Looks like Jonathan Rollins’ return to the courthouse isn’t going to happen. ABC has decided not to move ahead with the revival of L.A. Law with the network choosing not to give a series order to a sequel series led by original series star Blair Underwood.
The sequel series originally received a pilot order in October 2021 and focused on Underwood’s character from the original series, attorney Jonathan Rollins, and would have once again been set at the McKenzie Brackman law firm, which is now known as Becker Rollins. Along with the name change, the firm has completely reimagined itself as a litigation firm specializing in “only the most high-profile, boundary-pushing, and incendiary cases.” Along with Underwood, fellow alumni of the original series Corbin Bernsen also reprised his role as Arnie Becker in the pilot. New series regulars in the pilot include Hari Nef (Transparent), Toks Olagundoye (Castle), John Harlan Kim (Nancy Drew) and CW’s Arrow alum Juliana Harkavy and Kacey Rohl, who reunite with Marc Guggenheim, who served as a writer on both the superhero series as well as this pilot. While ABC is not picking up the pilot for a series order, Deadline is reporting that the finished pilot is being shopped around to other outlets in search of getting a greenlight.
The original L.A. Law ran from 1986 to 1994 created by Steven Bochco that followed the many lawyers and staff of the previously mentioned McKenzie Brackman law firm as they tackled many hot-button topics of the time. The series was popular with both audiences and critics with the series winning a total of 15 Primetime Emmy Awards during its run, with four of those wins being for Outstanding Drama Series.
The pilot for the L.A. Law sequel series was written by Guggenheim along with Ubah Mohamed (Legends of Tomorrow) and was directed by Anthony Hemingway (Shameless). In addition to starring, Underwood also served as an executive producer on the pilot alongside Guggenheim and Mohamed as well as Hemingway via Anthony Hemingway Productions, and the wife and son of the late original series creator, Dayna Bochco and Jesse Bochco via Steven Bochco Productions. 20th Television was the studio that produced the pilot.
In addition to not picking up the pilot for L.A. Law, ABC also announced back in 2019 that they wouldn’t be picking up the pilots for revival series either NYPD Blue and New York Undercover.
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