Too Much TV: Could A Defendant-Friendly Lawyer TV Show Get On The Air In 2025?

Is primetime television ready for the return of defendant-friendly lawyers and detectives?

Here's everything you need to know about the world of television for Thursday, June 12th 2025:

DOES EVERY TV SHOW ABOUT LAWYERS HAVE TO BE PRO-COP OR DARK TO THE POINT OF NIHILISTIC?
If you were going to put together a list of most popular lawyers in the history of television, Perry Mason would likely top the list.

Inspired by famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers, Mason was featured in 82 novels and four short stories written by Erle Stanley Gardner. The Perry Mason radio drama ran on radio from 1943-1955 and Raymond Burr starred in the CBS drama of the same name, which aired from 1957-1966. He returned for 26 Perry Mason television movies, which ran from 1985-1995, when Burr died. There was even a short-lived New Perry Mason series, which aired in 1974-1975 and starred Monte Markham as Mason.

But no matter which version you watched, the premise was generally the same. Mason was hired (or sometimes volunteered) to help some client he believed had been wrongly accused of a crime - most often murder. Mason was friendly with the police and prosecutors, but he often had contempt for their methods and their willingness to pick the easiest suspect to convict in hopes of getting a conviction.

Perry Mason had the utmost respect for the law and the judicial process. But he was driven to give a voice to people who were too poor or too removed from power to adequately mount a defense without his help.

Compare that to the 2020 reboot of Perry Mason, which starred Matthew Rhys and aired on HBO. This more modern, darker take on the origins of Perry Mason framed him as a down-and-out recently divorced lawyer with PTSD. This Perry Mason lacks confidence and his moral compass spins too often seems to be spinning wildly depending on the situation. This is the lawyer take on the Dark Knight story. A man whose demons threaten to overtake him at any moment.

I like the HBO series fine, but it wasn't the defendant-friendly take on Perry Mason that I had grown up loving. And that move away from the defendant side of the story is also on display in the CBS reboot of Matlock, which moves the titular character from being a slow-talking country lawyer out to help the powerless to a woman working at a big corporate law office who is looking for revenge. It's a fine show. But its connections to the original series are almost impossible to see.

And that seems to be the case with every modern television series featuring lawyers. At best, they are entirely too chummy with law enforcement (Elsbeth), and in many shows defense lawyers are pictured as corrupt, lazy or morally bankrupt. And where are the snappy private detectives, who frustrate the local cops while advocating for their often powerless clients?

In 1975, television had plenty of pro-law enforcement TV shows, including The Rookies, McCloud, McMillan & Wife, Switch & Police Woman. But there were also pro-defendant shows on at the same time, like Cannon, Harry-O, Barnaby Jones, Ellery Queen and The Rockford Files. They had friends on the force. But they generally didn’t trust them entirely and when they had to pick a side, it was always in favor of their client.

Jump ahead ten years and primetime in 1985 and the schedule had a few police-oriented series such as Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice and Hunter. But there were nearly 20 different shows on the air that were some variation of "detectives unearthing corruption and pushing back at local police," including Murder, She Wrote, Moonlighting, Simon & Simon, Magnum P.I., Spenser: For Hire and Remington Steele.

Another ten years and in 1995 it is a very different situation. It's the height of the comedy boom and law enforcement/lawyer shows are at a low point. There's New York Undercover, The Marshal, N.Y.P.D. Blue, High Incident, The Sentinel, Courthouse, and the morally ambiguous Murder One. On the pro-defense side, there is the short-lived The Client, Charlie Grace - which featured Mark Harmon as private investigator, "kicked off the force for busting fellow officers," and the Dick Wolf UPN series Swift Justice, which centered around a former Navy Seal and cop-turned-detective who assisted those "denied help because of the rules of conventional law enforcement." And then there is Diagnosis: Murder, in which Dick Van Dyke plays a doctor who assists his son the police officer, although they sometimes also assist those in need.

