Patrick J. Adams (Matt Carr/Getty Images)
USA will debut two new shows this year, including a legal drama from Bourne trilogy producer Doug Liman.
The network has given series orders to A Legal Mind starring Gabriel Macht (Love and Other Drugs) and Patrick J. Adams (Lost) and Necessary Roughness starring Callie Thorne (Rescue Me).
Legal Mind (Universal Cable Productions) is about a top Manhattan corporate lawyer (Macht) who hires a street-smart college dropout (Adams) to team on legal cases — even though only one of them has a law degree. Mind is created by Aaron Korsh (The Deep End); Gene Klein (Covert Affairs) is producer and Liman is exec producer.
“Legal Mind comes from an edgier place than we have in the past,” notes Jeff Wachtel, president of programming at USA.
Necessary Roughness (Sony Pictures TV and Universal Cable Productions) is about a Long Island divorcee (Throne) who gets a job as a therapist for a pro football team and soon finds herself landing all sorts of high-profile clients. It’s from writer-producers Liz Kruger and Craig Shaprio (Miami Medical).
“It’s in some ways a more purely emotional show,” Wachtel says. “There are no bombs and bullets.”
The duo have quite a reputation to live up to. USA has enjoyed a ridiculously strong track record for launching new shows and is the top-rated cable network for five years running. Each of the new dramas will debut with a 90-minute premiere followed by 11 one-hour episodes. For those keeping count, USA now has 10 original dramas.
So based on these early details, what do you think of Mind and Roughness?
USA has got some really great shows. Characters welcome, indeed.
I agree with Kat! USA is my go-to channel for great television. Their shows are witty and fun. They keep you coming back for more!
Do we need yet ANOTHER legal drama? Enough already.
LAME.
Roger C., please don’t be the ribs that tips over our Flintstones’ car.
I watch Burn Notice, White Collar, and Covert Affairs. That’s it. And while the first two are appointment TV for me, C.A. I watch before I drift off to sleep while I endlessly ponder what a dead ringer Piper Perabo is for someone I worked with a year ago.
Love Gabriel Macht! He’s so charming and likeable–oh and cute! I hope the legal drama isn’t just another legal drama.
I’m on the fence with A Legal Mind since I’m not a big fan of legal dramas, however, it has 2 good things going for it: Doug Liman and USA Network (Love Covert Affairs). Necessary Roughness sounds promising and, like I said before, USA Network. So I’ll give both a try.
I love all the USA shows and often choose them over network tv!
USA should pick up Terriers!
Oooh, that would be awesome. Terriers is a bit less fluffy than USA’s usual fare, but the quirkiness is a great match for the network.
I will be watching it for Gabriel Macht!!!! Gabriel Macht macht wir liebe er!!!! (i hope i wrote that write!!)
LOVE USA. Sick of legal dramas (except the Good Wife). But love Gabriel Macht. So I will definitely be watching.
I love USA and all of their great original shows. I watch Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, and am a recent Psych convert. I love them all, and am giving USA a chance, although I don’t think the new show Fairly Legal looks very good.
Although neither of the two shows sound that interesting off the bat, just because they are USA shows I will probably give them a chance. Burn Notice, White collar, Psych and Royal Pains are some of my favorite shows. USA truly does develop some great characters! Great network.
Legal Mind sounds rather White Collar-esque…unusual partnership to solve cases, but I’ll give it a shot.
Necessary Roughness sounds different than most of their other stuff, but I’ll definitely give it a shot.
I really wonder how USA manages to fair so well when its parent network, NBC, is doing less than great in comparison. But I suppose network versus cable are two very different playing fields.
Well, I’ve watched Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, White Collar, Royal Pains, and Covert Affairs, so I will probably watch them. They don’t really sound like something I’d watch, but I didn’t think I would like White Collar or Burn Notice, so that shows how much I know. Also, they’ve got a lot of double-meaning show titles. Perhaps that’s their secret to success.
enjoy Burn etc, criminal intent in all its incarnations. was fan of monk & all the l&o marathons. ncis rules now. ? does anyone know the time line on royal pains. how long has hank med been in biz? not the tv show i mean fictional. i thought the girl was getting married 6mos from start & it`ll b alot longer when new season starts. help
Super Excited about “A Legal Mind”! Patrick J. Adams is fantastic! And Gina Torres from Firefly! I will absolutely make room in my DVR!