I'd like to tell you I'm crazy about JAG, but it's not a show to be crazy about. A fairly cut-and-dried military legal drama, JAG follows the adventures of a pilot-turned-Naval lawyer and his fellow staffers. Catherine Bell, who joined the series in its second season if memory serves, has been a welcome addition as a JAG lieutenant colonel. She makes for great eye candy as opposed to the rather wooden and bland David Elliott as JAG Capt. Harmon Rabb. Elliott is one of those TV leading men who is likely to be on TV forever --- not that there's anything wrong with that. Elliott and Detective Stabler from LAW & ORDER: SVU could change places and no one would ever be the wiser. Anyhow, the show really picks up when it's not a straight courtroom story, such as a two-parter where Bell and Elliott go in search of his missing dad in Russia, and an episode that stuck them in the middle of a deadly situation aboard an aircraft carrier. The more interesting characters are actually played by two very good and versatile actors, Patrick Labyorteaux as a slightly timid JAG lieutenant who frequently serves as comic relief, and John ("Glitter Man") Jackson as the flinty-eyed but ultimately softhearted admiral in charge of the department. It is a bit hard to believe the show has been on the air for 10 years, I must say. I'd rather have seen FIREFLY or THE PRETENDER go for 10.
Review of JAG
