Raising the Bar (2008 TV series)

Raising the Bar is an American legal drama created by Steven Bochco and David Feige, which ran on TNT network from September 1, 2008, to December 24, 2009.

Plot
Idealistic public defender Jerry Kellerman does whatever it takes to assist the helpless and disenfranchised, which often leads to clashes in the courtroom presided over by Judge Trudy Kessler, a hard-liner hoping to become the city's next district attorney. Jerry has many clashes with both law enforcement and the assistant district attorneys (ADAs) such as Michelle Ernhardt, the beautiful and occasionally devious attorney with whom he has had a turbulent secret fling.

Cast and characters

 * Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Jerry Kellerman
 * Gloria Reuben as Rosalind Whitman
 * Jane Kaczmarek as Trudy Kessler
 * Melissa Sagemiller as Michelle Earnhardt
 * Jonathan Scarfe as Charlie Sagansky
 * J. August Richards as Marcus McGrath
 * Currie Graham as Nick Balco
 * Teddy Sears as Richard Patrick Woolsley
 * Natalia Cigliuti as Roberta "Bobbi" Gilardi

Recurring

 * Stacy Hall as Vince Culp
 * Jon Polito as Judge Dominick Ventimigla
 * Paul Joyner as Assistant District Attorney
 * John Michael Higgins as Judge Albert Farnsworth
 * Heath Freeman as Gavin Dillon
 * Angel Oquendo as Carlos
 * Octavia Spencer as Arvina Watkins
 * Max Greenfield as David Steinberg
 * Josh Randall as Tim Porter
 * Wilson Cruz as Rafael de la Cruz

Production
Raising the Bar was originally announced to be joining TNT as a new series in January 2008. It came to TNT through ABC Studios and Steven Bochco served as executive producer, with Jesse Bochco as co-executive producer and David Feige as supervising producer. After completing its first season of 10 hour-long episodes in November 2008, the series was renewed for a 15-episode second season, which premiered on Monday June 8, 2009, at 10 p.m. Eastern Time/9 p.m. Central Time. The show was canceled after season 2.

Cancellation
TNT confirmed to E! Online on November 30, 2009 that the series would not be renewed for a third season. The final three episodes were burned off in a marathon December 24, 2009.

Reception
The series debut garnered 7.7 million viewers. It was the biggest audience ever for a new-series launch on basic cable. It beat the record set in 2004 by USA Network's launch of The 4400 which opened with an average of 7.4 million viewers; runner-up was TNT's The Closer, which recorded 7 million viewers when it was unveiled in 2005. Following the premiere, ratings evened out to around 5.5 million viewers per episode. For calendar-year 2008 on a first-run basis, the series delivered 1.37 million viewers in the 18–49 demographic, garnering mixed reviews.