From Netflix:

Nick Fallin is a fallen corporate lawyer who’s working off a drug conviction with 1,500 hours of court-mandated community service, splitting his time between helping kids in trouble and patching up relations with his workaholic father.

Simon Baker for me will always be “The Mentalist” which started airing in 2008. Therefore it is striking to see how much younger he looks in this TV series which aired in 2001 when he was 32 years old. In this series playing Nick Fallin he does not emote much, to say the least.

Each episode has two themes. His position in his father’s law firm is an ongoing theme. Additionally in each episode he tackles the problems of some unfortunate child. More precisely, his community service job requires that in the usual case of several people (parents, grandparents, step-parents) fighting to get custody, he has to try and satisfy the child’s wishes. Every such episode has a sad side and most often NOT a happy ending. Usually some imperfect compromise has to be made at the expense of the child’s true happiness.

Nick’s father Burton Fallin is played by Dabney Coleman whom you may recognize as Commodore Louis Kaestner of the TV series “Boardwalk Empire”.

NetFlix offers this TV series via streaming: Season 1 has 22 episodes, Season 2 has 23 episodes and Season 3 has 22 episodes. Kathy and I find that the more episodes we watch, the more involved we get with Nick’s life. If nothing else this series offers non-violent, intelligent entertainment which at times can be compelling.