SCOTUS TV

There’s one Supreme Court fight that none of the justices get to weigh in on. This ruling will be left to execs at NBC.

The Peacock Network is developing two shows about the high court, but only one is likely to make it to prime time.

“They won’t do two,” says Akin Gump partner Thomas Goldstein, who inspired one of the shows.

The series based on Goldstein—which has the working title Tommy Supreme—follows a young lawyer who builds a Supreme Court practice out of his home, as Goldstein did early in his career. NBC has authorized a script but hasn’t decided whether to go forward.

But the other show—which doesn’t yet have a title—may edge out Tommy Supreme at NBC. Jimmy Smits stars, and the pilot has been taped. Parts were shot in Washington, but Philadelphia mostly doubled as DC. NBC will decide in May whether to air the series.

The show’s creator, John Eisendrath, says Smits plays “a rock-ribbed, right-wing, conservative justice” who leaves the bench to fight injustice as a lawyer.

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Marisa M. Kashino

Senior Editor

Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 as a staff writer, and became a senior editor in 2014. She oversees the magazine’s real estate and home design coverage, and writes long-form feature stories. She was a 2020 Livingston Award finalist for her two-part investigation into a possible wrongful conviction stemming from a murder in rural Virginia.