This Underrated Legal Comedy Was Canceled for Not Being Edgy Enough

TNT is known for churning out some of the small screen’s most underrated gems, like The Closer, Leverage, Rizzoli & Isles, and Animal Kingdom. In 2011, the legal dramedy Franklin & Bash made its debut and featured Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as two longtime pals and tenacious lawyers who are recruited by a prestigious Los Angeles firm to bring some much-needed energy to the business. Naturally, their unconventional approach to cases ruffles more than a few feathers at the firm.

The TV treasure ran for four seasons and garnered mixed reviews from critics, but became a knockout with viewers, with fans appreciating the charming banter between Meyer and Gosselaar as their fast-talking, fun-loving characters and the show’s refreshing take on the legal genre. Despite serving up solid ratings for the network, Franklin & Bash was shockingly canceled in 2014, and TNT’s reasoning for giving the dramedy the ax may surprise you.

Meyer & Gosselaar Deliver Endless Charm in ‘Franklin & Bash’

Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar are no strangers to Hollywood, with Meyer having appeared in beloved films like Clueless and The Craft and former teen heartthrob Gosselaar memorably starring as Zack Morris in the ’90s classic sitcom Saved by the Bell. In 2011, the two leading men joined forces for the legal dramedy Franklin & Bash, which focuses on the streetwise attorneys Jared Franklin and Peter Bash, who, after defeating the tough-as-nails Damien Karp (Reed Diamond) in court, are enlisted to join the prominent law firm Infeld-Daniels at the request of its eccentric senior partner Stanton Infeld (Malcolm McDowell).

After witnessing the dynamic duo’s unconventional style and techniques in the courtroom, Infeld believes that the two young and ambitious lawyers will be able to breathe some much-needed life back into his waning firm with their off-kilter methods. Franklin and Bash find themselves directly at odds with Infeld’s nephew Karp, who grows jealous and resentful over their connection with his uncle and sets out to sabotage their careers. Franklin & Bash also featured (then) rising star Kumail Nanjiani in one of his earliest roles, with the actor appearing as the pair’s agoraphobic friend and fellow lawyer Pindar Singh.

‘Franklin & Bash’ Becomes a Casualty of Network Rebranding

TNT

When Franklin & Bash first premiered on June 1, 2011, critics compared the series to fellow legal shows like White Collar, Suits, and Boston Legal, with the United Kingdom cheekily referring to it as “Ally McBeal with Balls” when promoting its impending debut. The pilot episode attracted an impressive 2.7 million total viewers, with fans enjoying the fun and mischievouson-screen camaraderie between Meyer and Gosselaar and the bravado of their overly confident characters. The show’s witty dialogue, quirky humor, and top-tier performances by its decorated ensemble were positively praised by Variety as being “playful, silly, and wholly unpretentious.”

Franklin & Bash ran for four seasons before TNT shockingly announced its cancellation in 2014, leaving audiences perplexed as to why the entertaining gem was given the ax despite a solid fan following and its wholesome buddy comedy spirit. According to a report from Deadline at the time, the network opted not to renew the show for a fifth season, partially due to a decline in ratings but largely because it was trying to rebrand its image and pursue “more edgier types of shows.” Turner Broadcasting President David Levy revealed in a statement about TNT’s transitional period:

“We are going to get edgier, we are going to get louder, and we are going to get more dual (male-female), but we also have an existing audience, we have an existing fan base with a lot of our very popular shows.”

TNT made quite the gamble by canceling Franklin & Bash in favor of producing their new batch of “edgier” shows like Legends and Public Murals, neither of which made it further than two seasons before they, too, were given the ax. Though the network swiftly bounced back thanks to original hits like The Last Ship, The Librarians, and Animal Kingdom, it’s still baffling to cancel a show like Franklin & Bash when it already had an established fan base and refreshingly infused humor within the legal genre while keeping its storylines both heartfelt and entertaining.

In the more than 10 years since its cancellation, Franklin & Bash is continuing to find a new audience thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix acquiring its episodes and seasons, and the series currently holds an 84% Popcornmeter score from fans and a stellar 7.6 IMDb user rating. If you’re a fan of a wholesome buddy story and want to see Meyer and Gosselaar amusingly riff off one another in every scene they’re in, while also playing off of the great Malcolm McDowell, then now is the perfect time to go and binge-watch all four seasons of Franklin & Bash.

Franklin & Bash

Release Date

2011 – 2014

Network

TNT

Directors

Jason Ensler, Richie Keen, Andrew Fleming, Arlene Sanford, Colin Bucksey, David Grossman, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, Kevin Bray, Mike Listo, Steve Robin, Allan Arkush, David Paymer, Fred Savage, Jeff Bleckner, John Landis, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Michael Zinberg, Paul Holahan