Raising the Bar is an hour-long American drama television series, which premiered on TNT network on September 1, 2008. The series revolves around a group of law school classmates who find themselves on opposite sides of the criminal law. The series was renewed for a 15-episode second season.
Production
Raising the Bar was originally announced to be joining TNT as a new series in January 2008. It comes to TNT through ABC Studios and Steven Bochco serves as executive producer, with Jesse Bochco as co-executive producer and Feige as supervising producer. After completing its first season of 10 episodes in November 2008, the series will return next year with a 15-episode second season which was announced on September 16, 2008.
Plot: Idealistic public defender Jerry Kellerman does whatever it takes to assist the helpless and disenfranchised, which often leads to clashes in the courtroom presided over by Judge Trudy Kessler, a hard-liner hoping to become the city’s next district attorney. Jerry also finds himself facing off against Michelle Ernhardt, the beautiful and occasionally devious prosecuting attorney with whom he is having a turbulent secret fling. But Jerry’s not the only person with a covert love life: Judge Kessler is carrying on a liaison with her handsome law clerk, Charlie Sagansky, who has a few skeletons in his own closet.
Cast
* Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Jerry Kellerman
* Gloria Reuben as Rosalind Whitman
* Jane Kaczmarek as Trudy Kessler
* Melissa Sagemiller as Michelle Ernhardt
* Jonathan Scarfe as Charlie Sagansky
* J. August Richards as Marcus McGrath
* Currie Graham as Nick Balco
* Teddy Sears as Richard Patrick Woolsley
* Natalia Cigliuti as Roberta “Bobbi” Gilardi
Reception
The series debut garnered 7.7 million viewers. It was the biggest audience ever for a new-series launch on basic cable. It beat the record set in 2004 by USA Network’s launch of “The 4400″ which opened with an average of 7.4 million viewers; runner-up was TNT’s “The Closer,” which recorded 7 million viewers when it was unveiled in 2005. Following the premiere, ratings evened out to around 5.5 million viewers per episode. For calendar-year 2008 on a first-run basis, the series delivered 1.37 million viewers in the 18-49 demo. After a spectacular ratings start the show ended up with decidedly mixed reviews.
