Good show with fine cast, but it all still feels a little too familiar and old-fashioned.

What it isn't is very dramatic. If watching attorneys haggle like rug traders was all that interesting, Feige probably would still be doing it. Nonetheless, there are worse ways to spend an hour than watching Raising the Bar, especially since the cast members are all quite pretty.

Too often, though, plots are contrived and coincidental (how many times can Kellerman defend clients against the same prosecutor, who just happens to be his girlfriend?) and lack the wonderful surprises that are trademarks of a Bochco production.

Bar still feels like an attempt at a '90s-era edgy prime-time drama whose time has past.

There's no escaping a nagging sense that the series springs from a well-worn playbook.

The second episode is 30 percent better than the first. Maybe by episode six, it will actually be watchable.

These are some of the most lackluster, unimaginative trials brought to TV in years, as every defendant's guilt or innocence is written all over his or her face from the get-go.