In 2008 the kooky legal drama genre took a hit when David E. Kelley’s Boston Legal was cancelled. A short two years later, Franklin & Bash premiered on TNT, proving that the kooky legal drama genre is not solely in the hands of David E. Kelley. The first season is now available on DVD. The DVD comes with an underwhelming handful of extras that include featurettes with brief interviews with the cast and the crew.
Franklin & Bash is about two young lawyers who are longtime friends: Jared Franklin (Breckin Meyer) and Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselear). These two lawyers’ unconventional way of lawyering reminds us of Kelley’s now classic Ally McBeal and Boston Legal. They do everything you would never imagine a lawyer doing. As partners in their own law firm, they answer only to themselves. As the pilot episode unfolds, the pair win a case against the prestigious law firm Infield Daniels. As such, Stanton Infield (Malcolm McDowell), the firm’s major partner, recruits the duo despite the cries of the firm’s other lawyers, to work for him. They accept and the antics begin.
Peter Bash and Jared Franklin are to Franklin & Bash what Alan Shore and Denny Crane were to Boston Legal, which brings us to the other genre that this television show branches into, that of the bromance. The bromance genre seems to have experienced a resurrection. In 1 Samuel of the Hebrew Bible we read about the friendship of David and Jonathan. David is the young man who would be king, and Jonathan was the current prince. An unlikely friendship, but one based on loyalty.
The French writer and thinker, Albert Camus, has said, “Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and by my friend.” Characters like Alan Shore and Denny Crane and Jared Franklin and Peter Bash remind us of the need for friendship. We all need a friend we can talk to about the chaotic parts of life; someone who understands us when no one else does; someone to walk beside us in those chaotic moments; and someone to be crazy with.
If you’ve missed Boston Legal and its kookiness and bromanceness, Franklin & Bash will fill that void.
