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Boston Legal

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Boston Legal
File:BostonLegalS2.jpg
The DVD Box for the second season
Created byDavid E. Kelley
StarringJames Spader
Julie Bowen
Mark Valley
Rene Auberjonois
Constance Zimmer
Gary Anthony Williams
with
Candice Bergen
and
William Shatner
Country of originUnited States United States
No. of episodes63 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time42 minutes
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseOctober 3, 2004 –
present

Boston Legal is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American dramedy television series that began airing on ABC on October 3rd, 2004. The show is a spin-off of the long-running legal drama The Practice. The series, like its predecessor, was created by David E. Kelley. It follows attorney Alan Shore (a character introduced during the last season of The Practice, played by James Spader) to his new law firm, Crane, Poole & Schmidt. It also stars veteran television actors Candice Bergen and William Shatner. Season 3 began on September 19, 2006.

On March 21, 2007 it was announced that ABC has renewed Boston Legal for a fourth season. [1]

Origins

Template:Spoiler-about Before the show's premiere, it had a working title of Fleet Street, an allusion to the real street in Boston where the fictitious Crane, Poole & Schmidt had its offices. The working title was later modified to The Practice: Fleet Street, but this title was dropped in favor of Boston Legal before the show premiered.

Most of the final episodes of The Practice were focused on introducing the new characters from Crane, Poole & Schmidt in preparation for Boston Legal's launch. Thus, the story of Boston Legal can be said to begin with the episode of The Practice in which Eugene Young and Jimmy Berluti of Young, Frutt & Berluti decided to fire Alan Shore without consulting Ellenor Frutt, beginning a story arc of several episodes. They give Alan a severance package of only fifteen thousand dollars, even though Alan has brought in over six million dollars of revenue to the firm. Tara Wilson gets fired for her loyalty to Alan, and Alan goes to Crane, Poole & Schmidt to represent himself in the matter, thinking he has a claim under Massachusetts law to take over Young, Frutt & Berluti. Denny Crane, Senior and Founding Partner of Crane, Poole & Schmidt, takes an interest in the case and even argues at the trial, cross-examining Young. The jury awards Alan the millions of dollars of revenue he brought in to Young, Frutt & Berluti but does not order the firm to rehire him, so Denny hires Alan at his firm. After Young is appointed a judge, his first case (in the final episode of The Practice) happens to be with Alan for the defense, making Young wonder if Alan judge-shopped (this opens the door for Steve Harris to guest-star on Boston Legal as a judge, although to date no Practice characters have made guest appearances on Boston Legal).

Even with all this preparation, the official premiere episode for Boston Legal does introduce new characters, such as senior partner Paul Lewiston (Rene Auberjonois, in a role different from his tenure as a hapless judge on The Practice), and junior partners Lori Colson (Monica Potter) and Brad Chase (Mark Valley), the premiere also introduced a new set and a recurring cameo role by Al Sharpton as himself.

In the second season premiere, Anthony Heald reprised his role as a California judge, Judge Cooper, on The Practice (it is rare for an actor in David E. Kelley's shows to repeat a guest role from an earlier show as the same character, but not uncommon for David E. Kelley star to appear in another Kelley show as a different character). Heald was part of the ensemble cast in another show created by David E. Kelley, Boston Public.

In the eighteenth episode of the third season, entitled Son of the Defender, old footage from a 1957 episode of Studio One, titled The Defender: Parts I-II and co-starring Ralph Bellamy was used as a flashback sequence with William Shatner portraying a young Denny Crane and Ralph Bellamy as his father. This served as a historic portrayal of the infamous lawyer at his start, despite the fact that the characters in the original episode were not the Cranes.

Main cast

For a complete list of past and present cast and characters see List of Boston Legal characters

Recurring cast and notable guest stars

As in "The Practice", a lot of stars from other David E. Kelley shows have guest starred on "Boston Legal". Those include Chi McBride reprising his role from "Boston Public" and Anthony Heald, as stated before from his stint on "The Practice" and "Boston Public". Other guest stars include:

  • Ed Begley, Jr. as Clifford Cabot (2 episodes in Season 2, 1 episode in Season 3)
  • Ralph Bellamy as Denny's father (3.18, "Son of the Defender") (footage from 1957 episode of Studio One)
  • Jill Brennan as Gracie Jane (2 episodes in Season 2, 7 episodes in Season 3)
  • David Dean Bottrell as Lincoln Meyer (8 episodes in Season 3)
  • Jayne Brook as Rachel Lewiston (5 episodes in Season 2)
  • Delta Burke as Bella Horowitz (5 episodes in Season 3)
  • Christian Clemenson as Jerry "Hands" Espenson (5 episodes in Season 2, 7 episodes in Season 3)
  • Henry Gibson as Judge Clark Brown (3 episodes in Season 1, 3 episodes in Season 2, 3 episodes in Season 3)
  • Meredith Eaton as Bethany Horowitz (14 episodes in Season 3)
  • Michael J. Fox as Daniel Post (5 episodes in Season 2, 1 episode in Season 3)
  • Heather Locklear as Kelly Nolan (2 episodes in Season 2)
  • Nia Long as Vanessa Walker (3 episodes in Season 3)
  • Jane Lynch as Joanna Monroe (3 episodes in Season 3)
  • Larry Miller as Edwin Poole (2 episodes in Season 1, 1 episode in Season 2)
  • Megan Mullally as Renata Hill (3.17, "The Bride Wore Blood")
  • Parker Posey as Marlene Stanger (3 episodes in Season 2, 1 episode in Season 3)
  • Freddie Prinze, Jr. as Donny Crane (2 episodes in Season 1, 1 episode in Season 2)
  • Carl Reiner as Milton Bombay (Episode 1.16, "Let Sales Ring")
  • William Russ as A.D.A. Christopher Palmer (1 episode in Season 2, 1 episode in Season 3)
  • Jeri Ryan as Courtney Reese (2 hour finale of Season 2)
  • Tom Selleck as Ivan Tiggs (3 episodes in Season 2, 1 episode in Season 3)
  • Al Sharpton as Himself (2 episodes in Season 1)
  • Robert Wagner as Barry Goal (2 hour finale of Season 2)
  • Kerry Washington as Chelina Hall (4 episodes Season 1, 1 episode Season 2)
  • Betty White as Catherine Piper (3 episodes in Season 8 of "The Practice", 5 episodes in Season 1, 8 episodes in Season 2, 1 episode in Season 3)

Episodes

Main article: List of Boston Legal episodes

U.S. television ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Boston Legal on ABC.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned in this section were in the Eastern & Pacific time zones.

Season Timeslot Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Season
Rank 		Viewers
(in millions)
1st Sunday 10:00PM October 3, 2004 March 20, 2005 2004-2005 #27Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page). 12.5Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
2nd Tuesday 10:00PM September 27, 2005 May 16, 2006 2005-2006 #46Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page). 10.3Cite error: The <ref> tag name cannot be a simple integer (see the help page).
3rd September 19, 2006 2007 2006-2007 ??? ???

International broadcasters

DVD releases

On February 9, tvshowsondvd.com announced that Fox Home Entertainment were releasing Boston Legal Season 1 on DVD on May 23, 2006. [2] It is the first David E. Kelley show that FOX has released on DVD in the United States (though Ally McBeal has been released on DVD in other countries).

DVD Name Cover Art Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
Season 1 The Complete First Season May 23, 2006 July 24, 2006 August 9, 2006
Season 2 The Complete Second Season November 21, 2006 March 5, 2007 February 21, 2007

NOTE: Some of the Season 1 DVDs, provided by select offline retailers, included a promotional DVD featuring the episodes from The Practice that introduced Alan Shore and the firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. This was only included in the very early sales of the DVD as a promotion.

Trivia

  • Hannah Rose, played by Rebecca De Mornay in The Practice, was initially going to be a regular character on Boston Legal as well. She was eventually replaced by Monica Potter as Lori Colson, although some of her traits were retained in the new character (e.g. both were former prosecutors). Like Colson, Hannah was a partner, once reprimanding Sally Heep (Lake Bell) for smoking pot in an episode. She also asked Sally what her salary was (answering 160k) to then later tell her that partners in the law firm make an extaordinary amount of money, that if she would want to be a partner, she would have to follow the rules. Conversely, by the fifth episode of the first season the Lori Colson character appears to be friends with Sally Heep.
  • Some of the show's first season episodes were postponed until the second season after the success shown by the television series Grey's Anatomy in Boston Legal's timeslot.
  • While the original title was "Fleet Street," the building used in establishing shots is located at Five Hundred Boylston.
  • Former US President Bill Clinton told talk show host Ellen DeGeneres [1] he is a fan of Boston Legal. This is ironic because in "The Black Widow", a season two episode, a main character makes fun of him.
  • Ex-T.J. Hooker co-star Heather Locklear was reunited with William Shatner for 2 episodes, during the second season. He flirts with her continually during this time. She tells him that she will send a pair of her pants to him, and he can try to get into them in his own time.
  • Many hospital and office scenes for the show have been shot in working office buildings on the Sony lot.

Meta-reference

The show has increasingly adopted the devices of breaking the fourth wall and meta-reference, but usually in a sly manner that can also be interpreted as the characters only jokingly pretending they're on a television show. Some examples are:

  • In the episode "An Eye for an Eye," Alan is asked if there is "someplace he'd rather be" to which he quips that he'd like to be on cable as that is where all of the best work is being done.
  • In "Gone," Denny, after shooting a homeless man in the face with a paintball gun, tells Alan, "They can't get rid of me, I'm the star of the show!"
  • In episode 209 "Gone" Denny tells Alan while on the balcony "I get action, I won an Emmy." William Shatner who plays Denny Crane has won two Emmys for the role. Alan Shore responded, "Just the same," as James Spader has also won two.
  • Denny complained that he was "tired of [his] Alzheimer's being a story point."
  • Alan says to Denny, "Ah, there you are. I've hardly seen you this episode."
  • Denny also says, in a late episode in Season Two, that everything he wants to express in life is bottled up inside of him like a "kidney stone", which is a possible reference to the kidney stone that William Shatner passed and later auctioned.
  • Alan jokingly refers to the fact the show had switched the nights on which it aired as a reason why he hadn't seen a recurring guest star sooner. In the same episode, a co-worker cautions Alan not to get involved with the same woman, noting "She's only a guest star."
  • In the episode "Squid Pro Quo," Denny references a new character on the show, expressing that he can't wait to "see her next week."
  • During the second season finale, Denny attempts to persuade Shirley to kiss him by stating: "Shirley, this is the sweeps episode." At the end of the episode, Denny and Alan toast to "next season," with the hopes that it would be on the same night.
  • In an early Season Two episode, shortly after the series moved from its original Sunday night schedule to its new Tuesday home, Denny and Alan are fishing in a rain sewer grate, during which Denny muses on various changes in his life he has had to endure. Among them, he states, "I miss my old time slot."
  • In the second episode of the second season, Denny asks Alan, "Show over already? You look beaten."
  • In the season premiere of the third season, Alan is speaking of how his recent casual sexual relationship with Marlene Stanger (Parker Posey) allowed him to act more like his true self and says, "These past few years I've felt this inexplicable compulsion to be somewhat redeeming as if I were some series regular on a television show."
  • In the second episode of the third season, "New Kids on the Block," a new male law partner and a law associate arrive at the firm and tell Denny they're the new guys, to which Denny responds "If there were new guys they would have shown up in the season premiere." Then, Denny grabs the new girl's buttocks and says "Welcome to Boston Legal." After she complains, Denny looks at the camera and says, "cue the music," at which point the opening credits begin. As the opening logo to the show slides on from off camera, Craig Bierko's character Jeffrey is seen to be looking back and forth as if 'seeing' the credits transition on screen.
  • From the episode "Fine Young Cannibal": after winning a case involving a homeless man who ate his best friend while cremating him, Alan Shore asks Shirley Schmidt, as if asking the audience, "Do you think we win so much that we lose all suspense?"
  • At the end of the episode "Fine Young Cannibal," the closing shot focuses on the smoke rising from Alan’s and Denny’s cigars. At a certain point, the vocalist singing the end theme begins coughing as if enveloped in this cloud of smoke.
  • After a tirade on the modern implementation of the constitutional right granting freedom of religion: "Yes I know, I'll get letters." -Alan Shore
  • Denny's advice to Bethany in "Lincoln" is read off large cue cards held by Alan, which Bethany apparently does not notice. Alan does this again in "Dumping Bella," when Denny expresses his true feelings to Bethany; she again does not notice.
  • Also in "Lincoln," when Lincoln kidnaps Shirley, he comments that if this were a movie, we'd hear a real ominous chord right about now. Immediately thereafter, the audience does hear such an ominous musical chord.
  • When Denny and Alan are smoking cigars together at the end of the episode "Lincoln," Denny asks when Alan's trial is. Alan says it is Tuesday at 10. Although "Lincoln" was aired on a Sunday, Boston Legal's regular timeslot on ABC is Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, and it was then that the episode featuring Alan's trial was aired.
  • In "The Nutcrackers," when Shirley assigns Alan a new case, he asks her what his ‘motivation’ is so that he can get into ‘character’ for the case; this is a question typically asked by method actors (re their motivation in a given scene or role). Also, the case file that Shirley puts on Alan’s desk looks less like a folder or envelope and more like a script.
  • In "Angel of Death," Denny plays the first few notes of the show's theme song on his "trombone-kazoo," coinciding with the real song playing over the opening credits.
  • In "Nuts," Claire asks Clarence -- dressed as Oprah -- to bumper out to a commercial break, as is done on on the Oprah Winfrey Show, immediately before an actual commercial break on Boston Legal.
  • In "Dumping Bella," Shirley mentions during a trial that she had not received her "March of the Penguins" movie screener from the Academy yet. As a lawyer, she would not be eligible to receive such a screener. As the real-life Candice Bergen however, who is a member of the Academy, she is eligible.
  • At the end of "Dumping Bella," Denny (dressed as Dick Cheney) is dancing with Alan (dressed as Shirley Schmidt). Denny comments that the neighbors would be puzzled if they saw Dick Cheney dancing with Shirley Schmidt on their balcony. Alan replies, "Well, if they're regular viewers, they know by now [that] anything goes."
  • In "Fat Burner," after opposing counsel gives its closing statement, Denny responds by asking, "how come the other side always ha[s] short closings?"
  • In "The Good Lawyer," Denny recoils at the idea that he “seem like a Jew”: Shatner has made a living playing characters (such as Crane) who are ‘true-blue’ American (although Shatner, in real life, is Canadian), Christian (although he’s Jewish), and conservative (Shatner’s actual views, however, are anybody’s guess).
  • In "Witches of Mass Destruction," Denny shows up to the office costume party wearing the same pink flamingo costume that Alan is; Alan then tells him, "Denny, you look pretty in pink." This is probably an homage to his role as Stef in Pretty in Pink, and a nod to the scene where Molly Ringwald is joined at the prom by her friend Ducky at the last minute.

Star Trek references and allusions

Several episodes of Boston Legal allude to Star Trek and its various spin-offs. William Shatner (Denny Crane) gained fame for playing the role of Captain James T. Kirk in the original series and seven of the ten feature films that followed. Rene Auberjonois (Paul Lewiston) previously appeared as Security Chief Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Auberjonois also appeared in the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in the uncredited role of 'Colonel West.'

  • Jeri Ryan, the actress who played Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager, appeared on two episodes of the second season of Boston Legal .. (Spring Fever) and BL: Los Angeles
  • In the second episode of the third season, "New Kids on the Block," the husband of a murder victim, a judge, is played by Armin Shimerman, who appeared along with Rene Auberjonois on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Quark. The pair have a scene together and reference the idea that they are old friends.
  • In the tenth episode of the third season, "The Nutcrackers," Michelle Forbes guest stars as an attorney. Forbes had played a recurring role as Ensign Ro Laren on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • In several of the third season episodes, four Star Trek regular cast members appear together: William Shatner, Rene Auberjonois (Odo in Deep Space Nine), Armin Shimerman (the Ferengi barkeep Quark in Deep Space Nine), and Ethan Phillips (Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager).
  • In the Season Two episode "Finding Nimmo," while Denny and Alan are on a fishing trip to British Columbia, Alan refers to a sea-lice ailment suffered by some local fish as ‘cling-ons’; Denny, as though recalling something from vague, distant memory comments “Did you say Klingons?”
  • In the Season Two episode "The Cancer Man Can," Denny tries out a new cell phone. The clamshell-style phone flips open and makes the exact sound made by the old Star Trek communicators.
  • In the Season Two episode "There's Fire,” Denny’s new wife Beverly suggests that they move to Hawaii. Denny asks her, “What am I supposed to do? Beam myself to Boston every morning?” (a reference to using the transporter system on Star Trek, commonly referred to as "beaming").
  • In the ninth episode of the second season, Denny shoots a homeless man named Kirk, another reference to Shatner's Star Trek character. Later in the episode Alan Shore calls to Mr. Kirk while seemingly speaking to Denny.
  • Clyde Kusatsu, Judge Matsumura in "The Nutcrackers," played Admiral Nakamura in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • In episode 14 of the first season ('Til We Meat Again), Alan makes reference to Paul establishing dominion. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Rene Auberjonois' character Odo belonged to a race of people who led a political and military regime known as the Dominion.

Awards

Awards won

Emmy Awards:

The Emmys won in 2004 were for The Practice, but for the same characters as they play on Boston Legal

Golden Globe Awards:

  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV William Shatner (2005)

Peabody Awards:

  • Boston Legal won the Peabody Award for its 2005 season.

Satellite Awards:

Awards nominated

Emmy Awards:

Golden Globe Awards:

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV Candice Bergen (2006)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Drama James Spader (2005)

Screen Actors Guild:

  • Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series James Spader (2007)
  • Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2007)
  • Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Comedy Series (2006)
  • Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series James Spader (2006)
  • Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series William Shatner (2006)
  • Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Candice Bergen (2006)

Satellite Awards:

  • Outstanding TV Series - Comedy (2005)
  • Outstanding Actor in a TV series - Comedy James Spader (2005)
  • Outstanding Actress in a TV series - Comedy Candice Bergen (2005)
  • Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV William Shatner (2005)
  • Outstanding TV Series - Drama (2004)
  • Outstanding Actor in a TV series - Drama James Spader (2004)

U.S. broadcast history

  • October 2004 - March 2005 -- Sundays 10:00pm/9:00pm
  • September 2005 - present -- Tuesdays 10:00pm/9:00pm

References

  1. ^ http://www.boston-legal.org/interviews/ellen/tv-ellen-clinton-blfan.asx
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