Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
Just Legal: Season 1
  • Network: WB
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 19, 2005
  • Season #: 1
Metascore
53 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 21
  3. Negative: 3 out of 21
view
per page
  1. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: David Zurawik
    80
    Baruchel... plays Ross with a winningly earnest goofiness, while Johnson skillfully navigates the darkly comic territory of being over the hill and irritated by everything and everyone who reminds him of his glory days.
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    75
    These attorneys quickly become characters, not just caricatures, and make "Just Legal" very easy to enjoy.
  3. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    75
    There is something extraordinarily appealing about the show's central pair.
  4. PopMatters
    Reviewed by: Samantha Bornemann
    70
    Sure, this has all been done before, but familiarity doesn't make Just Legal any less fun.
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Sid Smith
    70
    The plotting is OK, the dialogue is better and the two leads are appealing.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    70
    Mr. Johnson is surprisingly deft, and even at times poignant, in the part. Even when the plot and other characters turn cartoonish, he manages to strike a deeper chord.
  7. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Barry Garron
    70
    If you can ignore for a moment a logical flaw that permeates the series, you'll find an absorbing, well-paced legal drama with both heart and attitude, not to mention cinematography good enough to carry the Jerry Bruckheimer imprimatur.
  8. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Doug Elfman
    63
    There's promise here, as long as it gets grittier and funnier, and doesn't descend into bombast.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Paul Brownfield
    60
    It's rather old-fashioned, except that there's something real about the chemistry.
  10. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    60
    There's something weirdly charming about the pair's chemistry.
  11. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    60
    Mostly overcomes its contrived premise and clichéd courtroom theatrics with well-played characters you might actually root for.
    All this critic's reviews
  12. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Tim Goodman
    50
    By no means is "Just Legal" a top-notch drama as yet, but it certainly has potential to be agreeable lighter fare.
  13. Detroit Free Press
    Reviewed by: Mike Duffy
    50
    A gimmicky, cliched legal drama that seems to have been unearthed from 20 years ago.
  14. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Dalton Ross
    50
    The constant moral back-patting leaves me feeling, well, limp. [30 Sep 2005, p.87]
    All this critic's reviews
  15. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    50
    It's Don Johnson's irascible charm as a boozing, bottom-feeding barrister that occasionally elevates this hour above its mundane legal jockeying.
  16. San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa Times
    Reviewed by: Charlie McCollum
    50
    Baruchel and Johnson (who is quite appealing in his role) have real chemistry.
  17. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Hal Boedeker
    40
    The central issue about Just Legal is that it's such a predictable series.
  18. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    40
    It's a formulaic, lazily devised legal series that fails to surprise or amuse.
  19. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    30
    "Just Legal" is just tedious.
  20. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Storm
    10
    Stunningly flat.
  21. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Glenn Garvin
    0
    Give it credit for consistency: a bad concept, badly written for bad actors.
prev next
Page:
  • 1

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
9.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 55
  3. Negative: 2 out of 55
  1. DebbieF.
    10
    Please bring "Just Legal" back, my husband and I both liked the show very much.
  2. JenniferR.
    10
    The show is great. PLEASE bring it back. Email me when it is scheduled. I check the t.v. guide everyday to see if it's on. Thank you.
  3. CHRISTOPHERG
    10
    i loved the show it pissed me off when i found out it was canseled. there so much garbage on tv and when something go comes on without **** and ass it gets canseled. BRING IT BACK----BRING IT BACK--NOW… Full Review »
See all user reviews »