The series follows Stone (Jonny Lee Miller), a San Francisco lawyer who begins to have hallucinations (such as a George Michael soundtrack that only he can hear and getting dive-bombed by a World War I biplane on a busy San Francisco street) which leads him to two possible conclusions: side effects from his potentially fatal brain aneurysm, or the chance that something greater is at work.

His visions lead him to accept cases with little monetary gain but a lot of moral goodness, while also – occasionally – accurately predicting things like earthquakes or plane crashes.

[2] Eli suffers from an inoperable brain aneurysm that causes him to have realistic hallucinations often relating to the plot of the episode to the extent that he may be considered a modern-day prophet.

[4] The show's legal setting, mixture of comedy and drama, and use of fantasy sequences has drawn comparisons to the series Ally McBeal from some critics.

[5] Produced by Berlanti Television, After Portsmouth, and ABC Studios, the series was officially greenlit and given a thirteen-episode order on May 11, 2007,[6] and it aired as a mid-season replacement in 2008.

[7] Eli Stone premiered on Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 10:00 Eastern/9:00 Central, following the return of Lost;[8] its first-season finale aired April 17, 2008.

However, Eli begins having hallucinations (many of which involve singer George Michael) that may either be linked to a medical condition, or the bizarre chance that he is a modern-day prophet.

After two weeks without the visions, Eli hesitates to take the case of a Mexican couple suing a produce conglomerate for their use of pesticides, believing he has no chance of winning.

As Eli struggles to come to terms with the end of his engagement to Taylor, his visions convince him to help a former coma patient who wants to get his life back.

Eli gets an opportunity to make things right when he revisits an old case that he unscrupulously won for an automaker, but his efforts could be undone by a series of courtroom hallucinations.

The two are involved in a malpractice suit against an anesthesiologist who used to work at Nathan's hospital but was fired after a botched anesthesia that led to the death of the teenage plaintiff's mother during heart surgery.

Jordan, who is heading the case, begins to display an unusual upbeat side, leading Eli to believe his senior partner is a fan of George Michael's music.

Supported by a so-called quack scientist, Eli opposes Ms. Klein and Maggie in a court case that could decide the lives of hundreds.

Eli convinces Jim Cooper (Steven Culp), a billionaire philanthropist, to lead the case on trial drug testing.

Keith and Eli help a Methodist minister (Dallas Malloy) with a lawsuit against his own church, and Taylor and Matt find out about their baby's health.

When a news anchor from one of the biggest media corporations loses his job, Eli, Taylor, Matt and Maggie share an awkward car ride to Sonoma to question a witness (Suzie Plakson) – and suffer a more awkward presence before a judge (Michaela Watkins) whom Matt dated in law school but broke up with by e-mail after graduation.

In the morning, Maggie hurriedly decides that he wants to dismiss it as due to his now-two brain aneurysms, which he and Chen believe are the consequence of his repeated 'Dark Truth' treatments.

[25] ABC instead decided to present a written notice and voice-over after the episode saying "The preceding story is fictional and does not portray any actual persons, companies, products or events",[26] with a second card directing viewers to the autism web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Series creator Marc Guggenheim revealed that, if the show had been renewed for a third season, Eli would have had a complete wrap-up, including Taylor giving birth to a baby girl and Matt being a surprisingly good father with a better attitude to others, Jordan meeting his ex-wife for the first time since the divorce, and Eli briefly meeting Grace again.

The planned series finale would have shown that Eli eventually gained a high profile as a prophet sharing his visions and message of hope and compassion with the world, hinted at in the first season episode "Patience", though predictably placing his life in danger.