"Boston Legal" was a show that ran for five seasons on ABC and was one of the few long-running shows that blended comedy and drama together in a unusually offbeat and engaging manner. The setting was a major law office which somehow manage to stay together despite some very disparate characters. The main payoffs to this shows came in the court-room scenes and in the behind-the scenes relationships between pompous and past-it super lawyer-satyr Denny Crane (William Shatner, nicely riffing on his reputation for playing authority figures) and Alan Shore (James Spader), a younger lawyer who specializes in ringing closing arguments. Crane represented the Red State conservative aspects of Fortress America and Shore was the liberal smart-aleck. All the supporting cast, including Candice Bergen, Mark Valley and Constance Zimmer, made up a fine roster of actors. Serious social and political issues of the Bush/Cheney Era came up frequently. Here's an episode from the second season on a gun control trial.
Although I can't endorse all of the writers' views on the Christian religion here, this next example is another of "Boston Legal" going unafraid into territory few American shows would dare tread.
This last clip has some graphic images but it shows part of the counter-argument against the assault on civil rights and the Geneva Convention that was carried out by Team Bush. Did it make a difference in the 2008 elections? Maybe not, but suffice to say this was an usually frank show that snuck in a good political agenda in with the laughs.
I use to watch that show some. Loved it. I love the young lawyer guy. He is such a character.
ReplyDeleteFor me the purpose of art is to illuminate the important truths that are hidden away in the shadows and this show, more than most did so with intelligence, humour and passion.
ReplyDeleteGreat cast, great dialogue, great art.
Alan Shore was certainly a "character" in the best sense of the word.
ReplyDeleteAnd a great summation on your part, Oakie. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe show was definitely quirky. I could not believe some of the situations they portrayed.
ReplyDeleteTruly beyond belief at times, Fred, like the lady client, played by former SNL actress Mary Gross, who was emotionally attracted to inanimate objects----and Denny Crane's proclivity for gunplay in the office, even if sometimes it was just paintballs flying out of a gun from his well-stocked corner-office arnsenal .
ReplyDeleteAnd then there was the unusual hetero-bromance between Crane and Shore during their free time at the office:
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