All language subtitles for LA Law s05e00 100th Episode Celebration

If war is too important to be left to
the generals, surely justice is too

important to be left to the lawyers.

So said an esteemed legal scholar who
probably watches TV every Thursday

along with 16 million L .A. law
regulars. For one hour every week for

five years, justice has been left in the
hands of actors, the members of the

firm McKenzie Brackman, where the line
between what's real and what's just TV

sometimes gets blurred.

Make no mistake, it's a TV show, not a
documentary, but it's a very good TV

show.

100 episodes and 12 Emmys later, there's
plenty of evidence to support that.

Tonight, we'll go behind the scenes and
meet the cast and creators of L .A. Law

and sample some of the show's most
memorable moments.

Welcome to L .A. Law's 100th episode
celebration.

Lawyers and the law are hardly strangers
to primetime television, but the pilot

of L .A. Law was different, very
different, starting with the death of

the firm's partners, Norman Chaney.

I didn't actually touch him, but I'm
pretty sure he's dead.

If he is, I've got tips in his office.

Mr. Cheney would never be seen again,
but his legacy is a classic example of L

.A. Law's off -center sense of humor.

This unceremonious exit was the
introduction to L .A. Law's irreverent

a less than sentimental attitude toward
the law.

Mr. Cheney's office.

Oh, no, I'm sorry. He's not available
right now. A collection matter?

It's a little more complicated than
that. Douglas Brackman, played by Alan

Rachin, set the record straight.

Mackenzie Brackman Chaney et al.

does not handle $750 collection cases.

Douglas Brackman may have seemed
formidable at first, but it wasn't long

L .A. Law's creators were popping his
pompous balloon.

Hey, Dougie, don't... So you stuck a
slinky in your mouth?

I was using the flat edge.

You're in contempt.

Poor Douglas has been made to suffer a
whole host of indignities week after

week. Can we count the ways?

Well, there have been quite a few.
Beside being blown up in the toilet

there was a couple of humiliating
battles with my wife, now ex -wife

You're manufacturing this, Sheila. I'm
sick of it, Douglas.

I'm sick of you.

Thickening little affairs.

My affairs?

And who are you? The Virgin Mary.

Slowly turn onto your left side.

Then there was a midlife crisis where I
wore a hairpiece for a while to attract

a very young aerobics instructor.

There was a developing a case of
fainting spells

when it came to sex that required me to
see a sex therapist.

Oh, dear.

You know, the look of horror in your
face, I understand. You know, they were

debilitating things.

Do you recite these with pride?

I recite these with a sense of humor.

L .A. Law's cast often seems as driven
by libido as Love of the Law.

The character most held captive by his
sex drive is Arnie Becker, played by

Corbin Bernson.

You are my prisoner.

I have... Two lines that I really
remember that stick out of the pilot

of set the tone of what the show was
going to be to some extent and certainly

character. And one was there was an
associate sitting behind me that I was

of coming on to and having a flirtatious
little thing within the office at the

time. And I said, would you get me a
sandwich, please?

Just tell me, honey, you're trying to
tell me something.

When I wake up and I come in and I'm
tired and whatever, to find the

I'll walk into a corner and say, this is
tongue, honey, you're trying to tell me

something. And I know the Becker
character right away.

We're all friends here, right? We're
caring individuals who try to treat each

other with decency and mutual respect.

You are the lowest slime on earth. You
have the sexual responsibility of a

warthog and the morals of a flea. You
would screw your own grandmother and

tickets to it. And I only pray for one
thing, that when someone finally does

murder you, there is a... hell for you
to rot in you were talking

about decency and mutual respect i've
always seen the faults in him you know

goes behind that closed door and he just
wants to cry he doesn't know what it is

and i think maybe that's why people like
the character because he you know women

the most common thing women say is if i
had a night or a weekend or a month with

him i could change him He doesn't, you
know, he thinks his armor is thick, but

you can just, and you can find a chink
in it.

