So nobody told me that Zack Morris was on tv again. Then I started hearing these rumors about the actor who played him, Mark Paul Gosselaar, talking about blondes vs. brunettes and I was like, “Hmm, that’s weird.” Then I got a copy of season one of Raising The Bar, a legal drama on TNT, to review and after a couple seconds I nearly dropped my glass of root beer because, “OMG Zack is a brunette and he’s on this show!”

Evidence : Photographic Proof – It’s Really Him!

This realization was pretty cool but nowhere near as cool as the show itself. It does however lead into my Top 5 Reasons You Should Be Watching ‘Raising The Bar’…

1. If you were a fellow Zack Morris fan like myself, you now have an opportunity to get that Zack-fix you’ve been waiting for. Even better, you can enjoy that fix with your husband right next to you – and he’ll be too busy enjoying the actual show to make fun of you. If you can get past the hair, you should be set for an enjoyable evening. At first – the hair was a bit much for me and I couldn’t quite find the Zack we all knew and loved. But after an episode or two (you know the first episode of any new series is always the worst) he really gets into his groove with this new character, Jerry Kellerman, a brass public defender who always seems to be ruffling feathers as he fights for his latest cause.
2. The other characters, yeah they are pretty good, too! Michelle Emhard, played by Melissa Sagemiller, is the quite suddenly off-again flame of Kellerman’s and also one of his rivals in the world of law. She is almost always on the other side of his cases – something which rarely interfered with their personal relationship until it really did, big time – and now (at the time that I’m watching mid-way through season one) there is that whole relationship dynamic – love thrown off the tracks – that is oh so fun to watch. And she’s pretty. So your husband will be thrilled.
   
   

   

   You really shouldn’t mix love and work – but it does make for good tv!

3. The plot line is actually really excellent. My husband actually called the pilot, “the best pilot for a show he’d ever seen.” He is seriously hooked and I’ve got to say, I am, too. I love how they really present all sides of a story (or twelve) with no real good guys or bad guys at the end of the day. Everyone is human – mistakes are made on all ends – and the result you hope for throughout the show may or may not be the best result. Even when the “good guy wins” it’s not always a good thing – and the good guy doesn’t always win. It’s very down to earth in that regard and it’s exciting but it’s also realistic.
4. The actors and actresses who are not Michelle and Jerry are also terrific. You’ll recognize Judge Trudy Kessler, played by Jane Kaczmarek from the hit tv series Malcom In The Middle. She is excellent, in that you really can’t stand her half the time, even though you almost understand where she is coming from, except – who can be so cruel to the adorable Jerry on such a frequent basis? And she’s just another of many, many fabulous faces in this legal drama which has officially become a favorite in our household.
5. Okay now for the “relevant to you here and NOW” part. Tonight at 10pm ET the newest episode from Season 2 (catch up on Season One now on DVD – or the first few episodes of Season 2 online) is one I think any mother blogger would be interested in. The episode is entitled, “No Child Left Behind (see a sneak preview here)” and reviews for this episode have been all over the net. You can read a great review by 5 Minutes For Mom here. The basic plot line is this: A man is arrested when an innocent bath time photo of his son online is picked up by a pervy website. See? This is a topic we all deal with frequently as mom bloggers – and according to 5 Minutes For Mom it’s really well done. I’m planning to record it on my DVR to watch asap (and hope I don’t get too many relationship spoilers from it!)

So – there you go – a great new legal drama for you to enjoy now with a fix of Zack Morris ogling and a topic relevant to you as a mom blogger. No need to thank me – unless you really, really want to.