"The Defenders" Review: Completely Harmless

There are some shows that I would just define as harmless. In other words, they’re not fantastic, but they’re not terrible either. You get some enjoyment out of them, but you’re not overly impressed. They’re just completely harmless.

That’s exactly how I would describe the new CBS drama, “The Defenders”…

Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell star as Las Vegas defense attorneys, Nick Morelli and Pete Kaczmarek. Pete is a total player, while Nick is trying to repair his fractured marriage and stay in his son’s life. But professionally, they’re on top of the world as they do whatever it takes to defend their clients. Joining them is new associate Lisa Tyler (Jurnee Smollett) and their assistant Sophie (Tanya Fischer).

In the premiere, Nick and Pete are defending an accused murderer in a case with a lot of special circumstances. The hour starts out pretty slow as the show hauls out every legal drama cliché in the book: Nick clashes with the judge (the great Stephen Root), Nick finds clever methods to discredit witnesses, and Pete is sleeping with a prosecutor (although on another case). But since that prosecutor is played by Natalie Zea (“Dirty Sexy Money”), I’m willing to forgive that last one.

Finally, though, the show hits its stride in the last 15 minutes as Nick’s methods go from clever to just plain risky as he pulls out all the stops to try and clear his client.

Belushi and O’Connell are a good team and have solid chemistry, but there’s just nothing that remarkable about what they do. As I said, the show is basically harmless—and that’s okay. But in all honesty, if you’re trying to decide which of the two competing new legal dramas to watch, I would go with “The Whole Truth”…

“The Defenders” premieres Wednesday, September 22nd at 10 p.m. on CBS…

Photo Credit: Robert Voets/CBS