'Fairly Legal' review: USA makes mediation sexy

Instead of a typical cop show, why not focus on a pair of phony psychic detectives in Santa Barbara? If TV is already overpopulated with medical dramas, how about a doctor setting up a practice in the Hamptons and bringing his screwy younger brother along to sort of run the medical business?

On Thursday night, instead of unveiling yet another law-and-order drama, USA offers up "Fairly Legal," a series focused on a legal mediator, Kate Reed (Sarah Shahi), who works at her late father's law partnership, run by his young and controlling widow, Lauren Reed (Virginia Williams).

One challenge for Michael Sardo, creator of "Fairly Legal, " is that mediation isn't always as sexy as, say, murder trials. In place of dead bodies and whodunits, "Fairly Legal" gives us family squabbles over barbecue recipes and custody fights over a little girl between her widowed stepfather and his late wife's Croatian mother.

The opening episode focuses on Kate's attempts to mediate a dispute between a tough aging businessman (Ken Howard) and his son, who was involved in a traffic altercation that resulted in gun charges being filed against two young African American men. The son has his own reasons for resisting Kate's attempts to reopen the case, and you should be able to figure out why about halfway through the show.

But "Fairly Legal" is more about character than story, beginning with Kate, who lives on a boat, hooks up regularly with her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Justin Patrick (Michael Trucco), and assigns music from "The Wizard of Oz" as ring tones for all her regular callers (the "Wicked Witch of the West" music is reserved for Lauren).

Although Kate's father left the partnership to both his wife and daughter, Lauren is the managing partner and that gives her somewhat of an edge, but, for the most part, Kate is her own boss. Her sort-of ex, by the way, conveniently happens to be an assistant district attorney.

The show is set in San Francisco, and, to its credit, USA actually filmed in the city for the opening episode, although it makes the predictable Vancouver substitution after that.

"Fairly Legal" is adequately entertaining, thanks in large part to Shahi, an engaging actress who looks like Anne Hathaway. The most interesting relationship isn't the one between Kate and Justin, but rather between Kate and Lauren, whose friction may be caused in part by similarities in their personalities.

From a story point of view, it's the thing that may give "Fairly Legal" a fighting chance on basic cable.

E-mail David Wiegand at dwiegand@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle