High Court Drama, Not Quite Supreme

It begins its sessions hearing these words: “God save the United States and this honorable court.”

This is the nation’s high court, after all, not “The People’s Court,” “Divorce Court” or nine vamping, finger-wagging Judge Judys. That means, subliminally, at least, there’s an expectation of something loftier than so-so “First Monday” when the U.S. Supreme Court gets spotlighted in a weekly TV drama, even though these kids put on their judicial black robes one sleeve at a time just like their lower-level counterparts.

You take what comes, though. It’s “First Monday” that arrives on CBS tonight in advance of resuming this week in its regular time slot Friday. Talk about confusing. And yes, the title of this series from producer Donald Bellisario (“Jag”) refers to the court beginning its year on the first Monday of October (even though this is January). And, yes, this will be prime time’s lone series about the high court just briefly if ABC follows through on springtime plans to introduce Sally Field as a new associate justice in its own weekly series “The Court.”

The CBS protagonist, Joseph Novelli (Joe Mantegna), is also new, a moderate liberal regarded as a potential swing vote as he mounts the bench tonight with his colleagues, led by his friendly adversary, conservative Chief Justice Thomas Brankin (James Garner). There’s even a “Curveball” news-talk show here, hosted by former CNN Supreme Court reporter Charles Bierbauer.

Meanwhile, four young law clerks research case law to support their bosses’ positions. Brankin’s man naturally has the smugness and uniform TV generally associates with conservatives. Don’t liberals ever wear bow ties?

Tonight’s first case: A transgendering, asylum-seeking Mexican is resisting being returned to his homeland, claiming he will be persecuted there because of his sexual ambiguity. A cheap plot device colors that.

First crisis: Novelli, who opposes capital punishment for minors, is asked to grant a stay of execution in Florida for a 16-year-old death row inmate who was struck by lightning in the prison yard. Condemned to death for killing a child during a robbery, the inmate argues that to electrocute him now would be a double dose, the equivalent of cruel and unusual punishment that’s forbidden by the 8th Amendment. A plot convenience resolves that, and “First Monday” rumbles to its final credits on some awkwardly contrived melodrama.

First curveball: The justices mention “Old Sparky”--the nickname for Florida’s antiquated electric chair that once dispatched a man with his hair in flames--in conjunction with the condemned teenager. You’d think they’d know that “Old Sparky” was scrapped in 2000 by Florida, which now offers a choice between electrocution and lethal injection.

To its credit, the series delivers appealing characters in Novelli and his colleagues, and positions them to confront arresting legal issues. These are not stiff types who speak only in legalese and present arguments like PhD dissertations, by the way. Brankin, a former college footballer, deploys sports metaphors freely. Wheelchair-bound Justice Henry Hoskins (Charles Durning) is more than a bit crude. And a female justice confides to a nervous Novelli: “I wet my panties my first day on the bench.”

Speaking of nerves, Bellisario is surely thinking: God save this honorable court from cancellation.

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“First Monday” premieres tonight at 9 on CBS. The network has rated it TV-PG-L (may be unsuitable for young children, with a special advisory for coarse language).