Shall I start saying my Hail Marys now
for what it is I'm about to do? I have a

feeling you'd better. As far as sin
goes, I think this is going to be a big

I think, you know, what's behind that
smile?

It's kind of a, I'm stepping out on the
plank here.

I'm going to offer a little bit of
humor, a little bit of sexuality.

But God, I might fall in the water. I
think that's in that smile.

I don't think the smile is all
confidence.

I think the smile recognizes that
there's a sea of sharks right below

step. I am nothing if not sensitive.

They all seem so at ease with
themselves.

You're thinking of running off and
becoming a nudist?

What you see is what you get with Grace
Van Owen's ex -flame, earnest criminal

attorney Michael Kuzak, played by Harry
Hamlin.

Their longtime romance produced some of
L .A. Law's most charming moments.

When in Rome, Mickey.

Hey,

it's a party.

Do you understand Michael Cusack's
passion?

He's on a mission, the way he's written
by the writers. A mission toward truth

and... righteousness and all of that.
And I often wonder, there was a cartoon

that I grew up with when I was knee
-high to a grasshopper called Crusader

Rabbit. And Crusader Rabbit was
dedicated to truth and righteousness

know, I suppose the American way and all
those things. This little rabbit, he

had a mutt with him all the time. But I
have always used Crusader Rabbit as a

kind of a model.

He seems to definitely be dedicated to
this mission of always, you know,

making the right moral choice.

Cusack never donned Crusader Rabbit's
bunny suit, but his gorilla -costumed

proposal to Grace Van Owen is an L .A.
law classic.

I know this is the hell of a time to say
this, but I'm in love with you.

Gracie, do you want me to throw this guy
out of here?

I'm sorry, Kevin.

Kevin didn't stand a chance against
Michael Cusack, the ape man.

It was the beginning of three seasons of
passion and playful good times.

How about a snapshot of bride and
groomer?

Definitely.

There was a scene that Susan Day and I
did.

I think it was in the second year or the
third year where we walked out of the

house and she had some helium balloons
with her. And I tried so hard and for so

long to be taken seriously.

And now that's the only way people take
me.

Nothing wrong with being serious, Grace.

Oh, Mickey, I haven't done that since I
was a kid. Give me.

I seriously love you, Mickey.

And I seriously love you, too, Gracie.

Ah,

the ways of love. This season, Grace Van
Owen got a very special Christmas

present from Victor Cifuentes.

Are you jealous?

I, you know, I am a little bit jealous,
I guess.

I hate to admit it, but I was walking on
the crown stage a couple of months ago,

and they were shooting a little pickup
shot between Susan and Jimmy where it

very hot. I mean, she was taking off his
shirt, and the camera went down, and

you could see her undoing his belt. I
mean, for TV, it was pretty risque. For

me, I was burning inside. I thought,
wait a minute, I'm the guy she used to

that to. That was my belt two years ago
she was undoing, you know?

I mean, call me crazy, I did feel a
little bit jealous about that.

Markowitz?

One of the biggest romantic surprises of
L .A. Law's first 100

episodes was the complex, evolving
relationship between Mackenzie Brackman

partners, Stuart Markowitz and Ann
Kelsey, played by real -life husband and

wife, Michael Tucker and Jill
Eikenberry.

I just want you to know that I admire
you.

More than I can ever express.

For Tucker, it was an especially rare
acting experience.

If you could put one scene in a time
capsule, which one would it be?

We had a great time with the Venus
butterfly scene.

I always felt that if it fell into the
wrong hands, it could sexually enslave a

woman. When an unlikely polygamist
shares the secret of the Venus

most seductive sexual technique, it
leads to a scene that's a favorite among

.A. Law's creators and cast.

We had never done a bed scene together.

And here we go, we, you know, you're
wearing whatever the hell you're

you know, for modesty, and you get into
bed with your wife in

front of 80 people.

Have you been seeing another woman?

