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Boston Legal is an American legal drama-comedy (dramedy) created by David E. Kelley, which originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2004 to December 8, 2008. A spin-off of the long-running series The Practice, Boston Legal followed the personal and professional exploits of a group of attorneys working at the law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt.
re the show's premiere, it had a working title of Fleet Street, an allusion to the real street in Boston where the fictitious Crane, Poole & Schmidt had its offices.
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Quotations
:Alan: (to Sally) I haven't kept up with the boyfriend/girlfriend regulations.
:Alan: I demand only one thing in a relationship, Christine, that I remain utterly alone.
:Alan: I have trouble talking that fast. I don't believe in being straight up, but I'm a big fan of your aqua velva commercials.
:Alan: I may not be able to talk as fast, but my tongue is more versatile.
:Denny Crane: A man died during angioplasty, leaving him dead. Tragic.
:Denny Crane: Hell if I had a nickel for every woman Id promise to marry in exchange for sex…actually I do.
Encyclopedia
Boston Legal is an American legal drama-comedy (dramedy) created by David E. Kelley, which originally ran on ABC from October 3, 2004 to December 8, 2008. A spin-off of the long-running series The Practice, Boston Legal followed the personal and professional exploits of a group of attorneys working at the law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt.
Production details
Before the show's premiere, it had a working title of Fleet Street, an allusion to the real street in Boston where the fictitious Crane, Poole & Schmidt had its offices. The working title was later modified to The Practice: Fleet Street, but this title was dropped in favor of Boston Legal before the show premiered. The real building shown as the law office is located at 500 Boylston Street, 12 minutes away from Fleet Street.
The American producers of the series also hired British writer Sir John Mortimer (creator of the UK legal franchise Rumpole of the Bailey) as a consultant for Boston Legal.
Premise: The Practice
Most of the final episodes of The Practice were focused on introducing the new characters from Crane, Poole & Schmidt in preparation for Boston Legals launch. Thus, the story of Boston Legal can be said to begin with the episode of The Practice in which Eugene Young and Jimmy Berluti of Young, Frutt & Berluti decided to fire Alan Shore without consulting Ellenor Frutt, beginning a story arc of several episodes. They give Alan a severance package of only fifteen thousand dollars, even though Alan has brought in over nine million dollars of revenue to the firm. Tara Wilson gets fired for her loyalty to Alan, and Alan goes to Crane, Poole & Schmidt to represent him in the matter, thinking he has a claim under Massachusetts law to take over Young, Frutt & Berluti. Denny Crane, senior and founding partner of Crane, Poole & Schmidt, takes an interest in the case and even argues at the resulting trial, cross-examining Young. During this period, Ellenor also has a run-in with Hannah Rose (Rebecca De Mornay), a partner at Crane, Poole & Schmidt, whom Ellenor ends up seriously injuring when they fight over Hannah's condescending remarks to Ellenor. The character of Hannah Rose was dropped prior to the Boston Legal pilot's being filmed.
The jury awards Alan the millions of dollars of revenue he brought in to Young, Frutt & Berluti but does not order the firm to rehire him, so Denny hires Alan at his firm. After Young is appointed a judge, his first case (in the final episode of The Practice) happens to be with Alan for the defense, making Young wonder if Alan judge-shopped (this opened the door for Steve Harris to guest-star on Boston Legal as a judge, although in the end no starring Practice characters made any guest appearances on Boston Legal), though many actors and actresses who guest starred in The Practice have contributed to Boston Legal, taking on roles of a different character. Examples include Rene Auberjonois, John Larroquette and Christian Clemenson. One interesting fact is that Anthony Heald, who guest starred in both shows, took on the characters of Judge Harvey Cooper in Boston Legal and of Judge Wallace Cooper in The Practice, although both are considered the same character.
Boston Legal
The pilot was originally produced with James Spader, Lake Bell, Mark Valley, Rhona Mitra and William Shatner playing the main characters, with an expanded storyline featuring Larry Miller as Edwin Poole, and with John Michael Higgins as senior partner Jerry Austin. Monica Potter was later cast as junior partner Lori Colson. After completing several episodes, the producers felt the show needed grounding, and Rene Auberjonois was cast as senior partner Paul Lewiston, effectively replacing John Michael Higgins. Despite this, Higgins's character still appeared in the first two episodes. The pilot premiered on ABC on October 3, 2004, following the series premiere of Desperate Housewives.
