Boston Legal..first time watcher

That was definitely something I was curious about. James’s closing arguments were mesmerizing, was he able to do those in one take?

 

Couple of comments on my experience so far, was Candice Bergen not well liked? Her character had a knife to her throat, kidnapped,had a life siz doll made of her,had Alan and Denny after her all the time etc. why did the rotate actors out so quickly? First season:lake bell, Rhona mitral and Monica Potter then all gone, second season the kid lawyers who both disappeared in the second half, third season, Craig bierko now gone. Best characters imo, Jerry espenson and Lincoln myer, most annoying, Bethany. Just watched the episode where Denny and others are taken hostage and cut in scenes from Shatner as a lawyer in an episode of studio one in Hollywood from :1957. Very different but compelling.

 

DAMN! I miss that show...wish they'd do a reunion movie or episode...

 

LOL...it just went off...

 

too cool! lucky stiff!

 

he was flawless...I couldn't wait for the next episode...total enjoyment.

 

why?

 

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant! I agree...and MF stinks.

 

Well, it turns out I was a bit wrong. The final season of The Practice IS available on DVD (https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Final-Season-James-Spader/dp/B00HNGC516). I really was interested in seeing the full series and not just jumping to the last season, though, so mixed feelings here.

 

I don't know if there was any behind-the-scenes problem with Candice Bergen that made the writers put her character in the scenarios you mentioned. I would suggest just that she was game to try anything, and David E. Kelley had no problem doing that.

Regarding the revolving door of characters throughout the show, that was always irritating to me, especially if they had a story arc I got invested in. It often felt little effort was made to even mention what happened to those characters. I think in part this is common to David E. Kelley shows (I recall characters coming and going regularly on Ally McBeal as well), but I also think Boston Legal was a "bubble" show for most of its run, meaning they were always in jeopardy of being cancelled. Some actors have to drop out of a series during the season breaks because they get an offer for a series with better chances of survival. Plus, the network and/or showrunners keep trying new things to increase viewewerhip.

 

I had to fill in occasionally and work on Boston Legal, and it was often a hoot. Shatner was a total pro and rarely screwed up on camera. James Spader had long speeches to do in court (in front of several cameras), and that was tough work. I kind of felt there was a point where Spader was almost doing an impression of Shatner's... kind of halting... weird speech delivery... that he... does so well. But they were both compelling to watch and it was an entertaining show. Shatner has a reputation of being kind of a d!ck, but from everything I know, he was a gentleman on set, always arrived early and left late, and did a great job.

My biggest surprise was that the "jerky camera" thing on that show was done very deliberately, and the moves were actually dictated by dialogue. For example, the camera operator would zoom in on a key word on every single take. It wasn't nearly as random and haphazard as you might think. David E. Kelley's shows are very deliberate and well-planned.

 

For anyone who has Ovation, there will be a mini marathon of Boston Legal today starting at 9:00 AM EST and ending at 2:00 PM.

 

I can appreciate that however, it really was somewhat of an island to itself. Bobby Donnell (the lead character) was already gone, and the story lines really focused on the new guy Alan Shore (Spader). There were also several episodes that featured Sharon Stone, who was brilliant in her character.
Plus, it really did set up the transition to Boston Legal.

In hindsight, seasons 1-7 really do exist as a complete series by themselves. Think of season 8 as a post script.

 

i actually watched 'modern family' last night just to see if maybe i was being harsh.

i wasn't

i don't know how the LGBTQ community doesn't raise an uproar about this show.

and every other stereotype on earth is maligned on there too.

and yes, ty burrell IS, not might be, the most over-paid man on earth.

 

It's now on Hulu.

 

It’s now on Escape as well.