No, of course not.

Then where the hell did you learn that?

You mean the Venus butterfly?

Everything is so natural.

It's your wife.

And there she is, and there you are. And
it makes perfect sense, except they're

filming it.

We could maybe do it again?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm up for it.

Maybe from a personal point of view, the
scene that you should put in the time

capsule, though, is the one where there
were personal overlaid on dramatic

stories, and I'm talking about when you
ask Anne to move in with you. It was a

very difficult time in our life. Jill
had

breast cancer.

No one knew it.

No one on the set knew it except Bochco.

And he kept it a secret.

Jill would work up until a certain hour
every day and then go for her radiation

treatment. She had just had the
operation, and we started shooting the

Well, I was going to propose you move in
because... because I love you.

And because you give my life meaning and
joy.

And because the thought of waking up
next to you is my profoundest happiness.

But I thought if I did that, I might
scare you off.

It's a big step. Can I think about it?

Absolutely.

Okay, I thought about it.

I am blessed in working with Jill that
when I look into her eyes, I'm a mess.

I'm a puddle. She gets to me. She gets
to me every time.

And it's very easy to play that moment.

Tucked away on the 20th Century Fox
backlot.

The production headquarters of L .A. Law
are far from the upscale offices of

Mackenzie Brackman.

Here, a staff of 23, including five dogs
and an occasional cat, put together 22

episodes a season, following the
framework first set up by former

Louise Fisher and Hill Street Blues
creator Stephen Bochco.

The workload is enormous on an hour show
for ten

months of the year, nine and a half
months of the year.

your back is up against the wall.

And if you're going to work that hard,
that intensely and

that intimately with a group of people,
you've got to have a good time.

Today,

L .A. Law is run by an ex -Boston
attorney, David Kelly, and director

Rick Wallace.

He anticipates that he is going to be
dissected. Before shooting a show, Kelly

and Wallace meet with the production
staff and director to make sure

in agreement over the episode they're
about to shoot.

I don't know, I think what you find is
that a lot of people who come through

here, actors who are guest players,
directors, most of them have...

An unusually good experience, and it
seems to be a collaborative experience.

It's definitely an ensemble experience.

I'm still questioning this business
because it doesn't have an effect on who

cast and how we play it. We create an
atmosphere where we sort of go beyond

doing good work.

We get into the realm of really trying
to elevate it to a point that it becomes

special. Now, we don't always succeed,
but if we succeed five times out of the

year at doing something really
special... I think we've done great.

If she dies intestate, it's the same
result. David Kelly has had a writer's

credit on 60 of L .A. Law's 100
episodes.

At the same time, he helped oversee
series production.

I need a little something for the staff
meeting now. Punchy. Despite the

occasional bribe, his dog Hogan is a
loyal but less than reliable assistant.

End of business today on my desk.

Good boy.

It's very difficult for me to step out
of the make -believe world of McKenzie,

Cusack, Cheney, Brackman, and Becker
into the real world of Fox Studios and L

.A. Law.

Some days I do it better than others,
but when I close my door in my office

I have to write, I'm hearing Cusack, I'm
hearing Van Owen, I'm hearing

Sufuentes.

So what I end up doing is throwing out
the real world and putting it in Rick's

hand, and I stay with all the make
-believe characters who always say what

want them to say.

Most critics agree that exceptional
writing is the foundation of L .A. law's

success.

In this scene, an attorney on the verge
of suicide offers his last closing

argument, the writing of William
Finkelstein.

And the acting of guest performer Thomas
Ryan show L .A. Law at its best.

What I always thought Christmas is about
is a kind of free pass.

A time of saying, hey, you don't have to
earn it.

We'll consider you, the least of you,
and we'll do it strictly

on faith.

But Christmas goes.

The audition continues.

And each one of us is sent back to
hammer on his own personal anvil

with the idea that we will be hammering
until our hearts stop.

From conception through editing, it
takes seven weeks to put together an L

Law episode, including eight days of
shooting on the set.

The conference room scene that usually
opens the show may last only two to

minutes on the screen, but can take five
hours to shoot.

The high production standards and the
glossy look of L .A. Law can be traced

the early influence of director
-producer Greg Hoblet.

In my mind, as I was brought into this,
was the notion to make this show, to

make L .A. Law as uptown as Hill Street
had been downtown, as elegant and sleek

and articulate and rich and beautiful as
Hill Street had kind of been

ugly and inarticulate and bumpy.

and messy.

And to that end, how we would develop
the film, what the sets would look like,

what the colors would be, what the
wardrobe would be, and how it would look

sound and taste and smell and feel
started to evolve.

It just was going to be fun to try
something new.

Just a minute.

I've got an announcement.

The lawyers of L .A. Law are a team.

so are the actors that bring them to
life.

Most have worked together since the
first episode.

This season, Mackenzie Brackman has
added two newcomers to the firm's little

family.

Amanda Donahoe plays C .J. Lamb.

I've watched L .A. Law as a viewer and
really enjoyed the show myself.

And one thing that does come across, one
thing that does permeate through is

that these people are actually rather
nice.

They're nice people. They have good
souls.

These are not evil, manipulative people.

And that's how I came to the set. I
didn't expect any ego stuff to go down.

And there they were. They welcomed me
with open arms. They were very, very

to me. Everybody.

Check by end of business today.

Let's go.

The other newcomer is Tommy Mullaney,
played by John Spenton.

Mother of Mary and Joseph.

With me coming on the show, see, my
character, Tommy, is going into

Brackman, into the corporation, and he's
not a corporate type.

And I've never thought of myself
necessarily as a nighttime episodic

And so I'm going on to the show.

Tommy's going into the corporation.

And life was reflecting art and vice
versa.

So in a way, I feel like I've had an
easy time with it.

L .A. Law may be built around ensemble
acting, but at the head of the table at

every partner's meeting is magisterial
Leland McKenzie, played by Richard

Dysart. Well, you aren't the star of the
show, but you are the what?

I'm the glue.

Well, Leland McKenzie sort of holds
things together in that he is his senior

partner.

Things revolve in the office around him
and go out from him and such as that.

The stars of the show are the scripts,
not the actors. We're a marvelous

ensemble of people, a very fortunate
lucky group of people.

The scripts are the stars.

The burden is still on me to bring in
the business.

I can't spend eight hours a day trying
to build a client base and take out time

to serve your sense of democracy.

I know I've been cutting some
administrative corners, but it is tough

rainmaker and office ambassador at the
same time. So what are you saying?

I'm saying I'm going to set my
priorities.

For the next six weeks, I'm going to
completely concentrate on expanding our

client list.

When we first started, I thought, well,
I've never done a series before.

And I was concerned about how I was
going to view this myself, how I

was going to adapt to this.

And I thought, well, just think of it as
a movie.

And now you've made 100 of them. I think
of it as one long movie.

It's still going.

Enjoy it.

Much of the appeal of L .A. law can be
traced to a deft mix of emotions and

moods. The men have their scenes, but
the unusual depth and complexity of the

.A. law women produces a special kind of
dramatic moment.

What the hell is it with you? One of the
show's most unforgettable characters is

Icy Rosalind Shays, played by Diana
Mulder.

This isn't a country club, Leland, where
you get to be the golf pro.

The tough business, and any firm, if it
wants to get ahead, needs a strong

leader. She just horrifies me sometimes
to such a degree that I wonder how I'm

going to ever say the words.

But I love the fact that she just simply

does what she does.

I'm not stepping down.

You're only in power by my consent.

If you and I do battle, you couldn't
possibly win. I'm not stepping down.

Then I'll have to break you.

You want a war, Leland?

Fine.

You've got one.