And the early 2000s seems to be the turning point for the loss of most pro-defendant primetime programming. In the 2015 primetime schedule, Sherlock Holmes was back in Elementary, but unlike earlier incarnations, he worked as a police-friendly consultant. There was Castle, Scorpion, CSI: Los Angeles, Criminal Minds, Rosewood, Hawaii Five-O, Chicago PD, The Mysteries Of Laura, Rush Hour, Bones and Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. The only shows that were not some version of Copaganda were The Good Wife and How To Get Away With Murder. But that's only because I'm not sure how to fit either of those shows into this discussion.

And now we are in 2025. On the pro-law enforcement side, we have FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, Blue Bloods, S.W.A.T., Matlock, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Elsbeth, Chicago P.D., The Hunting Party, High Potential, Will Trent, The Rookie, and FBI International.

On the other hand, there is the pro-powerless The Equalizer (which has been canceled) and Tracker (who helps average citizens, but also police).

So would it be possible to launch a successful broadcast primetime series in 2025 that harkens back to the classic Perry Mason approach of fighting for the little guy and protecting them from bad cops and powerful bullies? Are the lack of those shows the result of audience preferences or just nervous networks?

I'm curious to hear what you think. Email me at rick@allyourscreens.com or reply directly to this newsletter.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T RUSH TO POST A BREAKING STORY
Last night's newsletter included a piece about the growing fear there might be problems with the DHS's decision to have a team of agents from ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on site “for security” at the start of the FIFA Club World Cup in Miami on Saturday. ICE issued its own statement, reminding non-U.S. citizens to carry proof of legal status while attending the event.

Not long after I sent out the newsletter, a reader pointed me to this social media post, from Thomas Kennedy at the Florida Immigrant Coalition:

I hadn't heard anything else about the event and couldn't find anything online about it. Kennedy apparently wasn’t interested in providing more info, but his message was specific enough that it sounded as if it *could* be true. But I certainly wasn't going to post a story about it based on a random post (I know, I know. Some journalists do it all the time).

I don't have a ton of connections in the Miami area, but I reached out to everyone I could think of, even though it was after 11:00 pm CT. Both a Telemundo reporter and someone working at Miami's NBC station told me they had heard *something* had happened. But their versions of what they had heard were sufficiently different that I was no closer to being able to confirm anything.

I reached out to DHS, The Coast Guard, media relations at Telemundo and FIFA, along with anyone else I could think of.

The only response I received by Thursday morning was this message from someone at FIFA's media communications department:

Good morning Rick,

Thank you for your email.

We acknowledge receipt of your enquiry. We will check internally and come back to you if any comment.

My takeaway from that message was "Yes, something happened. But we're not sure what we are going to say or if we are going to say anything at all to you."

I decided this morning that something likely happened, but I wasn't positioned in a way I could dig out the truth. So I decided to see if anyone else closer to the action was able to confirm any part of the story.

And by Thursday afternoon, a couple of outlets had parts of the story. The Sports Business Journal - which has really strong sources in the sports world - was able to get confirmation from Telemundo, which tried its best to shrug it off:

Telemundo abruptly canceled a private event in Miami last night celebrating a year to go until the 2026 FIFA World Cup after U.S. Coast Guard personnel boarded the luxury party boat serving as the event venue. The NBC-owned media company, which will carry next summer’s World Cup matches in Spanish, called the incident a “routine Coast Guard inspection.”

“Due to delays caused by a routine Coast Guard inspection, Telemundo canceled its One Year To Go celebration event in Miami yesterday,” the network said in a statement. “We regret the inconvenience to our guests and appreciate their understanding. We look forward to continuing the road to the FIFA world Cup 26 and bringing this historic tournament to our viewers.”

Among the other guests on the boat was Miami-Dade mayor Daniella Levine Cava.

