Master-puppeteer of hit TV shows that bring justice to the table, Steven Bochco’s recipe for success fails to bring its author the recognition he was used to, as his new legal drama, “Raising the Bar” premiers this fall on TNT with not-so-hot reviews from critics.

This new show starts off on the wrong foot, being constantly compared with Bochco’s other series, like “NYPD Blue” or “LA Law” and with other hit shows like “Law and Order,” which is on heavy rerunning time on TNT.

The story of a ”group of young public defenders and prosecutors who go up against each other during the day, but they’re friends and hang out with each other at night,” as the writer himself explains on the show’s official website, does not bring any new angles to the very-often portrayed legal system. Any self-respecting American TV addict already knows exactly how things are working in the back scenes of “Lady Justice” and is up to date to the legal lingo thanks to other shows like that, even funnier ones, like “Ally McBeal.” So what else is new on Bochco’s approach?

One thing so brutally awkward about the story is the characters. They all seem to be either incredibly good, the gang of lawyers, like girls in a pageant wishing “world peace” and justice for the poor or weak. Others, the felons, are not so bad themselves, as there’s always an ulterior motive for their actions, like poverty or mental illness.

For some reason, most of the critics also noticed another disturbing fact, aside from the rather simplistic plotline: the cast’s bad hair. Nobody wants to be in Mr. Bochco’s shoes right now when even hair stylists give the show bad reviews.