In rare instances, a judge may overturn a jury’s verdict and issue her own judgment from the bench (a judgment notwithstanding the verdict in a civil trial or a judgment of acquittal in criminal procedure). With this in mind, I think it is appropriate that I amend my earlier verdict on Mad Men and issue a new judgment on my online TV watchlist.
After watching both seasons one and two of Mad Men, I have reconsidered. Once you get over the sometimes tiresome characterizations of the early 60s (which all feel like they were specifically intended to shock), the show matures and the depictions of American culture from that time period are portrayed in a much more natural and therefore more historically reliable and valuable way. The acting is also superb, even if some of the secondary stories are a bit superfluous.
In reconsidering, I have also been reminded of the irrelevance of filling time with most of the other shows on my list. As a result, I am now going to limit my viewing to
Two shows that make me laugh:
Two solid dramas:
- Mad Men
- Brotherhood (which I had completely forgotten about)
And one senseless capricho of superficiality:
I only wish the recently completed The Wire, probably my favorite dramatic series in a decade, was still on air.
Grave Error 
Have you seen ‘Raising the Bar’? It is based on the Bronx Defenders and co-produced by a former attorney in our office. It is on TNT, you can watch it directly from their website.