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USA is keeping its streak of renewing every new series alive with a second-season pickup for Fairly Legal. The top cable network will make the announcement at its upfront presentation in New York later today. Production on 13 new episodes will begin in late summer for a premiere in the first quarter of 2012. While a solid performer — Fairly Legal launched as the top new cable drama of the year in adults 18-49 and has averaged a 4.6 million total viewers in Live+7 — the legal dramedy has not been a breakout series like most of USA’s recent entries. The renewal decision was made based on the show’s appealing star, Sarah Shahi, and its potential, USA’s co-presidents Jeff Wachtel and Chris McCumber said. “We think there is a creative and audience upside to the show,” Wachtel said. “Not every first season is the best, and we think it is a show that can do better.” He didn’t elaborate, but I hear the network is planning changes in the series’ creative direction for Season 2. McCumber singled out the series’ “breakout star,” Shahi, and defended its ratings performance, noting that the series did well against stiff competition in the Thursday 10 PM time slot. Created by Michael Sardo, Fairly Legal centers on mediator Kate Reed (Shahi). It co-stars are Michael Trucco, Virginia Williams and Baron Vaughn. Sardo is exec producing with Steve Stark for Universal Cable Prods.
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
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Anyone who unleashes a verbal twitter assault on Paris Hilton gets my tv time. LOVE sarah! She’s a star. With a little tweaking, I think the show will be around a long time.
I am older than your 18-49 base and I LOVE the show! Sarah is jus perfect; my husband and I eagerly await the next season. ‘So glad they are in production.
I too am ‘over’ the targeted age group, and between Royal Pains & Fairly Legal, I go into hibernation while they are off the air.
i am over the mentioned age and i would certainly agree with you that with a little very minor tweaking this could be great i enjoyed the first season very much please create some more!!!
I am also older than 49 and love the show.. cant wait till the new seasons starts….
Terrible show. Shahi is great though – can see why they want to hold onto her for another year.
What its a great show!! What about it don’t you like? I’m excited that they are bring it back!!!
I am with you. My husband and I really loved the show!!! ALL of it! I have been waiting for it to air again!!! I don’t want it to go off!!!
I agree- great show – my wife and love it – bring it back!
Fairly Legal wasn’t the worst show on television, but neither was it great. It excelled at mediocrity and that won’t keep an audience for long. They need to dump the evil stepmother or get the two characters past their differences because the petty little fights between those two characters constantly dragged the show down. Also, other than his pretty face I also don’t understand the need for Michael Trucco’s character.
it is one of the best shows on tv love it cant waite for season 2
I agree with you. They need to get rid of the stepmother or mend their relationship, it is getting old. I like the show, but I do not understand why the father didn’t leave his children the law firm. There is some storyline issues they need to resolve.
I don’t understand the need for this show – period. There are too many others way better. Nothing special about Sarah Shahi either.
Hopefully one of those creative changes is not filming location.
I second that. Keep filming it in Vancouver!!
Interesting. I like Shahi, but her character was the most annoying part of this show to me. I liked all the other characters, but hers was just aggravating. I wanted to see more interaction with her brother too, see if that made her less whiny and aggravating.
I have to agree. Even as I watched the commercials that first came out to promote the show, I found her character’s winking and clicking her teeth while bragging about her skills annoying. It made me reluctant to watch the show.
Here’s an idea:
1) Make Kate single.
2) Lose Justin (Michael Trucco) He sucks the life out of the show and Kate doesn’t need the extra baggage from her past.
3) Do more with Lauren (Virginia Williams) You have a ridiculously hot blonde with an incredible body, but you make her a stuffy and uptight woman who acts like she’s 50 years old.
4) Do more with the San Francisco setting. Yeah I know it’s shot in Canada, but the show doesn’t feel like it’s in the Bay Area.
I’m with you on all four points! The SanFran thing might be harder but the rest is pretty easy to do and will definitely improve the show.
it’s great to hear that it’s picked up for another season!
can’t wait to see it next year.. i wanna see more of Lauren-Kate tandem and more drunk Lauren… 
lol
I can not wait for another season to begin. I love that show and would love to see more of Lauren and Kate battling it out all the time.
I’ll watch anything with Sarah Shahi in it.
Amen to that!
I love the show and it has so much potential. They do need to distance her ex husband because her character will never move on. Get her off the boat and into the city where she can date and deal with neighbors and be more her age. I think they could deepen the mystery of her father. I would like to see her get along more with the step mom because they are both a good dynamic together when they get a long. I would love to pursue Lauren’s background and get to know her and how she fell in love with the dad. I also would like to see Kate’s character stop being late and using her poor assistant Leo to death. That was so aggravating to me because its so unprofessional how she treated him.
