Product description
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Boston Legal Season 1-5 Complete Collection
.com
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Review of Season One
The classic combination of James Spader and William Shatner is
just one of many reasons to savor the inaugural 17-episode season
of Boston Legal. Making its highly rated ABC debut on October 3,
2004, this darkly comedic spinoff from The Practice looked like a
formulaic reworking of creator David E. Kelley's previously
successful series Ally McBeal, with similar plots and quirky
characters enmeshed in personal and professional affairs of the
heart at the prestigious Boston law firm of Crane, Poole &
Schmidt. It quickly became apparent that Kelley, co-executive
producer Bill D'Elia, and the show's magnificent ensemble cast
were onto something equally fresh, funny, and infectiously
entertaining.
Both Shatner and Spader won Emmys for their original roles on The
Practice, and the priceless pairing of the erratic, egomaniacal
senior partner Denny Crane (Shatner, doing the best work of his
career) and ethically challenged attorney Alan Shore (Spader,
likewise) signaled the arrival of one of the finest comedic duos
in TV history. Waging a two-man war on political correctness, the
boisterous has-been Denny loves the sound of his own name (the
mere mention of "Denny Crane" qualifies as ego-stroking
foreplay), unabashedly subjects female associates to his
lascivious advances, and (in creator Kelley's words) "trades on
the currency of his reputation" as an undefeated trial attorney.
As the show's fascinating heart and soul, Alan Shore is a walking
contradiction, and Spader plays him perfectly as a charismatic,
self-loathing lothario who'll bend the law to suit his higher
purposes. Deeply cynical yet fiercely committed to his own
complex and compassionate moral code, he's brazenly open about
his sexual appetites as he savors the affections of smart, sexy
associates Sally Heep (Lake Bell), and Tara Wilson (Rhona Mitra),
whose relationship with Shore grows strained as the season
progresses.
While senior partner Paul Lewiston (Rene Auberjonois), senior
associate and ex-Marine Brad Chase (Mark Valley), and junior
associate Lori Colson (Monica Potter) struggle to maintain the
firm's lofty reputation, the appearance of founding partner
Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen) elevates Boston Legal to an even
higher plane of serio-comic perfection. A former flame of Denny
Crane's, Schmidt arrives in episode 11 (appropriately titled
"Schmidt Happens") as common-sense negotiator with a rapier wit
and a clanking pair of big brass cojones, fully capable of
holding her own against the Crane/Shore juggernaut. And while "An
Eye for an Eye" (episode 5) is a sublime example of Boston
Legal's deft combination of lunacy and courtroom complexity, it's
the deeper implications of episodes like "Tortured Souls" (15)
and season finale "Death Be Not Proud" (tackling a dubious death
sentence in Texas) that cast these rich and wonderful characters
into sharper , baring their souls and the courage of their
convictions.
With surprising departures (Lake Bell, in episode 13), new
arrivals (Kerry Washington, as new associate Chelina Hall, in
episode 15) and stellar guest stars including Larry Miller (as
the eccentrically unstable founding partner Edwin Poole), Philip
Baker Hall, Frances Fisher, Carl Reiner, Freddie Prinze Jr.,
Shelley Long, and late-season regular Betty White, Boston Legal
gained a large and loyal following with exceptional writing,
timely social relevance, and that rare quality of chemistry that
guarantees long-term appeal. Nowhere is this more apparent than
the now-famous Spader/Shatner "balcony scenes" that quickly
became an episode-closing tradition, with staunch Republican
Denny Crane and passionate Democrat Alan Shore reflecting upon
their careers, current issues, and their own devoted friendship
over brandy and cigars. With these two actors together, virtually
every episode ends on a high note of pensive introspection, and
Boston Legal becomes even greater than the sum of its parts. DVD
extras are minimal (two featurettes with cast and producers, plus
deleted scenes from episode 1) but enjoyably worthwhile. --Jeff
Shannon
Review of Season Two
Impressive in quality and quantity, the 27 episodes of Boston
Legal's second season (2005-06) are a dazzling showcase for one
of TV's greatest ensembles. Everything that made so entertaining
is refined here, often to the point of perfection: As the
