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Reviewed by Joel Zand October 29, 2000
Stuckeyville Steamy Moments How many of you legal eagles ever had a client who felt that their case would work out better if they forgot to tell you the little "insignificant" details about their cases? Ed Stevens had one such client in this week's episode - a cute, flirty clerk who's been working for Stuckyeville's smooth-talking used car salesman. The skinny on this week's suit? The car lot "administratoress" has been getting an extra $95.00 every week in her paycheck over the last year, and for some gosh darned reason, he suddenly wants it all back! The nerve! We're first treated to some foreplay and foreshadowing of what Ed's latest case is all about, when Stuckeybowl manager Phil Stubbs lets everyone know that he's got the hots for Ed's newest client by impersonating Ed just to get close to the lovely lady. Stubbs performs a raunchy Chippendale-esque window wash of his boss's law office windows with little else except his chest and some steamy soapsuds. Is this a case about sex and an implied quid pro quo that dating one's boss could lead to big monetary rewards? Yes! Does the episode titillate with sexual harassment innuendos? Of course! Does Ed ever tell his law office employees not to harass the clients who come to him for help? Do we learn up that Ed's client might have actually have a harassment case against her boss? Of course not, this is television! My Love Is A Waffle-ing… Ed diligently continues his half-hearted attempt to remain "friends" with the Stuckeyville High teacher Carol Vessey. It's a big week for Carol. She ends her seven year relationship with English teacher, Nick Stanton, when she suddenly realizes that it's no longer possible to let go of her Eggo'. Nick, Carol's love is not waffling around for you another seven years. You're ego's gonna' get bruised badly, buddy, and your waffles are gonna' get burned. And what is wrong with Stuckeyville's municipal court? Ed's back in front of the same judge who ruled in favor of his client, magician Stuckeyville Stan. Why is it that writer Rob Burnett and the folks at David Letterman's Worldwide Pants production unit fail to realize that it's awfully hard to have a legal television show without a jury? Law and Order, Ally McBeal, and The Practice all realize the important symbolic and real-life identification that jurors have with jury trials over bench trials... But week-after-week on Ed, we see lots of extras filling the back of the courtroom during his trials, but Ed never speaks to a jury. Viewers might even get the impression that Ohio law -- or perhaps Stuckeyville's local municipal ordinances -- forbid jury trials. Once again, Ed's opposing counsel can't resist taking a pot shot at the bowling alley lawyer. But Ed stands up for his client, uncovering the previously untold truth behind this case -- that the used car lot owner asked his client out on a date, that she politely declined, and that one week later she started receiving a weekly pay increase of $95 a week. Quid pro quo, Ed, Quid pro quo. If the used car salesman can't sexually harass his employees, the implication is that he can pay employees to sleep with him and everything will be alright. We never learn whether Ed sought equitable (non-monetary) relief by getting a declaration from the court that his client did not have to repay the raise that she started receiving after she refused her boss's advances, whether she was suing for civil damages, or both. This was the perfect case of sexual harassment claim for Ed's client. But viewers just don't see Ed developing the legal theory for big money damages. Maybe it's due to the fact that Ed's friend, Dr. Mike Burton and old high school acquaintance, Molly Hudson, fill up the show's hour-long comedy, describing various crisis in their lives. We just don't know. But this is television, where a lawyer like Ed flings waffles at the rooftop of his unrequited love and delivers (guys, take notes here) pints of ice cream, as friends and potential suitors try to win their sweethearts in the litigation-crazed town of Stuckeyville, Ohio.
In a curious role reversal with the show's protagonist, Joel Zand is a New York solo practitioner who left his Midwestern roots behind to work with Findlaw. He has represented New York City landlords, tenants, and folks with pets in pit-bullesque litigation (always representing the underdog, of course). Zand received his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and his B.A. from the University of Chicago. |
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