On November 30, 2004, it was announced that Candice Bergen would join the cast as senior partner Shirley Schmidt. The producers had been looking to introduce the character since the fall. Lake Bell and Executive Producer Jeff Rake subsequently left the series, while Rene Auberjonois was made a main cast member.
The announcement that Boston Legal would be renewed for a second season was made on 5 April 2005. The final five episodes of the first season were initially pre-empted for seveal weeks (until 24 April 2005) in order to expose mid-season series Grey's Anatomy to a larger audience behind Desperate Housewives. Grey's Anatomy, however, was highly successful in the timeslot, and Boston Legal was pre-empted until the fall of 2005, where it would take over NYPD Blues Tuesday timeslot for an extended season of twenty-seven episodes. Both Rhona Mitra and Monica Potter departed the series over the hiatus, while Julie Bowen was cast as Denise Bauer. Ryan Michelle Bathe and Justin Mentell were later cast as junior associates Sara Holt and Garrett Wells. A new writing staff headed by Janet Leahy took over as of episode four of the second season.
The second episode of Season 3 introduced Craig Bierko as Jeffrey Coho and Constance Zimmer as Claire Simms. In episode 3x11 Gary Anthony Williams was added to the main cast as Clarence Bell, a role he had played twice earlier in the season. Also introduced in this episode was Nia Long as Vanessa Walker, in a guest role that lasted 3 episodes. In the 15th episode of the third season, Craig Bierko left the show.
On June 4, 2007, TV Guide announced that Rene Auberjonois, Julie Bowen, Mark Valley, and Constance Zimmer would not return for the fourth season. On June 13, 2007, it was reported that actor John Larroquette would join the cast as a senior partner transferred from the New York offices of Crane, Poole & Schmidt (Note: Larroquette previously appeared on BL's forerunner The Practice as another character, a hyper-intelligent man on trial for killing his gay lover; this role earned Larroquette an Emmy Award.); and actress Tara Summers would be joining as a young associate. Also, Christian Clemenson, who appeared occasionally as Jerry Espenson, a brilliant but socially inept lawyer, would be upgraded to contract player. The possibility was left open that Rene Auberjonois, Mark Valley, Julie Bowen, and Constance Zimmer could return in guest roles. On July 2, 2007, it was reported that both Rene Auberjonois and Mark Valley would return in recurring roles; furthermore, it was announced that Taraji P. Henson would join the cast later in the fourth season, with Saffron Burrows appearing in a recurring role. It was subsequently reported that Burrows would become a full-time cast member.
On July 19, 2007, Boston Legal was nominated for six Emmy awards, including Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series (James Spader), Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (William Shatner), and its first nomination for Best Drama Series. On 14 September 2007, James Spader won the Emmy for his role as the lead character in the show, whilst nominations were lost for William Shatner and Christian Clemenson in their roles for Supporting and Guest Actors, respectively. Also, the show itself lost as Best Drama Series to The Sopranos.
On 13 May 2008 ABC announced that Boston Legal would return for a fifth (and final) season in the fall. Saffron Burrows did not return as a series regular, having joined the cast of My Own Worst Enemy. The final season consisted of 13 episodes to bring it over the "100" episode mark, setting it up for a successful syndication run. There was speculation that Boston Legal might receive an additional episode-order if the show had another strong showing in the Emmy Awards and produced solid ratings in its new Fall time slot. The season began airing on September 22, 2008.
On June 18 and June 20, 2008 it was reported that Gary Anthony Williams and Taraji P. Henson would not return for the fifth season as Clarence Bell and Whitney Rome, respectively.
On July 17, 2008, Boston Legal was nominated for a series-high seven Emmy nominations, including for Best Drama Series for a second year in a row. Spader, Bergen and Shatner were also nominated for their respective roles.
Boston Legal began airing in reruns on ION Television in September 2008. And in most markets, episodes began airing in off-network syndication (ironically in anticipation of the last episodes, to bring it to just over 100), on the weekend of September 28-29, 2008.
