Judge Larry Seidlin of Broward, County, Fla., who is presiding over the trial to determine who gets to bury Anna Nicole Smith, has justified every Boston Legal judge casting decision ever made. This jurist, former taxi driver with the thick New York accent, is one for the law books.
I have always wondered how broad a lampoon of judges are the characterizations on that show. The wonderfully zany Henry Gibson and more recently Shelley Berman. Well, they have nothing on Judge Seidlin.
"I'm not quite sure if he is crazy or briliant," said one cable anchor. Is he trying out for a TV judge show, said another, with some reason for the speculation. "Judge Judy's wacky little brother said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Seidlin over the course of a four-day trial that probably should have taken a day, rambled, and emoted in ways that are, I'm sure, being studied by David Kelly even as we speak.
When it was reported that Seidlin had said, at one point: "I'm listening to you, momma," I was reminded of Dick Shawn's ravings in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."
Then there is the diabetic attorney who passed out Thursday, according to reports. Another bit of business straight out of legal TV. Maybe this is an episode of Boston Legal.
Having watched some of the trial and pondered the many facets of the bizarre Smith story, maybe it is a little easier to understand the overcoverage on cable. I mean, there is the paternity case, the body disposition case, and little case of hundreds of millions of dollars in Smith's late husband's estate.
I mean, you actually couldn't write this for TV, Boston Legal or any other show, and be believed. I have it from someone at David Kelley's shot that there are currently no plans to work a Judge Larry/Nicole Smith case-like scenario into the show, though for the life of me I can't understand why not.
By John Eggerton