I think if a man had said the same
thing, done the same things, you

have even seen her. She would have just
come and gone, just like that. I think

the idea of it being a woman doing it
that way...

is what horrifies America. But then she
does horrible things to people. I mean,

she doesn't see the person. She's just
there for the business.

Do you think you have advanced the cause
of women in the workplace or set it

back?

Interestingly, I have a lot of women
fans who just think it's wonderful, and

lot of men that say, give it to them,
Roz.

Jill Eikenberry plays Ann Kelsey.

It took courage, but Ann was one L .A.
lawwoman who wasn't afraid to lay it on

the line with Rosalind Shays.

I need my chair. I need my desk. I need
my office. Get off the phone. I admire

Ann a lot sometimes. You know, she's so
direct.

I mean, she doesn't pull punches. She
just says things that she feels, and I

often wish that I could do that.

Women who aren't lawyers might find
reason to identify with some of Anne

Kelsey's dilemmas in the workplace.

I think the whole idea of trying to
balance a relationship and a job and

trying to balance the aggressiveness
needed to be a female executive and the

softness needed to be...

part of a man's life and you know those
kinds of compromises at the end the

compromises involved with children and
all those things but in other words uh

you know that hackneyed phrase of a
woman who wants it all stop that stop

nicer i'm gonna cry i've totally ruined
this whole day for you and you didn't

ruin it i did i wouldn't do anything
till the last minute it's just your way

it's your way of dealing with what's
really bothering you Which is how scary

is to be standing here doing the M word.

With other people, I always used to try
and pretend that I was someone I wasn't.

And then I'd feel angry that no one
really loved me for me.

But you do, Stuart.

You really love me for me.

And that is the most incredible gift.

And I just hope to God that I can make
you have as happy as you've made me.

I've never been so happy.

I love you so much, Stuart.

Let's not screw it up, okay?

Deal.

Deal. The thing that appeals to me about
her is that she's constantly struggling

with it, and I think, and looking for
the answer.

And that's a real, that's a human being,
you know. That's not, if she solved it,

I don't think she would be as
interesting.

Look, I would quit if I could afford to.
I really would.

But I have a son.

and I am a six -year associate in a
depressed market. I have nowhere else to

Conflict creates appealing characters.

Playing Abby Perkins is a personal
challenge for actress Michelle Green.

Of course, your ego, you want to be like
the great woman who has everything

together, who everybody admires and
wants to be like you. No, you're playing

woman that's like... a woman who has
very, very weak, weak self -esteem, you

know, very low level of it.

Incredibly uncertain.

Victimized all the time by things in her
life.

I have a missing child.

And if that little boy was my son, then
how am I ever gonna know?

I'm sorry.

You're sorry?

What for?

To you, they're just meat, aren't they?

Tag it?

Ship it?

What the hell? It's just another body,
right?

Well, wrong, lady.

Because that little boy was somebody's
child.

We're saved.

Oh, what's that?

The self -motivation page? Better. It's
impatient.

What? One of my professors used to tell
us that you just can't study anymore,

but you gotta keep going.

Dance! During the past five seasons,
Abby Perkins has grown stronger and kept

going. This L .A. Law scene with
Jonathan Rollins is a mix of humor and

but mostly it expresses an attitude of
exuberance and hope.

In the end, the strength of L .A. Law's
characters, especially the women, has

been their ability to mature and change.

The ability to mature and change has
made Roxanne Melman, played by Susan

more than a match for her boss, Arnie
Becker. When I ask for your help, I

you to give it. Don't snap at me.

Don't you snap at me. Hey, you snap at
me, I snap back.

Has Roxanne changed or what?

She's changed incredibly.

She's become better and better. I'm
really...

I'm really proud of the changes that
she's made in life. I feel sort of like,

you know, I'm responsible for that. I've
made changes in my own life and sort of

mirrored in hers. Who went first? Did
you change first or did she?

I gave up on bad men a long time before
she did.

I lost weight before she did.

