BLUFF CITY LAW: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this dramatic legal series about tenacious defense attorney Sydney Strait, who rejoins her estranged father Elijah at his civil-rights firm in Memphis, Tennessee. In this episode, Sydney effortlessly destroys a plaintiff attempting to sue a tobacco company for his illness, but she is then shocked by a visit from her father, Elijah, who sadly reveals that her mother Carolyn has just died of a stroke. Her best friend Briana comforts her through the funeral and wake, after which Elijah presents her with his latest case, a class-action lawsuit against a powerful corporation, Amerifarm, whose product Greencoat allegedly causes cancer. Sydney, who departed his firm three years earlier, describes how she would ruthlessly beat him were she representing Amerifarm, but he urges her to rejoin him and "fight for what's right." Still resentful of his many infidelities, Sydney reminds her father that they are both "alphas" and can't work side-by-side, but he insists that his wife's death has given him a new view of their estrangement.
Sydney gives in and reunites with old friends Anthony Little and Della Bedford, also meeting twentysomething paralegal Emerson. "Rainmaker" Jake Reilly, who is apprehensive about Sydney's return, is told to look over a case recommended by Carolyn, that of a schoolteacher, George Bell, imprisoned for murdering a student. One of the clients in the class-action suit, high school janitor Edgar Soriano, explains that his cancer will likely kill him before the trial's proposed start date in 2020, so Sydney, confident that a jury will empathize with him personally, suggests a new plan in which he files suit individually. Three weeks later, his trial begins and the team aggressively questions a number of Amerifarm employees, intent on proving that they covered up their product's dangerous side effects. Elsewhere, Reilly is bewildered when Bell firmly declares himself guilty despite the many discrepancies in his case, and Reilly notices sparks between Sydney and her ex Robbie, the chief of detectives, when they appeal to him for assistance.
Sydney scornfully rejects Amerifarm's offer to settle with Soriano for $200,000, though Elijah urges her to consider the offer as a "warning." She is then hit with contempt of court charges when she blows up at Judge Collins for excluding nearly all of her expert witnesses, causing her new colleagues to worry about her hotheaded style. She admits that fighting for individuals who have been deeply wronged is far more challenging than representing faceless corporations, but Elijah assures her that her passion can "change the world." Della suggests that Bell lied to Reilly out of consideration for his "legacy," and Soriano himself soon takes the stand, admitting that he knowingly exposed himself to Greencoat out of a desire to protect his students from harm. Sydney begins to panic when Amerifarm's lawyer points out all the many other potential sources of his cancer, but Emerson manages to track down a doctor, Nancy Deemer, who definitively proved that Greencoat is extremely carcinogenic. Reilly realizes that Bell is attempting to allow his family to move on from him by falsely claiming to be guilty, but he manages to convince him to reopen the case. Elijah convinces a frightened Dr. Deemer to take the stand, but Judge Collins forbids any questions about her research, as all of her records were purposefully destroyed by Amerifarm. Sydney cleverly circumvents this by asking her to simply address a statement to Soriano, and Deemer desperately apologizes for causing him harm. Sydney urges the jury to "define the world we live in," and the Sorianos are awarded a staggering $45 million in damages. The team celebrates their win, and Sydney ponders her new future at the firm – but then learns that Emerson is actually Elijah's son and her half-brother. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: November 30, 1999 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:42:25
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 137869
- GENRE: Drama, legal
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, legal; Lawyers; Memphis, Tennessee; Fathers and daughters
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 2019-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Janollari … Executive Producer
- Michael Aguilar … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Dean Georgaris … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Jessica Yu … Executive Producer, Director
- Christopher Markey … Supervising Producer
- Peter Chomsky … Producer
- Jimmy Smits … Producer
- Steven Felder … Producer
- Waz-Jackson … Music by
- Jimmy Smits … Cast, Elijah Strait
- Caitlin McGee … Cast, Sydney Strait
- Barry Sloane … Cast, Jake Reilly
- Michael Luwoye … Cast, Anthony Little
- MaameYaa Boafa … Cast, Briana Johnson
- Stony Blyden … Cast, Emerson
- Jayne Atkinson … Cast, Della Bedford
- Scott Shepherd … Cast, George Bell
- Josh Kelly … Cast, Detective Robbie
- Veanne Cox … Cast
- Tom Nowicki … Cast
- Mo Gallini … Cast, Edgar Soriano
- Elena Varela … Cast, Maria Soriano
- Sara Angelina Rivera … Cast, Eva Soriano
- Deja Dee … Cast, Judge Dorothy Collins
- Sarah Hudson … Cast, Ms. Jane Gordon
- Susan Gallagher … Cast, Mrs. Davis
- Mark Rowe … Cast, Earl Davis
- Angelo Earl … Cast, Charlie Logan
- Nick Basta … Cast, Edwin James
- Franco Castan … Cast, Scott Decker
- Mykie Fisher … Cast, Davis' Attorney
- Deborah Rawlings … Cast, Jury Forewoman
- Debra Foxx … Cast, Dr. Reeger
- John Crow … Cast, Dr. Stan Rifkin
- Michael Anthony … Cast, FCI Guard
- James Alexander … Cast, Musician #1
- James E. Robertson Sr. … Cast, Musician #2
- Ezra Williams … Cast, Musician #3
- Damion Pearson … Cast, Musician #4