resident bad boys of the prestigious Boston legal firm of Crane,
Poole & Schmidt, senior partner Denny Crane (William Shatner) and
maverick attorney Alan Shore (James Spader) continue their
campaign of rampant indiscretion, combining unabashed sexism and
political incorrectness with Denny's egotistical -cat sense of
entitlement (and a touch of "Mad Cow") and Alan's passion for
justice and courtroom theatrics. The departure of his girlfriend
Tara (season 1's Rhona Mitra) has left Alan pensively lonely, so
his male-bonding with Denny becomes the series' emotional core,
even as it reaches new heights of hilarity in episodes like
"Finding Nimmo," an instant classic in which Denny introduces
Alan to the pleasures of fly-fishing. Back at the office,
semi-regular cast member Betty White turns from murder to
robbery, only to find herself redeemed as the new "sandwich lady"
at C, P & S. And while senior partner Paul Lewiston (Rene
Auberjonois) juggles the firm's ethical dilemmas and a rocky
reunion with his drug-addicted daughter (superbly played by Jayne
Brook), founding partner Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen) dodges
advances from her soon-to-be-remarried ex-husband (Tom Selleck)
while suspecting Denny's soon-to-be-sixth-wife (Joanna Cassidy)
of high-stakes gold-digging. In the midst of it all, Denise
(Julie Bowen) faces threatening competition from a new attorney
(Parker Posey) and elusive love with a dying billionaire (Michael
J. Fox) while playing "friends with benefits" with colleague Brad
(Mark Valley), who's only too willing to indulge their
arrangement.
Expanded roles for Bowen and Valley are just two of this season's
welcome improvements; along with Bergen and Auberjonois, they add
engaging counterbalance to the Spader/Shatner juggernaut, while
newcomers Justin Mentell and Ryan Michelle Bathe (as legal
assistants) add youthful appeal in roles that necessarily
remained marginal for most of the season. As always, series
creator David E. Kelley (aided by a new writing staff) maintains
a constant flow of outrageous behavior (most of it Denny's) and
compelling courtroom trials based on hot-button issues including
assisted suicide, the war in Iraq, private school discrimination,
medical malpractice, tax evasion and a variety of other cases in
which belligerent judges (played by Henry Gibson, Anthony Heald,
Howard Hesseman, Shelley Berman, and others) play antagonistic
foils to Alan Shore's impassioned defense. (It's here where
Spader excels; Shore may be a lascivious lothario, but you offend
his moral conscience at your peril.) A stellar array of guest
stars, impeccable editing and cinematography, and glossy office
production design make Boston Legal a constant feast for the eyes
and ears, with breezy emphasis on the farcical goings-on at
Crane, Poole & Schmidt. (The series' writing and production
values are explored in brief but enjoyable bonus featurettes
included on the final DVD in this seven-disc set.)
With Denny and Alan's season-ending visit to Los Angeles (where
they defend a sexy celebrity played by Star Trek: Voyager's Jeri
Ryan), it's delightfully obvious that Shatner and Spader are the
heart and soul of Boston Legal, which is ultimately about the
mutual affection of two men whose viewpoints are often as
polarized as their friendship is compassionately co-dependent.
Bolstered by clever allusions to Shatner's Star Trek legacy and
throwaway references to their own status as characters in a TV
show (as Kelley and his writers deliberately demolish the "fourth
wall" of TV for comedic effect), Spader and Shatner quickly
turned their episode-closing balcony scenes into an honorable
tradition, where differences dissolve in the taste of fine scotch
and slowly-savored cigars. They're bringing us the finest
"dramedy" that primetime network television has to offer, and
we'll gladly follow them as their crazy lives continue. --Jeff
Shannon
Review of Season Three
In year 3, Boston Legal continues to toggle with ease between
comedy and pathos. The season begins on a bittersweet note as
Denise (Julie Bowen) gets engaged to the terminally ill Daniel
(Michael J. Fox), who disappears to try an experimental
. Enter two new litigators, smart-talking associate
Claire Sims (Constance Zimmer) and cocky partner Jeffrey Coho
(Craig Bierko). Once Daniel exits the picture, Jeffrey and Brad
(Mark Valley) compete for Denise's affections. The firm soon
welcomes a third new face: legal secretary Clarence (Gary Anthony
Williams)--also known as Clarice, Clavant, and Oprah.
