Danielle's Pick: Boston Legal

 
 

Host: Danielle

Pick: Boston Legal

Date For Meeting: 3/15/21

Episode Title 1: Last Call

Season: 5

Episode #: 13

Source(s): Hulu; Amazon Prime; maybe others

Episode Length: 49 mins

Show Description/Introduction:

INTRO:

Boston Legal is an American legal comedy-drama series created by David E. Kelley as a spin-off of The Practice. It aired for five seasons, from October 2004 to December 2008.

The show followed the zany antics of the lawyers of Crane, Poole & Schmidt, a big law firm headquartered in Boston. The heart of the show is the friendship between name partner Denny Crane (William Shatner) and Alan Shore (James Spader), a star trial lawyer at the firm. NOTE: James Spader and William Shatner received much-deserved Emmys for their roles on this show.

MAIN CHARACTERS:

- Alan Shore (James Spader): A brilliant but cocky lawyer with a strong moral compass, who nevertheless is not above obtaining ethical outcomes through unethical means. He is a die-hard liberal and often takes on cases about controversial political/social issues throughout the course of the show. He is best friends with Denny Crane despite their political differences. The two generally end each episode on Denny's office balcony, enjoying Scotch and cigars. They also frequently have sleep-overs - in a totally platonic way; Alan and Denny are both very into ladies as is frequently shown on the show.

- Denny Crane (William Shatner): A renowned attorney who claims he has never lost a case and never will. However, Denny suffers from early-stage Alzheimer's (which he often called "mad cow disease" in earlier seasons when he did not want to come to terms with his diagnosis). Denny is a proud conservative who loves firearms (shooting at least three people throughout the course of the series) and often disagrees with Alan, his best friend. Denny has been married numerous times but still pines for fellow founding partner Shirley Schmidt, with whom he has a romantic history.

- Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen): One of three name partners (and the only one who remains a competent attorney), Shirley spends half her time with an active practice and the other half cleaning up the mess created by Denny and other attorneys at the firm. Shirley used to have a romantic relationship with Denny, a past she now views with sardonic detachment, often making jokes about it. She is a hot commodity, desired at various points in the series by Denny, Alan, and fellow partner Carl Sack (her fiancé at the time of the series finale), among others.

- Carl Sack (John Larroquette): Senior partner who transferred from the NY office to help Shirley manage the Boston office. Carl is an old flame of Shirley's and proposed to her a few episodes ago, and they are engaged at the time of the series finale.

- Jerry Espenson (Christian Clemenson): An attorney at the firm with Asperger's, whose quirks include "purring," loud exclamations, hopping, and walking with his hands pressed to his thighs. He becomes a highly successful attorney at the firm and friend to the main cast.

- Katie Lloyd (Tara Summers): A lawyer from England who works with Jerry Espenson, with whom she eventually develops a romantic relationship.

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

In "Made In China," the episode directly preceding the assigned one, three key developments occurred:

(1) FIRM MERGER: On the verge of bankruptcy, the firm is bought by a large Chinese corporation. Led by Shirley, the main cast of characters described above try - and fail - to get an injunction to block the deal, which is set to proceed at the time of the series finale episode. [FYI: In the opening scene of the "Made In China" episode, Denny learns about the deal and shoots all the Chinese businessmen with paintball guns... in a law firm conference room.]

(2) SCOTUS APPEAL: Denny's Alzheimer's has been advancing, and Alan has been fighting a losing legal battle to get Denny access to a promising experimental drug. The US Supreme Court agrees to hear the appeal. This is Alan/Denny's second SCOTUS argument; the last consisted of Alan insulting the Justices in an eloquent rant.

(3) BROMANTIC PROPOSAL: Denny proposed to Alan, saying they should get married for a variety of reasons: financial (Alan can use Denny's money to fund a legal aid clinic), medical (decision-making authority when Denny's health deteriorates), legal (spousal privilege for Denny's numerous arrests), and love (real even if not romantic). Alan agrees.

Discussion Topics:

  • Male Friendship: One of the best depictions of male friendship on TV (marriage aside), although we've seen other good examples (e.g., Nick/Schmidt on New Girl).

  • Politics on TV: Not sure this show would have worked as well at any other time (it aired 2004-2008) with unapologetically political content, including an episode about whether/why Denny was voting for McCain. Somehow both my Dad and I loved it, which I don't think would be the case in a post-Trump/FOX world.

  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: There are delightful references to the show, the network, Shatner's Star Trek past, and more throughout the show. In the prior episode (Made In China), after Alan agrees to marry Denny, the dialogue explicitly mentions the network canceling the show. (Denny: "This could be a television series." Alan: "On a new network." Denny: "One that cares.")

  • SCOTUS in Pop Culture: Thoughts on fake SCOTUS?

  • Older Stars: One of the few modern prime time shows with the main cast well above the "usual" age - and still making sexy jokes.

  • Series Finales: May be hard to assess as a stand-alone episode, but what did you think? And THANK YOU for tolerating this unusual episode pick, which may very well back-fire on me :) (I'll choose a pilot next time!)

FUN ZONE: For Trekkies, please enjoy this short compilation of Star Trek references on Boston Legal: https://youtu.be/lZGj8JyBiNo

The show also featured a record number of Star Trek alumni throughout its run.

Joshua Gleason