Note: I’ve never been much of a writer so, as we suggest with all new programming, give me three or four episodes worth of your time before completely giving up on me. Also note, this may be the only time I get all the names correct. If you’ve listened to our podcast, you know what I mean.

As our biggest supporter of the USA Network and all of it’s original programming and sweet movie marathons, I feel it is my duty to weigh in on their newest series, Fairly Legal.

The show stars Sarah Shahi, as ex-attorney Kate Reed who chose to stop practicing law to pursue building bridges rather than destroying them, as she so succinctly compares mediation to lawyering. Her life is a bit adrift when we meet her. Her father recently died and she had taken a short absence (about a week) to recover from the tragedy before getting back to the family business. Kate is the on-site mediator, the one who creates win/win situations out of the usual win/really, really lose situations. She takes on cases of all shapes and sizes from United Nations border disputes between Colombia and Nicaragua (sort of) to lawsuits involving family heirlooms. By being the person in the middle, she gets invested in both sides of the quarrel and teaches both sides the great arts of compromise and understanding.

She is flanked by a cast that her phone would leave you to believe is straight from the Wizard of Oz. Her brother Spencer, The Scarecrow aka Ethan Embry, is currently a lawyer who chose family over work and is a stay at home dad. Leo, The Cowardly Lion or Baron Vaughn, is her trusty assistant willing to do whatever it takes to help. Ex-husband and current “friend with benefits” Justin, The Tinman (Michael Trucco), is the Assistant District Attorney she turns to in times of need and “need.” Where would this cast be without The Wicked Witch, stepmom Lauren, played by Virginia Williams who is currently Kate’s boss and The Wizard who is no longer with us, Teddy “Dad” Reed.

Enough summary? I think so. First impressions it is. The show itself was solid. Nothing amazing about it but also no real downsides. It’s safe. The characters feel new enough to feel like nothing we’ve seen on USA before but at the same time familiar, as if we are catching up with old friends from a past life. The writing is good, funny occasionally and endearing often. Do I want to keep watching? Absolutely. Will I keep watching if something better comes along? Right now, no. But this is only the pilot. There were no real sticking points for me but the show itself lacked pizzazz. Nothing really hooked me and made me want to keep watching episode after episode. It’s setup as a series recording on my DVR but will be one of the first deleted to make room for other shows.

“Characters Welcome” is the slogan on USA and given enough time, the characters will be all you need to become engrossed in their shows. Fairly Legal is no different. In personal preference, Fairly Legal outranks Covert Affairs for now but doesn’t come close to Burn Notice or Psych or even newer shows like White Collar and Royal Pains. Given enough time, I could see myself compromising my viewing schedule to fit this in for weekly viewing but for now take it or leave it. But as I’ve said before, this is only the pilot and I need to give it more than an hour to set the hook.