Back Before It Was Good - The Practice - Volume 1

The Good: Some decent acting, Interesting story lines, Seeds of interesting character
The Bad: Only 13 episodes, Lame DVD extra, Rocky start
The Basics: Despite what The Practice became, it had a rockier start than I remembered and the DVD offers little for fans to entice them into this set.


When I recently wrote an article on the Top 10 Television Shows I No Longer Miss, I discovered that for all of the years of watching The Practice, I didn't feel any emptiness with its absence. For sure, it segued nicely into Boston Legal's first season (reviewed here!), but after years of watching it and enjoying several of the characters, I found there was nothing missing in my life with The Practice gone. Feeling I ought to have some sense of something missing, given that I devoted eight years (okay, seven and a quarter) to watching the show, I decided it was time to pick up The Practice - Volume 1 on DVD. This is "Volume One" because it includes all six episodes of the first season and seven from the second season. Why only seven? I have no idea. Apparently, the cost would have been too great to include both seasons one and two (other shows have done it!) and not cost enough to only sell the first season. Go figure.

Having rewatched the first thirteen episodes of the series again, it's a surprise the show lasted as long as it did. That's not to say it isn't good, but it isn't great. The seeds of what it became are there, but the actual greatness . . . it wasn't there from the beginning. Following a quasi-serialized storyline through its first season, The Practice builds into something worth watching, but this first volume truly is the toss of a coin for whether or not to pick it up.

Donnell and Associates is a Boston law firm headed by Bobby Donnell, a lawyer whose idealism has faded to accommodate the day to day struggle to pay the bills. As a result, he often finds himself representing drug dealers, people who expose themselves in public, and robbers. With his associates, he tries to build a respectable firm and in the process gains some notoriety in the law community for winning unwinnable cases.

In this first volume, serialized elements include cases involving Lindsay Dole prosecuting a wrongful death case against Big Tobacco, Bobby representing a doctor with anger management issues, "Free Willy," as well as an arc involving Bobby securing a loan from a friend to keep the business afloat. There are also episodic cases woven in, which involve such things as Eugene defending an armed robber, a 19 year-old accused of statutory rape, and Lindsay representing an alleged bomber.

What makes this volume such a crapshoot is that the cases are often much more interesting than the characters. The show begins its tenure as very plot-driven and it takes some time for it to evolve into something that is heavy on the character. The seeds of the characters that they come to be are definitely there and it's worthwhile to see who the principles of Donnell and Associates are. The primary characters in the first volume include:

Bobby Donnell - Founder of the firm, he's idealistic, but his idealism is fading in the face of the bills and making day-to-day ends meet. He emotionally invests himself in his cases and often believes that his clients are either not guilty or that there were procedural errors used to arrest or prosecute them. He works to hold the firm together and keep everyone focused on their cases, though he finds himself in over his head defending a doctor with rage issues,

Jimmy Berluti - An old friend of Bobby's, he is brought to the firm after falsifying loan documents to help Bobby get a loan. He is shy, awkward and does not have the killer instinct to practice law, despite being a lawyer,

Ellenor Frutt - An associate who is a cut-to-the-chase type person. She gives great arguments in court and in the office, but finds herself with little social life and difficulty making new friends because of her size,

Lindsay Dole - An efficient, highly ethical lawyer, she wants parity with Bobby, especially when she begins to take on big clients for the firm. She has a former professor who she finds herself up against in court, which makes it difficult at times for her to do her best work,

Rebecca Washington - The firm's receptionist, she acts as a paralegal for the others at Donnell and Associates,

Helen Gamble - An Assistant District Attorney and adversary to those at Donnell and Associates, she enters in the second season to take on the firm, though she works hard to keep her side of the law ethical,

and Eugene Young - A former private investigator, he is motivated by a strong desire to win. An old friend of Bobby's, he helped start the firm and he's not wild about Jimmy coming to work with the rest of the group. Eugene is a parent, though he almost never sees his son as his wife has custody of him. Eugene throws himself into his work, angrily combating prosecutorial or police misconduct against his clients.

With Volume One, the characters are getting their feet wet and despite the fact that many of the characters have known one another for years, there are still a number of scenes that feel like beginnings. The viewer has to train themselves to accept these conceits and, honestly, it's a little hard to swallow.

Similarly, some of the actors do not seem comfortable with their roles or the jargon associated with it. Kelli Williams seems to take a few episodes to get into the swing of things, as does Lisa Gay Hamilton. Michael Badaluco seems to have a much more firm grasp on his character and role once he joins the cast after his first few appearances.

Conversely, Steve Harris comes in the first episode and seems to have a firm grasp on who his character is. Harris plays Eugene and from his opening lines, he is in control and confident within the persona of the lawyer who will fight without mercy for his clients. Harris is given little opportunity to show he's enjoying himself - Eugene is quite straightlaced - though he does manage to take advantage of the few opportunities that come his way, like infusing the hints of a smile when Eugene starts betting against the ADA on a case they are trying.

The show is held together by Dylan McDermott, who stars as Bobby Donnell. This is, arguably, the role that made McDermott a household name and he holds up his end well, though the early episodes are difficult to determine where his acting is shaky and where his character is unsure. Sometimes, McDermott's cadence is off. But for the most part, he is able to assume the mantel of leadership - even if it is only of a law firm - and he plays the part well.

The only DVD extra is a featurette about the origins of the show. That's a huge disappointment for fans of the series as it is not nearly as insightful as commentary or . . . well, more featurettes would be.

The nice thing about The Practice is that while certain character elements are serialized, most of the cases (and episodes) are episodic in nature, allowing one to jump in later. Ultimately, my recommendation for this boxed set came down to a coin toss. It's pretty average television on a below average DVD presentation. But for those looking for the origins of the great show to come, this is where to start.

For other works with Camryn Manheim, be sure to visit my reviews of:
The L Word - Season 2
Dark Water
Twisted

5.5/10

For other television reviews, be sure to visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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No DVD Bonus Features, Still Ally McBeal Season Two Is The Peak Of The Series!

The Good: Funny, Clever, Excellent character development, Good cases, Compact packaging.
The Bad: No DVD bonus features.
The Basics: A perfect season of television, Ally McBeal Season Two on DVD lacks flash, but succeeds with character.


Some seasons of television are so good that when they are released on DVD, we pick them up and celebrate regardless of the fact that the DVD presentation is sadly lackluster. When Ally McBeal “The Complete Series” (reviewed here!) was released in time for Christmas a few years back, many people who know me were surprised by how I did not ultimately recommend the massive boxed set. The reason for that was simple: the show had two great seasons, a season that was good, and a shaky first year and a completely abysmal final season. The show self-destructed, imploded and did other similar clichés of collapse. But, with Ally McBeal Season Two which was released separately on DVD recently, David E. Kelley Productions has a real winner, even if the DVD presentation is nothing at all extraordinary.

Ally McBeal has been slow in arriving on DVD for a simple reason: the music. The show frequently featured Vonda Shepard performing cover versions of classic songs and while the series got clearances for the production of the episodes, they did not always get them for the video rights and securing them at a reasonable price, along with clearances from musical artists who appeared on the show, like Barry White and Al Green, have taken quite a bit of time and finagling. The result, though, is that Ally McBeal Season Two has arrived on DVD with all of its original music intact, where it belongs, with nothing added or removed. Unfortunately, there are also no bonus features for fans of the show to get excited about. At least the set does not take up much space on the shelf and does not cost all that much.

In the second season of Ally McBeal, Ally continues therapy and trying controversial cases as an associate at Cage & Fish law firm in Boston. Working alongside the love of her life, Billy, becomes somewhat easier when the firm is distracted by the arrival of new lawyers Nelle Porter and Ling Woo. Interoffice romance flies as Nelle and Cage hit it off and Richard Fish and Ling find themselves interested in one another. The office heats up when Billy finds himself jealous of Ally’s relationship with Dr. Butters after she goes through a string of bad dates. This threatens to tear apart Billy’s marriage to Georgia and the friendship Ally and Georgia had developed.

