Posted in: ABC, NBC, TV | Tagged: L. A. Law, LA Law

L. A. Law Star Corbin Bernsen Explains Why "Shiny" Reboot Didn't Work

Corbin Bernsen (The Yeti) on why he believes ABC passed on the L. A. Law reboot pilot, what an older Arnie Becker would be like, and more.

There was a time when successful TV shows would almost be an easy sell, but these days, it's not the slam dunk it used to be. Just as Buffy fans were looking forward to New Sunnydale before Hulu pulled the plug, L. A. Law fans had their hearts torn out in 2022 when ABC decided to pass on the sequel series that would have starred series alums Blair Underwood and Corbin Bernsen, who would have reprised their respective roles as Jonathan Rollins and Arnie Becker, that would have continued the work of the law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney, and Becker (originally McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney, and Kuzak). The original Stephen Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher-created series, complimented by the familiar saxophone opening of renowned TV composer Mike Post, which was one of the most revolutionary for prime time television, ran for eight seasons from 1986 to 1994 on NBC, which also spawned a 2002 reunion TV movie on the same network, and the short-lived spinoff series Civil Wars for ABC that ran for two seasons from 1991 to 1993. Among the subjects tackled were capital punishment, racism, abortion, LGBTQ+, sexual harassment, AIDS/HIV, and domestic violence.

The reboot/sequel series would have had the same production company as Stephen Bochco's widow, Dayna Bochco, and Jesse Bochco, both serving as executive producers alongside Underwood. Writing the pilot was Marc Guggenheim and Ubah Mohamed, with Anthony Hemingway directing. Joining Underwood, Bernsen, and another original, Jill Eikenberry (in a guest capacity) as the new cast would have been Toks Olagundoye, Hari Nef, Ian Duff, John Harlan Kim, Juliana Harkavy, and Kacey Rohl before ABC pulled the plug in 2022. While promoting his latest Well Go USA horror film, The Yeti, the two-time Emmy nominee spoke to Bleeding Cool about the missed opportunity to revisit Arnie, what he felt went wrong in the pilot, what could have been done to salvage the project, and repurposing elements of the series into a new film.

L.A. Law Star Corbin Bernsen on What Could Have Been in Reboot and More

BC: I wanted to ask about the L.A. Law reboot that was commissioned by ABC, with you and Blair working on it. I was wondering, what was your experience like working on that, and if there was some hope you might be able to revisit that again, or has that ship sailed?

Bernsen: I think the ship has sailed. Look, I'd love to do it. I've said over and over, I love to exploit my character [Arnie Becker] at this age. I'm not sure where he'd be, but he's pretty much probably at a place where I'm at in my life, which is the reckoning, where you're like, "This is the bed you made, man. You'd better be happy with it and move on. If you want to make some changes, do it, move on. Forgive yourself for your past, move on."

I thought that'd be interesting, because I don't think he's figured his shit out. I don't think he figured it out. We did the reboot, it had all the elements, and the biggest thing that I will say is, "It goes down, it filters down to so many more other areas, both, a lot of the casting stuff and everything." There was a big mistake that in the 80s, all that wealth, the cars, clothes, and locations were not…we used them as tools. I always thought the suits Arnie Becker wore were a tool. It was power, it was his cape, whereas when we did the reboot, because of the time we're in, it felt more about bling, and it was never about bling. It was about survival.

The guy who had the best suit got in front of the jury and won. It wasn't, "Hey, yo! Look at me!" I felt that everything was a bit shiny in the reboot, and it didn't work. It's a shame that it wasn't given a little bit more time to figure it out and maybe go back and redo some things. At this point in life, I'm looking forward to so many great things happening that I can't look back too much, but I can take what I wanted to do with that character, and I've actually put it into a pilot indie pilot that I wrote and funded that we shot my son, who's 37, Oliver Bernsen, and directed it.

We were at SXSW, called Woodstockers, about two guys who went to Woodstock and never left. It's about the reckoning of their lives, so I'm transposing some of that into The Woodstockers, a totally different environment, but stuff that happens to us. We think it's unique, but it's not just, "You're in Woodstock. You're in LA. You're in wherever," so I'm exploring that moment of life in that series that hopefully touches wood, and we'll one day see the light of day. Taking an indie pilot up a tall hill with a heavy boulder, it's a push, push, push, but I love it, so it fuels me, and I'm doing that. Woodstockers, look out.

The Yeti, which also stars Brittany Allen, Eric Nelsen, Jim Cummings, and William Sadler, is in theaters and on digital. The original L.A. Law, which also stars Harry Hamlin, Alan Rachins, Abby Perkins, Jimmy Smits, Michael Tucker, Susan Ruttan, Richard Dysart, Susan Dey, and Larry Drake, is available to stream on Hulu.

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