Amy Brenneman stars in 'Judging Amy'

September 17, 1999
Web posted at: 12:23 p.m. EDT (1623 GMT)

From Sherri Sylvester
CNN Entertainment News Correspondent

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A behind-the-scenes story distinguishes CBS' "Judging Amy" from every other new series. The concept was inspired by Amy Brenneman's real life: her mother is a superior court judge and one of the first female graduates of Harvard Law School.

"The work she does," Brenneman says, "and the world that she works in is just totally fascinating. And I'd been thinking I'd never actually seen this on television."

When Brenneman was a child, her mother worked in juvenile justice, and that's the legal jurisdiction she wanted to use as a context for the show. "It may be a hard sell because some of the cases involve neglect, abandonment and delinquency," she says. "It's just hard to see kids suffering. But the people I know who do that work are the funniest smartest, 'life-y-est.'"

Brenneman wears the judge's robe in the series, but her character does have a mother played by Tyne Daly. She was police officer Mary Beth Lacey in "Cagney & Lacey."

Brenneman's Amy Gray (below) and her daughter are living with her mother (Tyne Daly, above) as the series begins.

"It's a mix because I'm playing her mother," Daly says, "but my character was never a judge. My character was a social worker."

In addition to bench duties, Brenneman's character, Amy Gray, is separated and raising a young daughter on her own. She moves back in with her opinionated mother Maxine to try to make a fresh start. Brenneman says she wanted two strong women in one household.

"I think we've gotten to the point where we can have a strong woman character -- which is great -- but I'm like, 'What about the mother of that character?' Or, 'What about the daughter of that character?'"

Brenneman -- whose first television work was in the 1992 film "The Pig in the Python" and the same year's series "Middle Ages" as Blanche, went on to play Janice Licalsi in ABC's "NYPD Blue" -- is the star and executive producer of "Judging Amy."

She hired her husband, Brad Silberling, to direct the pilot. His film credits include "City of Angels" (1998), with Nicholas Cage and Meg Ryan.

"Judging Amy" premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. It then shifts into its regular time slot Tuesday nights at 10 p.m. ET.