Boston Legal - just now begun watching it - some thoughts

So I got the first season of Boston Legal. I got it solely because James Spader and William Shatner are in it. I’ve seen 4 episodes up until this point. Spader and Shatner are a great comedic duo and Spader is great as always, playing the deadpan, manipulative yet charming little sleazeball as always. But there are some things about the show that annoy me:

The fucking music. The soundtrack to this show is like the soundtrack to a porn movie made in 1987. A bunch of cheesy “funk” riffs with some orgasm-like "oooh"s and "aaaahh"s and "yeaaaah"s thrown in every now and then. It makes me feel like I’m watching a cheesy sitcom, even though it’s ostensibly a more “mature” type of comedy.

The “everyone is fucking everyone else” theme. I mean, is this how a law office actually is? The show lays it on a little too thick.

Besides that, though, I’m liking it so far. Anyone else a fan? Thoughts? Complaints? Does it get better or worse as it goes on, in your opinion?

I watched it the first season. It felt like “Ali McBeal” without Ali. I bailed on it.

“I am the astronaut of law! Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey were just jet pilots. I’m in a world of my own!”
"I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest! Not only do I win the case, I pick the Federal Rule I’m gonna win on! "
“I’m the most recognized and loved lawyer that ever lived 'cause there weren’t no satellites when Jesus and Moses were around, so people far away in the villages didn’t know about them!”

“If you even dream of excluding my evidence, you’d better wake up and apologize!”

Last time I checked in James Spader was addressing the Supreme Court and telling them each individually what sleazebags they were (only the right-wing ones, of course). They meekly allowed him to, doubtless awestruck by his eloquence.

The program gets more absurd and preachy by the week.

It’s past its prime, but it can still be as breathtakingly stupid as during the first season, only now it doesn’t happen more often than once every three episodes.

It’s a parody and it’s full of meta references:

New lawyers entering CP&S: We’re the new guys
Denny Crane: You can’t be, you’d have been in the season premier

Denny Crane: Cue the theme music

Alan Shore: You know I’m not about to go to Texas and not ride the mechanical bull, Chelina. That would be like going to Los Angeles and not sleeping with Paris Hilton.

Denny Crane: I can act… I have an Emmy.
Alan Shore: [referring to a book about parasites found on salmon] This book, “A Stain Upon The Sea” it’s all about these sea lice.
Denny Crane: Interesting.
Alan Shore: They call them cling ons.
Denny Crane: Did you say Klingons?

Alan Shore: Ah, Denny, I’ve hardly seen you this episode.

Denny Crane: [walking through a crowd of reporters] dennycranelaw.com. Pictures, bios, hobbies. I once captained my own spaceship. Muli-talented.

Denny Crane: TiVo me, will ya?

They’ve been renewed but I really think it would’ve been better if they ended the show this spring. With Kelley moving on to Life on Mars, I bet we will only get one more season. Maybe Kelley can take the preachy with him (and not use it on LoM) and we can get more of the anarchy the first season had.

BTW, the pilot for LoM is actually pretty good, in spite of my voicing severe doubts about it when I found out they were going to make an American version.

I forgot about the “Ohhh” and “Ahhs” in the first season… They disappear later in the show…

It was quite good for a long time, I’ve a lot of them sitting unwatched on the tivo for the last season… Not sure if its the stories, per se anymore, its just too many “crazy” characters… Shy Transvestites and Aspergers syndrome being thrown in there, means they turn up the antics of Shore and Krane a lot more to compete…

It has got a lot more preachy recently… Its always had that aspect to it, just not every damn episode…

The thing that struck me about BL was the casual and indiscriminate firings that go on. I mean, I know America has different labour laws to the UK but I still find it hard to wrap my head around the concept of someone saying “Oh, Tara, by the way, there are two kinds of lawyers - those who make it and those that don’t. You’re in the latter category, you’re fired.” What? Could someone please point out to me what exactly it is that Tara is supposed to have done? And then they casually announce that Lori was fired as well even though she was an associate partner and a damn good one in the first series. And then there was the mysterious case of Garrett and Sarah who both did a disappearing act part way through S2.

I agree that the preachyness started to become unbearable, and this is from someone who isn’t even a US citizen.

Did they air the pilot already?

Are you serious?

This is hilarious if it’s actually true. That’d be the first show I can think of that makes fun of itself that way. If it was actually a straight-up lampoon of the law-show genre with no pretensions of seriousness at all, it would be fucking hilarious.

I love the show, but i have to agree that the preachiness has really gone over the top. i would love to see them dial that way back and focus the show more on the relationship between Denny and Alan. The interplay between them is what makes the show fun, especially the not-quite-homosexual undercurrent that defines the deep love that the share for each other that is almost family. The rest of the cast are just filler.
Changes they need to make:
Less preachy
Less annoying Brit lawyer/Jerry episodes
More Denny shooting people
Stop making everyone mac on Shirley, she is not that good looking…and she’s Denny’s :slight_smile:

It’s been leaked together with a couple of other shows, most notably the new project from J.J. Abrams - Fringe (which looks amazing). I was going to do an OP about the four leaked shows I’ve seen, but I don’t know if it would be frowned upon.

Sure.
When it’s like that, it’s probably the best sitcom on tv. When it’s preachy, this second European thinks it’s unsufferable.

The worst thing they did over the years was making Spader’s character more likeable. When he first showed up on The Practice, he was amaoral. The backstory I’ve decided on, though not official in any way or form, was that he started idealistic, left wing, but got jaded and cynical over time and is now enjoying the money and raising hell. That Alan Shore was great. The Alan Shore who seems to be running as president on a socialist platform - not so great.

The constantly moving camera bothers me more than anything else about the show. “I’m bored … let’s pan down this guy’s leg for no reason.”

It’s nice to see Shatner and Spader face off in those “weird inflection” contests, though.

This is exactly it. I love BL. It’s a comedy disguised as a drama filled law show.