Shark
"Your job is to win. ... Justice is God's problem."—Sebastian Stark
Shark is an American legal drama created by Ian Biederman that originally aired on CBS from September 21, 2006, to May 20, 2008. The show revolved around Sebastian Stark, played by James Woods. Stark is a notorious Los Angeles Amoral Attorney who becomes disillusioned with his career, and becomes a prosecutor at the mayor's suggestion. Stark's relationship with the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, his staff and his daughter, forms the central plot for the series.
- Actor Allusion: In one episode concerning the murder of a singer, one of starks associates says "Girls would sign a Deal with the Devil to get a contract". Enter Crowley.
- Amoral Attorney: Stark himself. He keeps trying to teach his team to use his methods so they can win their cases. Many of Stark's opponents in court come close to this.
- And That Little Girl Was Me:
Jessica: You know, I remember my first jury trial. I was up against a pretty decent attorney. Kind of pompous and arrogant, but he knew how nervous I was. So he called me while the jury was out.
Stark: Probably wanted to hit on you.
Jessica: Actually, I think that's the one time you didn't hit on me. You told me, that at the end of the day, you put your best cards on the table, then you put it in the jury's hands and you let it go.
Stark: If I remember correctly you lost that case.
Jessica: Not the point.
- Asshole Victim: The best example would be a porn magnate whom Stark had refused to defend earlier.
Stark: Tyson Shaw, how do I know that name?
Madeleine: Internet porn. Guy's a zillionaire, and a major sleaze-bag. Beat raps on extortion, racketeering…
Stark: Right, he came to me for representation on an embezzlement charge a couple years ago.
Issac: You turned him down?
Stark: Guy made Larry Flynt look like Mary Poppins. Even I have standards.
- Batman Gambit: Stark runs a doozy to get Wayne Callison, making sure no one else in the prosecutor's office knows about it and there is no evidence to prove it.
- Courtroom Antics: Used straight and played with. In the pilot episode, Stark shows he is able to get someone to lose their cool on the witness stand with a "mock questioning" of Raina. She loses her cool.
- Framing the Guilty Party: Stark's Batman Gambit against Wayne Callison.
- Good Lawyers, Good Clients: Whenever Stark finds out that he's prosecuting an innocent person, he stops until the police can find a more likely candidate.
- Hello, Attorney!: Pretty much everyone at the DA's office. Except Issac, who is an investigator.
- Horrible Hollywood
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: "Sex for surgery. And just like that, mankind sinks to a new low."
- Justice by Other Legal Means: Stark claims to be more concerned with winning cases than with actual justice. He makes an exception for Wayne Callison.
- Loophole Abuse: What Stark used as a defense attorney and continues to use as a prosecutor.
- The Lost Lenore: Issac's fiance, Olivia.
- Not So Different: Wayne Callison attempts this with Stark. Stark disagrees.
Wayne Callison: Sebastian, we're not so different... you and I.
Stark: Let's just say I learned to channel my obsession in a more positive direction.
- Overprotective Dad: Stark for his daughter, Julie.
- Plea Bargain: The show has this happen regularly, or at least has attempts to plea bargain.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Not often, but sometimes.
- Shout-Out: The first season finale, "Wayne's World 2: Revenge of the Shark" has a lot of references to Moby Dick.
- Team Dad: Stark, although he would be the first to deny it.
- Vigilante Man: The defendant in the episode "Porn Free" says he killed a porn kingpin to benefit society. Stark isn't hearing it.
Raina: Maybe Gilroy really did kill Shaw to make the world a better place.
Stark: (A) That's God's job and (B) altruism is not a viable defense to murder.