History Series / RaisingTheBar

* CourtroomAntic: Plenty of them, done by both sides. The judges get in on the action with antics of their own (though they're largely safe-in most states, getting a judge removed from the bench is almost insurmountably difficult, even in cases of flagrant and clear malfeasance. Judges in general tend to be known as quirky at best and tyrannical at worst).

The first season took a while to find its identity but wound up being largely about the antagonistic relationship between main character Jerry Kellerman (Creator/MarkPaulGosselaar) and Judge Trudy Kessler (Jane Kaczmarek). The second season gave the other characters more screen time and [[CharacterDevelopment development]], and moved away from the "This City Only Has One Judge" theme by adding two more characters in robes. With the first utterance of the word "bullshit" in the last episode, it also looked much more like a Bochco series than it did in the first season, which managed, despite being on cable, to be tame compared to ''Series/NYPDBlue''.

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!This series provides examples of:

%% * BaldOfAwesome: Marcus.

%% * TheJudge: Kessler. Moves into HangingJudge territory quite often. There are others but she's the main one.

''Raising The Bar'' is a CourtroomDrama from StevenBochco, which started its first season on Creator/{{TNT}} in summer 2008. It follows a group of friends from law school who, despite taking different paths (two of them are prosecutors, two are public defenders and one is the secretary of a judge) have kept in touch and, at least outside the courtroom, maintain a relatively friendly relationship.

* HoYay: Farnsworth and Charlie do quite a bit of flirting. Since they're both actually gay, {{Shipping}} is a likely probability.

* BaldOfAwesome: Marcus.
* BattleOfWits: Very often.
* BenevolentBoss: Roz.
* BlackBossLady: Roz again.
* BigDamnKiss: In the season 1 finale, between [[spoiler: Jerry and Bobbi]].
* BigApplesauce: Pretty much a SignatureStyle for Bochco by now.

* BrainyBrunette: Bobbi.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Jerry is the closest to it, but gets called out on it and is even held in contempt of court a couple of times.
* ChekhovsGun: {{Averted}}.

* DatingCatwoman: Jerry and Michelle early in the first season. More platonically, the entire group when they go for a drink after work.
* DirtyCop: Fabricating evidence, lying to the jury, keeping Jerry from his client...Det. Porter is the epitome of one.

* {{Gayngst}}: [[spoiler: Charlie. He comes out right at the end of season 1]].

* GranolaGirl: Jerry is a Granola Guy, in many aspects.

* HelloAttorney: All of them, but Michelle and Bobbi in particular.

* {{Jerkass}}: Balco, most of the judges and a few of the clients. Gavin and Detective Porter are the worst, though.
** Radley, the ADA prosecuting against Bobbi is one of the biggest. Even Balco takes satisfaction in [[spoiler: Jerry punching him]].
* TheJudge: Kessler. Moves into HangingJudge territory quite often. There are others but she's the main one.

* NonIdleRich: Richard Woolsley. His wealth is recurring plot point.
* PetTheDog: The prosecutors are routinely given moments that suggest they're not really bad guys, they're just doing their jobs. Judge Kessler, however, doesn't do this nearly often enough.

* StalkerWithACrush: Gavin got pretty scary before his [[spoiler: suicide by hanging]].
* ToplessnessFromTheBack: Michelle getting out of the shower in an early first-season episode.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Bobbi and her {{Jerkass}} ex-husband Gavin. {{Invoked}} by Bobbi herself, who calls her marriage a mistake.

* WorkingWithTheEx:
** [[spoiler: Jerry and Michelle]].
** [[spoiler: Charlie and Kessler]].

The first season took a while to find its identity but wound up being largely about the antagonistic relationship between main character Jerry Kellerman (Creator/MarkPaulGosselaar) and Judge Trudy Kessler (Jane Kaczmarek). The second season gave the other characters more screen time and [[CharacterDevelopment development]], and moved away from the "This City Only Has One Judge" theme by adding two more characters in robes. With the first utterance of the word "bullshit" in the last episode, it also looked much more like a Bochco series than it did in the first season, which managed, despite being on cable, to be tame compared to ''NYPDBlue''.

* SignatureStyle: As mentioned above, pretty much all of Bochco's work is set in New York now. Also, the [[JitterCam jittery]] exterior shots each time they come back from commercial look a lot like the ones on ''NYPDBlue''.

''Raising The Bar'' is a CourtroomDrama from StevenBochco, which started its first season on {{TNT}} in summer 2008. It follows a group of friends from law school who, despite taking different paths (two of them are prosecutors, two are public defenders and one is the secretary of a judge) have kept in touch and, at least outside the courtroom, maintain a relatively friendly relationship.

* LargeHam: John Michael Higgins (Judge Farnsworth) is becoming a master of this trope. If he talked a little louder, he might even surpass [[BrianBlessed BRIAN BLESSED]].

The first season took a while to find its identity but wound up being largely about the antagonistic relationship between main character Jerry Kellerman (Creator/MarkPaulGosselaar) and Judge Trudy Kessler (Jane Kaczmarek). The second season is giving the other characters more screen time and [[CharacterDevelopment development]], and moving away from the "This City Only Has One Judge" theme by adding two more characters in robes. With the first utterance of the word "bullshit" in the last episode, it's also looking much more like a Bochco series than it did in the first season, which managed, despite being on cable, to be tame compared to ''NYPDBlue''.

* AmoralAttorney: Michelle stoops to some pretty low tactics to win including getting a key defence witness deported and not informing the defence about the death of a complainant and key witness before offering a deal. Her boss Balco himself comes across as this at times.

* BigDamnKiss: Season 1 finale, between [[spoiler: Jerry and Bobbi]].

* BlackAndGrayMorality: Many of the cases are shown from both the prosecution and defence perspectives, with both sides having a point.

* ChekhovsGun: Averted.
* CourtroomAntic: Plenty of them, done by both sides. The judges get in on the action with antics of their own that would probably get them kicked off the bench in RealLife, too.
** Um, in this case, RealityIsUnrealistic. In most states, getting a judge removed from the bench is almost insurmountably difficult, even in cases of flagrant and clear malfeasance. Judges in general tend to be known as quirky at best and tyrannical at worst.

* {{Fanservice}}: Bobbi tends to wear very tight tops. Justified in that she's got a lot to show off.

* HandsomeLech: Nick flirts with every attractive woman he meets, including Michelle who ''works'' for him.

* LampshadeHanging: Jerry's long, unkempt hair was criticized by viewers and professional TV critics alike in the first season... when he got a much shorter haircut in the second-season opener, the other characters took notice and made a few offhanded comments about it.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: The show went on a long hiatus after summer 2009, then returned ''Christmas Eve'' 2009 to air three new episodes, the last of which was the series finale. Christmas Eve? What were they thinking?

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: Bobbi and her {{Jerkass}} ex-husband Gavin. Invoked by Bobbi herself, who calls her marriage a mistake.

The first season took a while to find its identity but wound up being largely about the antagonistic relationship between main character Jerry Kellerman (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and Judge Trudy Kessler (Jane Kaczmarek). The second season is giving the other characters more screen time and [[CharacterDevelopment development]], and moving away from the "This City Only Has One Judge" theme by adding two more characters in robes. With the first utterance of the word "bullshit" in the last episode, it's also looking much more like a Bochco series than it did in the first season, which managed, despite being on cable, to be tame compared to ''NYPDBlue''.

** In her very first episode, [[MaleGaze Jerry and the viewers]] get to check her out [[BabyGotBack walking away down]] the corridor.

* SexyBack: Michelle getting out of the shower in an early first-season episode.