Boston Legals series finale aired on Monday, 8 December 2008 on the ABC Television Network at 9:00PM Eastern/8:00PM Central. It was a two-hour episode. The finale saw the firm sold to new Chinese interests because of Crane, Poole & Schmidt's poor financial position. The new owners were not accepted by Shirley Schmidt, Carl Sack, or Jerry Espenson, who voted against the acquisition along with 3 other partners. Denny Crane insulted the new owners by shooting them with a paintball gun. The acrimony engendered by the name partner's actions led the Chinese to begin plans for downsizing and replacing the litigation division of the firm. It was announced that all of the show's leading characters would be fired as of 1 January 2009. This led to a typically eloquent, but ultimately ill-received, showdown on the part of Alan Shore, wherein he turned the tables on the new owners, attempting to preemptively fire them. Though his argument was not taken in the light he'd intended, it did prompt an offer from the Chinese owners to rehire all the cast members, though Shirley muses that likely they will be let go over a longer period of time. Also, Denny's earlier actions led to his name being removed from the firm which was renamed to Chang, Poole & Schmidt.
In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Dec 7th, David E. Kelley said that it was in fact ABC's decision to end Boston Legal. He also stated that executives did not want to commit to a fifth season, so he had to fight to bring it back for a short season of 13 episodes.
Cast
Recurring cast and notable guest stars
Guest stars include:
Many actors in the series were Star Trek alumni: William Shatner, John Larroquette, René Auberjonois, Henry Gibson, Scott Bakula, Ron Canada, Elizabeth Dennehy, Patrick Fabian, Gary Anthony Williams (video game), Mark L. Taylor, Colby French, Steven Culp, Pamela Adlon, Ivar Brogger, Thomas F. Wilson, Lamont Thompson, Gregg Daniel, Miriam Flynn, Mark Moses, Paul Dooley, Dan Gilvezan, Tony Todd, April Grace, Michael Bofshever, Jim Jansen, Billy Mayo, Stephen Lee, Lawrence Pressman, Michael G. Hagerty, Michael Ensign, Ron Ostrow, Ed Begley Jr., Christopher Neiman, Matthew Kaminsky, Zach Grenier, Ann Cusack, Dakin Matthews, Mark Chait, Michelle ForbesHomicide: Life on the Street, ''24 , ''Battlestar Galactica , ''In Treatment and Prison Break....
, Clyde Kusatsu, Annie Wersching, Ellen Bry, Armin Shimmerman, Ethan Phillips, Jeri Ryan, Dennis Cockrum, Robert Foxworth, David Burke, Ray Proscia, Don McManus, Lorna Raver, Jennifer Parsons, Ken Land, Andrew Prine, Matt Malloy, Daniel Roebuck, Fran Bennett, Joanna Cassidy, Corbin Bernsen, and Patti Yasutake.
Several actors in the series were also Seinfeld alumni: James Spader, Candice Bergen, Constance Zimmer, Michelle ForbesHomicide: Life on the Street, ''24 , ''Battlestar Galactica , ''In Treatment and Prison Break....
, Armin Shimmerman, Robert Wagner, Larry Miller, Richard Fancy, Brenda Strong, Debra Mooney, Wayne Wilderson, Michael G. Hagerty, Stephen Tobolowsky, Kevin Dunn, Veanne Cox, Megan Mullally, and Corbin Bernsen.
Episodes
Ratings and audience profile
Though the show has never produced blockbuster ratings, it maintained the majority of its audience over its five-year run despite being switched four times to different nights (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.)
It was one of ABC's most influential shows because of the audience it drew. According to Nielsen Media Research, Boston Legal drew the richest viewing audience on television, based on the concentration of high-income viewers in its young adult audience (Adult 18–49 index w/$100k+ annual income).
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Boston Legal on ABC.
Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. All times mentioned in this section were in the Eastern and Pacific time zones.
| Season | Timeslot | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Season
Rank | Viewers
(in millions) |
|---|
| 1st | Sunday 10:00 pm | October 3, 2004 | March 20, 2005 | 2004–2005 | #27 | 12.5 |
|---|
| 2nd | Tuesday 10:00 pm | September 27, 2005 | May 16, 2006 | 2005–2006 | #46 | 10.3 |
|---|
| 3rd | September 19, 2006 | May 29, 2007 | 2006–2007 | #48 | 9.9' |
|---|
| 4th | Tuesday 10:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 pm | September 25, 2007 | May 21, 2008 | 2007–2008 | #51 | 9.8 |
|---|
| 5th | Monday 10:00 pm | September 22, 2008 | December 8, 2008 | 2008–2009 | TBD | 9.2 |
|---|
DVD releases
On February 9, 2006, tvshowsondvd.com announced that Fox Home Entertainment was releasing Boston Legal Season 1 on DVD on May 23, 2006. It is the first David E. Kelley show that FOX has released on DVD in the United States (though Ally McBeal has been released on DVD in other countries). The season one box set had five discs while the season two and three sets had seven discs.
Note: Some of the Season 1 DVDs, provided by select offline retailers, included a promotional DVD featuring the episodes from The Practice that introduced Alan Shore and the firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. This was only included in the very early sales of the DVD as a promotion.
| DVD Name | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 |
|---|
| Season 1 | May 23, 2006 | July 24, 2006 | August 9, 2006 | | Season 2 | November 21, 2006 | March 5, 2007 | February 21, 2007 | | Season 3 | September 18, 2007 | January 14, 2008 | October 10, 2007 | | Season 4 | September 23, 2008 | October 13, 2008 | November 19, 2008 | | Season 5 | May 5, 2009 | TBD | TBD |
Awards
Awards won
Emmy Awards:
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series James Spader (2007)
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Christian Clemenson (as Jerry 'Hands' Espenson: 2006)
- Outstanding Single-Camera Sound Mixing for a Series Craig Hunter, Peter Kelsey, Clark King, William Butler (2006)
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series James Spader (2005)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series William Shatner (2005)
The Emmys won in 2004 were for The Practice, but for the same characters as they play on Boston Legal
Golden Globe Awards:
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV William Shatner (2005)
Awards nominated
Emmy Awards:
- Outstanding Drama Series (2008)
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series James Spader (2008)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series William Shatner (2008)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Candice Bergen (2008)
- Outstanding Drama Series (2007)
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series James Spader (2007)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series William Shatner (2007)
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Christian Clemenson (2007)
- Outstanding Director for a Drama Series Bill D'Elia;
Son of the Defender (2007) Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour); Lincoln (2007) Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series William Shatner (2006) Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Candice Bergen (2006) Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Michael J. Fox (2006) Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series Nikki Valko, Ken Miller (2006) Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series Phil Neel (2006)
Golden Globe Awards:
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television William Shatner (2007)
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Candice Bergen (2006)
- Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Drama James Spader (2005)
Screen Actors Guild:
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series James Spader (2007)
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2007)
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Comedy Series (2006)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series James Spader (2006)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series William Shatner (2006)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Candice Bergen (2006)
Breaking The Fourth Wall
The show frequently utilizes the device of breaking the fourth wall, but usually in a sly manner that can also be interpreted as the characters only jokingly pretending they're on a television show. As early as the second season, a despondent Denny remarks in the episode "A Whiff and a Prayer" that "I always wanted to go out with my pride, failing that, at least my old time slot."
In episode 4x16, Jerry announces, "During the strike, I fell in love." Katie asks, "What strike?" Jerry responds, "It doesn't matter, the point is . . " This episode aired on 15 April 2008, shortly after the conclusion of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which had prevented the showing of BL for over two months.
This tendency became more prevalent in the final season with several references to the end of the series, including Jerry discussing a potential spinoff. In a lawsuit brought on by Catherine (Betty White) concerning the dearth of television programming for the elderly, Carl Sack points out that there is only one show on television that features a cast largely over the age of 50. He stops short of referring to the show by name (though he obviously means Boston Legal) and motions directly at the camera saying, "The wall," referring to the fact that revealing the show's identity would break the fourth wall.
Another example is when in the teaser Christian Clemenson tells Schmidt that he has a song that keeps going through his head. It is revealed to be the show's theme song and, most notably, when in the second episode of the third season, William Shatner's character observes that two new cast members would surely have been introduced in the previous episode, before welcoming them explicitly to "Boston Legal".
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