L.A. Law (1986)

Name: L.A. Law
Genre: Drama
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Corbin Bernsen, Jill Eikenberry, Alan Rachins, Michael Tucker, Blair Underwood

Drama

L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.

IMDb rating: 7.1 (7,408 votes)
Episode average: 7.3 ↑ +0.2 vs IMDb
Seasons: 8
Streaming (US): Hulu
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 8 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (1986)

7.61 avg 22 episodes 7.8 → 7.5 50 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Pilot	7.8	404
2	Those Lips, That Eye	7.5	123
3	The House of the Rising Flan	7.4	109
4	The Princess and the Wiener King	7.8	96
5	Simian Chanted Evening	7.5	85
6	Slum Enchanted Evening	7.7	87
7	Raiders of the Lost Bark	8.0	77
8	Gibbon Take	7.9	83
9	The Venus Butterfly	8.2	111
10	Fry Me to the Moon	7.6	72
11	El Sid	7.5	70
12	Sidney, the Dead-Nosed Reindeer	8.0	74
13	Prince Kuzak in a Can	7.4	66
14	The Douglas Fur Ball	7.4	63
15	December Bribe	7.3	64
16	Beef Jerky	7.5	75
17	Becker on the Rox	7.7	63
18	Fifty Ways to Floss Your Lover	7.8	59
19	The Grace of Wrath	7.5	67
20	Sparky Brackman R.I.P. ????-1987	7.4	64
21	Oy Vey! Wilderness!	7.1	62
22	Pigmalion	7.5	59

Season 2 (1987)

7.39 avg 20 episodes 7.1 → 7.2 48 min avg

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Lung Goodbye	7.1	61
2	The Wizard of Odds	7.7	67
3	Cannon of Ethics	7.7	58
4	Brackman Vasektimized	7.1	57
5	The Brothers Grimm	7.4	52
6	Auld L'Anxiety	7.3	54
7	Rohner vs. Gradinger	7.4	63
8	Goldilocks and the Three Barristers	7.1	56
9	Divorce with Extreme Prejudice	7.3	49
10	Full Marital Jacket	7.8	66
11	Gorilla My Dreams	7.5	54
12	Hand Roll Express	7.2	57
13	Beauty and Obese	7.5	59
14	Petticoat Injunction	7.4	52
15	The Bald Ones	7.6	51
16	Fetus Completus	7.3	57
17	Belle of the Bald	7.4	48
18	Open Heart Perjury	7.4	55
19	Leapin' Lizards	7.5	57
20	Chariots of Meyer	7.2	57

Season 3 (1988)

7.33 avg 19 episodes 7.4 → 7.4 48 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Hey, Lick Me Over	7.4	55
2	The Son Also Rises	7.3	54
3	Romancing the Drone	7.3	54
4	Sperminator	7.1	49
5	The Princess and the Pee	7.5	51
6	Dummy Dearest	7.5	51
7	To Live and Diet in L.A.	7.5	52
8	I'm in the Nude for Love	7.4	55
9	Victor/Victorious	7.4	47
10	The Plane Mutiny	7.6	46
11	Izzy Ackerman or Is He Not	7.1	46
12	The Accidental Jurist	7.1	47
13	Barstow Bound	7.2	45
14	Leave It to Geezer	7.4	46
15	The Unbearable Lightness of Boring	7.4	45
16	His Suit Is Hirsute	7.1	47
17	America the Beautiful	7.0	47
18	Urine Trouble Now	7.6	49
19	Consumed Innocent	7.4	48

Season 4 (1989)

7.73 avg 22 episodes 7.9 → 7.8 48 min avg

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Unsterile Cuckoo	7.9	51
2	Captain Hurt	7.8	44
3	When Irish Eyes Are Smiling	7.7	44
4	The Mouse That Soared	7.6	45
5	One Rat, One Ranger	7.9	49
6	Lie Down and Deliver	7.3	48
7	Placenta Claus Is Coming to Town	7.1	46
8	The Good Human Bar	7.7	50
9	Noah's Bark	7.5	57
10	The Pay's Lousy, But the Tips Are Great	7.9	49
11	True Brit	7.9	51
12	On Your Honor	7.7	47
13	Whatever Happened to Hannah?	8.0	53
14	Ex-Wives and Videotape	8.1	51
15	Blood, Sweat and Fears	8.0	55
16	Bound for Glory	7.7	48
17	Justice Swerved	8.2	67
18	Watts a Matter?	7.5	179
19	Bang... Zoom... Zap	7.4	47
20	Forgive Me Father, for I Have Sued	7.4	46
21	Outward Bound	8.0	46
22	The Last Gasp	7.8	48