The trials this season tend to focus on the personal, as opposed to corporate or criminal law. So, for example, Cage takes a case involving a restaurant that serves horsemeat to its clients without their express knowledge and Ally tries to mediate between a priest and his choirgirl mistress. The cases range from the bizarre – a man who chopped off his dead wife’s hand to keep with him after the fact – to the absurd – a sexual harassment case that comes from “day at the beach” casual Fridays and almost every one mirrors the current events in the relationships of people at the firm of Cage & Fish. As cases are won and lost by the firm, tensions mount outside the courtroom from the behaviors of the lawyers which are less than professional more often than not.

In its second season, Ally McBeal makes the successful transition from often-maudlin soap opera to genuine comedy. It is a comedy where the humor comes organically from the character dysfunctions and the verbal banter between the characters at the office and especially in the courtroom. The absurd characters who work at Cage & Fish are mirrored by equally strange clients who often have personality ticks of their own and make the cases interesting as well as overtly humorous. But beyond that, Ally McBeal succeeds in its second season because it is not mired in dated material (though there is a preoccupation with sexual harassment that was common in the 1990s and more than one Bill Clinton joke) and because the characters actually progress.

As a result, the second season actually feels different from the first and viewers are not trapped either in the constant melodrama of Ally’s romantic attraction to the unattainable Billy or the simple preoccupation with c.g. special effects for Ally’s flights of fantasy. This was the season where the show seemed to finally get that virtually every character at Cage & Fish was more interesting than the title character. So, just as for many, the highlight of Frasier (reviewed here!) was arguably the Niles and Daphne relationship, in the second season of Ally McBeal, Cage, Fish, Nelle, Elaine and even Ling begin to rule and Billy and Georgia only pick up episodes as the season progresses and the writers seem to realize they have largely been left behind.

As with all great television, Ally McBeal is primarily character-driven. So, while each episode sees a new court case and a parade of guest characters who come through the firm, the heart of the show is with the emotional struggles of the characters. In this season, the primary characters are:

Ally McBeal – An associate lawyer at Cage & Fish, she has realized that things with Billy are likely never to be more than friendly and has begun dating a lot of people. After a string of bad dates and inappropriate attractions (like to a minor who the firm is representing), Ally finds herself attracted to Dr. Butters. Things with Butters go very well until Billy becomes jealous and Ally and Billy have a near-miss on an affair, which forces Ally to continue looking for a partner again,

Billy Thomas – Working alongside his wife, Georgia, and Ally has become less traumatic as the three have become friends and have a repartee which has developed. But seeing Ally with Butters stirs up his old feelings for her and threatens his marriage, prompting him to make a decision on what direction he wants his life and marriage to take,

Georgia Thomas – Begins to feel like a tool for becoming Ally’s friend when Ally betrays her by kissing Billy. Still, she is professional most of the time and sides with Ally in instantly hating Nelle when she appears,

Richard Fish – Eager to make more money than ever, he hires Nelle and later Ling in an attempt to boost profits. Callous and generally happy to play the field, he finds himself drawn to Ling and eager to pursue a relationship with her,

Renee – Ally’s roommate, she often acts as a prosecutor in cases Cage & Fish are representing. She becomes flirtatious with Butters, much to Ally’s annoyance,

Elaine Vassal – The firm’s legal assistant, her hopes for love with a magazine writer/editor named George are dashed when he appears attracted to Ally. She adapts by developing the “face bra” to prevent face sagging and she struggles to market it most of the season,

Nelle Porter – A blonde rainmaker whose presence immediately threatens most of the women at Cage & Fish, she is strong, efficient, legally brilliant and emotionally cold. When John Cage finds himself “drawn to her,” she begins to reciprocate in the most unlikely pairing imaginable,

Ling Woo – Nelle’s best friend, she leaves her promotional jobs to practice law again at Cage & Fish. She is put off by Cage, but finds herself attracted to Fish, despite his weird advances. She, too, is legally brilliant, but largely unliked at the office,

Vonda – She plays music at the club in the downstairs of the building Cage & Fish’s offices are in,

And John Cage – the heart of Cage & Fish, he is a brilliant lawyer, but is very eccentric. As a result, he stutters, is easily flustered and takes up such hobbies as raising a frog for competitive leaping. He is deeply emotive, but often alone. He is Ally’s most trusted confidant outside Renee and is invaluable to her as he shares her lack of touch with reality. As he approaches thirty-five, he finds himself attracted to Nelle and is surprised when she seems to reciprocate his feelings.

In the second season, Ally McBeal does not rely on gimmicks like guest stars who are highlighted or crossovers with The Practice to drive ratings up or bring attention to the show. As a result, this becomes a wonderful character study of some very lovable, very weird lawyers plying their craft and keeping equally eccentric people out of jail.

On DVD, there are no bonus features, so this boxed set offers viewers nothing they wouldn’t get from the syndicated versions of the episodes. But, at least they can watch the episodes unedited, in full, anytime they want. It is rare that the programming is so good to warrant a perfect rating for a DVD collection based on the original programming content alone, but Ally McBeal Season two works. It stands up, even years later and watching it on DVD reminded me why I watched the show and how much I missed it when it was good.

For other works featuring Greg Germann, please check out my reviews of:
Bolt
Quarantine

10/10

For other television reviews, be sure to check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the shows I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Opening A Series With Mixed Promise: Ally McBeal Arrives On DVD With "Complete First Season!"

The Good: Moments of humor, Level of dialogue, Moments of acting
The Bad: Some terrible performances/plots, Lack of DVD bonus features, Takes a while to get going.
The Basics: A decent program, Ally McBeal's first season arrives on DVD with no bonus features, making it a tough sell for the repetitive and melodramatic nature of the stories.


Many, many people have been waiting for David E. Kelley productions like Picket Fences, Boston Public, and The Practice to make their way to DVD. Indeed, one of the most anticipated releases of 2009 was Kelley's Ally McBeal which has finally hit DVD as both "The Complete Series" (reviewed here!) and individual seasons. Concurrent with the "Complete Series" release was Ally McBeal: The Complete First Season, a six-disc set featuring all 22 episodes of the first season of the show. For those who have not seen the series, Ally McBeal employs a rich collection of music, usually covered by singer Vonda Shepard and getting the legal clearances (affordably) for the DVD releases has been a real hassle.

Now that it has hit DVD, I find myself considering Ally McBeal: The Complete First Season with a sense of indifference I was not sure I had ever felt for the series. In fact, it wasn't until I went back to the reviews I wrote for my college newspaper when Ally McBeal premiered in 1997 that I recalled I had not always been a devoted fan of the series. Truth-be-told, Ally McBeal has a very rocky first season and as a result, it is very easy to dismiss it. David E. Kelley created the melodramatic legal soap opera, gave actress Calista Flockhart her shot and even that team could not guarantee a winner.

The thing is, Ally McBeal is a legal dramady (or dramedy, the correct spelling has not actually been canonized yet) and some of it is entirely hit-or-miss. The show deserves a lot of credit for assembling a weird, eclectic cast of characters and putting them in situations that are personally difficult and professionally awkward, but sometimes the intent does not mean success with the execution. As a result, many of the dramatic moments in Ally McBeal The Complete First Season feel like melodrama or are spoiled by moments of comedy. And some of the moments that could be most comedically valuable, viewers will find are actually traumatically sad on the field of human drama (in other words, they are funny until the moment one thinks about them, then they become horrified they laughed at them).

For those unfamiliar with it, the idea behind Ally McBeal is a rare legal comedy, much like David E. Kelley's Boston Legal (reviewed here!). Written with a strong female protagonist (the title character), Ally McBeal is the story of a lawyer who gets fired from one firm, hired to the craziest firm in Boston and struggles while there to keep her hands off the love of her life.

In the first season of Ally McBeal, Ally is fired from her law firm when she alleges sexual harassment against one of the partners there (he grabs her butt). On her way out, she runs into her Harvard Law classmate Richard Fish, who is an unscrupulous man who is only into law for the money. Fish offers Ally a position at his firm, Cage & Fish, where Ally runs into the love of her life, Billy, and his wife, Georgia. As Ally reels from the idea of working alongside her true love, John Cage returns from a business trip the subject of a lawsuit which Ally must represent him on.

As Ally struggles to keep her hands off Billy, she begins trying cases at Cage & Fish that make her known around the Boston legal community. She starts dating, even finding a doctor she likes quite a bit before becoming even more trouble for Billy and Georgia. While she tries to not be a homewrecker (in the process getting into kickboxing with Georgia), she takes on therapy from an unconventional therapist who challenges her to find a theme song for her life and struggles with hallucinations. Cage & Fish see a lot of money come into the firm from cases like two people who want to swap hearts but cannot legally do so, a case involving three people who want to be legally considered married and a sexual harassment case from one of their own!

The cases tend to be more social and civil in subject (The Practice was concerned with the criminal cases at the same time on competing ABC) and many of the cases either mirror relationship issues between Ally or other principle characters or set characters at one another. For example, Renee - Ally's roommate and best friend - goes up against John Cage a couple of time and Ally and Renee square off in "Happy Birthday, Baby." But cases like the one in "Forbidden Fruits," which mirror the Ally/Billy/Georgia love triangle, are the more common ones.

The primary characters in the first season of Ally McBeal - which is arguably character-driven - are:

Ally McBeal - A twenty-eight (she turns twenty-nine in one of the later episodes of the season) year-old lawyer, she is ethical and somewhat flighty, but essentially a good person. As a child, she and Billy smelled each other's butts (like dogs do) and fell in love with him. Hired at Cage & Fish, she puts up with absurdities from her co-workers and begins hallucinating (a dancing baby being one of her most common hallucinations) and she tries such things as telling a dirty joke on stage to upstage Renee. She lives with Renee and tries dating Dr. Butters, but discovers her heart is very much tied to Billy,

Billy - A competent lawyer who is married to Georgia, he is torn between his affection for Ally and his love for his wife. In fact, when he sees Ally kiss another man, he becomes jealous based more on his memories than his current desires. He is an articulate litigator who wants bigger cases than he often has a chance for at the firm,

Georgia - Billy's wife, she is catty and direct in not appreciating Ally's position at Cage & Fish. She asks Ally to leave and is stymied when Ally stays with the firm and often confesses problems to him. She wants to start a family with Billy and advance in Cage & Fish. She gets into a physical fight with Ally after both start kickboxing,

Renee - Ally's roommate, she worries Ally might be coming unhinged. Knowing Ally is hallucinating, she tries to help her friend. Attracted to Dr. Butters, she is sexually aggressive and even flirts with John Cage a time or two. She sings downstairs at the club sometimes while hanging out with her friends from Cage & Fish,

Elaine - The firm's secretary, she dresses provocatively and Ally feels somewhat threatened by her. She gets depressed around the holidays and when her outfits lead her to be viewed in a less-professional manner, she sues the firm for sexual harassment,

Richard Fish - One of the two senior partners at the firm, he is unscrupulous and out for money only. He has an on-again, off-again relationship with Judge Whipper Cone, whom he loves for her waddle (the fleshy part of the throat). He speaks quickly and tries to move things along with curt, unfeeling, apologies ("Bygones") and he tends to be quite base with trying to meet his needs,

And John Cage - The other senior partner, he enters the series in disgrace, stuttering through accusations of sexual misconduct. He is a basketcase who is also legally brilliant and actually wants to help people. He begins smile therapy (smiling even through things that frustrate him in order to try to feel better), stutters frequently and is drawn to Ally. When it becomes clear that Ally will not reciprocate his feelings, he becomes her good friend and confidant. As the season progresses, he becomes more confident and actually tries to talk with Ally about her feelings for Billy. He is the heart and soul of Cage & Fish.

Ally McBeal is problematic because in the first season, the initial character aspects are more often repeated than developed beyond. As a result, Ally and Billy have a terribly melodramatic relationship and Georgia's part in the weird triangle is more often repetitive and simple than an actual challenge to either of them. As well, both Ally and Billy are played by performers (Calista Flockhart and Gil Bellows, respectively) who have often lacking sexual chemistry on screen. While the directors try hard, Bellows is frequently stiff (not in the idea way for a romantic story, either) and Flockhart seems to have a particularly difficult time of establishing the character. While other dramadies mix the comedy and drama well, Ally McBeal mixes it poorly. Flockhart is partially to blame for this in that her idea of acting dramatically at many points in this first season consists of her staring blankly and wide-eyed forward like a deer in the headlights (still not sure what the emotion is supposed to be most of the time . . .).

On the flip side, Peter MacNichol is absolutely brilliant as John Cage. MacNichol is completely convincing in his stuttering and frustrated body language. He has an amazing sense of comic timing (his part in "Boy To The World," where Fish is arguing to have a relative who hated shorter people eulogized at the family church where he despised the short people, is hilarious) and he times every joke perfectly. As well, he is convincingly brilliant and his closings are frequently stirring and absolutely worth watching multiple times.

On DVD, Ally McBeal The Complete First Season comes with no bonus features. There is nothing extra for the fans in this set and it is a tough sell on this set as opposed to watching it in syndication.

The first season of Ally McBeal belabors the Billy/Ally relationship and while the cases are funny, the show is a more mediocre than extraordinary first season. The show has some (rightful) distinction in this first season for the frankness of the sexual dialogue and it is a rare comedy that used CG special effects. But in the end, it is hardly enough to recommend it. This is thoroughly average and all of the essential points are repeated in subsequent (better) seasons.

For other courtrooms on television, check out my reviews of:
“Tribunal”
“Measure Of A Man”
“Court-Martial”

5/10

For other television reviews, be sure to visit my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the television programs and episodes I have reviewed!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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The Rise And Fall Of Dramady: Why Ally McBeal Flops As "The Complete Series."

The Good: The early seasons
The Bad: The later seasons
The Basics: After a rocky start, Ally McBeal takes a turn for the truly great, but midway through the series, this becomes a huge letdown before ending in utter disappointment.


It might seem an odd thing that I, who has long advocated for television shows that have been off the air for some time release their series' on DVD as complete series packs before releasing individual seasons would not recommend Ally McBeal: The Complete Series, when this is exactly what David E. Kelley has done with his much-beloved series. It might also seem strange that as someone who watched all five seasons of Ally McBeal when it was on that I would not recommend the boxed set. But truth be told, Ally McBeal, which many see as David E. Kelley's great success is actually one of the true tragedies of actors abandoning their posts and gutting a series.

As a result, Ally McBeal is an incredibly erratic series and the milestone for me in the release of "Ally McBeal: The Complete Series" hitting DVD is that back when I was in college, I reviewed Ally McBeal for the college paper during pilot season. I panned the first episode and did not give it long. A few years later, I was loyally watching and I was eating crow for my early words. But those who would be quick to defend Ally McBeal need to look at the entire series and this boxed set, unfortunately, illustrates the entire arc of the legal dramedy.

What begins as a funny and quirky legal drama that did something no other television show was doing at the time - namely using state-of-the-art special effects on a drama/comedy - evolves into a rich character piece that is consistently hilarious with the interpersonal relationships and astonishingly clever with the legal conundrums the show illustrated. But in the middle season, one of the actors abruptly left the show and the fundamental dynamic of the series was upset. The show never recovered from that and it wasn't for a lack of trying. After recovering with an inspired cast addition - Robert Downey Jr., who won awards for his work on the series - personal problems off-camera forced Downey Jr. to leave. After the already tumultuous season, the show tried to reinvent itself and the final season became one of the worst seasons of any television show to ever grace television.

