Girls Club

In a TV landscape dominated by courtroom realism, it’s nice to have UPN’s light dramedy Kevin Hill around to clear out the Dick Wolfe stink. Okay, maybe the Law and Order franchise isn’t exactly “stink”, but if you’re like me, you’re getting a little tired of humorless DAs and brooding synthesizer chords. Therefore I take solace in the cleverly written although dubiously realistic world of Kevin Hill. I mean, what fun is there to be had with ugly lawyers who don’t suffer from Junior Prom scars? That’s right. I like my lawyers pretty, sensitive, and capable of a Hollywood closing statement. Yay!In the world of Kevin Hill, Grey & Associates is the lawfirm we call home. This is where four of the most attractive lawyers of all time meet to gossip on puffy couches and then scurry into back rooms to get tough with clients. True, most lawfirms are not designed to look like college dormitory lounges, but hey, this IS a UPN legal show. Poor David E. Kelly. After years of populating his courtroom dramas with hotties – or at least really really skinny girls (Calista Flockhart, Lara Flynn Boyle, Cameryn Manheim – wait scratch the last one) – his dream lawfirm still has nothing on the Grey & Associates gene pool.

Things happen very conveniently at Kevin Hill’s workplace. Wealthy clients seem to drop in the day before their trials, which is so fortunate because usually they impart a life lesson that Kevin really needs to deal with at that moment. Last night’s episode featured a smug jerk whose dating service failed to match a dorky guy with a compatible girl. But could Kevin’s client be blamed because the plaintiff wasn’t the right fit??? Well, funny that the show had mentioned this topic because it just so happened that in Kevin’s personal life, he was looking to enroll his baby girl into preschool but was debating whether or not the super elite Hunter-Blake was the right fit. How do you like that? I wonder if through the course of the trial Kevin will realize aligning yourself with the best doesn’t mean anything if you’re not the right fit.

Not so surprisingly, Kevin Hill changed his mind about the snotty preschool. After spending an entire episode kissing up to the admissions office and going so far as to procure a letter of recommendation from, uh, Billy Baldwin (don’t ask), Kevin of course – of course – marched out of the school just as he’d finally made some inroads. Oh Kevin Hill – so clutch! Always doing the right thing at the last second. Well, usually the right thing. He did scowl at a little boy this episode. That was awesome.

When Kevin’s not moseying around with his baby and dealing with his gay-and-funny-in-a-way-that-Kevin-McCormack-could-never-be nanny, he’s usually tending to the various other pretty faces in his life. Dame, his best bud from his old (and evil, apparently) lawfirm, seems to never have any clients or other friends because he inevitably shows up at Grey & Associates at least once an episode to toss some super awesome tickets at Kevin. On the pilot episode, Dame had passes to the Maxim party at the Palms in Las Vegas. The next week he had tickets to the Victoria’s Secret party. Last night? Knick vs. Nets courtside. As usual, Kevin had to bail on his hetero lifemate which meant that Veronica (who just happens to be Kevin’s law partner and oh yeah, ex) got to go in his place.

Little did we know that this basketball pairing was the beginning of a love rhombus formation. You see, we knew Dame was going to fall for Veronica when she spouted off all sorts of random Stephan Marbury stats and commentary. Plus, when she revealed herself to be a Nets fan (oh SNAP! She’s from from New Brunswick, NJ!), we knew we had a case of opposites attract. Of course we could tell Veronica was a huge Nets fan because the next day she kept babbling about Allan Houston giving her a pair of sneakers. Never mind that Allan Houston is, you know, on the Knicks.

Elsewhere in the lovelorn world of Gray & Associates, Nicollete apparently was having difficulty letting go of a really really bad junior prom. This was evidenced by her accidentally spilling a mug of hot tea on a water delivery man. You see, Nicolette is supposed to be the emotional, poorly defined character. When we first met her, she was scatterbrained and dropping files. Then moments later she was a shark during a settlement. In tonight’s episode, she took us for a lovely ride through all her multiple personalities as she started off shy and clumsy, became bitter and emotional, then just bitter, and then finally sharp and confident in the courtroom. I guess this character Wheel of Fortune is fine for now, but the writers might want to buckle down sometime soon and try to figure out what exactly the deal is with her. Maybe they can also explain the uncanny Toni Colette resemblance too.

Next week brings Rhea Perlman back into our lives as a social worker – a role that seems somehow appropriate. I’m also hoping that Michael Michele gets something meatier to do other than prance around in big green jackets. I’m sure though that whatever happens, Kevin Hill will still learn an important lesson. Aww…