Street Legal (2000)
Encyclopedia
Street Legal is a New Zealand
drama focused on the lives of a small group of lawyers. A total of 52 episodes were aired and reruns currently can be seen around the world. The show was produced by Screenworks.
The company has to date produced four series (51 episodes) of their flagship prime time drama Street Legal, plus the new 13-episode children’s series, Hard Out, both for TV2 and the short film, Tick, written and directed by Rebecca Hobbs, which opened the New York Film Festival, with the premiere of Jack Nicholson’s About Schmidt.
It is a niche production company, concentrating on feature films and high production value film drama for television. The founders see the company as a vehicle which allows them to keep their hands directly on the creative process and do better and more satisfying work.
The main character David Silesi (Jay Laga'aia) is a maverick lawyer who pushes the limits of the law. He will do anything for his clients and his friends. He also spends most of the show pining for his law partner Joni Collins. Joni Collins is a level-headed female lawyer at Wyeth & Associates. In the 3rd Series, David and Joni join together and buy out the firm to save it after Peter dies in unfortunate circumstances.
Joni Collins is a colleague of David Silesi’s at Wyeth and Associates. Her cool restrained English Rose quality is the very opposite of David’s braggadocio. This worked well when they were lovers but now that they have to run the business between them, it creates a lot of conflict.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kees Van Dam sees himself as an honest cop relentlessly pursuing the course of justice. And most of the time he is. Bit he can also be uncompromising and single-minded to the exclusion of all else, including his love for Joni Collins.
A 1944 Ford Jailbar was also seen in just about every episode of the first three seasons. It is David Silesi's main companion. Early in the first series, David's Ute was stolen, so his brother seeing his reaction to the truck decided to buy it for him. In the middle of the third season, the truck broke down, and was never seen again, replaced by a brand new Holden Ute.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
drama focused on the lives of a small group of lawyers. A total of 52 episodes were aired and reruns currently can be seen around the world. The show was produced by Screenworks.
History
ScreenWorks was formed by producer Chris Hampson, director Chris Bailey and writer Greg McGee in 1998 to produce Street Legal, which they had been developing since 1993. The pilot aired in 1998 and the first series in 2000.The company has to date produced four series (51 episodes) of their flagship prime time drama Street Legal, plus the new 13-episode children’s series, Hard Out, both for TV2 and the short film, Tick, written and directed by Rebecca Hobbs, which opened the New York Film Festival, with the premiere of Jack Nicholson’s About Schmidt.
It is a niche production company, concentrating on feature films and high production value film drama for television. The founders see the company as a vehicle which allows them to keep their hands directly on the creative process and do better and more satisfying work.
Synopsis
The show focused mainly on the lives of the partners of the law firm Wyeth & Associates located in Auckland, New Zealand. The characters include Peter Wyeth (Series 1-3), David Silesi, Joni Collins, Tim O'Connor (Series 1 and 2) and James Peabody (Series 3 and 4). Also seen were Judge Adriana Saunders, Yalena (the goofy secretary), Kees Van Dam, Ange Watson (Series 4), Sadie O'Neil (Series 2 and 3) and Matt Urlich (Series 3 and 4).The main character David Silesi (Jay Laga'aia) is a maverick lawyer who pushes the limits of the law. He will do anything for his clients and his friends. He also spends most of the show pining for his law partner Joni Collins. Joni Collins is a level-headed female lawyer at Wyeth & Associates. In the 3rd Series, David and Joni join together and buy out the firm to save it after Peter dies in unfortunate circumstances.
