Breaking Bad

Describing "Harry's Law," one summary says flatly, "A former patent lawyer brings together a group of misfit associates to form an unconventional law practice." How did the producers ever pitch that concept to the network? Oh, wait. It was NBC. Still, a patent lawyer? Misfit associates? Real exciting, right? Do not judge too quickly, because Kathy Bates applies her quirky charisma to her portrayal of Harriet "Harry" Korn, and she works some small screen magic. A mid-season replacement for one of NBC's cavalcade of epic failures, "Harry's Law" actually looks a lot like a real television drama"”real characters, real actors, real plots, and dialogue peppered with genuinely witty repartee. The premise and some of the best writing come from David E. Kelley, television's answer to John Grisham"”prolific and provocative. As The New York Times observes, "A hallmark of Mr. Kelley's shows is often the thinnest application of logic or reason in depictions of a world dedicated to logic and reason." The settings and courtroom dramas seldom resemble anything in real life, but they tend to recreate the audience's imagination of the legal system and "crusading" criminal attorneys. Close enough. In eight episodes, "Harry's Law" has established a loyal following in a timeslot long dominated by ABC's "Castle." Vegas betting parlours probably will give you odds on "Harry's Law" returning in the fall, and it might be worth risking a dollar or so.

Alycia Debnam-Carey stars as an influencer who faked terminal cancer to build a wellness empire in Netflix's sharp, dark dramedy about fraud, belief, and the cult of self-optimization.

If you liked Thelma & Louise, Mad Money and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, then you are probably a fan of award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri. Her talented writing had secured ABC's new television series Nashville positions as a huge hit of 2012-2013 seasons. The TV show depicts life and struggle of country music star Rayna James to get back on the big stage. Her last chance is her next promo tour, which she has no chances to fail, just because if she fails, her future career as country music star will be very questionable if possible at all. To make chances higher, Rayna takes in her tour, a young starlet Juliette Barnes, whose young sexy power is expected to be in some help to make Rayna's promotion more effective. There are no doubts that both singers are pursuing their own goals. If, the first one wants not to fade away from stardom, the second one wants to take her place in the stage. The next problem is that Rayna's father, Lamar Wyatt, who is powerful politician and a wealthy man of Nashville, seems to be disapproved in Ryana's abilities to regain her stardom glory. As a controlling patriarch he's betting on Rayna's husband, Teddy Conrad, who was living on Rayna's revenues, and now is trying to make a career as mayor of Nashville (thanks to help of a father-in-law). Such a twisted plot is accompanied by masterfully selected and combined ensemble cast: Ryana James is played by Connie Britton (a Vivien Harmon in American Horror Story and Diane Huxley in 24 television series), while the young teenage music star Juliette Barnes, is played by Hayden Panettiere (Kirby Reed in Scream franchise.)

Emma Becker (Alexandra Chando from Medium, As The World Turns) is a big hearted girl who grew up in foster homes and has nearly always had bad luck. When she finds out she has a sister that is her identical twin (Sutton Mercer also played by Chando) she must meet her and when she does discovers her sister was adopted and the parents are wealthy so her life must be ideal, right? After getting acquainted the two sisters decide to swap lives for a time and soon we see Sutton pursuing leads to find her birth mother. But when Sutton turns up missing Emma needs to find her and there comes the dilemma, whether or not to tell her folks she's been deceiving them by portraying her sister. Through the twists and turns that follow her Lying Games she and her sister will discover the truth leading up to why the had originally become separated at birth. Also starring Andy Buckley (The Other Guys, The Office) as Ted Mercer adoptive father of Sutton) and Helen Slater (City Slickers, Ruthless People) portrays Kristin Mercer, Suttons adoptive mom.

Olivia Pope has dedicated her life to keeping public figures scandal free but that's a difficult task when some of them have another agenda. Kerry Washington from The Last King of Scotland and Ray, plays Olivia Pope, a woman on a mission with plenty to work on as she is a crisis management expert with recurring crisis situations going on around her continually. Loosely based on Judy Smith who was President George H.W. Bush's administrative press aide, this TV series attempts to show how chaotic life in the political arena can be. Also starring in Scandal are Henry Ian Cusick (After The Rain, Lost) as Stephen Finch, a womanizer attempting to "turn over a new leaf". Tony Goldwyn (Without A Trace, The Mechanic) plays President Fitzgerald Grant, and Harrison Jones who is played by Columbus Short from Cadillac Records, Stomp the Yard). Created by Shonda Rhimes who is behind Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, Scandal gives an interesting peek into backroom politics.

One of two intense medical dramas NBC introduced in the fall of 2009, "Mercy" had all the advantages its one-named rival "Trauma" did not. First, it had talent behind the scenes. Liz Heldens from "Friday Night Lights" created the show and led the writers, proving once again that the best way to dramatize the real world is to show it realistically"”ugliness and all. Second, it had attitude and guts to stay true to its revolutionary premise, the well-informed notion "that nurses remain [not only] more generous caregivers, but that they are more intuitively apt, smarter, more committed and as technically able as their [physician] superiors, with none of the accompanying arrogance." In a winner-take-all ER smackdown, you always would go all-in with the Mercy Hospital nurses. The main character, nurse Veronica Flanagan Callahan, has just returned from a tour in Iraq, where she clearly learned more in each day than the pompous, presumptuous doctors learned in all five years of medical school. Of course, Veronica gets neither the respect nor the reward she deserves, but "Mercy" dangles the possibility of true love as just recompense for Veronica's skill and compassion. Taylor Schilling plays Veronica with exactly the right balance of toughness and vulnerability, skillfully juxtaposing her consummate skill as a nurse with her intrepid ingenuousness in matters of the heart. If only "Mercy" had survived into a second season, all the tangled threads in the story might have come to their proper denouement. If only.