TV: Head Cases
Here’s the setup for “Head Cases”: you’ve got your straight-man lawyer, Jason (Chris O’Donnell), and you’ve got your crazy guy lawyer with one name (a-la the early Kramer), Shultz (Adam Goldberg). See, the thing is though, really, they’re both crazy! Ha! Bet you didn’t see that one coming! So Jason just got kicked out of the house by his wife, who was feeling neglected because his ambition to become a partner in his big-time L.A. law firm made him to neglect the family. After she kicked him out, he had a nervous breakdown and spent three months in a wellness center. Of course, what’s a big-time law firm want with a guy who’s having nervous breakdowns? So he gets fired.
On the other side, good old Shultz didn’t have any life-changing events in his life. He’s got “explosive disorder,” which sounds to me like a made up name for a short fuse. I don’t know if that’s a real thing or not, so if it is, I apologize to anyone that might have it. Don’t hit me. That’s what Shultz does. If he gets mad, he just starts smacking people around. Not such a good thing for a lawyer, you might think, and you’d be right. So it’s a good thing that Dr. Robinson (Rockmond Dunbar) from the wellness center set these two up as “buddies” who are supposed to keep each other sane.
All the wackiness ensues that one would expect. The two decide they should take on underdog cases together. So you get your weirdo clients (in the pilot, a nymphomaniac who just couldn’t help sleeping with people at her last job) and all the crazy courtroom antics, complete with Jason schooling Shultz on certain laws and codes, and Shultz teaching Jason about street smarts in his own zany ways.
The show is harmless, if not great or even good. There were a couple of laughs, and Chris O’Donnell is better than I expected (read: he didn’t make me throw things at the TV), but it wasn’t funny enough material to fill an hour. Adam Goldberg has annoyed me in the past, but wasn’t particularly awful here. I think one of the problems the show has is that we (or I, at least) didn’t really root for the main characters. It was almost like we were supposed to laugh at them for their misfortunes. Sure, that’s an ingredient in a lot of comedies, but usually it’s in the “loveable loser” sense. These guys aren’t really loveable, just losers. By the end, I found that I was almost relieved that the show was over. All in all, it just wasn’t enough to keep me coming back. There are too many other good shows on to watch a show like this (not to mention “Lost,” which is on at the same time).
Final Score: 2 cents.
On the other side, good old Shultz didn’t have any life-changing events in his life. He’s got “explosive disorder,” which sounds to me like a made up name for a short fuse. I don’t know if that’s a real thing or not, so if it is, I apologize to anyone that might have it. Don’t hit me. That’s what Shultz does. If he gets mad, he just starts smacking people around. Not such a good thing for a lawyer, you might think, and you’d be right. So it’s a good thing that Dr. Robinson (Rockmond Dunbar) from the wellness center set these two up as “buddies” who are supposed to keep each other sane.
All the wackiness ensues that one would expect. The two decide they should take on underdog cases together. So you get your weirdo clients (in the pilot, a nymphomaniac who just couldn’t help sleeping with people at her last job) and all the crazy courtroom antics, complete with Jason schooling Shultz on certain laws and codes, and Shultz teaching Jason about street smarts in his own zany ways.
The show is harmless, if not great or even good. There were a couple of laughs, and Chris O’Donnell is better than I expected (read: he didn’t make me throw things at the TV), but it wasn’t funny enough material to fill an hour. Adam Goldberg has annoyed me in the past, but wasn’t particularly awful here. I think one of the problems the show has is that we (or I, at least) didn’t really root for the main characters. It was almost like we were supposed to laugh at them for their misfortunes. Sure, that’s an ingredient in a lot of comedies, but usually it’s in the “loveable loser” sense. These guys aren’t really loveable, just losers. By the end, I found that I was almost relieved that the show was over. All in all, it just wasn’t enough to keep me coming back. There are too many other good shows on to watch a show like this (not to mention “Lost,” which is on at the same time).
Final Score: 2 cents.
Tha Docta's two cents. | 1:13 AM
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