America’s Take on This Successful Legal Comedy Completely Failed After 13 Episodes

One of the easiest ways to bring about a successful television show is to base it on an international show that’s already been a hit. Countless series, such as The Office, The Good Doctor, Ugly Betty, and Ghosts, were all based on international shows before new adaptations debuted in the U.S. In some instances, the new U.S. version is even better. But one legal comedy, based on an Australian show, failed to live up to its counterpart’s level of genius.

What Is ‘Rake’ About?

From 2010 to 2018, a dramedy named Rake was incredibly popular in Australia. The series, which ran for five seasons, follows a self-destructive lawyer named Cleaver Greene (Richard Roxburgh). Cleaver brings the term “rake,” which generally means a rascally, immoral person, to life, as he tries to stay afloat while working as a criminal defense attorney in Sydney. Although he has plenty of friends and colleagues, he seems to burn bridges at every turn. But there’s still an aspect of Cleaver that makes you want to root for him (both in his personal life and with the cases he’s working on). With 40 total episodes, Rake was a hit with Australian audiences eager for a smart, fresh legal drama with a hint of dark humor.

To capitalize on Rake’s success, the Aussie creator Peter Duncan decided to make an American version of the show. To adapt to US audiences, Duncan decided to focus more on the humor of the series, making this iteration of Rake much more light-hearted. The series debuted on Fox in 2013 and features Keegan Deane (Greg Kinnear), who has many similarities to Cleaver. Keegan is also a criminal defense lawyer, whose personal issues make it difficult for him to coast through life. Whether he’s gambling or getting mixed up in small-time crime, Keegan’s shenanigans basically mean that he has an extremely hard time staying out of trouble.

He has spats and conflicts with nearly everyone, from his ex-wife (Miranda Otto), his best friend (John Ortiz), and his wife (Necar Zadegan) to a sex worker (Bojana Novakovic) he starts falling for and his beleaguered personal assistant (Tara Summers). Somehow, despite all of his disastrous decision-making and reckless behavior, these people still somehow continuously show up for Keegan. This mostly means that they help bail him out of whatever mishaps that particular episode finds him in. Part of their willingness to stick around has to do with the fact that Keegan has a good heart deep down, and that, surprisingly, he’s a fantastic lawyer. His brilliance and humor still make him enjoyable to be around, which inspires viewers to stick by his side.

‘Rake’ Was Cancelled Before It Could Find a Real Audience

From the very beginning of the US version of Rake, it was clear that audiences weren’t connecting with the show. Part of it had to do with Keegan’s personality as an anti-hero, which didn’t quite gel with the more comedy-focused narratives. The first major sign of trouble was that Fox decided to air some of the episodes out of order, which created largely uneven storytelling. The critics followed suit with some negativity, claiming that the series couldn’t nail the dark humor that the Australian show had mastered so well. As ratings started to plummet, Fox moved the show from Thursdays to Fridays and then ended the season on Saturdays (which is pretty much the kiss of death for network shows). By May 2014, before the first season had even finished airing, Fox announced its cancellation. Oddly, the Australian Rake would still air for several years after the US version’s demise.

Although audiences didn’t click with Rake during the time of its original airing, that doesn’t mean that the series isn’t still worthy of a binge-watch today. With a stellar performance from Kinnear (who manages to perfectly balance Keegan’s more morally questionable qualities with a sweet golden retriever energy) and an impressive supporting cast, there are still 13 fantastic episodes of Rake that are available for a binge. Anyone who’s a fan of legal shows, with a fun comedy twist, will enjoy this series that never got a chance to live up to the Australian version’s name.

Rake

Release Date

2014 – 2014-00-00

Network

FOX

Directors

Sam Raimi