But she stood up. You know, she started
therapy before I did.

I feel, you know, it's funny when I talk
about it, I feel like I'm talking about

a person that I know very well, not a
character.

In the first year when Roxanne demanded
a raise and got it, a lot of people used

the words that she used, which is a
credit to our writers.

I am finally starting to take
responsibility for my life.

I can't be a doormat anymore.

I can't let you wipe your feet on me and
then say, thank you, Arnie. Thank you

for letting me be your slave.

Thank you for letting me take your dirty
shirts to the laundry. Rox, this is not

you talking. Yes, it is me.

With a little help from my therapist,
maybe, but it's me.

You're unhappy?

Yes! Did it ever occur to you that if
you weren't seeing this shrink, you

wouldn't need such a big pay raise?

What I do with my raise is my business.

Do I get it or not?

Let us...

Draw the distinction between a criminal
and a criminal act.

Of all the L .A. law women, the
character of Grace Van Owen often spans

widest range of moods and emotions, from
playful sex to dramatic moments in the

courtroom. It's a challenging part for
actress Susan Day.

Hold the law.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to make her
credible out there fighting these

cases and winning.

And I think it was through that, out of
my fear, and yet my belief that all

attorneys are simply smart actors or
actors who have studied law, that my

fear could be part of her fear.

The interesting thing is that in the
beginning, Grace didn't lose any cases

all. She won all of them. I won them
all, and rightfully so.

I said, I said, look, I know in my
homework that I've lost cases.

I want everyone else to see me lose.

Some were harder than others, and one of
the ones that was hard to lose was the

abused child.

What happens if I just take Lisa and we
disappear?

Charlotte, he has custody rights. You'd
be charged with kidnapping.

The lawyers of L .A. law are not
superheroes in a black and white world.

They live in a gray realm of success,
uncertainty, and failure. In this scene,

Grace Van Owen confronts the painfully
blurred boundaries of her life as a

and an attorney.

As a district attorney, it would be
inappropriate for me to encourage an

illegal act.

Give me another choice!

I can't let this happen to her again.

As a district attorney, it would be
inappropriate for me to encourage an

act.

I hear you, Ms. Van Owen.

I hear you loud and clear.

Complex characterizations laced with
ambiguity.

That's the essence of the L .A. Law
women and the dramatic heart of L .A.

L .A. Law is in sharp focus in the
courtroom.

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

Although entertainment is their primary
goal, the creators of the series try

hard to make the intricacies of the law
as accurate as possible.

This has won them some fans and a few
critics in the real world of law and

lawyers. Alan Dershowitz, lawyer and
Harvard Law professor.

Well, I've become a sometimes skeptical
fan.

I watch it.

I get mad at it.

I love it.

But it sends mixed messages to me. It
sends a message to me, first, that there

are fascinating legal issues out there.
Threats. Threats. Second, however, it

sends a message that legal problems can
be resolved before the commercial.

Stephen Gillard teaches law at NYU.

It's inadequate.

Legal ethics teachers and I think
evidence teachers also, but certainly

teachers around the country, are
literally forced to use L .A. law as a

pedagogical technique because students
watch it and the next day they come into

class and they say, last night on L .A.
law, Arnie Becker did this. Can you do

that?

So in ways that textbooks cannot, LA law
itself animates students' interest

in legal ethics and gives...

teachers and students something to talk
about. Your Honor, the system isn't

working. Objection. Sustained.

Objection. Get a restraining order.

Voice identification is appropriate.

I'll allow it.

Objection. Past sexual history is not
admissible. Mr. Becker reached his

fiduciary responsibility.

A concern for accuracy adds credibility
to the drama of L .A. law.

The producers regularly consult legal
authorities.

But that doesn't mean there isn't a
little room for the unexpected.

I am scaling the walls of justice.

I demand the return of my client's limb,
Your Honor. Shut up!

Jackass! You're in contempt for his
life.

