Show: Head Cases
Episode: Series Premiere
Originally Aired: Wednesday, September 14th 2005
Rating 1½ out of 4 stars

Quick Synopsis: An off the wall but smart lawyer teams with a high-end corporate lawyer and wackiness ensues.

Long Synopsis: Adam Goldberg plays a lawyer with a weird outburst disorder, which includes assaulting opposing counsel and mooning a judge. Chris O’Donnell plays a high-powered corporate attorney with a nervous disorder who forsakes his family responsibilities to become a partner at his firm. A therapist pairs them up after O’Donnell’s character has a nervous breakdown so they can watch out for each other and help each other along. Wackiness ensues.

Review: Well I have to say that this show was better than I though it would be. Unfortunately I thought it was going to be really bad. I am sure better than really bad is not what they were going for.

The idea is not new, put two mismatched people together and see what happens. This is a time tested plot device, yet that doesn’t mean it will always work. Sometimes it is not the plot but who is plotting. In this case the usually likeable and fun to watch Adam Goldberg and the usually likeable Chris O’Donnell. While O’Donnell was somewhat likeable as the by-the-book guy, Goldberg was way over the top. If they showed his leg start bouncing as he was getting agitated one more time, I think I might have had some sort of outburst myself.

Also, the story seemed to move along quickly. It was like they just wanted to get these two teamed up as fast as possible so they could get to the madcap high jinx to follow. It did an okay job of introducing the characters. It just seemed really jumpy. It was bam courtroom outburst, bam nervous breakdown, bam two months of group recovery and then bam you two need to help each other out. Why not they are both attorneys.

Ally McBeal was wacky. Boston Legal is wacky. Head Cases is wacky but is barely as good as a bad episode of either of the previous. Given the returning competition in this timeslot, Lost on ABC and Veronica Mars on UPN, both significantly better and other new shows like E-Ring on NBC, Criminal Minds on CBS and Related on the WB that have yet to start, it doesn’t look good for Head Cases.