berkeleymews I liked this version of Law and Order as well as I liked the Angie Harmon episodes of the original. Which is a lot. One of these days I'll make it to the video store and buy the DVD. I believe it comes with something else as there are so few episodes. Amy Carlson and Bebe Neuwirth were very good. I apologize for the spelling errors. I'm using a wireless keyboard that seems to have a mind of its own. Completely irrelevant to my comments, but should I have to actually add four lines of extra text? Why on earth would anyone require ten lines of text? In any event, both lead actresses were very good and the supporting cast was as well

ejhutchaz I'm a long time fan of Jerry Orbach, and all the Law & Order series, and couldn't wait for this to start, even tho Jerry had died before it was aired. Based on the second half of the title "Trial by Jury", I was expecting to see jury involvement as they deliberated to reach their verdict. That never happened. I watched the entire run and what I saw was disappointing. Outside of Jerry, and Amy Carlson there were no likable characters. The BIGGEST problem was the lead actress Bebe Neuwirth. While she was great on Cheers and Fraiser, she looked, and came across, cold and hard and unlikeable - and this show needed "likeable" after it lost Jerry. Her wardrobe, makeup, and hair style didn't help either, she just appeared as a cold hard Bitch. What this show needed was Angie Harmon, or Carey Lowell to keep your interest and hold the show together. For me it just came across as a watered down copy of the original, and I wasn't surprised when it died.

rcastl2335 Although it's good to see Bebe Neuwirth back on TV, I'm sorry it's in such a lackluster series. The original L&O is fun to watch because of the neatness of the concept: half cop/half DA and sometimes, like in real life, the good guys lose one. The new Trial By Jury seems needlessly diffused, if not confused, by the drifting cast of DA's, cops, criminals, investigators and defense attorneys. Too many cooks in the kitchen, in other words. But the biggest fault is this:however badly the DA handles the case--and she's been pretty inept in the first 3 shows, in the last ten minutes with a surprise witness, plot twist, writerly incompetence, et voila, the DA wins the case. It's all very hackneyed and contrived, a la Perry Mason where someone confesses to the crime from the visitors seats. I may tune in from time to time simply because of the powerhouse guest stars (Annabella Sciorra, Peter Coyote) but L&O: Trial By Jury won't make my shortlist for must watch programming.

schappe1 The original Law & Order was 50-50 a cop/lawyer show. SVU is 90% cops. This one is 90% lawyers. The biggest innovation is that we get to be a fly on the wall as the defense attorney plots his/her defense, which has absolutely nothing to do with truth or guilt. It's all playing the system. Tony Bill, in the premiere, calmly describes how he killed the victim and the attorney, Annabella Sciorra simply listens as if this is background information that might come up in the trial and have to be dealt with.I'm a big Perry Mason fan, where the hero is obsessed with truth and guilt and all his clients are innocent, so this is quite a change. Mason represents what we'd like our justice system to be about. However Sciorra represents who we would want to hire if we committed a crime. She clearly sees her job as getting her clients off: that's what she's paid to do.Frankly, I think the accused has a right to an aggressive defense that forces the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a shadow of doubt. But if the lawyer knows the client is guilty, responsibility should shift to dealing with extenuating circumstances that might lead to a self-defense or insanity plea or a reduced sentence. That might be better for the client than insisting on a not guilty verdict. And what must the feeling be for a lawyer who knows he/she got a guilty man off. If it's one of satisfaction, there is something wrong.As to the show, it's promising. I'm hoping that not all defendants turn out to be guilty, (even though all of Perry's clients were innocent), as it kind of sends the wrong message. One of the things I liked about the original show is that they weren't always right and they didn't always win.