<i>Franklin & Bash</i>: Lawyer Buddies at Work and Play

TNT kicks off its summer season with a new show starring two old faces. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer have been around the TV world for a few years now, though they are both still young. Their new show, Franklin & Bash, gives them their best shot at stardom yet. This is a series about two attorneys who operate on the border of the law. They don't cross over into illegalities but they don't do things in the traditional way either.

The likeability of these two stars plus a really charming supporting cast give this series a shot. In addition to Gosselaar and Meyer, the cast includes Malcolm McDowell as the older attorney who takes them into his firm because they remind him of how he was at their age. Reed Diamond plays McDowell's nephew who feels he is the heir apparent to the firm and doesn't like any intruders into his world. Garcelle Beauvais is a member of the firm who catches Franklin's eye.

Best of the supporting cast are Dana Davis and Kumail Nanjiani. They play Carmen, an ex-convict who is the "Girl Friday" for F&B, and Pindar, an agoraphobic who is their computer guy. These two spice up any scenes in which they appear.

In any series of this type the audience appeal will be determined by the quality of the writing on the show, and the interest generated for the cases in which F&B are involved. Oh, and as an added note Gosselaar gets naked in the first episode. It seems he picked up that nasty habit on NYPD Blue and has brought it with him.

The two leads create a best buddy type situation somewhat along the lines of Rizzoli and Isles. If their show should be as successful as the one about those two ladies, well they will be fortunate indeed.

The show deserves a chance so I urge you to tune in on Wednesday, June 1 at 9PM for the premiere of Franklin & Bash. It could oh so easily become addictive. I've already got it on my TiVo list.