But for those who love strong female characters and television shows that can both make one laugh and bring tears to the eyes, Ally McBeal: The Complete Series seems like it might be a good investment. But, truth be told, the series is so erratic that it is much easier to wait around for the few extraordinary seasons of the show to make their way to DVD. For fans of the series; you've waited this long, hold on longer. Ally McBeal will be released as individual seasons; concurrent with the release of this big boxed set was "Season One." But because there is so much repetition in the series of the key character elements, it is very easy to start with the best seasons and just keep one's collection with the prime stock (Seasons Two and Three).

Ally McBeal opens with the title character, fresh out of law school, trying to find a job at any Boston firm that would have her. She randomly runs into her unscrupulous classmate, Richard Fish, on the street and he agrees to hire Ally to his firm. What Fish doesn't know to tell her is that one of the other lawyers at the firm is Billy, the first man Ally ever loved, and his wife, Georgia. As Ally, Georgia and Billy try to make their professional and personal lives work - without Billy running off to be with Ally - Ally and the firm of Cage and Fish fight legal battles that try to make the world a better place.

So, as Ally goes through disastrous dates (and returns home at night to cry on her roommate Renee's shoulders), she spends her day trying cases like lobbying for the rights of two prisoners to get married, over the objections of the warden. The firm also tackles cases like defending a young man who assaulted someone after he was verbally provoked and an age discrimination case that pits Ally against her former law firm. The cases generally have social relevancy as well as parallels to the character's lives at the time.

As the series progresses, John Cage - the moral center of Cage & Fish - comes to rely on Ally more and he hires other lawyers for the firm. As a result of hiring people like Nelle Porter and the often-indifferent Ling, Cage & Fish becomes a hotbed of hormones. As relationships come and go, Ally and John work to win cases to better Boston and the world while balancing Fish's greed, Ling's selfishness, and Nelle's coldness.

Ally McBeal deals with cases involving society and law in Bill Clinton's America. The firm takes on topics like gay marriage and "don't ask, don't tell," as well as more frequent cases involving relationships gone sour. The firm of Cage & Fish usually has a socially-relevant case and a case that mirrors the personal problems of members of the firm. So, for example, when John and Nelle defend a boy who kisses beautiful girls at school, it helps reveal how insecure Cage is about his relationship with Nelle and how she is his exact ideal.

What separated Ally McBeal from other shows at the time - and even since - was a level of frank sexual dialogue that explored love and relationships from a female perspective. This is chick flick television and without the directness and the mix of humor and drama, it is unlikely that shows like Sex & The City would have managed to be successful and enduring. Portraying a level of dialogue and a female perspective on relationships and sex that had not been presented on television, Ally McBeal deserves its reputation as entertaining and in some ways groundbreaking.

Mixed in with serious stories that tested the law and emotional moments which explored human relationships, were iconic moments of humor that took the form of hallucinations. Ally frequently hallucinated, most commonly a dancing baby which represented her own desire to have a child. At times of stress or excitement, Ally would have Looney Tunes-like hallucinations where she would feel her heart beating or her eyes would pop out of her head. These were sometimes distracting and as Ally got deeper into therapy, they were eventually phased out of the show.

What Ally McBeal has that all great shows have are great characters. The characters are vivid, memorable and they each have distinct character conflicts and quirks. The principle characters in the series are:

Ally McBeal - A young lawyer who never got over her first love, Billy, she comes to work at Cage & Fish alongside him. Despite his lingering love for her, Ally tries to date others and even has a bear-miss relationship with John Cage. She is a competent lawyer who closes from her heart and who struggles to better herself. She is the soul of Cage & Fish,

Georgia - Ally's romantic rival, she is married to Billy and becomes immediately territorial of him. When she cannot stand Ally and Billy making eyes at one another, she leaves the firm, though her departures are seldom permanent,

Billy - A fairly mature lawyer who is married and devoted to Georgia, he soon becomes conflicted over lingering feelings for Ally. He is a good lawyer, but his heart is clearly divided,

John Cage - One of the firm's senior partners, he is nicknamed "the biscuit" (derogatorily), he is a wealth of personality quirks. While Ally finds her own theme song, John has a remote control for the toilet so he is insured a clean bowl, occasionally stutters and is a brilliant legal mind. He develops a romance with Nelle,

Richard Fish - The other senior partner at Cage & Fish, he is motivated almost entirely by greed and sex. He is an awkward friend to John and he develops a relationship with Ling after having a longtime fling with a judge with a waddle that he cannot resist,

Elaine Vassal - The slutty personal assistant to the firm, she likes to sing, gets depressed around the holidays and is an exhibitionist when she is depressed. She tries inventing various products throughout the series, with limited results,

Renee - Ally's roommate sidekick. She is Ally's sounding board and (seriously) disappears without mention after the essential conflict with Ally is resolved,

Vonda - The singer at the lounge below the firm, she does a musical number at the end of almost every episode. She does not so much have a character as she appears for musical accompaniment,

Nelle Porter - Icy, she is brought on by John Cage, who has a crush on her. She is efficient, professional and restrained compared to others at the firm,

And Ling - Nelle's best friend, she uses sex to get what she wants out of Richard. She has ambitions of her own and she acts frequently as an antagonist to Ally.

Ally McBeal has other characters, in the later seasons, but to go into them would ruin some of the plot surprises of the show. By the end of the series, very few of the original characters are part of the show and those who are tend to be in radically different capacities. This is the show that made Calista Flockhart, who played Ally, a household name. Flockhart does a decent job of emoting and she becomes a reasonable champion for professional women everywhere. She has a somewhat bland sense of comic timing, but she is used well. Ally McBeal has a wonderful cast that plays off one another perfectly. The cast, at its peak, included Flockhart, Greg Germann, Lucy Liu, Portia di Rossi, and Jane Krakowski.

But the actor who steals the show most consistently is Peter MacNicol as John Cage. MacNicol is dramatically convincing when he stutters and comedically brilliant when he delivers humorous reactions or absurdist statements. MacNicol is clever, funny and he is able to emote so well that when his character is in pain, it is impossible not to empathize with him.

But the greatness of the series, even MacNicol's, is mortgaged by the end. The boxed set clearly reveals how changes brought about by the actors and their desires to have careers which diverged from the show, forced the series to make abrupt turns, from which the series never recovered.

On DVD as a 32-disc set, this dramedy includes all of the original music (which was a factor holding up its release all of these years). On the bonus disc there is the crossover episode between Ally McBeal and "The Practice" (the other show's half of it). As well there is a new featurette on the entire series with interviews from some surprising members of the cast and crew. There is also a disc with the best soundtrack moments which is a take-it-or-leave-it disc. There are, alas, no commentary tracks, so fans might be a bit disappointed by that. Fortunately, this does not include the digest show "Ally!"

As odd as it is for me to write, hold out for the individual seasons; this is a series that became unfortunately worse with age and while there are truly amazing seasons of the show, "Ally McBeal: The Complete Series" is not homogeneously great. Fans will want to get the best seasons and let the rest fall by the wayside.

For a better idea of the content of this boxed set, please visit my reviews of:
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5

For other shows that originally aired on FOX, please check out my reviews of:
Family Guy Presents: It’s A Trap!
Glee - Season Two
Fringe - Season Three
Arrested Development
Wonderfalls
Firefly
The Lone Gunmen
Millennium
VR.5
The X-Files
Ned And Stacey - Season 1
The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.

4.5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my Television Review Index Page for an organized listing by clicking here!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Boston Legal: How I Survived The Bush Years. . . Now A Set Of Coasters.

The Good: VERY funny, Very timely, Interesting characters/formula.
The Bad: Character additions (and subtractions) make for an erratic series, Very dated, Very formulaic.
The Basics: Boston Legal entertained me during some rough political years, but now David E. Kelley's last real success sits idle because it was so tied to the specifics of that time.