Cast
Series Four- Jay Laga'aiaJay Laga'aiaJay Laga'aia is an actor and singer. He is best known internationally for his role as Captain Typho in the films Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.-Career:...
as David Silesi - Katherine Kennard as Joni Collins
- Charles MesureCharles MesureCharles William David Mesure is an English born, Australian and New Zealand actor.When Mesure was five, his family moved to Australia and he grew up in Sydney. Mesure attended Newington College and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australia, with a degree in Performing Arts...
as Kees Van Dam - Dwayne CameronDwayne CameronDwayne Cameron is a New Zealand film actor. He is perhaps best known for his role of Bray on the teen drama series The Tribe and Tyzonn in Power Rangers Operation Overdrive, although he has also had recurring roles in Street Legal and Mercy Peak and a guest role in Shortland Street.-Biography:Born...
as James Peabody - Louise WallaceLouise WallaceLouise Wallace is a TV presenter born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1959. However, she formerly lived in Australia, but moved back to Auckland in 1989 and throughout the 1990s was a presenter/reporter for a number of New Zealand shows such as "60 Minutes", New Zealand's TV3 News, 20/20 and...
as Adriana Saunders - Ingrid ParkIngrid ParkIngrid Park is a New Zealand actress, best known for her role as the evil Dr. MacKenzie Choat in the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street .-Career:...
as Maddy McGuire - Manu BennettManu BennettManu Bennett is an actor from New Zealand who has appeared in television series and movies.- Early life :Born in New Zealand, Bennett's mother was an Australian bikini model, his father a New Zealand singer. The family moved to Australia when Bennett was a few months old...
as Matt Urlich - Tandi WrightTandi WrightTandi Wright is a South Africa-born, New Zealand-raised television and film actress. From 1996-1999 she appeared as Nurse Caroline Buxton in Shortland Street...
as Ange Watson - Cal WilsonCal WilsonCal Wilson is a New Zealand stand-up comedian and radio and television personality. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, and is well known in Australia through her appearances on television and radio.-Biography:...
as Yalena
Main characters
David Silesi is an unconventional lawyer. Ambitious, and hot-headed, he's a man with a passion for winning and he's not afraid to bend the rules to get a result.He is the central character in Street Legal and was specifically created with actor, Jay Laga'aia, in mind.Joni Collins is a colleague of David Silesi’s at Wyeth and Associates. Her cool restrained English Rose quality is the very opposite of David’s braggadocio. This worked well when they were lovers but now that they have to run the business between them, it creates a lot of conflict.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kees Van Dam sees himself as an honest cop relentlessly pursuing the course of justice. And most of the time he is. Bit he can also be uncompromising and single-minded to the exclusion of all else, including his love for Joni Collins.
A 1944 Ford Jailbar was also seen in just about every episode of the first three seasons. It is David Silesi's main companion. Early in the first series, David's Ute was stolen, so his brother seeing his reaction to the truck decided to buy it for him. In the middle of the third season, the truck broke down, and was never seen again, replaced by a brand new Holden Ute.
Awards
Street Legal Won 6 NZ TV Awards in 2003:- Best Episode of a Drama Serial: "No Silver Bullet"
- Best Drama Series or Serial
- Best Actress: Katherine Kennard
- Best Supporting Actor: Charles MesureCharles MesureCharles William David Mesure is an English born, Australian and New Zealand actor.When Mesure was five, his family moved to Australia and he grew up in Sydney. Mesure attended Newington College and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australia, with a degree in Performing Arts...
- Best Camera, Drama: Fred Renata
- Best Original Music: Don McGlashanDon McGlashanDon McGlashan is a New Zealand musician and songwriter who has been a member of bands such as The Plague, From Scratch, The Whizz Kids, Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, The Mutton Birds and, from 2009, The Bellbirds. He composed several pieces for the Limbs Dance Company...
Trivia
- During shooting of the pilot, the orange Holden Ute was stolen from the set. This led to the addition of the Jailbar in subsequent episodes.
- While filming Street Legal, Tandi Wright also worked on Willy Nilly, splitting her time between Auckland and Wellington.
- Katherine Kennard, Ingrid Park, Manu Bennett and Tandi Wright have all worked on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland StreetShortland StreetShortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in...
.
External Links
- The Pilot and Episode One can be found here on NZ On Screen