Common Law (1996 TV series)

Common Law
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Rob LaZebnik
Written by	Rob LaZebnik
Starring	Greg Giraldo Megyn Price David Pasquesi Carlos Jacott Diana-Maria Riva Gregory Sierra John Di Maggio Richard Fancy Suzy Nakamura
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9 (5 unaired) [1]
Production
Executive producer(s)	Rob LaZebnik Paul Junger Witt Tony Thomas Gary S. Levine
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	Witt/Thomas Productions Warner Bros. Television
Release
Original network	ABC
Original release	September 28 – October 19, 1996

Common Law is an American television sitcom that premiered on ABC on September 28, 1996.^[2] The show stars Greg Giraldo as a Latino lawyer at a mostly white law firm. The series was created by Rob LaZebnik, and produced by Witt/Thomas Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Due to low ratings, the series was pulled from ABC's schedule after four episodes had aired.^[1]

Synopsis

Common Law focuses on John Alvarez (Greg Giraldo), the seemingly-token Latino at a large, WASPy law firm. John has a degree from Harvard Law School, but never forgets his working-class Queens roots, nor the idea that law is about protecting the "little guy" from the major corporations that are his firms' key clients. He has started a clandestine affair with fellow attorney Nancy Slaton (Megyn Price), clandestine because the firm forbids lawyers from dating each other to minimize claims of sexual harassment. To the disgust of his barber father, Luis (Gregory Sierra), John wears his hair long and plays guitar; his father views him as a hippie. Greg Giraldo was in reality a graduate of Harvard Law School nearly top of his class, and became a lawyer for a while before becoming a comedian. After a year as an attorney, Giraldo fell out of love with the profession and launched his comedy career, only referring to his law background very occasionally on the stand-up circuit, until he starred in this series.

Supporters of Common Law pointed to the Saturday 9:30/8:30 time slot as a factor in its poor ratings and subsequent cancellation despite having the long-running ABC sitcom Coach as its lead-in.^[2] The series garnered much praise from the Latino community, who were happy to see a character and entertainer of Latino descent starring in such an upscale role. Subsequently, they gave ABC much backlash when the show was canceled.^[2]

Cast

• Greg Giraldo as lawyer John Alvarez
• Megyn Price as lawyer Nancy Slaton
• David Pasquesi as Henry Beckett
• Carlos Jacott as Peter Gutenhimmel
• Diana-Maria Riva as receptionist Maria Marquez
• Gregory Sierra as John's father Luis Alvarez
• John Di Maggio as John's childhood friend Francis

Episodes

Four episodes are registered with the United States Copyright Office.

#	Title	Director	Original airdate	Production code
1	"Pilot"	Robby Benson	September 28, 1996	001
2	"In the Matter of: John's 15 Minutes"	Will Mackenzie	October 5, 1996	004
3	"In the Matter of: Acceptance"	Will Mackenzie	October 12, 1996	003
4	"In the Matter of: Luis in Love"	Will Mackenzie	October 19, 1996	005

References

1. Braxton, Greg (October 18, 1996). "Latino Groups Decry ABC's Pulling of 'Common Law'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
2. O'Connor, John J. (September 28, 1996). "A Sitcom, Upscale And Latin". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2009.

• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows

External links

• Common Law at the Internet Movie Database
• Common Law at TV.com