'All Rise': CBS' upcoming legal drama will have to work hard to avoid repeating the same mistakes as 'The Code'
CBS's upcoming legal drama, 'All Rise' is set to debut this fall. The show will follow the chaotic, hopeful and somewhat absurd lives of legal professionals like judges, prosecutors, bailiffs and so forth. What sets the drama apart is the casting of an African-American, Simone Missick ('Luke Cage') in the role of Lola Carmichael, a newly-appointed judge. This would be CBS's second legal drama airing this year. The first one was 'The Code', a show that invited so much criticism for its inaccuracies that it had lost more than 60% of its viewers by its last episode.
'All Rise' has a big job when it airs - to accurately portray the lives of the people in courtrooms, be they judges, lawyers or the accused. The show will have to take special care of portraying the experience of African-American folk in the legal system as well. But will the upcoming drama avoid the pitfalls of its military-themed predecessor and perhaps learn from its failures to nab a second season or even more?
In May 2018, CBS ordered to series a procedural drama called 'The Code'. Created by Craig Sweeny ('Limitless') and Craig Turk ('Boston Legal'), the show follows the professional and personal lives of military lawyers in the Marine Corps, where they often have to trade roles between being a prosecutor, defense lawyer, and investigator. Evoking CBS's 'JAG' - the network's Navy law-themed show from which the 'NCIS' shows were spun-off and 'A Few Good Men', the show seemed poised to garner great viewership.
The show only aired for one season, however, sparking criticism from viewers, many of whom were veterans. The biggest complaint the show and its producers received is that it lacked accuracy, be it in the way the officers dressed or the way the legal proceedings were conducted. According to the Military Times, 'The Code' got many things wrong, including "Shaggy, out-of-regulation haircuts, incorrectly ordered ribbon stacks that blossomed new rows from one episode to the next, nonsensical military court proceedings, Marines referred to as “soldiers,” uniform violations, uniform violations, and worst of all, more uniform violations." In fact, popular military podcast 'Zero Blog Thirty' even traveled to the U.S. Capitol building to protest the content on the show.
We’re done asking. It’s time for legislative action against @TheCodeCBS. pic.twitter.com/vEu9fHPpQ3
— Zero Blog Thirty (@ZeroBlog30) May 21, 2019
The problems for the freshman drama did not end there. Just a year prior to the airing of the drama, First Lt. Marina A. Hierl became the first woman to complete the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course and went on to lead an infantry platoon of men. But this seems to have gone over the heads of the writers and the social media team of 'The Code'. In a since-deleted tweet, the social media team behind 'The Code' wrote "Can Lt. Harper Li balance her duties to the Corps with planning her wedding? Find out in the latest episode". This tweet sparked the ire of many, military and non-military alike. The implication that the writers even thought to put on such a sexist storyline in an already problematic series, only sunk the show's position further.
All the problems aside, 'The Code' had drab storylines. The banter that was traded between the characters lost its mojo in the very first episode itself. When the show debuted right after 'NCIS' in April 2019, it topped with 8 million views. However, just a week later, the show lost half its viewers - its airing was also shifted to follow the comedy 'Man With A Plan' - and never really recovered. By the end of the first and only season, the finale had just 2.91 million viewers.
During the Television Critics Association (TCA) summer event in 2019, the creator of 'All Rise', Greg Spottiswood said that the show "was driven by the idea that the justice system was built for and meant to serve the client". The character of Lola Carmichael will not be an unrealistic, perfect woman. Spottiswood wanted to portray a character that could make mistakes but would still speak from her heart and fight for justice".
All eyes will be on 'All Rise' this fall when it premieres. By not being set in the military, the show's already won half the battle - there would not be extra scrutiny on the characters' outfits or hairstyles. But whether the show would accurately portray what happens in real-life courtrooms remains to be seen. From the trailer, it would seem that 'All Rise' would feature wittier and striking dialogues, and we hope that the show upholds that through the first season.
