TNT's new legal drama gives every side of the judicial system a recurring role. Raising the Bar's Jane Kaczmarek plays a veteran judge who may behave surprisingly because of her many years hardened on the bench. Rest assured, this is all based on real stories.
Jane Kaczmarek on Raising the Bar
"I think we had that feeling reading the book," said Kaczmarek. "Right before we started filming the pilot, we all received a copy of David Feige's book Indefensible which chronicled his experiences as a public defender in the Bronx. You turn pages thinking, 'You've got to be kidding me. I can't believe this. You've got to be kidding me.' I was stunned by what I read and very eager to be involved in that kind of storytelling."
The legal system has been a part of Kaczmarek's career for many years. Even before her turn as Judge Harm on The Simpsons, Kaczmarek was in legal dramas.
"One of the first jobs I got when I came to California in 1982 was on The Paper Chase. The television series had just come to Showtime. I played the young girl at Harvard Law School who was the smartest girl in Harvard Law School. I was just out of Yale Drama School so the idea of being in an Ivy League law school, and I loves that whole Paper Chase. That whole legal thing was something I was always attracted to and it's interesting as an actress thinking about what that journey has been from an actress that I was 30 years ago, 25 years ago, playing this young law student to now playing a judge who is rather shut down in some ways. So it gives me a lot to think about, about what that road is and how one gets there."
Raising the Bar
Actually, Judge Harm doesn't fit into her equation. "Well, you show up on those shows and it's completely out of context. Doing an animated show, you have a couple of your lines and no one else there and you just bark your lines the way they needed to fill it in. Coming to this show is working with really wonderful actors."
With her most famous work being Malcolm in the Middle, Kaczmarek was ready to grow up again. "I have to say, having done a television show for many years with children, I am so happy to be with grownups on this one. It makes the chitchat between the scenes so much more interesting. This has just been an absolute delight. The cast members on this and the storylines and being allowed to really grow and develop, create a character has just been delightful on this show."
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