Every so often a television series comes along that dares to break out of the firmly established and generally accepted mold that many in the audience and critical community just don’t know what to make of it. It appears that when it comes to TV people prefer to pigeonhole a program prior to embracing it. This has been happening a lot more frequently lately resulting in a growing list of series classifiable as ‘brilliant but cancelled’. One of the most recent examples of this phenomenon is the late series from ABC ‘Eli Stone’. It tried to make several major departures from the norm; perhaps too many for people to be comfortable with. One of the most venerable genres in television is the lawyer show. Messing around with this type of series is close to heresy. ‘Eli Stone’ is perhaps the only Musical legal dramedy ever presented to the viewing public. We are so used to tense moments in the courtroom highlighting the adversarial process that is the foundation of our legal system. What we typically do expect is for the cast to break into elaborate song and dance numbers. This is only the start of the difference this show brings to the table. Instead of relying on cases that are ‘ripped from the headlines’ this series concentrates on socially relevant and even morally controversial topics. Despite superior writing, excellent acting and entertaining musical numbers it was just was unable to garner the all important rating to warrant another season. I have to admit that initially the series flew under my radar and I didn’t watch it until I was asked to review season one. I was immediately hooked and wound up watching one episode after another. While saddened by the news of the cancellation I did relish the opportunity to review the second and last season on DVD.

This series created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim. The later created other unusual series as ‘Dirty Sexy Money’, ‘Brothers and Sisters’, ‘Everwood’ and ‘Dawson’s Creek’. Unfortunately a couple also met with premature demises but still this is a track record that any producer would be proud of having. Balancing out this experience Guggenheim has CSI: Miami’ and ‘Law & Order ‘on his resume. This combination of unusual and stable translated well here giving the audience something special, at least while it lasted. The premise, for all its wackiness, is rather simple. Titular character, Eli Stone (Jonny Lee Miller) is a litigator working for a very upscale and successful firm based in San Francisco. Life was going along pretty well for him. His career was on the rise as the protégée of the firm’s managing partner, Jordan Wethersby (Victor Garber) and engaged to marry the boss’ daughter, Taylor (Natasha Henstridge). This wonderful life was derailed ehen he began to have extremely realistic hallucinations that frequently took the form of a musical number featuring the song of performer George Michael. Making matters worse the visions always seem to relate to a pending case typically championing a socially relevant and extremely unprofitable cause. Initially Stone and subsequently those in his life believed he was just insane. It turns out that Eli was diagnosed as having an inoperable brain aneurysm. Eli now has to face the difficulties inherent in being a modern day prophet. Dr. Chen (James Saito), Eli’s acupuncturist helps him navigate the treacherous waters of foretelling the future. To most people Chen is the stereotypical wise Asian sage and healer. In private with Eli his accent reverts back to Southern California who dispenses advice usually over a couple of beers. Chen steers Eli towards a more spiritual appreciation of his visions and ultimately his place in the greater scheme of things.

At the end of the first season Eli decided to undergo surgery to repair the damage to his brain. Of course, this would mean the end of his visions and his special place in the cosmos. This season begins six months after the procedure. Eli has not had a vision in all that time and he is seeing a physiatrist (Sigourney Weaver). She is insistent on getting Eli to consider the deeper meaning of the life he turned his back on. Then Eli’s visions return. After a musical number in the street he has a non musical vision where he sees a crane crash through the building where Jordan was having a meeting trapping him in a stairwell. The rescue team refuses refuse to believe Eli and are digging in the wrong spot. Eli tries to get a court order but it is opposed by the firm’s senior partners and Taylor. Ultimately Eli wins out and they find Jordan. The formerly staid partner has an epiphany and wants to refocus the firm on the kind of socially significant clients that Eli used to take. This causes a break in the firm’s leadership and ultimately resulting in Jordan breaking completely from his old partners and forming a new firm with Eli. This second and unfortunately last season tried to keep things fresh by completely reinventing the series. The romantic entanglements were all realigned, business relationship redefined and the visions changed from musical numbers to having Eli ‘transported to some other time and place, these new visions were broadened to include having him help his friends, not just his clients. It would have been interesting to see where the writers would have taken this but at least we can still enjoy the entire series on DVD, ‘Eli Stone R.I.P. 2008-2009’