Introducing ABC's The Deep End: 8 p.m. Sunday. Fox

[Emperor]

A new L.A. lawyer dramedy from longtime sitcom writer-producer David Hemingson (who worked on “Just Shoot Me” and created “Kitchen Confidential”), “The Deep End” is essentially a David E. Kelley lawyer dramemy with the wit and originality dialed way, way down from the level of a “Boston Legal” to that of far more popular ABC dramedies like “Desperate Housewives” or “Grey’s Anatomy.” If you think those shows are funny, there’s an excellent chance you’ll think this one is also.

 

Like every other bad dramedy on ABC, “Deep” employs a distracting wall-to-wall string-plucking sound-alike ABC dramedy score to clue us into when the show is supposed to be funny and when it’s not.

 

If the scripting stinks, what the series has going for it are a trio of actors for whom I have only admiration: Clancy Brown (“Carnivale”), Billy Zane (“Dead Calm,” “Titanic”) and Tina Majorino (“Veronica Mars”), whom I think is also still playing a teen over on “Six Feet Under.” Majorino seems to have shed the last of her “Napoleon Dynamite” baby fat and looks supercute in or out of her fancy new lawyer togs.

 

Entertainment Weekly says:

 

… ABC's own description — L.A. Law meets Grey's Anatomy — is all too perfect: There's nothing here you haven't seen elsewhere. …

 

 

USA Today says:

 

… The absurdity of the bed-bouncing might not matter if Deep End had one interesting character or believable plot. Even if you can get over the hurdle of believing first-month associates would be handling major clients or, more ridiculously, wooing new clients, the cases are empty vessels designed to convey pat, tedious moral messages. …

 

 

The New York Times says:

 

… a pale imitation without smart writing, imaginative casting or even a clever conceit. … a network series about sex and drive, and surprisingly, it’s neither sexy nor very ambitious. …

 

 

The Los Angeles Times says:

 

… Poorly conceived, badly written and indifferently acted, "The Deep End" is a jumble of terrible ideas from start to finish. …

 

 

The Washington Post says:

 

… All they do around here is work on predictable TV-style legal cases, and then complain, and then copulate … I can't recommend that anyone watch "The Deep End." But you could watch it secretly, without your mind.

 

 

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

 

… "The Deep End" is stupid. It is obvious and ridiculous and badly acted for the most part. …

 

 

The Dallas Morning News says:

 

… At a time when Damages is setting a new standard in lawyer-based storytelling on TV, The Deep End seems content to rework old familiar ground. …

 

 

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

 

… It's just unfortunate that more care wasn't taken to create a show that feels fresh -- "The Deep End" is rather moldy.

 

 

The Buffalo News says:

 

… Unfortunately, the script is loaded with BIG pronouncements about the law and life, and none of the actors have the charisma of a McDreamy, McSteamy or Meredith. … Puh-lease. Seriously, “The Deep End” kills any great expectations because it contains too many moments that try too hard to be meaningful.

 

 

The Boston Herald says:

 

… treats the practice of law like an R-rated cartoon. Lawyers work against each other’s interests - in front of their clients. Here’s the kind of firm even “Boston Legal’s” Denny Crane would have the sense to close down. And I don’t think I’ve ever sat through so many penis jokes in the 8 p.m. hour. …

 

 

The Boston Globe says:

 

… The dialogue on “Grey’s’’ has a distinct rhythm, and the characters are introspective in a memorable - if now tiresome - way. “The Deep End’’ characters aren’t interestingly self-aware or funny. They aren’t “twisty’’ like Meredith Grey, so much as flat.

 

 

The Hollywood Reporter says:

 

… Perfect? Far from it: "Deep" can drift into lazy dialogue (characters really say "you are my only hope" and "screw your conscience"), the humor can be sub-Apatow juvenile (two circumcision jokes in one episode? Really?) and the more soap-operatic tendencies (is the final scene an outtake from "Melrose Place"?) are tiresome. But the only thing more fun than seeing know-it-all lawyers get mud on their shoes is watching as the young 'uns learn the ropes, maneuvering around ethical quandaries and scoring cheap snacks from the food trays after partner meetings. The show benefits from a true insider's feel of the biz, and that helps spackle over the softer spots. Given half a chance, "Deep" should get along swimmingly.

 

 

Variety says:

 

… doesn't do much more than skim across the surface … when diving into a "Deep End" that's this shallow, the risk is that if you don't hit the water just right there's a good chance of breaking your neck.