Legal TV Shows (
)

This is a subgenre of drama and crime fiction. Law enforcement, crime, detective-based mystery solving, lawyer work, civil litigation, etc., are all possible focuses of legal shows. Common subgenres include detective, police, courtroom, legal thrillers, etc.

Legal dramas appear in many forms of media, including novels, plays, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law & Order. Most crime drama focus on crime investigation and does not feature the court room.

Law & Order

Dick Wolf’s seminal program about cops and lawyers ran for 20 years, and in that time only one main character was a lesbian. Chung Chung indeed.

Network:
Airdates: 1990 - 2010

Law & Order: LA

The criminal justice system in LA is less interesting than NYC.

Network:
Airdates: 2010 - 2011

Matlock

You’ll have to wait until the last second to know whodunnit.

Network: ,
Airdates: 1986 - 1995

Matlock (2024)

Wealthy retired lawyer Madeline Kingston returns to practice seeking justice for the death of her daughter Ellie in the opioid epidemic.

Network:
Airdates: 2024 - current

Newton’s Law

The ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ of legal dramas follows Josephine Newton as she juggles the high-powered barrister’s world of Knox Chambers and the haphazard legal tangles of her former solicitor’s office.

Network:
Airdates: 2017

Night Court

The goings on of the night shift at a wacky Manhattan municipal court, Criminal Court Part 2, presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold T. “Harry” Stone.

Network:
Airdates: 1984 - 1992

Night Court (2023)

Follows judge Abby Stone, as she presides over the night shift of a Manhattan arraignment court and tries to bring order to its crew.

Network:
Airdates: 2023 - current

Outlaw

Outlaw. Out. Law. Hah hah.

Network:
Airdates: 2010

Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law

A legal drama about a compassionate defense attorney who defended various clients in Santa Barbara.

Network:
Airdates: 1971 - 1974

Proven Innocent

The emotional story of one woman’s fight for the innocence of others, as well as her own.

Network:
Airdates: 2019

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law

Jennifer Walters navigates the complicated life of a single, 30-something attorney who also happens to be a green 6-foot-7-inch superpowered Hulk.

Network:
Airdates: 2022