The series debuted in 1987 with Maryke McEwen as executive producer. It experienced a rocky start, with good story ideas but weak execution. Jacking style in directing and consequently suffering low ratings. The theme music, however, was immediately identifiable-a distinctive. raunchy. rollicking  saxophone piece by Mickey Erbe and Maribeth Solomon. At that time, the show revolved around just three lawyers: Carrie Barr (played by Sonja Smits). Leon Robi­novitch (Eric Peterson), and Chuck Tchobanian (C. David Johnson). Carrie and Leon were the committed, left-wing social activists, while Chuck was motorcycle-riding, reckless, aggressive, 1980s lawyer.

     From the third through the seventh seasons, Brenda Greenberg was first senior producer and then executive producer. with Nada Harcourt taking over for the final season. As CBC's director of programming  in  198,. Ivan Fecan hired a Canadian script doctor at the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), Carla Singer, to work with the producer on improving the show. It was after this that Street Legal began to find its niche. introducing aggressive, sultry, high-heeled,  risk-taking Olivia Novak (played by Cynthia Dale) to contrast the niceness of the Carrie Barr character. Olivia became the most memorable and best-known character, but other characters were also added. Alana (Julie Khaner) was a confident and compassionate judge. married to Leon. who confidently battled sexism in the workplace. Rob Diamond (Albert Schultz) handled  the business  affairs of the firm. In the fourth season, the first African­ Canadian continuing character was introduced-crown prosecutor Dillon (Anthony Sherwood). He had Jove affairs with Carrie and then with Mercedes (Alison Sealy-Smith}, the no-nonsense black Caribbean secretary, and later joined the firm.  New  lawyer  Laura (Maria Del Mar) clashed with Olivia and romanced Olivia's ex-husband and partner, Chuck. Ron Lea played a nasty crown prosecutor called Brian Maloney, an in-joke to Canadians, who immediately connected him to the Conservative prime minister, lawyer  Brian Mulroney. The enlarged ensemble cast allowed for more storylines and increased conflict.

     The usual prime-time  soap  opera  shenanigans  ensued, with ex-husbands and ex-wives reappearing, romances beginning and ending. children being born and adopted, promotions and firings.  hirings  and  resignations, all against the backdrop of the  Canadian  legal system and the Toronto scene. The lawyers all  wore gowns   and   addressed    the   court    in   Canadian    legal terms, giving a different feeling from its  U.S. counterpart, L.A. Law, although the two shows were co-incidentally developed and aired at the same time.

     The issues addressed were  also definably  Canadian as well as international. Leon fought an employment equity case for a candidate for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as well as representing an African­ Canadian nurse in front of the Human Rights Commission. Olivia became a producer of a Canadian movie. Chuck defended a wealthy native cigarette smuggler charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Leon represented the survivors of a mine disaster and  then  ran for mayor of Toronto. Leon and Alana became involved with a Mexican refugee, eight months pregnant,  who got in trouble with CSIS, the Canadian intelligence agency. Human-interest stories intertwined with the political issues and the characters' personal lives.

     Street Legal represented a very important step in the Canadian television industry. Along with the CTV series E.N.G., set in a Toronto television newsroom, the series established Canadian dramatic television stars. Cynthia Dale. who played vixen Olivia, became nationally famous and went on to star in another series, as a Niagara Falls private eye in Taking the Falls. She said that she received letters from young girls who want to grow up to be just like Olivia. In one episode. when ogled and harassed by a construction worker as she passed his job site. Olivia knocked him off his sawhorse with her hefty briefcase. The scene was then inscribed into the new credit sequence.

     The rest of the cast members also went on to other work, but the problem of a Canadian star system re­mains. There are few series produced, even among all the networks, and often their stars will return to theater or radio or to auditioning again for TV parts. One reason Street Legal ended was that CBC could not afford to have two dramatic series on air at the same time, and the older  program  was supplanted  by  Side  Effects, a medical drama. In the spring of 1994.  The  show wrapped up with a two-hour movie, which drew a whopping 1.6 million viewers.