NBC’s new show Bluff City Law is out to prove that the only thing harder than navigating a legal career is navigating a legal career alongside your own family. Sydney Strait (Caitlin McGee) is a lawyer who used to work in her own family’s firm in Memphis before differences in her relationship with her father (Jimmy Smits) lead to her leaving the firm. The two go several years without speaking but are brought back together when Sydney’s philanthropist mother passes away suddenly. In the wake of their loss, Sydney’s father Elijah asks her to re-join the firm in the hopes that the two can not only reconnect, but make a real difference in the complicated world of civil law. Sydney agrees with the hope that the two can do some real good if they can set aside their differences. Jimmy Smits has said in promotional interviews that his character is “somebody who has devoted his life to these kinds of really substantive civil rights cases.”
Lead actress Caitlin McGee emphasized the focus on civil law as important and relatable to the average viewer, citing that “we need to know about the times where people do prevail against big business, where the little guy really wins… we need to see that idealism and have that kind of hope in our lives.” Executive Producer Dean Georgaris takes pride in the fact that the cases will be relevant to the conversations concerning civil rights we see taking place in the world right now, those concerning free speech and privacy and the people behind the cases. “Behind every legal case, there are real people that either benefit from or experience a setback depending on the outcome of the case,” Georgaris says, “we’re telling those people’s stories through the prism of law.”
Courtesy: NBC
The cast and its creators have also discussed the significance of shooting a show about civil rights lawyers in Memphis, Tennessee. “It’s the home of civil rights. I mean, besides Montgomery, Alabama, Memphis is where MLK did his mountaintop speech and it’s where the Civil Rights Museum is. So, it’s really significant for us and for our storyline to have Memphis as our city that we’re actually filming in and to also bring business and shooting to a city is a really special thing,” McGee said in an interview at SeriesFest. Actor Barry Sloane was just as thrilled about Memphis but for a slightly different reason: the food. “If you talk about Memphis BBQ, me and Michael (Michael Luwoye) had to eat it,” Sloane recalled, “We have a scene in a BBQ house, and I think he had 29 ribs. I had 23, so he won the first battle at that.”
You can get a glimpse of the show by watching the trailer for the show here, on NBC’s website. Whether you’re in it for the navigation of family dynamics or to watch justice be served for the people of Memphis, be sure to tune into Bluff City Law on NBC tonight at 10/9c!
Want to see more HCFSU? Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest!