Comedy in the courtroom

Television has had a long love affair with the legal profession, using the courtroom and the tumultuous battles therein as a fertile jumping off point for a steady stream of hourlong dramas over the years. But tonight at 9:30, a new lawyer-based series premieres on NBC with nothing but laughs on its mind, and as such, “A.U.S.A.” manages to make a decent case for itself as a half-hour comedy to keep your eye on.

Created and produced by three-time Emmy winner Richard Appel (“The Simpsons,” “King of the Hill”), the series stars Scott Foley as Adam Sullivan, whose career as an assistant U.S. attorney (A.U.S.A.) couldn’t be getting off to a more nightmarish start. There’s the unfortunate encounter with a pair of judges in a restroom; the goofy roommate (Eddie McClintock) who shows up at all the wrong times, saying all the wrong things; and an inadvertent bit of jury-tampering.

“Now we’ll have to pick an entirely new jury,” fumes Geoffrey Laurence (played by Peter Jacobson). “Do you have any idea how long it takes to find 12 people who like me?”

To make matters worse, when Adam is finally assigned his own case, he finds himself pitted against a former classmate (and the dream date that got away) in attorney Amanda Detmer, (Susan Rakoff).

Under different circumstances, these two attractive young professionals might have sought to rekindle the romantic sparks, but Amanda’s contempt for Adam’s career path now poses a significant roadblock. You can be sure that Adam will be trying to work his way through it in the episodes ahead. It isn’t always easy to warm up to a new comedy’s characters, but “A.U.S.A.” shows potential to be more than a guilty pleasure.