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The Lyon's Den

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Not to be confused with The Lyons Den.
The Lyon's Den
Series title card
GenreLegal drama
Created byRemi Aubuchon
Starring
Edit source
ComposerW.G. Snuffy Walden
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producers
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseSeptember 28 (2003-09-28) –
November 30, 2003 (2003-11-30)

The Lyon's Den is an American legal drama television series set in Washington, D.C. The legal drama starred Rob Lowe as a lawyer named Jack Turner, newly appointed as partner of a long-established law firm that, as the plot revealed, harbored some dark secrets; the series' title and firm's name are allusions to the surname of Lowe, who also served as executive producer. Much of the plot 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 for some of the firm's higher-profile clients in a different case each episode.

The cast, headed by Lowe, also included Matt Craven, Elizabeth Mitchell, Kyle Chandler, Frances Fisher, and David Krumholtz.

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 UK terrestrial TV rights to the series in 2004, it aired all thirteen episodes. Rob Lowe later 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[1] and The Blade[2]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code
1"Pilot"Rod HolcombRemi AubuchonSeptember 28, 2003 (2003-09-28)1AHL79
2"The Other Side of Caution"Daniel SackheimStory by : Remi Aubuchon
Teleplay by : Jon Cowan, Robert Rovner & Remi Aubuchon		October 5, 2003 (2003-10-05)1AHL01
3"Things She Said"Vincent MisianoKevin FallsOctober 12, 2003 (2003-10-12)1AHL02
4"Hubris"Paul Michael GlaserJudith McCrearyOctober 19, 2003 (2003-10-19)1AHL03
5"Trick or Treat"Jack BenderJon Cowan & Robert RovnerOctober 26, 2003 (2003-10-26)1AHL04
6"Ex"Jessica YuKaryn UsherNovember 30, 2003 (2003-11-30)1AHL05
7"The Quantum Theory"Elodie KeeneAlfredo Barrios Jr.Unaired1AHL06
8"The Fifth"Timothy BusfieldKevin FallsUnaired1AHL07
9"Separation Anxiety"Paul ShapiroJudith McCrearyUnaired1AHL08
10"Blood"Daniel SackheimJon Cowan & Robert RovnerUnaired1AHL09
11"Beach House"Peter O'FallonKatie BotelUnaired1AHL10
12"Duty to Save"Peter LevinBrett MahoneyUnaired1AHL11
13"Privileged"Jack BenderAlfredo Barrios Jr. & Karyn UsherUnaired1AHL12

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'".[3]

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."[4]

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 being exposed as a serial killer by Grant Rushton (Kyle Chandler), whom he then kills before jumping to his death from the firm's office tower.[5]

References

  1. ^ Tucker, Ken (October 10, 2003). "TV Review: The Lyon's Den (2003)". Entertainment Weekly.
  2. ^ Owen, Rob (September 27, 2003). "Back in the Spotlight: In Lyon's Den, Rob Lowe shows West Wing forgotten". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Block News Alliance. p. D-3.
  3. ^ Rob Lowe, "Love Life" (2014) pp. 108-109
  4. ^ Mallenbaum, Carly (September 6, 2016). "Jewel roasted Rob Lowe with a parody of her own song". USA Today. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  5. ^ NPR – Not My Job: Brat Pack Member Rob Lowe Gets Quizzed On Bratwurst 05-09-2014, National Public Radio
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