Don Johnson, Melanie Griffith reconnect, sort of

Paul Brownfield has been filing online dispatches this week from the Television Critics Assn. meetings in Beverly Hills. Here’s the latest from Friday:

Good morning from the former House of Merv. It’s WB day. First panel up is “Just Legal,” starring Don Johnson as a washed-up, alcoholic lawyer and Jay Baruchel as an 18-year-old, sort of hipster-doofus-legal wunderkind.

Question for Johnson: How does it feel being on the same network as Melanie Griffith?

Johnson: “Melanie’s working?”

Yes, she’s in “Twins,” a sitcom about twins. Griffith’s the mother, Mark Linn-Baker’s the father, Sara Gilbert’s the twin daughter, Molly Stanton’s the other twin. The girls are taking over their parents’ lingerie business, but can they get along? One’s a little plain Jane and smart (Gilbert), the other (Stanton) is sexy and kind of dense.

As opposed to “Just Legal,” which is a dramedy of opposites, created by Jonathan Shapiro.

Shapiro on lawyers on TV: “ ... There’s a kind of cheap cynicism about lawyers and about the law. And I hate it ... at the end of the day I want people to come away with the same sense of hope for law as I have.”

But back to Don on Melanie: “That was just a joke. Of course I know that she’s on the network and I’m delighted for her ... she’s a wonderful talent.”

The “Twins” panel followed. “I’m really happy for him,” Melanie said of Don. “I’m even happier for our daughter because her trust fund is going to be really healthy.”

For Brownfield’s notebook, go to calendarlive.com/tca.