Let me lie face down in your dirty bath,
Laura. That's it.

L .A. Law takes the legal system
seriously, but not too seriously.

The series' distinctive sense of humor
is never far from the witness stand, but

it's always a logical outgrowth of the
character or situation.

Mackenzie Brackman's youngest attorney
is Jonathan Rollins, played by Blair

Underwood. Rollins is always ready to
push the legal limit. You pay him $2

a day?

I fell in love with the character from
the beginning.

Because he came on like gangbusters from
the beginning, and he wasn't afraid to

say what he felt or do whatever the hell
he wanted to do. And no matter who it

is, especially a senior partner who had
a different way of doing things,

different tactics, he would kind of do
it his own way.

What do you consider your finest moment?

I think probably the case I enjoyed the
most.

It was my first season where I had a
chance to cross -examine a guy to death

the stand.

He had a heart attack on the stand. And
that was, I think, a lot of what

Jonathan is all about, that
breathlessness and just kind of driving

he just kept going until this guy...
Dropped dead? Dropped dead.

You're the one who's lying, Mr. Boland,
and everybody here knows it. I am an

honest man, Mr. Boland. An honest man
doesn't conceal his assets in hidden

accounts.

Objection! Objection! I will win all
those suits!

Mr. Rawlins, you're a thief who should
be in jail, Mr. Boland. You can't!

No!

Mr.

Boland? Miss Bennett, call a man here.

Bobby!

Your Honor, this man has a life
insurance policy leaving $2 million to

estate. In the event this man does in
fact die, Your Honor, I'd like to attach

the proceeds of that policy. For God's
sake, Mr. Rollins, this man is fighting

for his life. If he lives, judge your
orders moot. If he dies, which it looks

like he's going to, judging from this
purple color I see, then you maintain

status quo pending disposition.

Shut up!

When juries can ignore... Humor is vital
to the L .A. law style, but so is an

underlying seriousness.

The Earl Williams case gave viewers an
unusually complete view of the legal

process, from accusations, trials, and
appeals to final verdict.

This evidence, as a matter of law, is
insufficient to support a finding of

beyond a reasonable doubt.

The defendant is to be released from
custody.

It's over.

And I'm free.

L .A. law has explored a number of
controversial legal issues, including

killing, date rape, Age discrimination
and child abuse.

Many of the most demanding cases were
handled by Victor Cifuentes, played by

Jimmy Smith.

Smith has his own image of the ideal
lawyer.

Definitely in the courtroom
presentations, especially in the closing

someone who believes totally in whatever
case they're doing. And even if it's a

case that he doesn't believe in, the
whole thing about being a lawyer is to

that jury believe in whatever your point
is.

You asked about the summations.

I guess that's one of the reasons why I
really kind of, like, put more

of my energy towards the courtroom
stuff.

Because lawyers perform.

Lawyers are actors.

That, for me, has been the most
enjoyable part of working on the show.

It's not because there's more words, but
it's just you and the jury and the

audience that's watching.

And so you were the first doctor to
examine this patient?

Yes. Often the audience is the jury. The
producers say they're not out to

preach, but to present evidence.

In this Emmy Award -winning episode,
both Cifuentes and his opposing attorney

are allowed to present their strongest
argument.

There's no dispute about what happened
here.

Dr. Diane refused to operate, and it
cost Warren Peralta his life. The real

question here... concerns the value of
that life. Now, since the patient was

terminal with AIDS anyway, I guess you
could easily ask, well, what's the big

loss? So he just died a little sooner,
that's all.

What's three months?

Well, I'll tell you something, ladies
and gentlemen.

To a dying man, three months is a
lifetime.

The most horrific thing that Dr. Diane
ever had to do in his career.

was to stand there that night and watch
his patient die.

The thing about AIDS, we just don't know
everything about it yet.

We don't know exactly how you get it or
how you don't get it, but what we do

know is that once you do get it, you're
going to die.

