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Star Lawyer From 'Making a Murderer' to Get Own Reality Show

By Casey C. Sullivan, Esq. on April 07, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

When Netflix's 'Making a Murderer' took over pop culture this winter, Dean Strang was one of the few lawyers featured who ended up looking not awful. Indeed, Strang, the defense attorney fighting on behalf of accused (falsely?) killer Steven Avery, became a bit of a cult hero, to lawyers and the public alike.

Now, the soft-spoken but strong-willed attorney is getting his own reality T.V. show, focused on exposing failings in the criminal justice system, Deadline reports. Strang fans, get ready for 'Dean Strang: Road to Justice.'

From the Court Room to Reality T.V.

Strang's new show will consist of a series of eight one-hour episodes focused on landmark legal cases that highlight problems in the criminal justice system. The episode's themes aren't yet known, but we're imagining episodes on the Central Park Five, for example, or Kalief Browder, a teen who was held for 3 years in Riker's Island, without trial.

(Dean, if you're reading, we've already done some of the work for you. Check out our list of '5 Cases That Would Make for Great Criminal Justice Documentaries,' then get in touch about royalties.)

But if you're expecting a more serious-minded docudrama like 'Making a Murderer' or 'The Jinx,' you might be slightly disappointed. Strang's reality T.V. show will be modeled after Anthony Bourdain's 'Parts Unknown,' in which the celebrity chef travels the world, filming himself eating. It's not exactly 'Dance Moms,' but it's still very much reality T.V. We're interested to see how Strang's quiet demeanor works in such a setting.

Taking His Case to the Court of Public Opinion -- Again

It's not surprising that Strang would have his own show, however. Well before 'Making a Murderer' made him Netflix-famous, Strang was taking his critiques of the criminal justice system to the public. In 'Worse Than the Devil,' Strang's 2013 book, he explores how racism, corruption, and injustice lead to the conviction of a group of Italian immigrants in 1917 Milwaukee. And though those immigrants were eventually exonerated, their story paints an unflattering picture of American justice.

Developing a theme that's sure to echo through Strang's new T.V. show, he wrote:

Apologists insist that...exonerations prove that, in the end, the system works. But a system that 'works,' when it works at all, only because volunteers and strangers persist in seeking justice long after duty-bound insiders have failed and quit is a system dependent on happy accidents to cure its unhappy ones.

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