Viewers who liked CBS’ “The Defenders” might also be drawn to TNT’s “Franklin & Bash,” which is basically “The Defenders Junior” with younger actors playing more carefree lead characters. A light, fairly unrealistic legal drama, “Franklin & Bash” (9 p.m. EDT Wednesday) is passive entertainment similar to the popular “blue sky” shows on USA (“Fairly Legal,” “Royal Pains,” etc.)
Jared Franklin (Breckin Meyer, “Road Trip”) and Peter Bash (Mark-Paul Gosselaar, “NYPD Blue”) are ambulance-chasing defense attorneys — only they get to the scene before the ambulance.
| ON TV |
| ‘Franklin & Bash’ |
| » When: 9 p.m. Wednesday |
| » Channel: TNT |
| » Info: tnt.tv/series/franklinandbash/ |
They’re fun-loving dudes who work out of a house with their assistants — helpful Carmen (Dana Davis) and agoraphobic Pindar (Kumail Nanjiani) — when they’re not quizzing one another on female celebrities they’d like to sleep with or giving one another nicknames.
“The law was made by rich white people,” Franklin says. “Our job is not to follow the law. Our job is to make the law.”
They also know how to make a scene. When a news conference about a legal case goes poorly, Franklin and Bash start taking swings at one another to distract the media.
Their brash style draws the attention of eccentric, veteran lawyer Stanton Infeld (Malcolm McDowell), who hires them to join his well-heeled firm where Franklin and Bash clash, predictably, with buttoned-down attorney Damien Karp (Reed Diamond), who is Stanton’s nephew.
Gosselaar and Meyer are well cast as longtime buddies who aren’t afraid to turn legal jargon into sexual double entendres or to go hot-tubbin’ naked.
Meyer has always come across as a winning comic actor. His TV track record includes some failures (“Inside Schwartz,” “Married to the Kellys”) but also behind-the-scenes successes (voices on “Robot Chicken” and “King of the Hill”). “Franklin & Bash” seems to be a good fit for his ability to play an amiable rule-breaker.
Gosselaar comes to “Franklin & Bash” from another TNT legal drama, “Raising the Bar,” which had loftier pretensions than his latest series.
Viewers who want TV to wash over them as light entertainment may enjoy “Franklin & Bash,” but viewers who prefer thought-provoking TV programs that engage on a higher level may not be satisfied.
Never fear, there’s a whole summer of original scripted programming coming on cable networks, so if “Franklin & Bash” leaves a bad taste, wait a week — another new series will premiere shortly.