Love Sarah, she is the heart and soul of the show. Love her even more after her smackdown of porn star Paris Hilton. The show needs to find its rhythm but another season and some tinkering can only help.
I think the way the first season ended was nice – she got fired. Now she can start her own firm and do whatever. I’d also like to see Kate and her on again off again not-quite-ex-husband either get back together or split completely. The on again off again was annoying. The Australian neighbor on the boat could be a good love interest, at least for a season or two. I would say get rid of Lauren and Leo and maybe the DA husband. Keep Kate and the judge.
I agree with you. Either get Kate and Justin back together or split them completely. Personally, I would like to see them together, they have a good chemistry. I’m glad the show is coming back. It got off to a slow start but ending with a bang.
Get rid of the stepmom ( nothing personal with the actress but the character was annoying)
Get rid of the boyfriend.
Focus on the character of Kate and her assistant and get her away from the lawfim and have her go on her own.
I disagree with some of the other commenters: I have loved watching the relationship between Kate and Justin develop and each episode helped me understand why they have been on the rocks since her father died. I enjoy both Sarah Shahi and Michael Trucco *and* their characters. I agree that her step-mother is sort of one-note in her interactions with Kate and I think this is where the show should try and retool a little. It would also be worth expanding beyond the four primaries.
I also like the interaction between Kate and her ex. I wish though that she got along better with her stepmother. I think she deserves a little more credit.
Pretty woman, horrible show. Fin
I agree – Fairly Legal is a horrible show – a waste of money and time.
I think the show deserves a second season, but! There does need to be some changes. FIRSTLY, Kate needs a new man/Love interest. Maybe someone from Justin’s office to create a conflict. She falls in love… Don’t know what you got til it’s gone. Second… Heavier mediation. Bigger issues. WAY Bigger. Seriously. Some of the conflicts were laughable. THIRD… 2012!!! are you kidding me?! Get filming ASAP. Should be airing by Fall. Will people still care in a year!?
I agree. 2012 is way too far. It’s like they want to re-do the show all together and let people forget why they didn’t like it.
I concur.
I like the show and I would like to see her get back with husband and have situations
I’m sorry… but the ratings tell me something different about this show. The only thing I’d look at is how the show did against competition and as Nellie says, “the series did well against stiff competition in the Thursday 10 PM time slot”. That’s all anyone cares about, end of story. This is a good show finding its feet at the most meddling and intrusive network on television. To read how USA and Jeff Wachtel give it a backhand pickup after, “Fairly Legal launched as the top new cable drama of the year in adults 18-49 and has averaged a 4.6 million total viewers in Live+7,” is unfair to the creator and the character. Where’s the love here?
intrusive and meddling is putting it mildly.
totally throwing the creator under the bus
no acknowledgment that this is USA’s first show ever launched in Winter.
It gained traction and viewers AFTER its Royal Pains lead in ran its course.
Anyone want to compare FL’s numbers to In Plain Sight’s from last night?
hmmmm….
Are you out of your mind? Have you SEEN this mess of a show? Sarah Shahi deserves waaaaaaay better.
Love Sarah, hated this show. Watched the first ep and felt no need whatsoever to tune in again. Love Michael Trucco too, but his character, plus his relationship with Sarah’s character, just wasn’t interesting in the least, so I’d say he needs to get gone too.
Lose Michael Trucco! Who cast this guy? He’s not funny and he’s not attractive.
Are you blind….?????
How do you guys know so much detail about a show I’ve never even heard of? curious.
I really like almost everything about this show. I don’t understand how they’re using Richard Dean Anderson, though. He’s such a great actor and he hasn’t been given a chance to show that. He and Sarah should be the focus, with a liberal sprinkling of Baron Vaughn thrown in (Seriously? How fabulous is he?!). Virginia Williams’ and Michael Trucco’s characters both suck the life out of the show. Revamp them or lose them.
Love the show like it is!!!
Enjoyed the show and was hoping it would get picked up. I like the ex-husband conflicts. I don’t understand her living on the boat. I think Kate needs more character development in general. I really would like to see more of Ethan Embry. He pops in and out as the boring brother, but he could really help with showing another side to Kate. I’d also like to learn more about the step-mom and see more “adult” interactions with her and Kate instead of the tantrums they throw at each other.
Sarah is absolutely excellent. They need to do more with the sarah/michael relationship or lose it. Ant scene he’s in ends with him taking a phonecall and rushing out. He deserves better! The episodes need to be more cohesive–not just a series of fluff vignettes that gets old considering that this isnt quite law and order. Give Sarah more to work with so she’s not just running around late all the time–we get it she’s busy and quirky. Point made. Lose Virginia-shes very stiff and awkward and just cant hold up to Sarah–except in looks shes gorgeous. Give Baron more comedic scenarios!