The Lyon's Den
{{distinguish|The Lyons Den}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image = The Lyon's Den title card.jpg
| caption = Series title card
| genre = Legal drama
| creator = Remi Aubuchon
| starring = {{plainlist|
- Rob Lowe
- Matt Craven
- Elizabeth Mitchell
- Kyle Chandler
- James Pickens, Jr.
- Frances Fisher
- David Krumholtz
}}
| country = United States
| language = English
| composer = W.G. Snuffy Walden
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 13 (7 unaired)
| executive_producer = {{Plain list|
- Remi Aubuchon
- Kevin Falls
- Rob Lowe
- Bernie Brillstein
- Jack Clements
- Brad Grey
- Rod Holcomb
}}
| runtime = 60 minutes
| company = {{Plain list|
- Brad Grey Television
- Baby Owl Works Productions
- 20th Century Fox Television
}}
| network = NBC
| first_aired = {{Start date|2003|09|28}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2003|11|30}}
}}
The Lyon's Den is a 2003 American legal drama television series. Set in Washington, D.C., it stars Rob Lowe as a lawyer named Jack Turner, who has been newly appointed as partner of a long-established law firm that, as the plot revealed, harbored some dark secrets. The cast also included Matt Craven, Elizabeth Mitchell, Kyle Chandler, Frances Fisher, and David Krumholtz. Both the series' title and firm's name are allusions to the surname of Lowe, who also served as executive producer. Much of the plot is centered on the firm's internal politics and on Turner's attempts to uncover information on some of the firm's conspiracies while acting as the defense of its higher-profile clients in a different case each episode.
The series premiered on the American television network NBC on September 28, 2003, but although thirteen episodes were ordered and produced, only six aired before NBC cancelled the series on November 30, 2003, due to low ratings. When the UK's channel Five bought the United Kingdom terrestrial TV rights to the series in 2004, it aired all thirteen episodes. Rob Lowe has stated that after finding out about the show's cancellation he and the show's producers decided to make the last episodes —which they were contractually obligated to make— as absurd as possible, including an "off the wall" and freakish ending.
Characters
Character descriptions courtesy of Entertainment Weekly and The Blade
- John "Jack" Turner (Rob Lowe), "the most principled lawyer" working for the corrupt firm Lyons, Lacrosse, and Levine longtime friend
- Grant Rashton (Kyle Chandler), one of "amoral lawyers"
- Brit Hanley (Frances Fisher), Rashton's "evil secretary"
- Ariel Saxon (Elizabeth Mitchell), a lawyer recovering from alcoholism, hired by her lover Rashton to "discredit Jack"
- Jeff Fineman (David Krumholtz), Ariel Saxon's paralegal, who is attracted to her
- Terrance Christianson (James Pickens Jr.), one of "amoral lawyers"
- Harlan M. Turner (Rip Torn), the Washington, D.C. senator and Jack's father
Episodes
{{Episode table |background=000000|overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |prodcode= |episodes=
{{Episode list
|Title=Pilot
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2003|09|28}}
|EpisodeNumber=1
|DirectedBy=Rod Holcomb
|WrittenBy=Remi Aubuchon
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL79
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=The Other Side of Caution
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2003|10|05}}
|EpisodeNumber=2
|DirectedBy=Daniel Sackheim
|WrittenBy={{StoryTeleplay|s= Remi Aubuchon |t= Jon Cowan, Robert Rovner & Remi Aubuchon}}
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL01
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Things She Said
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2003|10|12}}
|EpisodeNumber=3
|DirectedBy=Vincent Misiano
|WrittenBy=Kevin Falls
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL02
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Hubris
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2003|10|19}}
|EpisodeNumber=4
|DirectedBy=Paul Michael Glaser
|WrittenBy=Judith McCreary
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL03
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Trick or Treat
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2003|10|26}}
|EpisodeNumber=5
|DirectedBy=Jack Bender
|WrittenBy=Jon Cowan & Robert Rovner
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL04
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Ex
|OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2003|11|30}}
|EpisodeNumber=6
|DirectedBy=Jessica Yu
|WrittenBy=Karyn Usher
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL05
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=The Quantum Theory
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|EpisodeNumber=7
|DirectedBy=Elodie Keene
|WrittenBy=Alfredo Barrios Jr.
