As recently reported by both Variety and Deadline Hollywood, L.A. Law creator Steven Bochco is currently in development on a reboot of his classic 1980s legal drama. Bochco announced the project, in conjunction with studio 20th Television (Fox), yesterday on the Rich Eisen Show.
Bochco stated that he has often been asked to reboot his Emmy Award winning series, which ran from 1986-1994, but never had any real interest in the idea until now. He was recently called by original L.A. Law writer Billy Finkelstein, who pitched him an idea for a reboot of the original series. Finkelstein’s idea for a reboot imagines an adaptation of the original show, but updated to the legal world of the present day. According to Bochco, Finkelstein hooked him by saying: “The kind of law that is relevant in 2016 didn’t even exist 1986”.
The opportunity presented by the intricate aspects of law in present-day society were enough to get the creator on board, who then approached Fox, which was very interested in moving forward with the project. Bochco also did not rule out the possibility of original series cast members playing (presumably) the same roles in a reboot series. As Rich Eisen points out in the clip: “Lawyers stay around forever”.
L.A. Law counted fifteen Emmy wins throughout its original run, including eight awards for Outstanding Drama Series. Besides L.A. Law, Steven Bochco is best known for creating the critically acclaimed Fox series NYPD Blue and the current TNT detective anthology Murder in the First.