#24

Boston Legal

Denny Crane….

Boston Legal was a spin off of The Practice on ABC that ran for five seasons. It spun off the character of Alan Shore, who arrived in the final season of The Practice. Played by James Spader, Alan was a morally-compromised lawyer with a heart of gold who was happy to take on any seemingly unwinnable case.

He was paired with Denny Crane, a legend of a lawyer who, at times, just had to say his name to express his power. Denny Crane was played by Willaim Shatner in the most over-the-top manner. Spader and Shatner had the most amazing chemistry and comedic timing with each other. The show realized quickly what they had with this pairing and turned them into the biggest bromance ever seen on TV.

The show, produced by David E. Kelley, was set at the Boston law firm, Crane, Poole & Schmidt. The firm tackled every case imaginable, including against tobacco, big pharm, and the US Government.

Denny Crane was as eccentric as imaginable, but he was dealing with the early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, which he would joke was Mad Cow, and the struggle of someone as larger than life as Denny Crane not being as in control than he once was.

The cast changed over the five seasons, but it included Candace Bergen, René Auberjonois, Julie Bowen, Mark Valley, Gary Anthony Williams, John Larroquette, Christian Clemenson, Constance Zimmer, Lake Bell and Rhona Mitre.

One of the features of the show was the big final argument that the lawyers, especially Alan Shore, would deliver to the jury in their weekly case. Always compelling, the closing argument highlighted the issue of the week.

Boston Legal was funny, dramatic and worked on multiple levels.