I am a proud liberal and a fan of the works of David E. Kelley. But as I sit contemplating the Boston Legal complete series bundle pack, I am unsurprised that ABC Home Video has not sprung for a sleek, interesting series pack which would do justice to the series. For all five years of it, I watched Boston Legal and it became an invaluable tool in making me feel like I was not alone and true freedoms in our democracy in the United States were not, in fact, dead. But now, only three years after I mourned the show's passing on television, I find I am less able to get into it and hardly excited by it when I try for a marathon viewing.

The reason for this is simple. Despite my love of the overall series, Boston Legal is very erratic season-to-season and it both became mired in what it was and tried to live in denial of another aspect of what it was. Put simply, one aspect of Boston Legal was that it was a formulaic law dramedy with quirky characters making a mockery out of Bush-era politics and saying what the liberals in the United States wished their ideological leaders would have the balls to stand up and say. The aspect of itself that it tried to deny almost every year was that it was the show with the most mature (in age) cast on television, so they tried to dilute their talent with youth. In a cast dominated by regulars William Shatner, James Spader, Candice Bergen and Rene Auberjonois, Taraji P. Henson, Justin Mentell, Rhona Mitra and Lake Bell would enter and depart because their characters didn't fit the paradigm or corporate culture of a serious, older law firm.

The Boston Legal Seasons 1 - 5 pack is a simple bundle pack consisting of the standard DVD releases of:
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
and Season 5 without any additional bonus features, discs, or incentives.

Boston Legal is the story of five years at the Boston law firm Crane, Poole and Schmidt. Brilliant lawyer Denny Crane hires the largely unethical lawyer Alan Shore to boost the law firm's reputation and bottom line. Shore clashes with the more professional Paul Lewiston, Brad Chase and Denise Bauer and develops a flirtation with senior partner Shirley Schmidt. Denny Crane, in addition to never losing a case, comes to believe he suffers from Mad Cow Disease and turns to Alan to help him in his personal life. While Alan gets Denny help for his early-stage Alzheimer's, Alan finds other projects to keep himself busy, like fighting Bush-era Constitutional violations and helping out Jerry Espenson, a sufferer of Asburger's Syndrome.

While Denny and Alan become the best of friends, they frequently disagree on the politics of cases they try, which range from a girl suing her school when she gets AIDS because her education was limited to "abstinence only" to suing Big Pharma for taking advantage of senior citizens. The firm represents a client from the Sudan who sues the U.S. for not stopping genocide there and schoolteachers fired for not teaching Creationism in their science classes. And on and on, after a point always ending with Denny and Alan on the balcony at the law firm drinking their scotch.

Boston Legal has a lot going for it. First, it is a rare show that illustrates two men in a growing, largely healthy relationship with one another. Despite the fact that Denny is largely a conservative homophobe and Alan is a very heterosexual liberal, the men get along and even get to the point where they can tell one another they love each other (because they know they don't mean in a homosexual way). That level of maturity in the characters and in the writing is an exceptional thing to see and it has largely been absent on television since Boston Legal went off the air.

As well, Boston Legal has great writing for issues. Writing about the legal implications of the Defense of Marriage Act, the "war on terror," the Iraq War, the No Child Left Behind Act and Bush blunders worked wonderfully to create a series of counterpoints to the . . . well, news during the latter half of the Bush Administration, but now, with some distance they lack the urgency of the time. In other words, Boston Legal spoke articulately at a time when no one was speaking with particular elocution in American politics and now it seems less necessary or vital.

Moreover, I wish that were remedied by great characters. Now, the show has some appeal for the five minutes per episode spent on actual character issues, but the characters were hardly always likable and, frankly, most went underdeveloped because the show was so issue-oriented. Even so, it is worth noting that the major, enduring characters of the series included:

Alan Shore - Having left Young, Frutt and Berlutti, he becomes friends with Denny Crane and sets up a strong record of winning cases. However, he begins to suffer from word salad, night terrors and other psychological disorders that make him vulnerable, requiring him to rely upon the unreliable Denny for both advice and companionship. He pulls out all of the ethical stops to win cases and even circumvents the law to save his friends, including Shirley when she is kidnaped,

Shirley Schmidt - A strong feminist partner, she and Denny once had a very real romance, but she returns to Crane, Poole and Schmidt in Boston because Denny and Alan have gotten out of control. She assigns cases and keeps Denny and Alan in line while advancing personal causes of her own, like taking cases that help to keep abortion legal,

Paul Lewiston - An efficient, older partner, he is responsible for keeping the bottomline rising and accepting cases for the firm that will keep the place both profitable and prestigious. His daughter is a drug addict and requires help and compassion that he has an awkward time delivering,

Brad Chase - One of the firm's rising stars when Alan starts, he is much more serious than most of the lawyers at the firm and he is very concerned with the letter of the law and the prestige of the firm. He spars with Alan and Jeffrey Coho, competing for Denise Bauer's affections,

Denise Bauer - One of the few women who does not find Alan Shore irresistible, she tends to be more pragmatic. She gets into an unlikely relationship with Brad,

Jerry Espenson - An associate at the firm who works on finance law, who suffers from Asberger's Syndrome, he is befriended by Alan when he is treated poorly by the firm and responds by taking Shirley hostage. Over the years, Alan helps him get his job back, get treatment and even stabilize his relationships . . . much to Denny's chagrin,

Clarence - A transvestite who is initially represented by the firm until they realize he has a law degree himself. Alan, Jerry and Clarence have a few adventures which inspire jealousy from Denny,

and Denny Crane - The wacky litigator who relies on his celebrity to astound juries. He is a big supporter of George W. Bush and manages to see the talent in Alan Shore. He comes to rely upon Alan each time his heart is broken and when he needs medical treatment for his Alzheimer's, which is growing more and more problematic.

Even now, Boston Legal is a jewel for the acting. William Shatner has amazing comic delivery as Denny Crane and he sells his character's absurd beliefs in George Bush's policies amazingly well. He has great on-screen chemistry with James Spader's Alan Shore and the two play off one another as one of the great odd couples of television history. Backed by actors like Candice Bergen, Rene Auberjonois, Christian Clemenson, John Laroquette, Mark Valley and Julie Bowen, Boston Legal is one of the richest casts television ever had . . . even if it changes frequently.

In fact, more than when it was on the air, Boston Legal when viewed as a body of work suffers because of how executive producer David E. Kelley had to try to pander to the Studio's whims. The cast frequently is shaken up with younger faces who bring marginal acting abilities and have little chemistry with the more focused and mature performers. And, in the end, that combined with the very dated nature of the caseload at Crane, Poole & Schmidt make this more a sign of the times than a timeless television classic.

For other television series' that made their debut on ABC, please check out my reviews of:
V - Season 1
Lost
Invasion
Once & Again - Season 2
Once & Again - Season 1
Sports Night

6.5/10

For other television reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Dead Before Its Time, Too Short A Season Undermines The Great Boston Legal Season 5!

The Good: Consistently funny, Wonderful acting, Great characters
The Bad: Few episodes, Light on DVD bonus features
The Basics: With only thirteen episodes and few bonus features to acknowledge its passing, Boston Legal Season 5 ends the story of the law firm of Crane, Poole and Schmidt.


[This review was originally written shortly after Boston Legal was canceled. I liked the tone of it, so I've kept the tenses as they were in the original. Enjoy! - W.L. Swarts]

I remember when Boston Legal was canceled; I ought to, it was just four months ago. I had been busy for the week between episodes and when the two-part series finale aired, I had not seen any promos announcing that. So, I sat confused at the end of the episode waiting for the preview of the next episode until my mother told me that that was the series finale. I began to swear something fierce at that point, enough that I made her blush. I hate losing friends and familiar characters. For some very trying years, the characters on Boston Legal were constants and losing them saddened me; the show went before its time.