And if we start imposing a duty on
physicians that they have to take this

of risk...

that they have to stick their hands into
contaminated, deadly blood, then people

are going to stop becoming doctors.

Real lawyers sometimes find themselves
arguing against their own convictions.

In L .A. law, Victor Cifuentes faced
just such a personal dilemma when he

defended a job discrimination case filed
by a plaintiff with elephant man's

disease.

Imagine my joy at being pitied by the
guy who was hired to get me.

I don't pity you. Oh, Mr.

Sufrantes, we're talking about a symptom
I'm quite expert at diagnosing.

You talk about being repulsed. Let me
tell you what repulses me.

The idea that people feel sorry for me.
The idea that people who don't even know

me can, with one glance, know enough to
feel sorry for me. I don't want...

The irony is the only way I can win this
trial is by getting 12 strangers in a

jury box to feel sorry for me.

Very real human dilemmas are the source
of much of the fictional drama of L .A.

Law, but only with well -drawn
characters does the drama pay off.

One of L .A. Law's most memorable
characters is developmentally disabled

assistant Benny Stolwitz.

played by larry drake as an actor it it
strikes me that it would be maybe

easy to play someone who is less bright
if you will you don't just do that

you give benny a tremendous dignity

He oftentimes does the very right thing
because he doesn't edit himself. He

doesn't justify himself. He goes right
to the gut level. Simple version of

and it seems more honorable than all the
layers we have pasted on as

sophisticated adults.

Merry Christmas.

Benny?

The scene, I think, that struck home for
me that was difficult to do

and... We succeeded, I think, and
therefore the audience response was kind

enormous. It was the first season I was
on and when Benny was arrested on rape

charges that he didn't commit.

And people slowly figured out he didn't
commit it and he didn't quite even know

what was going on in his life.

Benny.

Benny's trial for rape brought the
lawyers of Mackenzie Brackman together

especially poignant episode.

Even Arnie Becker revealed a streak of
compassion as the aloof abstractions of

the law became suddenly personal.

Benny, you told the police and you told
us that you did something bad. What did

you mean by that? I saw it. I saw sex.
She was naked.

They arrested you because they think you
grabbed a girl and forced her to touch

your penis.

I did not.

I did not.

Man to man, Benny. Friend to friend.

Did you ever try to make a girl touch
you or have sex with you that night?

No, Arnie, no!

Did the man speak quickly or slowly?

He spoke very fast.

Okay, Benny, read it as fast as you can.

I'm tired.

Bitch, show me that you love it. Your
Honor, again, Benny, louder this time.

Enjoy it, bitch. Show me that you love
it. This is ridiculous grandstanding,

Judge, and I ask that it stop.

Your Honor, the district attorney is
interfering with my cross -examination.

Well, everyone just quiet down for a
minute.

Mr. Kuzak, please instruct your client.
That's not him!

God, he told me you caught him. Your
Honor, she's been so bad to you.

That's not him! The man who attacked me
didn't talk like that. This man's

retarded.

The defendant is free to go.

This court is in recess until 2 o
'clock.

We did it, Betty. We won.

Do I have to go to jail?

No, Betty. You don't have to go to jail.

Benny's acquittal means more than
another Mackenzie Brackman victory.

It represents the combination of
character, emotion, and engaging issues

the lifeblood of L .A. Law.

There may be more to the secret of L .A.
Law's five seasons of success, but the

series' best episodes find an artful
balance between the entertainment of its

.A. side and an accurate portrayal of
the law and lawyers.

As Harvard professor Dershowitz
observes, there are more than legal

the law.

There are passions and prejudice. There
is love and hate. There is even sex.

There is certainly a lot of that in L
.A. law.

Legal scholars and armchair lawyers will
be discussing the Venus butterfly for

years.

Meantime, 100 episodes later, the
caseload at Mackenzie Brackman is full.

As sexy, serious, and off -center as
ever.

I'm Jane Pauley.

Good night.