Street Legal (2000 TV series)

Last updated
Street Legal
Street Legal (2000) title.jpg
Created by Chris Hampson
Chris Bailey
Greg McGee
Starring Jay Laga'aia
Katherine Kennard
Charles Mesure
Daniel Gillies
Dwayne Cameron
Louise Wallace
Country of origin New Zealand
No. of episodes 52
Production
Running time 60 Minutes
Release
Original release 2000 – 2005
External links
Website

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.

Contents

History

Producer Chris Hampson, director Chris Bailey and writer Greg McGee formed a production company, ScreenWorks, in 1998 to produce Street Legal, which they had been developing since 1993. The pilot aired in 1998 and the first series in 2000.

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).

Auckland Metropolitan area in North Island, New Zealand

Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. Auckland is the largest urban area in the country, with an urban population of around 1,628,900. It is located in the Auckland Region—the area governed by Auckland Council—which includes outlying rural areas and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, resulting in a total population of 1,695,900. A diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. The Māori-language name for Auckland is Tāmaki or Tāmaki-makau-rau, meaning "Tāmaki with a hundred lovers", in reference to the desirability of its fertile land at the hub of waterways in all directions.

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

Jay Lagaaia New Zealand actor-singer

Jay Laga'aia is a New Zealand-Australian 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.

Charles Mesure Australian actor

Charles William David Mesure is an English Australian actor.

Dwayne Cameron is a New Zealand born film actor, writer, director and producer. First and foremost Cameron specializes as a fine arts painter and sculptor. In 2018 Cameron got his Hollywood break starring as the lead role opposite Nicolas Cage in Millennium Films' bank heist action movie 211 playing Cage's son-in-law and police partner. In 2017 he was cast by Roger Donaldson to star as the title role of Bruce McLaren in Donaldson's feature length doco-drama McLaren and had a minor role in the Amazon TV series American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story. Globally Cameron is perhaps best known for playing the lead roles of Bray on the teen drama series The Tribe and Tyzonn in Power Rangers Operation Overdrive and starring as the leading role in feature films Nice Package, The Locals and Desired. Recurring roles in internationally distributed TV series include Street Legal, The Cult, Mercy Peak, Shortland Street, Agent Anna and Legend of the Seeker.

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:

Don McGlashan musician, songwriter

Don McGlashan is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who won fame with bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed extensively for cinema and television. Among other instruments, McGlashan has played guitar, drums, euphonium and French horn.

IMDb Online database for movies, television, and video games

IMDb is an online database of information related to films, television programs, home videos and video games, and internet streams, including cast, production crew and personnel biographies, plot summaries, trivia, and fan reviews and ratings. An additional fan feature, message boards, was abandoned in February 2017. Originally a fan-operated website, the database is owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.

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