The Lyon's Den is an American legal drama television series set in Washington, D.C. The legal drama starred Rob Lowe as a lawyer named Jack Turner, newly appointed as partner of a long-established law firm that, as the plot revealed, harbored some dark secrets; the series' title and firm's name are allusions to the surname of Lowe, who also served as executive producer. Much of the plot centered on the firm's internal politics and on Turner's attempts to uncover information on some of the firm's conspiracies while acting as the defense for some of the firm's higher-profile clients in a different case each episode.
| The Lyon's Den | |
|---|---|
 Series title card | |
| Genre | Legal drama |
| Created by | Remi Aubuchon |
| Starring | |
| Composer | W.G. Snuffy Walden |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (7 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | September 28 – November 30, 2003 |
The cast, headed by Lowe, also included Matt Craven, Elizabeth Mitchell, Kyle Chandler, Frances Fisher, and David Krumholtz.
The series premiered on the American television network NBC on September 28, 2003, but although thirteen episodes were ordered and produced, only six aired before NBC cancelled the series on November 30, 2003, due to low ratings. When the UK's channel Five bought the United Kingdom terrestrial TV rights to the series in 2004, it aired all thirteen episodes. Rob Lowe later stated that after finding out about the show's cancellation he and the show's producers decided to make the last episodes – which they were contractually obligated to make – as absurd as possible, including an "off the wall" and freakish ending.
Characters
editCharacter descriptions courtesy of Entertainment Weekly[1] and The Blade[2]
- John "Jack" Turner (Rob Lowe), "the most principled lawyer" working for the corrupt firm Lyons, Lacrosse, and Levine longtime friend
- Grant Rashton (Kyle Chandler), one of "amoral lawyers"
- Brit Hanley (Frances Fisher), Rashton's "evil secretary"
- Ariel Saxon (Elizabeth Mitchell), a lawyer recovering from alcoholism, hired by her lover Rashton to "discredit Jack"
- Jeff Fineman (David Krumholtz), Ariel Saxon's paralegal, who is attracted to her
- Terrance Christianson (James Pickens Jr.), one of "amoral lawyers"
- Harlan M. Turner (Rip Torn), the Washington, D.C. senator and Jack's father
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Pilot" | Rod Holcomb | Remi Aubuchon | September 28, 2003 | 1AHL79 |
| 2 | "The Other Side of Caution" | Daniel Sackheim | Story by : Remi Aubuchon Teleplay by : Jon Cowan, Robert Rovner & Remi Aubuchon | October 5, 2003 | 1AHL01 |
| 3 | "Things She Said" | Vincent Misiano | Kevin Falls | October 12, 2003 | 1AHL02 |
| 4 | "Hubris" | Paul Michael Glaser | Judith McCreary | October 19, 2003 | 1AHL03 |
| 5 | "Trick or Treat" | Jack Bender | Jon Cowan & Robert Rovner | October 26, 2003 | 1AHL04 |
| 6 | "Ex" | Jessica Yu | Karyn Usher | November 30, 2003 | 1AHL05 |
| 7 | "The Quantum Theory" | Elodie Keene | Alfredo Barrios Jr. | Unaired | 1AHL06 |
| 8 | "The Fifth" | Timothy Busfield | Kevin Falls | Unaired | 1AHL07 |
| 9 | "Separation Anxiety" | Paul Shapiro | Judith McCreary | Unaired | 1AHL08 |
| 10 | "Blood" | Daniel Sackheim | Jon Cowan & Robert Rovner | Unaired | 1AHL09 |
| 11 | "Beach House" | Peter O'Fallon | Katie Botel | Unaired | 1AHL10 |
| 12 | "Duty to Save" | Peter Levin | Brett Mahoney | Unaired | 1AHL11 |
| 13 | "Privileged" | Jack Bender | Alfredo Barrios Jr. & Karyn Usher | Unaired | 1AHL12 |
Production
editSinger Jewel's casting
editIn his memoir, Love Life, Lowe stated that he lobbied for singer-actress Jewel to be cast as his love interest in the show after seeing her performance in Ang Lee's cult film Ride With The Devil. However, when she arrived on set there was no chemistry between the two and Jewel brought her then-boyfriend, rodeo star Ty Murray, to the set with her on the day the actors were to film a love scene. According to Lowe, Jewel appeared uncomfortable at having to kiss Lowe, and unsuccessfully asked if the scene could be removed.
Finally relenting by stating, "Let's just do this", Lowe said Jewel agreed to do the scene. Lowe stated: "But as we approached the kissing moment it became strained and it's never good when you can't trust that your fellow actor is on the same page... I pecked her on the lips; her mouth scrunched closed like you would do if someone was going to stick something unwanted into it, which I was not intending. I sort of moved my head from side to side to make it look real, like there was at least a dollop of energy or passion. 'Cut', said the director. Jewel looked at me and wiped the back of her hand across her lips like an American Sign Language version of 'Yuck'".[3]
Jewel was one of the celebrities chosen to roast Rob Lowe in 2015. She joked that she had asked to write out the kiss with Lowe "because I knew where that mouth had been."[4]
Cancellation and improvised ending
editLowe said, in a May 9, 2014 appearance on the NPR radio gameshow Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, that he and the show's producers purposefully made all 13 episodes – which they were contractually obligated to make for possible DVD distribution – as absurd as possible. The last episode ended with Lowe's character being exposed as a serial killer by Grant Rushton (Kyle Chandler), whom he then kills before jumping to his death from the firm's office tower.[5]
References
edit- ^ Tucker, Ken (October 10, 2003). "TV Review: The Lyon's Den (2003)". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Owen, Rob (September 27, 2003). "Back in the Spotlight: In Lyon's Den, Rob Lowe shows West Wing forgotten". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Block News Alliance. p. D-3.
- ^ Rob Lowe, "Love Life" (2014) pp. 108-109
- ^ Mallenbaum, Carly (September 6, 2016). "Jewel roasted Rob Lowe with a parody of her own song". USA Today. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
- ^ NPR – Not My Job: Brat Pack Member Rob Lowe Gets Quizzed On Bratwurst 05-09-2014, National Public Radio
External links
edit- The Lyon's Den at IMDb
- Wait Wait Rob Lowe appearance and interview: https://www.npr.org/2015/04/11/398798395/brat-pack-member-rob-lowe-gets-quizzed-on-bratwurst