Dropping now on DVD, the fifth and final season is a testament to the strength of the writing of David E. Kelley and shall remain a product of its time. And it is not entirely like I did not know the show was being canceled; the writing was on the walls, the allusions were being made within the show, but when the final episode plays, fans will be eager to see how the fourteenth episode of the fifth season plays out; there are so many big changes, it will be exciting to see how the show continues. But alas, Boston Legal Season 5 has only thirteen episodes and despite the wonderful new directions for most all of the characters by the finale, the potentials are not actualized.

The law firm of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt is humming along fighting the good fight in the waning days of the Bush Administration when lead partner Denny Crane's borderline Alzheimer's begins to develop into the full blown disease. As his friend Alan Shore wrestles with the potential of losing his best friend, juggles ex-lovers and contemplates an Obama Administration, Denny pines for Shirley and finds himself slipping further into disoriented states. As the firm closes ranks to protect Denny and the firm, Shirley and Carl grow closer and Jerry lobbies once again for partner, getting an unexpected ally in the process.

Catherine Piper returns and the cases the firm takes continue to tread toward the bizarre and counter-reactionary even as the elections heat up. Carl aids Shirley's granddaughter in a legal problem and opens up to some of the absurdities around the office and on Thanksgiving a dinner at Shirley's changes everything. As the economy worsens, Crane, Poole, and Schmidt becomes financially unstable and an old friend returns with a bailout plan that no one is comfortable with.

Boston Legal is a legal dramedy that featured the most mature cast on television and in its fifth season, the show finally unabashedly embraces that fact. For the first time in years, the series does not try to shake things up by adding new, younger cast members. Instead, this season the series is remarkably stable with its (mostly) over fifty cast (the obvious exception is Tara Summers, who still holds her own with veterans John Laroquette, Candice Bergen and William Shatner). In the fifth season, Boston Legal embraces its status as programming for a more mature audience, including a hilarious moment in "Juiced" where Carl represents Catherine in suing networks for not programming for the aging boomers when Carl breaks the fourth wall.

In addition to being comfortable with exactly what it is, Season Five of Boston Legal becomes very comfortable with being a product of its time, eagerly anticipating the Obama Administration and railing against those who voted for John McCain. Here there is an appreciable irony; when Boston Legal began, the intent was for the show to focus on civil law, but it soon became the lone series on television railing against the legal abuses of the Bush Administration. Cases, however, quickly evolved from workplace law into legal arguments against the policies of the Bush Administration. And there is no escaping the show's bias; the lone conservative character on Boston Legal is the one who is, literally, crazy!

In the fifth season of Boston Legal, the show races toward its end, it becomes a bit more experimental, including not having a case for the "Thanksgiving" episode, which instead serves as a round robin on social issues of the day and moves into intense character conflicts. Outside that, though, the show continues to challenge the authority and institutions that prevent the actualization of freedom in the early part of the new millennium. Cases include actions against the lawyers of the firm as Denny gets busted for carrying a concealed weapon, Alan and Denny are charged with adultery in Utah, Alan is busted for betting on a case, and Jerry assaults a man who mocks him at a coffee shop.

But largely, the cases are political and Boston Legal uses its time to make a series of referendums on social issues, often in unexpected ways. So, for example, an abortion case actually sets Alan and Shirley against one another when Shirley becomes troubled with Alan's absolutist pro-choice, pro-abortion stance. Jerry finds himself in the uncomfortable position of suing a sperm bank to find out if his nephew might be dating a biological half-sister! The firm takes on Big Tobacco (again), gun laws, the death penalty and pharmaceutical companies.

Throughout the fifth season, Boston Legal rails against unjust policies with a wit and sense of humor that makes it consistently and enduringly funny. For sure, it is a product of its times, but it transcends just the times by having a humor about itself that is clever and not limited to legal humor. So, for example, when Denny and Alan go to Utah, there are farcical moments where they tent swap with a woman who has been making eyes at them most of the trip. Still, as the show races toward its end, the cases become more personal for the lawyers and they get into the influences of foreign businesses, the problems with big pharma's methods and even gay and lesbian civil rights.

In the fifth season, Boston Legal, the show is populated by familiar characters and here is how the show finds the regulars (or irregulars) of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt:

Alan Shore - Wrestling with issues regarding two ex-loves, one who needs him to defend her husband, one representing the opposition in a case he is working, he soon finds himself relying more on Denny. As Denny's health turns and the financial future of the firm is put in jeopardy, he looks to do some charitable work and realizes that the closest person in his life is Denny,

Jerry Espenson - Functional enough now to legitimately fight for partnership, he appeals to Denny to sponsor his advancement and is shocked when Denny agrees to help . . . for an odd price. He and Katie work closer together and become troubled by the concept of private prisons and the abuses that occur there,

Katie - Supporting Jerry more than striking out on her own, she revises her long-held beliefs about relationships to let him in more. She is frustrated with the way Jerry begins to stand up for himself with violence, though,

Shirley Schmidt - Troubled by Denny's declining mental health, which brings up many of her own issues, she comes to rely a lot more on Carl. Fighting with Alan about abortion and working to keep her granddaughter's record clear, she finds herself defending Catherine Piper in court and looking into an uncertain future,

Carl Sack - The bearer of bad news, Carl soon discovers that the economic downturn means that Crane, Poole and Schmidt is hemorrhaging money, despite winning their cases. He and Denny work together to keep a correction's officer out of jail when a botched state execution becomes a mercy killing. He throws caution to the wind and advances his relationship with Shirley,

and Denny Crane - As he begins to lose perspective on a weekly basis, the worst case scenario is confirmed; he is showing the early signs of Alzheimer's Disease. He comes to rely on Alan and tries to buy his way into a test drug program but soon finds a more interesting and extreme way of getting treatment!

For the two-part finale, Rene Auberjonois reappears as Paul Lewiston and it is a case of "I never knew how much I missed him until he returned!" Auberjonois is a great actor and his return to Boston Legal for the final two episodes is a true gift.

By this point, the acting on Boston Legal is polished and to comment much on it would be redundant. Earlier seasons have illustrated Shatner's comic chops and Laroquette squeezed effortlessly into the cast in the fourth season, illustrating his ability and the rest of the cast's ability to accommodate a newcomer. Christian Clemenson has his beats down perfectly as Jerry and James Spader mastered Alan Shore before the series even began (in the final season of The Practice). Candice Bergen is given moments to reassert her greatness in episodes like "Roe" where she gets to put a twist on Shirley's character in the abortion debate. Boston Legal had the most mature cast on television and the result was a series of polished performances that consistently knock the socks off viewers with the professionalism and sense of comic timing the actors utilize.

On DVD, The Complete Fifth Season of Boston Legal is light on extras. There is a feaurette that looks at the entire series and there is a commentary track on the finale which manages to be more than just Kelley and the cast complaining about the premature death of the series. With only thirteen episodes, viewers have every right to complain; this is a pretty expensive boxed set for so few episodes.

Still, the cast and creator of the show make good use of the final thirteen episodes and this boxed set is pretty essential for those who love great legal dramas and smart comedies. Truly, this was killed before its time, but as the characters themselves noted, an Obama Administration certainly offered them less fodder to work with. Through that lens, this is a nice bookend to some legally dismal years in the United States and if the worst thing about the end of the Bush Administration is the loss of Boston Legal, perhaps that is a price worth paying.

For other works featuring Christian Clemenson, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Veronica Mars Season 1
The West Wing Season 3
The Adventures Of Brisco County Jr.

7.5/10

For other television reviews, please check out my index page by clicking here to find an organized listing of what I have reviewed in this area!

© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Date This! Boston Legal Shakes It Up For "The Complete Fourth Season" On DVD!

The Good: Wonderful new cast members, Great character work, Interesting cases
The Bad: Lack of impressive DVD bonus features, Dated.
The Basics: Even with only twenty episodes, the addition of John Larroquette to Boston Legal infuses the fourth season with life and zest that makes the DVD worth buying!


[This review was originally written in June of 2008. I enjoyed the narrative voice of it, so I decided to keep in intact. Enjoy!]

