In Her Court

women.com - October 7, 1999

By Marcia Whyte

At first glance, new CBS dramas "Judging Amy" and "Family Law" seem strikingly similar. They profile a recently divorced/permanently separated working mother. One mom's a judge; the other's a lawyer. Both work in family courts.

But while the heroine in "Judging Amy" draws us into her real-life pursuit to have it all -- independence, daughter, judgeship -- the abandoned lawyer in "Family Law" muddles through one big melodrama after another. After her law partner-husband leaves her, Kathleen Quinlan's character, Lynn, makes her boldest move when she changes the men's room to a women's to reclaim good bathroom space. Um, you go girl. She, like Ally McBeal, wins her strange cases on emotional drive alone, but she's lost Ally's zaniness -- and apparently nobody is safe from her mothering instincts.

But "Judging Amy," which was created and is produced by the show's star, Amy Brenneman, takes a different tack. Amy has integrity, can keep her emotions in check, attempts to do what's best for her young daughter and can still be crabby with her meddling mom at the end of a hard day. Hey, maybe CBS is onto something with this real women creating women's shows thing.


Copyright © 1999 women.com. All rights reserved.