Raising the Bar (2008) Information

Raising the Bar is an American legal drama, which ran on TNT network from September 1, 2008 to December 24, 2009. The series revolves around a group of lawyer friends who find themselves on opposite sides of the criminal law.

Production

Raising the Bar was originally announced to be joining TNT as a new series in January 2008. It came to TNT through ABC Studios and Steven Bochco served as executive producer, with Jesse Bochco as co-executive producer and David Feige as supervising producer. After completing its first season of 10 hour-long episodes in November 2008, the series was renewed for a 15-episode second season, which premiered on Monday June 8, 2009 at 10p.m ET/ 9 p.m. CT. The show was canceled after season 2.

Plot summary

Idealistic public defender Jerry Kellerman does whatever it takes to assist the helpless and disenfranchised, which often leads to clashes in the courtroom presided over by Judge Trudy Kessler, a hard-liner hoping to become the city's next district attorney. Jerry has many clashes with both law enforcement and the assistant district attorneys (ADAs) such as Michelle Ernhardt, the beautiful and occasionally devious attorney with whom he has had a turbulent secret fling.

Cast and characters

• Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Jerry Kellerman
• Gloria Reuben as Rosalind Whitman
• Jane Kaczmarek as Trudy Kessler
• Melissa Sagemiller as Michelle Earnhardt
• Jonathan Scarfe as Charlie Sagansky
• J. August Richards as Marcus McGrath
• Currie Graham as Nick Balco
• Teddy Sears as Richard Patrick Woolsley
• Natalia Cigliuti as Roberta "Bobbi" Gilardi

Episodes

Reception

The series debut garnered 7.7 million viewers. It was the biggest audience ever for a new-series launch on basic cable. It beat the record set in 2004 by USA Network's launch of The 4400 which opened with an average of 7.4 million viewers; runner-up was TNT's The Closer, which recorded 7 million viewers when it was unveiled in 2005. Following the premiere, ratings evened out to around 5.5 million viewers per episode. For calendar-year 2008 on a first-run basis, the series delivered 1.37 million viewers in the 18"49 demographic, garnering mixed reviews.

Cancellation

TNT confirmed to E! Online on November 30, 2009 that the series would not be renewed for a third season. The final three episodes were burned off marathon style on Christmas Eve night.

International distribution

Country	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly schedule (local time)
	TNT	September 11, 2008	Monday 22:00
	BT Vision	June 2012	On Demand streaming
Arab World	Fox Series	2010
	DiziMax	October 17, 2008	Friday 22:00
	M-Net	December 2008	Tuesday 21:00
	TV7	December, 2009	20:00
	CTV	January 9, 2009	Friday 22:00
	TNT	March 2, 2009	Thursday 22:15
	Fox Crime & La5	March 18, 2009	Wednesday 22:50
	Zee Cafe	February 2012	Weekends 21:00
	AXN & Sony Entertainment Television	April 8, 2009	Wednesday 21:30
	TV2	June 23, 2009	Tuesday 21:45
	Sony Entertainment Television	August 26, 2009	Wednesday 21:00
	Sony Entertainment Television	August 26, 2009	Wednesday 21:00
	Fox Life	December 5, 2009	Fridays 21:00
	TV2	July 27, 2009	Tuesday 00:30
	AXN	September 8, 2009	Monday 21:00
	AXN	October 5, 2009	Monday 21:00
	Jimmy	October 1, 2009	Thursday 20:40
	AXN	October 5, 2009	Monday 22:00
	NET 5	April 21, 2012	Saturday 23:20
	yes stars Base / HOT family	November 14, 2009	Saturday 17:15
	Fox Life	2011

DVD release

DVD name	Release date	Ep #
The Complete First Season	June 2, 2009	10
The Complete Second Season	May, 2010	15