Last Tuesday, I lost a friend. I lost a good, dear, and beloved friend on Tuesday at 11 P.M. and the worst part about it was that I didn't know I was losing it until it was gone. Having heard the rumors that the fifth season would be its last, despite the many allusions the week before, it was only when the final credits rolled on Tuesday's double-long episode that I realized Boston Legal was over. It has been a long time since I have sworn as vehemently and articulately as I did on Tuesday. So, the only balm I had was picking up Boston Legal - The Complete Fourth Season on DVD. The twenty-episode season is one of the stronger boxed sets to appear following last year's writer's strike, but now as I contemplate it, I just wish there were more.

In its fourth season, Boston Legal is once again plagued by the network-demanded standards of trying to sex the show up by bringing in younger cast members. Once again, the attempt did not work and by the end of the season, only two of the new characters remained. Fortunately, they were good and decent characters and the show entered its final season with one of its tightest casts ever. But this season saw the addition of John Larroquette as Carl Sack and Tara Summers as Katie Lloyd to enhance the cast and the arrival and departure of Taraji P. Henson as Whitney Rome and Saffron Burrows as Lorraine Weller. And despite the distractions from the rearranging of the cast, the absence of Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston, and the formulaic feeling to the show, Boston Legal makes for a great DVD set for the fourth season.

In the fourth season, Crane, Poole and Schmidt is restructured, largely to keep the mentally unstable Denny Crane in check. Carl Sack arrives from the New York office and instead of pacifying the firm, the eccentricities of Clarence and Jerry begin to wear him down and his romantic relationship with Shirley Schmidt causes Denny to become more unstable. As well, Alan is plagued by the hiring of lawyer Lorraine Weller, who has incredible sexual power over him.

The cases in this season have a tendency to pit the lawyers of the firm against one another at various points, like Alan and Shirley arguing opposite sides of a case and a season finale that has Alan and Denny debating patriotism and dissent in the courtroom. Clarence gets into trouble with his mortgage rates, Jerry is sued for sexual harassment, Denny is sued for firing a fat lawyer. But some of the cases are absolutely brilliant, including one involving a young woman who sues her school for teaching abstinence only education when she gets HIV as a result of how sex education was taught to her. Shirley and Alan sue a delegate for changing their vote in a primary election and Alan goes to the Supreme Court in defense of a mentally retarded man who is being sentenced to death for sexually assaulting a girl. As well, Carl soon reveals that despite their winning record, the firm's books are not balancing and without some cases that make real money (instead of just shaking things up) Crane, Poole and Schmidt is in serious trouble.

The cases are topical and timely, the characters continue to evolve and Boston Legal has a number of high points in the fourth season. As well, by this time, Denny and Alan end each episode out on the balcony, smoking cigars, drinking and waxing philosophical. I don't drink and deplore smoking, but I love the scenes and they contain a camaraderie uncommon in television.

I'm a fan of Boston Legal, but it is in rewatching the series on DVD that one comes to realize how repetitive the show is. As with the prior season, the biggest changes involve the rotating characters and in the topical cases taken by the firm. Indeed, David E. Kelley is the loudest writer on television today fighting the policies of the Bush Administration and the Congressional ineptitudes that allow them to persist. The cases that seek to raise the public debate about the War On Terror (a fired officer who was honest about his homosexuality sues in this season), the use of patriotism as a means of control, and the fluctuating housing market keep the show fresh and one of the defining programs of the mid-2000s.

What this means in the long run is that the boxed set of "Season Four" will be best as a historical document, save for the important development of the show's characters. With the current Administration on its way out, one suspects Boston Legal took its curtain call at an appropriate time (though as a liberal I would have liked to see Kelley's work outlast Bush's!). Still, there is enough in the fourth season that it is punchy and truly great.

That would not be possible were it not for the characters. Boston Legal has interesting, clever characters who make the show worth watching each week. In the fourth season, the principle characters include:

Alan Shore - Breaking up with his Judge girlfriend, Alan finds him powerless to resist Lorraine, whose advances and manipulations soon strain his relationship with Denny. Alan attempts to resist Lorraine, but his word salad returns, much to everyone's chagrin. As Alan and Denny become distant, he also pushes away Clarence and Jerry. Ever the malcontent, he goes up against Shirley and Denny and nabs a case with the Supreme Court arguably to benefit his ego,

Shirley Schmidt - Watching her father suffer from advanced Alzheimer's Disease, Shirley sues to be able to euthanize him. Energized by the presence of Carl, she continues to fight for women's rights in the courtroom,

Carl Sack - Transferred from New York City, he is a straight-laced, intellectual powerhouse who tends to side with Shirley, whom he is deeply in love with,

Clarence - Terrified by Carl Sack's arrival and Claire's departure, he begins to butt heads with, then later befriend Jerry. No longer relying as much on his alternate personalities, he and Jerry become a more overtly comedic duo,

Jerry - Returned to the firm, Jerry begins to litigate more and he finds himself working well with Katie, who seems to enjoy the eccentricities he exhibits as a result of his Asberger's Syndrome. Feeling threatened by Clarence's place in the firm, he soon begins to spend more time with Katie and less with Alan,

Lorraine - A brilliant lawyer, her part seems to be cause for Denny and Alan to fight (whatwith Alan demanding Denny not have sex with her, right before she takes Alan in the office) and to manipulate Alan,

Katie - Fresh out of law school, this British lawyer is hired and soon finds herself working closely with Jerry. Kindhearted and good, she becomes his source of strength,

Whitney - Arriving with Carl, she is a straightlaced lawyer who cannot stomach how odd most of the lawyers at the firm are,

and Denny Crane - Furious over Alan having a relationship with a woman and that Carl and Shirley are dating, his agitated mental state continues to be of concern to the partners. He takes on a murder case while angry at everyone and it appears his perfect-win record might be threatened by that decision! Still, every night, he and Alan find their way to the balcony at the law firm to put the personal and professional issues in context.

A big reason to pick the fourth season of Boston Legal up on DVD is the amazing cast. Gary Anthony Williams and Christian Clemenson play off one another beautifully as Clarence and Jerry, respectively. As well, Tara Summers (Katie) and Clemenson have amazing on-screen chemistry and they play off one another that makes both of their characters that much more believable. Saffron Burrows is a fair addition to the cast and one feels like she might have been robbed; her character of Lorraine fills a niche that has been played out, especially opposite Alan Spader's Alan Shore. Indeed, Burrows is more or less plagued with playing the character Parker Posey briefly played the prior year.

That said, it is the over-fifty cast of Boston Legal that makes the season truly rock. While I missed actor Rene Auberjonois, John Larroquette is an amazing choice to replace him and Carl Sack quickly becomes one of Larroquette's most impressive roles. Unlike his smarmy, career-making role on Night Court, here Larroquette is decent, straightlaced and . . . adult. And Larroquette is completely convincing. And William Shatner continues to impress as Denny Crane, though this season he is mostly just refining the role that reinvigorated his career and publicly announced his comic genius to the world (Star Trek fans knew it from his convention appearances for years before the general populace did!).

On the DVD, though, it becomes clear that one of the best performances of the season is coming from Candice Bergen. As Shirley Schmidt, Bergen presents a powerful argument for death with dignity in the episode where Schmidt sues to let her father with Alzheimer's be euthanized. Bergen is a powerful mix of strongwilled and ballsy and deeply human and hurt by the decision she is making and the way she must make it. Bergen sells the episode and it rivals her best days on Murphy Brown and reminds viewers how incredible a woman of intelligence in power may be.

As with the prior seasons, though, much falls on James Spader to keep the show engaging and powerful. As Alan Shore, Spader tends to use "Season Four" to trot out the "Best Of Alan Shore." So, for example, Spader has played Shore with word salad before. One suspects that jumbling up words like that is a real challenge for an actor and Spader handles it masterfully. But we've already seen him do it in the past. He is at least as good this time around, but largely he is hitting the notes he has before and the pleasure of watching comes more in the character than Spader's consistent performance of it.