Season 5 (1990)

7.58 avg 22 episodes 8.1 → 7.8 48 min avg

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Bitch Is Back	8.1	58
2	Happy Trails	7.8	51
3	Lie Harder	7.9	51
4	Armand's Hammer	7.4	48
5	Smoke Gets in Your Thighs	7.5	42
6	Vowel Play	7.7	42
7	New Kidney on the Block	7.7	40
8	God Rest Ye Murray Gentleman	7.8	54
9	Splatoon	7.4	42
10	Pump It Up	7.8	61
11	Rest in Pieces	7.4	43
12	He's a Crowd	7.8	67
13	Dances with Sharks	7.4	50
14	The Gods Must Be Lawyers	7.1	50
15	The Beverly Hills Hangers	7.3	45
16	Good to the Last Drop	8.0	210
17	Mutinies on the Banzai	7.2	49
18	As God Is My Co-Defendant	7.5	45
19	Speak, Lawyers, for Me	7.8	55
20	There Goes the Judge	7.2	57
21	On the Toad Again	7.2	43
22	Since I Fell for You	7.8	46

Season 6 (1991)

7.13 avg 22 episodes 6.8 → 7.5 47 min avg

Season 6 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Something Old, Something Nude	6.8	46
2	TV or Not TV	7.6	45
3	Do the Spike Thing	6.9	42
4	Spleen It to Me, Lucy	7.2	47
5	Monkey on My Back Lot	6.4	37
6	Badfellas	7.3	41
7	Lose the Boss	6.8	45
8	The Nut Before Christmas	7.0	41
9	Guess Who's Coming to Murder	7.4	53
10	Back to the Suture	7.3	44
11	All About Sleaze	7.2	44
12	I'm Ready for My Closeup, Mr. Markowitz	7.1	42
13	Steal It Again, Sam	6.7	43
14	Diet, Diet My Darling	6.6	40
15	Great Balls Afire	7.1	44
16	From Here to Paternity	7.3	43
17	P.S. Your Shrink Is Dead	7.3	41
18	Love in Bloom	7.1	40
19	Silence of the Lambskins	7.3	38
20	Beauty and the Breast	7.4	40
21	Double Breasted Suit	7.5	39
22	Say Goodnight Gracie	7.5	42

Season 7 (1992)

6.65 avg 22 episodes 6.1 → 7.3 47 min avg

Slow burn

Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	L.A. Lawless	6.1	55
2	Second Time Around	6.2	42
3	Zo Long	6.1	38
4	Wine Knot	6.8	38
5	My Friend Flicker	6.4	44
6	Love on the Rox	6.4	36
7	Helter Shelter	5.7	37
8	Christmas Stalking	6.1	37
9	Odor in the Court	6.8	39
10	Spanky and the Art Gang	6.0	37
11	Bare Witness	6.7	36
12	Parent Trap	6.7	40
13	Hello and Goodbye	6.5	34
14	Where There's a Will	7.2	41
15	F.O.B.	6.8	37
16	Cold Shower	6.7	34
17	That's Why the Lady Is a Stamp	6.9	35
18	Come Rain or Come Schein	7.0	36
19	Vindaloo in the Villows	7.5	36
20	Testing, Testing, 1... 2... 3... 4	7.3	31
21	Bourbon Cowboy	7.2	43
22	Hackett or Pack It	7.3	37

Season 8 (1993)

6.90 avg 22 episodes 6.7 → 7.1 47 min avg

Season 8 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Book of Renovation, Chapter 1	6.7	43
2	Leap of Faith	7.3	40
3	How Much Is That Bentley in the Window	7.5	40
4	Foreign Co-respondent	6.3	41
5	The Green, Green Grass of Home	7.0	37
6	Safe Sex	6.9	36
7	Pacific Rimshot	6.8	42
8	Eli's Gumming	7.0	40
9	Rhyme and Punishment	6.4	38
10	He Ain't Guilty, He's My Brother	7.2	37
11	McKenzie, Brackman, Barnum & Bailey	6.5	38
12	Cold Cuts	6.5	44
13	The Age of Insolence	6.7	37
14	God Is My Co-Counsel	7.3	40
15	Three on a Patch	7.5	39
16	Whose San Andreas Fault Is It, Anyway?	7.0	39
17	Silence Is Golden	6.5	37
18	Dead Issue	6.4	35
19	Tunnel of Love	6.8	38
20	How Am I Driving?	7.4	36
21	Whistle Stop	7.1	37
22	Finish Line	7.1	49