WHAT'S TO HAPPEN to "L.A. Law's" Arnold Becker, ladies' man, divorce lawyer, video barrister?
He's always been a guy with just a little bit of sleaze quality. But now he appears to be in trouble at the office as well.In December Becker was romancing a woman who had hired him to represent her in her divorce suit. Managing partner Leland McKenzie had to remind him not to get romantically involved with the clients.
In January Becker privately decided to leave McKenzie Brackman and join a lawyer-friend's firm. While the rest of the staff attended the debut of Beckers secretary Roxanne as a nightclub singer, her boss spent the time in the facant office photocopying useful records.
Last month Leland McKenzie was angered to learn that Becker planned to jump ship, taking with him his valuable McKenzie Brackman clients (as well as the loyal Roxanne). To keep him aboard, the firm will take drastic steps this week.
Sometimes Corbin Bernsen, the man who plays Becker, doesn't know quite what to think of him either.
He'll leave the problems of office politics up to the "L.A. Law" writers. But he admits he has considered whether they should have Arnie get married.
"They could, and I'm not going to say they won't, I can tell you that. But I've thought about all the story lines. And if he were married, of course he couldn't last. If I (Arnie) get married, either it's going to be happy, which would be disastrous for the character, and if it's unhappy, you'd say it's going to be predictable.
"Half of the Becker character is all the women out there who think, `Gosh, if I could get hold of him, I could make him see the light.' "
So Bernsen, who wed British actress Amanda Pays ("Max Headroom") in 1988 and is the father of little Oliver, is content to play Becker as he is, a single guy.
"I think we have a good thing going," he said of his series' fourth season and first without the guiding hand of co-creator Steven Bochco.
"I had a talk with Steve Bochco last year, and we were talking about the growth of TV characters. It was his view that TV characters don't take huge steps. Arnold Becker's image is that of a womanizer. He takes some steps about his own independence and his own understanding of himself and his own growth. But to do marriage, it becomes really tricky.
"The easiest example is `Moonlighting': Once they stepped in those waters, you have to step back. The truth is that you're only going to get caught in cliches or obvious things. It's better that his big steps have nothing to do with things that are fundamentally about his nature. They had me (Arnie) buy a new house - that isn't something you'd expect."
On the other hand, Becker's secretary, Roxanne, has not only married but suffered through an uncomfortable marriage and a divorce last season. Most recently she was taking assertiveness-training courses (growing bold enough to ask for a raise) and trying to become a nightclub singer.
"Roxanne," mused Bernsen. "Her fundamental thing in life is she can't seem to settle down. Her fundamental thing is getting her life together. They did a sidestep in having her get married. Her thing was always, `Work and get paid and get respect.' "
Bernsen, too, was once in a position where he wanted to "work and get paid and get respect." Son of actress Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor on "The Young and the Restless") and producer Harry Bernsen, Corbin went to Beverly Hills High School and then to UCLA, where he earned both a B.A. and M.F.A. in playwrighting.
He appeared on "Police Story," "Police Woman" and "The Waltons." In 1981, he appeared in Blake Edwards' movie "S.O.B.," went to New York to try stage work and struggled for a year until he was hired to be the Winston cigarette model.
After playing policeman Ken Graham on the daytime drama "Ryan's Hope," Becker headed back to Los Angeles and auditioned for NBC's new 1986 series, "L.A. Law." He was cast as blond, blue-eyed Arnie Becker, the lawyer who just couldn't say no to either an affair or a business opportunity. His slick, shallow demeanor led one writer to call him "`L.A. Law's' blond weasel."
So Bernsen branched out this year, appearing in ABC's "Anything But Love" with Jamie Lee Curtis and Richard Lewis. He donned a military uniform to play an Army intelligence officer in TNT cable's August movie "Breaking Point," and the uniform of a professional baseball player for "Major League," a theatrical release now available on videocassette.
Outside the "L.A. Law" set, Corbin Bernsen has more plans. And he doesn't sound very much like Arnie Becker. In fact, lawyer Becker might be a bit surprised by Bernsen's ideas.
He talks of legalizing drugs, revamping the U. S. Constitution, scrapping religion and electing dual presidents. But first, he wants to clean up the place. His method: theater, scripts, movies.
He'll start out by producing and starring in a trilogy set just before the year 2000, a date he views as "a fresh start." He plans a theatrical release, primarily because of TV's restrictions, he said.
"I want to study mankind at this time," he explained. "I'll be 45 in the year 2000 . . ."