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• Entertainment extra • 3/12AM thru 3/18AM
'Century City' provides a
glimpse into law's future
By Jacqueline Cutler
©ZapZit
"Century City.” the latest court
room drama to hit CBS, is a cross
between "L.A. Law" and the "The
Jetsons," with one important provi
so - it’s a pretty smart show.
Premiering Tuesday. March 16.
it also smacks of another drama.
"The West Wing.” because of its
bombastic speeches, but that is
about the worst that can be said,
about it. Set in 2030. the show
explores issues our society is just
now beginning to tackle.
"The show will be a success if
people are disturbed enough (by it)
to talk about it around the water
cooler.” says Hector Elizondo
("Chicago Hope”), who plays
Marty Constable, the elder states
men law partner. After working on
so many movies and TV series.
Elizondo handicaps the odds of
success for this one. “It has the
smell of success,” he says. "But
who knows ’ I'm the guy who said
"Pretty Woman" would never do
anything.”
‘Century City" works because it
does not delve into science fiction,
but rather uses science to project
likely occurrences. Technology is a
fun backdrop, but not the show's
focus.
In the pilot, the lawyers repre
sent a fertility specialist (the age
less Richard Thomas) who does not
tell patients that the fetus they are
carrying will grow up to be gay. His
rationale is that when prospective
parents know, they do not want the
child. He feels if he tells them, he is
aiding in the planned decimation of
gays. Because so many women in
the future defer motherhood, fertil
ity specialists are even more com
mon than they are today.
The attorneys Lukas Gold
(loan Gruffudd. "Horatio
Homblower"), an earnest associate;
Tom Montero (Nestor Carbonell.
"Suddenly Susan”), a former con
gressman; Lee May Bristol (Kristin
Lehman. “Judging Amy”), a genet
ically engineered human; Darwin
McNeil (Eric Schaeffer. "If Lucy
Fell”), a libidinous sexist; Hannah
Crane (Viola Davis. "Traffic”), the
firm's founder; and Elizondo's
character - debate the issues.
“Some things never change -
what people fight over, what they
go to court over, and what people
want out of life.” says Paul
Attanasio. show creator and an
executive producer. ‘That hasn't
changed since Hammurabi."
Attanasio. who wrote "Quiz
Show" and "Donnie Brasco.” came
up with the idea for this near-future
show based on science reports in
the news. "Genetic engineering,
surveillance technologies, travel to
Mars, artificial intelligence, cures
for cancer, artificial limbs, artificial
eyes.” Attanasio rattles off "It
struck me that as a society we are
entering a period of unprecedented
change that will really affect how
we think about ourselves and what
we want our lives to look like. And
the way we decide, as a communi
ty. is through the law. So it occurred
to me that if you took a law show,
which is a franchise that historical
ly works on television, you could
access that emotion. You could
basically peek around the comer at
stuff happening now.”
Some of that stuff, such as
paper-thin computer screens and
hologram images zapping into
rooms for virtual meetings, is easy
to imagine. Others, such as the
resurgence of Nehru collars, less
so.
"I lobbied for the bolo tie. but 1
lost." Attanasio says with a laugh.
"1 lobbied for wide lapels. 1 have a
picture of me and my brother with
lapels that extend beyond my
shoulder ... in a good breeze, you
could take off."
The show subtly handles other
projections, such as demographic
changes in California, by revealing
a world that does not have a white
majority. Elizondo suggested to the
producers that he and co-star
"Carbonell speak Spanish in some
scenes, with English subtitles,
because that will be more represen
tative of the time.
One cast member works to sup
press his accent. "I was sort of
determined to play this part as an
American." says Gruffudd. a native
of Cardiff. Wales. Fresh off his suc
cess of playing Captain Horatio
Homblower. who bridged the 1 Sth
and 19th centuries. Gruffudd says.
“I haven't actually lived in the
moment. I have been living in the
past or the future."
Like others associated with this
drama Gruffudd says he cherishes
working on it. “It is a smart show
and a clever show," he says. “And
in this day and age of television,
where reality shows seem to be
doing well in the ratings, if you
give an audience something to
think about, they will watch.”
The two episodes available for
review definitely fit that bill. In
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loan Gruffudd (“Horatio Homblower") plays upstanding attorney Lukas Gold in the futuristic court
room drama “Century City," premiering Tuesday on CBS.
addition to story lines concerning
the fertility doctor and the so-called
gay gene, the pilot also deals with
the future of ugly separations when
a jilted man sues his former girl
friend because she has essentially
stolen his personality. Living in a
“smart" apartment, she has pro
grammed his voice to sing from the
showerhead and to tell her child
bedtime stories from a stuffed
teddy bear. She has even pro
grammed his scent into her belong
ings. Now that they are through, he
wants the pieces of downloaded
personality back.
In another episode, a man (guest
star David Paymer) sues to allow
cloning of his son so the liver could
be harvested to save his ailing boy's
life. It turns out the child is actually
a clone of the father, and the court
has to unravel a complicated
genealogy.
That episode also has a lighter
subplot concerning an aged boy
band. Three of the four lads, now in
their 70s. had a bit of work done -
think Mick Jagger to the extreme -
and look to be in their 20s. The lone
holdout is in fine shape for an older
man. At the funeral for one of the
band members, an impromptu per
formance by the survivors is amus-
ingly awful.
"We are trying to use the 'B' sto
nes to give some humor." Attanasio
says. An upcoming episode, for
instance, has the main story dealing
with a fann boy who is an aspiring
baseball player. He loses an eye in
an accident and receives an artifi
cial one, but baseball rules in 2030
prohibit bionic parts. That show’s
subplot is about a child sitcom star
who wants to take medicine to pre
vent aging.
"The shows are emotional,”
Attanasio says, " because in the
end. what we arc trying to say is
that human drama doesn’t change "