at her office desk while smoking pot and bemoaning her fate.

What the show lacks in originality it makes up for in crisp, politically tinged dialogue.

Since we like scrappy underdogs, and Bates has the skill to slide from exasperation to amusement to determination, she just might coax this hybrid into the race.

The pilot's accumulation of cute - oh, for the straightforward simplicity of bowling alley lawyer "Ed" - feels overbearing long before Kelley's courtroom summation turns societal sermon.

Fans who've stuck with Kelley ("L.A. Law," "Ally McBeal") as his series became more outlandish (and yet repetitive) might enjoy seeing Bates in those inevitable scenes where she sways the court with the power of the writer's convictions. But there's a disconnect between Kelley's whimsy and his rhetoric here that too often leaves the cranky Harriet looking merely foolish.

The show's pea-brain sociology is eclipsed only by its Dadaesque conception of courtroom drama.

David E. Kelley hits rock bottom in the derivative courtroom cartoon Harry's Law, which makes last fall's defunct and equally ridiculous Outlaw look as noble as The West Wing.