SBJ also received a brief statement from the Coast Guard, which included an important piece of information:

The Coast Guard also issued a statement to SBJ, saying, “Wednesday, Coast Guard Sector Miami and partner agency crews conducted a boarding on the vessel, Barefoot Princess, an inspected passenger vessel. Coast Guard crews are investigating to determine if the vessel violated a federal Captain of the Port order that was issued earlier this year. The vessel was cited for safety violations. Coast Guard crews routinely board vessels to make sure lifesaving and safety compliance ensuring safety of life at sea.”

A "Captain of the Port order" is issued under one of two statutes: the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, or the Magnuson Act. A COTP may order a vessel to anchor to await repair of critical equipment, for example, or direct a shoreside facility to take certain actions regarding the handling of dangerous cargo.

So it sounds as if the boat may have received a previous order to get some important piece of equipment repaired and the Coast Guard was there to make sure the work had been completed.

There are still some unanswered questions. The original tweet stated that crewmembers were asked for identification and in an Instagram post Miami radio personality Mike Ryan Ruiz said on The Dan Lebetard Show that FIFA officials and members of the crew were asked for IDs. He also accused the Coast Guard of targeting the boat.

But a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) spokesperson emphasized to me this afternoon that the stop wasn't immigration-related. Which is weird, because that is not what the early Thursday evening piece in the Miami Herald is reporting:

The floating soiree, which was put on by Telemundo to celebrate the 2026 World Cup games being a year away, ended early after a Coast Guard boat conducted what an agency spokesperson said was a routine inspection of the barge that was the night’s exclusive party spot. The Coast Guard spokesperson said one Customs and Border Protection agent was part of the federal team, and partygoers reported that authorities asked crew members of the party vessel, the Barefoot Princess, for identification that would prove their citizenship. No action was taken from the inspection beyond citations for safety violations against the vessel, said Lt. Nicolina Converso, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, which includes the Southeast and the Caribbean. She did not have details on the violations.

While the Coast Guard might have been behind the boarding, that agency's spokesperson declined to explain the presence of the CPB agent and told the Miami Herald no idea what discussions might have taken place between the agent and crew members.

What is clear is that everyone on that boat has a strong incentive to downplay the boarding, given the already nervous atmosphere surrounding Saturday's game. We'll see what happens then.

ODDS AND SODS
* Paramount+ announced today that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would be ending after a six-episode fifth season. Which is a bit unusual, given that season three isn't set to premiere until next month. There was no real reason given, although I suspect the financial turmoil surrounding the upcoming (perhaps) Paramount Global merger might have something to do with the decision.

* Multicast News is reporting that Warner Bros. Discovery is shutting down some HBO and Cinemax channels, although many of those are only available for people subscribing to HBO through traditional cable and satellite deals. On August 15, WBD will stop offering HBO Family to HBO subscribers, and cease operating OuterMax, MovieMax and ThrillerMax for those who pay for Cinemax.

* After some speculation the talk show might be in trouble, Bravo has renewed Watch What Happens Live through the 2027 season.

* Terry Louise Fisher, the co-creator of L.A. Law and a writer for Cagney & Lacey, has died at age 79.

WHAT'S NEW TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

THURSDAY, JUNE 12TH:
Alone Season Premiere (History)
Alone Australia Season Premiere (History)
American Thunder: NASCAR To Le Mans (Prime Video)
Deep Cover (Prime Video)
Fubar Season Two Premiere (Netflix)
Love Island UK Season Premiere (Hulu)
Revival Series Premiere (Syfy)
Secrets Of The Bunny Ranch Season Premiere (A&E)
The First 48 Season Premiere (A&E)

FRIDAY, JUNE 13TH:
Atsuko Okatsuka: Father (Hulu)
Best Wishes To All (Shudder)
Echo Valley (Apple TV+)
Kings of Jo'Burg Season Premiere (Netflix)
Rana Naidu Series Premiere (Netflix)
Super Sara (Max)
Too Hot To Handle: Spain Series Premiere (Netflix)

SEE YOU ON FRIDAY!