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL06
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=The Fifth
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|EpisodeNumber=8
|DirectedBy=Timothy Busfield
|WrittenBy=Kevin Falls
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL07
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Separation Anxiety
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|EpisodeNumber=9
|DirectedBy=Paul Shapiro
|WrittenBy=Judith McCreary
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL08
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Blood
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|EpisodeNumber=10
|DirectedBy=Daniel Sackheim
|WrittenBy=Jon Cowan & Robert Rovner
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL09
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Beach House
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|EpisodeNumber=11
|DirectedBy=Peter O'Fallon
|WrittenBy=Katie Botel
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL10
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Duty to Save
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|EpisodeNumber=12
|DirectedBy=Peter Levin
|WrittenBy=Brett Mahoney
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL11
|LineColor=
}}
{{Episode list
|Title=Privileged
|OriginalAirDate=Unaired
|EpisodeNumber=13
|DirectedBy=Jack Bender
|WrittenBy=Alfredo Barrios Jr. & Karyn Usher
|ShortSummary=
|ProdCode=1AHL12
|LineColor=
}}
}}
Production
= Singer Jewel's casting =
In his memoir, Love Life, Lowe stated that he lobbied for singer-actress Jewel to be cast as his love interest in the show after seeing her performance in Ang Lee's cult film Ride With The Devil. However, when she arrived on set there was no chemistry between the two and Jewel brought her then-boyfriend, rodeo star Ty Murray, to the set with her on the day the actors were to film a love scene. According to Lowe, Jewel appeared uncomfortable at having to kiss Lowe, and unsuccessfully asked if the scene could be removed.
Finally relenting by stating, "Let's just do this", Lowe said Jewel agreed to do the scene. Lowe stated: "But as we approached the kissing moment it became strained and it's never good when you can't trust that your fellow actor is on the same page... I pecked her on the lips; her mouth scrunched closed like you would do if someone was going to stick something unwanted into it, which I was not intending. I sort of moved my head from side to side to make it look real, like there was at least a dollop of energy or passion. 'Cut', said the director. Jewel looked at me and wiped the back of her hand across her lips like an American Sign Language version of 'Yuck'".Rob Lowe, "Love Life" (2014) pp. 108-109
Jewel was one of the celebrities chosen to roast Rob Lowe in 2015. She joked that she had asked to write out the kiss with Lowe "because I knew where that mouth had been."{{cite news|last=Mallenbaum|first=Carly|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/09/06/jewel-rob-lowe-roast/89663908/|title=Jewel roasted Rob Lowe with a parody of her own song|work=USA Today|date=September 6, 2016|accessdate=July 30, 2017}}
Cancellation and improvised ending
Lowe said, in a May 9, 2014 appearance on the NPR radio gameshow Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, that he and the show's producers purposefully made all 13 episodes – which they were contractually obligated to make for possible DVD distribution – as absurd as possible. The last episode ended with Lowe's character, John Turner, being exposed as a serial killer and confronted by Grant Rushton (Kyle Chandler), whom he then kills with a hidden knife.[https://www.npr.org/2014/05/10/310985369/not-my-job-brat-pack-member-rob-lowe-gets-quizzed-on-bratwurst NPR – Not My Job: Brat Pack Member Rob Lowe Gets Quizzed On Bratwurst] 05-09-2014, National Public Radio After murdering Grant, Turner stands on the ledge of the law firm's building apparently intent on jumping, but he instead uses his cellphone to call an unrevealed person, only saying: "Yeah, there's been another accident" before the screen fades to black and the series end.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCY4PP5lDtk The Final Scene of The Lyon's Den (2003 TV Series)] Uploaded January 23, 2019 on YouTube
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{cite magazine |date=October 10, 2003 |url=https://ew.com/article/2003/10/10/lyons-den/ |first=Ken |last=Tucker |author-link=Ken Tucker |title=TV Review: The Lyon's Den (2003) |magazine=Entertainment Weekly }}
{{cite news |page=D-3 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6kpPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LwQEAAAAIBAJ&dq=lyon's-den%20kyle-chandler&pg=6112%2C3282373 |date=September 27, 2003 |work=The Blade |location=Toledo, Ohio |first=Rob |last=Owen |agency=Block News Alliance |title=Back in the Spotlight: In Lyon's Den, Rob Lowe shows West Wing forgotten }}
}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0380124}}
- Wait Wait Rob Lowe appearance and interview: https://www.npr.org/2015/04/11/398798395/brat-pack-member-rob-lowe-gets-quizzed-on-bratwurst
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon's Den}}
Category:2003 American television series debuts
Category:2003 American television series endings
Category:2000s American legal drama television series
Category:Television shows set in Washington, D.C.