I love this show, it is such a shame that it has been canceled. Please, dear Lord of the airing, if you read this, sign (at least) season 2!!The two main leading roles are fun and the scenario is pretty well written. Somehow it reminds me Ally McBeal but without the annoying Calista Flockart. Eliza Coupe is delicious. She perfectly endorses the part of the daddy's bitchy rich girl.It's fresh, it's contemporary.Please, put it back on air, I wanna know what is coming next! Let me be the public defender of this show and ask the Court a deal for Benched!

Benched is something special, IMHO. The characters are flawed but are fighting the good fight. The supporting cast is excellent and create a quirky and rich environment. I've had real laughs watching this show and that's the highest praise I can give. Thumbs up, way up!Let me add that for a show to be great, like this one is, it has to hit on all cylinders. From writing to acting to directing, this show has what it takes. If it doesn't get renewed for another season it's a TV travesty.If it were up to me I'd give this show two Golden Globes, so Nina could have a matching set.

It's a crowded place on TV and I didn't expect this to supplant so many great shows on my viewing schedule when it's not too much a variation of the stock sitcom. However, I was surprised that adds something a little new to the equation. Eliza Coupe stars as former hotshot lawyer Nina Whitley who is banished from the high-priced world after a public meltdown cost her her job. She takes a job as a public defender where she often doesn't have enough resources or time to do a halfway decent job with her clients. Because of these constraints and this satiric bent, this half-hour comedy gets to the nuts and bolts of the legal system better than many legal dramas. Nina's office is full of people who aren't on the same wavelength as her. Her arch-nemesis (and potential love interest) Phil does not take the job as seriously and as he's the ring leader of sorts, Nina is often the fish out of water. Coupe is the rare actress whose stunningly beautiful yet can convince the audience that her character would have trouble landing a date.The chemistry among the cast is impeccable and Oscar Nunez and Jay Harrington find themselves in roles that are complete reversals from their last TV roles of Oscar on "The Office" and Ted from "Better off Ted" respectively. The brilliant Maria Bamford is underutilized however but hopefully that will change.

A female lawyer (Eliza Coupe) has the standard breakdown (a mascara soaked frenzy of vitriol while the elevator is closing, but doesn't close all the way..riotous.) So she is relegated to the crude and wacky world of the public defender's office w/ a racist boss, a lascivious male co-worker, a fat intern, and the hot ex-fiancée whom she didn't know was working there. Have you seen this all before? In 3 seconds we could tell that Nina likes to drown her sorrows in the occasional bottle of Pinot Noir, that her mother fears for her singledom, that she power drinks Starbucks, and will be ruminating over the booty call she had with her ex with a half pound bag of Peanut M&Ms. This is all going to happen because it's been cranked out since Mary Tyler Moore aired.Coupe (a little too wink wink nudge nudgey) does try, I'll give her that. It's obvious she can be adept at comedy. Rest of the cast; same. There is an audible thud after most of the jokes. By and large, Cringe-worthy mediocrity.