Jumping Into the Deep End

ABC's The Deep End premieres tomorrow night, and you better bet I'll be watching. At first glance it appeared to be a lawyer's Grey's Anatomy set in a chic fictional law firm that apparently requires a headshot with your resume. I assume that all of the beautiful lawyers will have a lot of sex with each other, presumably in dark closets and otherwise empty offices, much like Grey's. At some point, I can almost guarantee that one of them will have a disastrous affair with a secretary. It sounds so predictable. Then again, I am an avid watcher of Grey's Anatomy.

Still, though it walks and talks like the legal counterpart to Grey's Anatomy, the extended preview I viewed gave out a distinct Ally McBeal vibe. Maybe this drama will be more of a dramedy than I dare hope.

Whichever the case, I have one small wish concerning this new show. I wish only that support staff exist as human beings, not merely as props for weak plots. Of course, if paralegals and secretaries are even seen in this new series, that very fact will put it miles ahead of both the late Ally McBeal and the current Private Practice (another medical drama). Though I have seen every episode of each of these shows, I have never seen a single paralegal, secretary, or nurse, in either of them, respectfully. I know these roles aren't nearly as dramatic and glamorous as surgeons and lawyers, dear ABC, but in real life, they are very useful members of these highly technical fields.