Fans of Boston Legal will enjoy this season and it serves as a pretty incredible document for the failure of the Bush Administration and television executives to dominate the philosophical arguments used to sell their lousy policies. It's a shame there is only one set more to come.

For other works featuring John Larroquette, please visit my reviews of:
Southland Tales
The West Wing - Season Two
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

8/10

For other television program reviews, please visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Addition of Youth Makes For A Less Strong Verdict On Boston Legal Season Two

The Good: Very funny, Good characters, Excellent acting, Decent foreshadowing
The Bad: Addition of younger cast members and some guest characters
The Basics: When Boston Legal returns for a second season, it is plagued by young people, annoying recurring guest stars and a dramatic tendency that undermines the humor.


Boston Legal's first season earned the television show several acting nominations for Golden Globe and Emmy awards, so when the series returned for its second season, it seemed writer David E. Kelley came out of the gate firing. As a result, one would assume that Boston Legal - The Complete Second Season would be more of the same from season one (DVD set from season One is reviewed here!). Fortunately and unfortunately, that is not the case. Fortunately in that some of the weaknesses of season one are not present in season two, unfortunately in that the series takes on all new problems.

Starting of with a bang in defending a woman who possibly murdered her older, wealthier husband, the firm of Crane, Poole and Schmidt is tugged every which way by the antics of Denny Crane and Alan Shore. Shore finds his time invested in aiding Catherine Piper, whose new friendship with mother-killer Bernard leads her to be a drain on Alan. Denny, for his part, continues to fear Alzheimer's and Mad Cow and worries that his genius in the courtroom is ebbing as his friendship with Shore increases.

The firm takes on new associates, like Denise Bauer, Garrett Wells and Sara Holt. They become embroiled with personal affairs with clients and family members and each other. Who will be made a new partner at the firm becomes a huge issue when Alan Shore begins to lobby heavily for the quirky, socially-awkard but brilliant "Hands." And the significant lawyers do more traveling.

And it's funny, but it's also a lot less solid than the first season. While the humor might well hold up better over multiple viewings than in the first season, there are a great deal more moments that are serious or outright disturbing in Boston Legal - The Complete Second Season. So, for example, in season two Alan Shore finds himself losing someone important to him and he begins to suffer from night terrors, a fear of clowns and he begins to experience word salad (which is often a harbinger of schizophrenia). Shirley Schmidt finds herself in the company and pursued by her ex-husband Ivan Tiggs. And newcomer Denise Bauer finds herself falling in love with a terminally ill man.

These are most certainly not happy, amusing storylines. The characters expose their dark sides this season as they try to win cases and explore life outside the office. Alan's fears not withstanding, he finds himself in a friendship with Jerry Espenson ("Hands") who is one of the most painfully awkward individuals ever committed to celluloid (he suffers from an adult form of autism). In order to win a case, Brad finds himself torturing a priest. In order to save his daughter, Paul intervenes and has her kidnaped to rehab. These are difficult and not funny things to watch.

Added to the mix are younger cast members. While Julie Bowen replaces Monica Potter in the cast as the fairly generic, initially cold blonde, she starts the season (and continues it) with a mature sense of character that works. In fact, Bowen as Denise Bauer replaces both Potter and Rhona Mitra and that works out well. What does not work out as well is the addition of Justin Mentell and Ryan Michelle Bathe as Garrett and Sara. It's almost like ABC could not stand having such a mature cast and thought what Boston Legal needed was younger people. Fortunately, this experiment does not last long.

Indeed, the best moment for Catherine Piper (Betty White's recurring character) the entire season is when she puts Garrett in his place and takes over his office for her sandwich making operation. We never see Garrett again after that and that's just fine with me. Outside the problem of new, young cast members brought on for inexplicable reasons in a show about an established, successful law firm, Boston Legal - The Complete Second Season suffers from devoting too much time to characters that do not work so well, who exist on the periphery. Unlike Jerry Espenson, who plays off Alan Shore and gives an opportunity to expand the depth of Shore's ability to care for another human being, characters like Catherine Piper and Bernard Ferrion serve only to distract from characters the viewer cares about. Similarly, Denny's new fiance, Beverly, does not so much add to Denny's character (though her leaving gives for some great Shore-Crane scenes) as distract from it. Similarly, Ivan Tiggs is more of an annoyance than anything that makes one appreciate Shirley Schmidt more.

What does work is the acting. It's no surprise that Christian Clemenson won the Best Supporting Actor award for his portrayal of Jerry Espenson. Clemenson takes a difficult role that could easily fall into parody and rules it with by creating one of the most socially awkward, painful to watch individuals ever seen on television. There are moments when Clemenson's performance is so heartwrenching as to make the viewer feel guilty about laughing at him because his antics are based in such a serious pathology.

Rene Auberjonois is given more to do as Paul Lewiston and that is a relief. He's such a talented actor that to see him be emotional in the scenes with his character's daughter (played wonderfully by Jayne Brook) is a treat. Julie Bowen immediately creates an articulate and serious role that slowly reveals a heart that is very alive and hurt in her character Denise Bauer. And Candice Bergen is brilliant as Shirley Schmidt. Outside playing off William Shatner and James Spader with style and comic timing that mirrors their own genius, Bergen gives real fear in scenes with Christian Clemenson and empathy for the conflicts of her heart with Tom Selleck (Ivan Tiggs).

Of course, the show is ruled by Alan Shore and Denny Crane, played by James Spader and William Shatner. Shatner continues to reveal his comic abilities as the befuddled, yet brilliant Crane and this season he is able to bring even more humor in by moments where his character breaks the fourth wall. James Spader is able to stretch out dramatically more this season in his contacts with Christian Clemenson and the demons his character begins to reveal. His ability to take the smarmy, unethical Shore and evolve him into such a brilliantly plagued individual is in no small part due to Spader's acting abilities.

And when the show is funny, it is funny. It holds up well over multiple viewings on the humor front. Situations like Denny shooting his therapist (and the ensuing lawsuit) can be replayed many times and still get laughs. But essentially, what Boston Legal is about are characters. Here is how season two finds the principles:

Alan Shore - Soon loses Tara to another man and another law firm and finds himself despondent. He begins to suffer from night terrors, speak in word salad and go out on increasingly bigger limbs for the few friends he has in the world,

Brad Chase - Competing less with Alan, Brad begins to work for the fast track to partner, which comes through winning cases with unethical and surprising twists,

Paul Lewiston - Tracks down his estranged, drug-using daughter and discovers he has a granddaughter, which inspires him to work less and make family a greater priority,

Shirley Schmidt - Having to balance the wacky antics of Denny Crane and Alan Shore with guiding the new lawyers, she finds herself suddenly susceptible to the advances of her ex-husband,

Denise Bauer - Arriving in the firm after a particularly rough divorce, she immerses herself in the strange cases thrown at her and finds kindred spirit in Brad,

Garrett Wells - Shows up, does a few lawyerly things, leaves because we don't care about him,

Sara Holt - Shows up, tries a few lawyerly things, leaves even quicker because we care even less about her,

and Denny Crane - While juggling cases and Alan's new neuroses, Denny finds time to be a brilliant lawyer, worry about his health and fall, in love with the woman he believes will be the new Mrs. Denny Crane.

And Crane and Shore end the episodes on the balcony smoking a cigar and drinking. It's an adult show, so one might forgive them their adult legal vices. Sadly, it's a shame that David E. Kelley perpetrates the trappings of material success with those scenes (which are among the series' best character moments) rather than challenging them (outside a weak ending to an episode where the women have a balcony moment and reiterate how stupid smoking is).

This is a much harder to recommend season than the first, though it has its moments of genius and is still quite amusing and quite good.

For other works with Julie Bowen, please check out my reviews of:
Horrible Bosses
Weeds - Season Four
Lost

6.5/10

Check out other television reviews I have done by clicking here to visit the appropriate index page!

© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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