'Eli Stone' explores new life inside his head

The soul of the lawyer: It's a subject we find particularly compelling, here in our judge and ye-shall-be-judged, heaven-or-hell culture. They have become the bad and good angels of our modern dramas, comedies and New Yorker cartoons -- more than, say, postmen or plumbers or other such underrepresented occupations that more frequently touch our lives.

In "Eli Stone," a likable midseason comedy-drama from ABC, the title character, played by Jonny Lee Miller ("Trainspotting," "Melinda and Melinda"), is a San Francisco attorney who has let his early desires to do good lapse in favor of, you know, "doin' good!" A star at a high-priced firm that seems to specialize in protecting corporate clients from the ordinary rest of us, he has dedicated his life to "Armani, accessories and ambition." And then one day he starts to hear music in his head, and one night he has a vision of George Michael singing "Faith" on his coffee table. He also discovers that he has an inoperable brain aneurysm that might kill him and is possibly the reason he's hearing and seeing things -- the Himalayas outside his apartment, a trolley car in the office, a biplane chasing him down the street. In the course of time, these and other visions will push him, in fits and starts, back to his better self.

Created by Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who have "Brothers & Sisters" credits in common -- Berlanti also created "Everwood," and Guggenheim writes superhero comics -- it reflects the current ABC predilection for whimsy, as seen in such series as "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?" and "Ugly Betty." (Eli is in a common superhero predicament, in fact, dealing with an unasked-for power -- "Trapped in a World He Never Made" as they liked to say in the old Marvel days.) Is it a trickle-down effect from corporate parent Disney? In any case, "Eli Stone" does not lack for pixie dust.

It also echoes the spikier "Wonderfalls," a 2004 series in which a post-collegiate Niagara Falls underachiever got messages from the universe, funneled through kitsch animal statuary, impelling her to help people, almost against her will. Here, Eli finds his way to Dr. Chen (James Saito), an acupuncturist who puts on a fake Chinese accent for effect and believes that Eli might be a "prophet."