This is too easy. Still, I can't resist:

"Raising the Bar" lowers the bar.

The bar, that is, by which TV legal dramas are measured.

And it's a shame, because "Raising the Bar" is produced by Steven Bochco, whose "L.A. Law" (1986) really did raise the bar in the genre. His credits also include two of the medium's most honored cop shows, "Hill Street Blues" (1981) and "NYPD Blue" (1993).

But Bochco, who has always aimed high, striving for quality even when producing series that never became hits - "Cop Rock," "City of Angels," "Over There" - has missed this time. And the feeling can't be avoided that with "Raising the Bar" Bochco was aiming low, trying to appeal to a young audience he no longer understands.

"Raising the Bar" tries to walk the dicey, dangerous line between serious legal drama and sexy titillation, a balancing act that won gold medals for Bochco with "L.A. Law" but which he flubs this time around. The scene is set in New York, focused on two teams of young lawyers, prosecutors and public defenders, all onetime law school chums now playing on opposing sides. (10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1, on TNT)

It scarcely needs be said that daytime professional rivalries sometimes dissolve in nighttime sexual dalliances. Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who co-starred in "NYPD Blue" (with Dennis Franz), has the lead role this time as Jerry Kellerman, a hot-tempered, self-righteous defense lawyer. His steady is Michelle Ernhardt (Melissa Sagemiller), a prosecutor whose job it is to put his clients in jail. I'm not an expert in legal ethics, but I would hope there's a rule against this sort of thing.

Gosselaar isn't the only "NYPD Blue" veteran on the set. Currie Graham, the hard-nosed, uptight station commander in "NYPD," plays the district attorney, Nick Balco. He was most recently the slightly daffy cop in "Men in Trees," the one who followed Cynthia Stevenson around like a lovesick puppy-dog. He's a fine, versatile actor, and it's just as well because his character shifts dramatically in the first two episodes. In the first, Balco is impossibly flirty around Ernhardt, almost giddy. In the second, he's the stern, no-nonsense boss.

Her character changes as well. In week one, she's the chief prosecutor in a case. A week later, she's the eager backup, pleading to get a chance at the lead spot, as if the first week never happened.

Jane Kaczmarek, usually a comedy specialist, undergoes a similar transformation as Judge Trudy Kessler. She's eccentric, vain and vindictive in week one, nutty, really, determined to put an apparently innocent defendant in jail. A week later, she's considerably calmer and more open-minded. Jonathan Scarfe plays blonde, handsome, young Charlie Sagansky, the judge's law clerk, a preening, cunning Svengalian presence who discreetly provides her with extra-legal services.

Ethical questions abound in "Raising the Bar," from its numerous subrosa sexual relationships to the court bailiff who whispers helpful hints to defense attorneys. Bochco seems intent on creating an updated New York version of "L.A. Law," blending it with elements of "Ally McBeal," but instead he's veering dangerously close to MTV's "Real World." And in that second episode, he draws from the scripts of "Perry Mason," magically introducing that last-minute witness who saves a heroic young lawyer's case.

A year ago, the 64-year-old Bochco told an interviewer that he was finding it harder to relate to today's programmers in an industry that worships youth above all. "The network executives stay the same age and I keep getting older and it creates a different kind of relationship," he said. "When I was doing my stuff at NBC with Brandon (Tartikoff) and 'Hill Street,' we were contemporaries. When I sit down (now), they're sitting in a room with someone who's old enough to be their father and I'm not sure they want to sit in a room with their fathers."

He should have listened to his own advice.

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Mario Lopez, the pride of Chula Vista High, keeps moving on. He just closed a run as Zach in the Broadway revival of "A Chorus Line," and Aug. 28 he premieres as host of "MTV's Top Pop Group," a musical talent search show. Meanwhile, he's also hosting "Extra!" and MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew."