I recently discovered that Boston Legal is one of my favorite shows. It used to be one of those things I would watch if I was too lazy to get off the couch and do something when nothing good was on. I’m not entirely sure when I made the transition, but I actually look forward to each episode.
None of the characters are really very sympathetic, but I find myself liking them despite myself. I think the writing is far better than it ever was with the Practice, and there’s no annoying retard characters either… though they certainly have bizarre in spades.
Have my television viewing standards just been pulverized by too many reality tv shows or am I on to something here. Is Boston Legal good t.v.?
p.s. all the conservative pundits who complain about the “liberal bias” on shows like Boston Legal and the West Wing should be required to watch nothing but re-runs of Big Brother for the next two years as punishment for being crybabies.
No, William Shatner is always a joy to watch, and James Spader’s naughty lawyer is his defining role, like John Wayne being the jerk who shoots people.
I’ve started watching this. James Spader is always interesting, Shatner is entertaining forever, and Candice Bergen makes me melt for some reason. I love her rocksteady voice, and have always enjoyed listening to the documentaries she voice-overs. Weird I know.
Love this show, I find it consistently one of the funniest shows on TV. Very smart, a little heavy-handed, but always well acted. Shatner and Spader are awesome in their roles and acting together.
I definitely think it’s an improvement over Ally McBeal and later seasons of The Practice, but I have to say that the early seasons of Practice were really top notch (maybe the first 4, 5 at most).
I don’t even compare it to the Practice. They are such utterly different shows I am amazed they managed to bill this as a spinoff. This is much more weird and quirky, where the Practice always took itself much more seriously. But, all the cast members flying away turned it into shit. Too bad, I REALLY like the Practice. By far my favourite legal/cop type show.
Just bring back Camryn Manheim and Steve Harris and Boston Legal would be best ever++
Haven’t been watching this year because of the day change (I generally only watch TV on Sunday nights), but they dropped Monica Potter, too? What was the reason for that in the storyline? Same with Rhona Mitra – last year they were just getting going on her relationship with Spader, now she’s gone? What happened?
I watched a lot of Boston Legal when it was on back in the 2004-2008 timeframe and my memories are fond of it. Recently, i was at one of those knick-knack stores that sell things that are reclaimed from storage units and got seasons 1-2 of Boston Legal on DVD for $10.
And I have been gorging on these the past few nights. I’m almost done with season 1 and it’s been a great time revisiting this. I find myself both laughing out loud several times an episode as well as cringing and thinking “no way this gets made today” with all the sexist remarks flying around, but I’m also liking how confident the female characters respond with authority and derision.
Another thing that pops out is the fringe and widely diverse set of cases that they work through - a cross dressing gay santa, a black orphan annie, a divorcee who fights to get a child’s umbilical cord to save them from bone cancer, etc. So far the Reverend Al Sharpton has appeared in two cameos and Shatner has sung a few times.
Thinking of why James Spader appeals so much to me, is it because I envy the number of contacts he has or his ability to get things done surreptitiously or is it because he’s chaotic good?
Loving it. I think the next old TV series I try to find is Night Court.
We have recently finished all seasons. My favorite so far is the ending to the dude ranch episode. We also watched the last season of The Practice and Boston Legal is much, much better.
