In television the line between reality and fiction is not always clear.

Penn State alumni Donald P. Bellisario and Paul J. Levine blur the distinction even more with the creation of their new show, First Monday.

'First Monday' 'First Monday,' the dramatic series created by Penn State alumni Donald P. Bellisario and Paul J. Levine, airs at 9 p.m. on Fridays on CBS. Journalist and Penn State alumnus Charles Bierbauer also appears on a non-fictional show within the fictional series.

First Monday, an hour-long drama that centers on the Supreme Court, includes a non-fiction show within the fictional show in which journalist and Penn State alumnus Charles Bierbauer conducts non-scripted interviews with prominent figures in political and social spheres.

Bellisario and Levine paired up in September 2000 and began creating First Monday, which focuses on nine Supreme Court Justices, the precedent-setting cases they must decide, the social issues within the cases, as well as the Justices' interpersonal relationships.

At the time Levine had been working with Bellisario writing for the CBS show JAG, and had also finished his eighth novel, 9 Scorpions, a book about the Supreme Court that specifically focused on the justices and law clerks.

Levine, former Daily Collegian editor in chief turned Miami Herald reporter turned lawyer turned novelist turned television show creator, said everything he has done in his life has prepared and helped him as a writer for First Monday.

"I hung around the Court a lot having done the book," Levine said, but added that there still was much legal and Court research to be done before the first 13 episodes of the show could be produced.

The Los Angeles soundstage, on which the show is filmed, has a set of the interior of the Court that is built exactly to scale — complete with the red velvet curtains and high-backed, black-leather chairs.

Bierbauer, who covered the Supreme Court for eight of his 20 years with CNN, said the set was "astonishingly accurate."

After Bierbauer left CNN in 2001, Bellisario said he thought of Bierbauer immediately to moderate a panel show within First Monday.

"I called Charles up and said, 'How would you like to play a guy, in my Supreme Court show, called Charles Bierbauer,'" Bellisario recounted.

Bierbauer accepted and the result is a segment of the show called Curveball, which began as a one-time deal but soon made its way into every episode.

"It's so unique to have Charles, a highly-respected journalist, sitting with people debating issues proposed in the Court," Bellisario said.

Bellisario said at first the show's writers had written copy for the Curveball segment but he soon vetoed that idea. "I said, 'Let Charles do it.'"

"I am a journalist," Bierbauer said.

"I know the subject matter, I've done the research and we shoot an unscripted interview," he said. For an episode on abortion, Bierbauer interviewed Lawyer Gloria Allred and Rev. Jerry Falwell.

"It makes sense, since we're talking about real issues, to have real people," Levine said. Vincent Bugliosi, Johnnie Cochran, Maxine Waters and Marcia Clark will be among the guests featured on Curveball.

Bierbauer said he and his guests tape a 10-minute debate, which is then edited down to a two-minute segment that appears in First Monday.

Bellisario said the most difficult task is editing so that each side has equal time to voice its opinion of the issue.

Both Bellisario and Levine would like the show to facilitate debate within the viewing audience as well.

One of the show's goals is to have people expressing their opinions while they're at home on their sofas, Levine said.

Bellisario, who also created Magnum, P.I., Quantum Leap and JAG, said First Monday is different from shows he's made in the past because of its large ensemble cast.

First Monday boasts nearly 20 regularly appearing characters such as Chief Justice Thomas Brankin (James Garner) and newly-appointed Justice Joe Novelli (Joe Mantegna).

The U.S. Supreme Court's session begins each year on the first Monday of October and that is when the series begins as well.

In the pilot episode, Novelli starts his first day on the Supreme Court faced with the dilemma of whether or not to grant an execution of a minor who committed a triple homicide.

Future episodes will deal with a case of judicial bypass in which a pregnant 16-year-old wants to have an abortion, but her parents feel they have a right to demand that she keep the baby, a Sephardic Jew's polygamy, the three strikes law and gun control.

There will be dialogue that refers to Sept. 11 as well, Levine said.

The Court in First Monday consists of four liberals and four conservatives so Novelli, "puts the court in constant flux . . . sometimes leaning liberally, other moments going conservative," Bellisario said in a press release.

As an Italian-American, Bellisario said he can relate to the Novelli character and added that everything in his life affects his work.

"My heroes usually reflect what I feel I'd like to be," Bellisario said.

"It'd be too egotistical to say, 'that's how I really am,' but they reflect my morals, ethics, politics."

Though the show premiered on Tuesday, it's regular time period is 9 p.m. Friday.

It is often daunting for a show to gain high ratings with a Friday night time slot, but Bellisario is optimistic and points out that two of his most successful shows began on Fridays — Quantum Leap and JAG were eventually moved to weekday nights.

"They make me work harder than I should have to," Bellisario said and laughed.