“I went to law school, passed the bar in seven states… I’ve become a damned vaudeville act.  I need ignorant juries.  I need them worried.  And I need them to trust me.  And that comes down to whether this shirt brings out my eyes.”  FANTASTIC opening.

Many moments through Canterbury’s Law match the bar set by that writing, and even the weak moments are quality.  For a pilot, there is a lot more focus on the case du jour than on introducing Elizabeth Canterbury, let alone the minor characters.  Our primary window into her personality comes in the courtroom, as we watch her manipulate jury and witnesses.  She is devious and delightful.

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One of the BrevityTV writers just posted this blog entry over at our myspace page. It made me chuckle, so I thought I’d reprint it here.

10 Little-Known Facts about BrevityTV.com
Current mood: Ruling

1. BrevityTV.com has access to 29 letters. That’s three more than other Enlglish-utilizing sketch comedy groups.

2. BrevityTV.com has never eaten mud, not even for a dollar.

3. Our sketches can be used as a porridge magnet in times when porridge is scarce.

4. BrevityTV.com rocks out with our cocks in. Because we don’t want to end up on the sex-offender registry.

5. BrevityTV.com can turn into a hawk, but it rarely does. BrevityTV.com considers shapeshifting showy.

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Drive, vote, graduate, drink, graduate some more, rent a car without an extra fee.  After that, there’s marriage, kids, retirement, but the milestones are more individualized and less age-related.

Today, however, I hit one that is definitely age-related.  This morning I found my first grey hair.  It was in my beard, extra long, and while a case might have been made for it just being very blond, the realist must insist on grey.

No problem.  I am ready to stop being confused for someone in his twenties.  Having started to lose my hair when I was 18, I’ve (had to) become very calm about aging.  So it’s not a milestone that stresses me out the way it would other people.  Of course, I’ll certainly hide it from any producers potentially interested in hiring me as a comedy writer.  Among that particular group, I’m happy to be confused for someone in his twenties.

Now I’ll just wait for the next milestone.  Like my hip shattering or something.

I’ve been feeling this weird sensation in my lower left abdomen lately. Always happy to substitute a web site for consultation with a trained professional, I described my symptoms to WebMD. The closest match seems to be “Irritable Bowel Syndrome.” While I’m not impressed by the lack of details of why or what the condition actually is, I suppose it was comforting at least to know that someone (drug companies, I suspect?) has given my mild discomfort a name. And at last I can stop fearing I have tapeworms.

Unfortunately, there is not much listed in the way of treatment for IBS, and the only real suggestions were to reduce stress and avoid caffeine. So it’s sad to hear there’s nothing I can do about it. Believe me, if I could just make stress go away, I would. All this evening I had a strange sensation in my forehead where all the muscles were sore from a combination of tension and lack of sleep. I’ve ground away one side of rear left molars. I’ve tried using a mouth guard, but that just gives me something to chomp down on, and I’ve nearly chewed through it after a week.

All of which is strange, because I’m remarkably unstressed. Though it hasn’t launched yet, BrevityTV is humming along, starting to resemble the idea I had in my head when I started it. And when you get pretty shots like the one below from our shoot this morning, what’s to stress about?