Today I said goodbye to one of my favorite TV shows: Boston Legal. Every Monday night at 10 p.m., for the past four years, I sat on my couch, poured a glass of red wine, and watched my show. I loved the smart writing, the witty banter, and the politically charged content. The show – the brainchild of genius David E. Kelley– was never afraid to tackle tough subjects from gay marriage, to abortion to Alzheimer’s. It was smart television, and the show certainly lived up to its tagline “Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the courtroom.”
Of course, you can’t talk about Boston Legal without paying homage to its delicious cast of characters:
- Alan Shore beautifully played by James Spader (so smart, which makes him so sexy)
- Shirley Schmidt brilliantly played by Candice Bergan (my all-time favorite actress, ever since Murphy Brown)
- Denny Crane played by William Shatner (I am not a Trekkie, so this is the first time I’ve actually loved Bill)
- Carl Sack played by John Larroquette (a late addition to the show, but just as good as Night Court!)
- And many, many more including Jerry, Denise, Brad, Catherine and Bethany. The list of amazing characters goes on and on.
At the end of the day, I learned something new about the U.S. government every time I watched the show. Interestingly enough, I agreed with most of the points the show was trying to make. Of course, on occasion, I questioned the show’s political statements, but I always zipped to the Internet to research the arguments at-hand. To this humble mom, that is amazing television.
Crane, Poole and Schmidt… I will miss you.
Just trying to squeeze in some television between mothering, working and crashing.
I will surely miss it!
I am a new comer to Boston Legal and sad to see it go. It is one of the well and intellegently written shows on TV. A lot of re-runs for me.
When James Spader would spout his statistics (such careful “cherry-picking”) I could only think that there was another side to those statistics, that had it been presented would have really promoted some contemplative thinking by viewers.
But the thing that bothered me the most was the singularity of the cases…the anomalous character of the context. Many of these extra-ordinary cases were so specific that you had to ask yourself: well how many times could this happen? So I suspect Mr. Kelley had a few axes to grind. Did it well, mind you, and I too am a big fan, but I have to use the “suspend reality” mode to appreciate the show for what it is: extremely amusing and outrageous..strictly adult. I, too, hate to see it go.