As before, cases vary from minor to major. Story arcs include the
murder of a judge's wife (with Ashton Holmes as the suspect and
Katey Sagal as his mother) and an outrageous peeping tom (David
Dean Bottrell) with a jones for Shirley (Candice Bergen). Denny
Crane (William Shatner), meanwhile, finds love with diminutive
attorney Bethany (Meredith Eaton-Gilden)--and her mother, Bella
(Delta Burke). And Alan (James Spader, who scored a second Emmy
to add to the one he received for The Practice) helps former
co-worker Jerry "Hands" Espenson (Christian Clemenson) out of a
few jams. By the end of the season, Jeffrey is gone, while Jerry
returns to Crane, Poole & Schmidt.
Throughout the year, the firm tackles a variety of timely issues,
ranging from religious freedom to immigration law. Reporter
Gracie Jane (Jill Brennan), a Nancy Grace doppelgänger, also
comes in for some ribbing. Aside from recurring characters, like
Jane Lynch (as a sexual surrogate), the third season counts a few
actors behind the camera, such as Eric Stoltz ("Dumping Bella")
and Adam Arkin ("Nuts"), from David E. Kelley's Chicago Hope. The
featurette Character Witness looks at the year's most colorful
characters--turns out Spader and Clemenson are old friends--and
Out of Order looks at the judges, notably Gail O'Grady, Howard
Hesseman, and Shelley Berman. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Review of Season Four
As in Munchkinland, people seem to come and go so quickly at the
law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Out the door as Season Four
begins are cast members Mark Valley, Julie Bowen, Rene
Auberjonois, and Constance Zimmer (a tough loss). But the more
things change the more they stay the same. Introduced to sweet,
pretty and capable new lawyer Katie Lloyd (Tara Summers), it
takes Alan Shore (James Spader) all of one second to come on to
her. It takes Denny Crane (William Shatner) five. The most
stellar addition to the firm is Night Court Emmy-winner John
Larroquette as Carl Sack from the New York office. He has come
not to shake things up so much as to tone them down, and "wring
out some of the madness." "We are in the business of law," he
pronounces. "A law firm has to be discreet, conservative." Good
luck with that, Carl, especially when one of the lawyers keeps
popping up on YouTube dressed as his female alter-ego, and the
senior partner is one minute arrested for soliciting a
prostitute, and the next caught in his own Larry Craig bathroom
incident, and the next courting a discrimination suit after
firing a female associate for being overweight. That, of course,
would be addled loose cannon Denny Crane, who seems to be more of
a distraction this season, but who rises to the occasion in an
excellent episode in which he and Alan find themselves on
site sides in the case of a Massachusetts town that wants to
secede from the United States. "Every time someone counts me out
of the game, I surprise them," he tells Carl. Boston Legal is
nothing if not surprising, as witness the story arc involving a
woman (former Saturday Night Live ensemble member Mary Gross)
with Aspergers whose budding romance with Jerry Espenson
(Christian Clemenson) is threatened by her romantic love for
inanimate objects (the condition exists; look it up). Another new
addition to the firm, Lorraine (Saffron Burrows), herself an
object of Alan's obsession, reveals explosive secrets from her
past. But more compelling is the dramatic case of a woman (guest
star Mare Winningham) who efficiently plots the murder of her
daughter's killer, but wants Alan to plead temporary insanity.
Spader, a three-time Emmy-winner as Alan, is at his best when he
is on his (and series creator David Kelley's) "soapbox" ("Don't
you get tired going on and on like that?" Denny affectionately
chides him). His verbal smackdown of the United States Supreme
Court justices in the episode, "The Court Supreme," is one of the
season's most memorable moments. Carl Sack may not succeed in
making Crane, Pool & Schmidt "a normal law firm," but as one is
heard to remark, "It's not everyday you encounter compelling
characters, is it?" --Donald Liebenson
Season Five
Please rise for the end of pure legal chaos at the law firm of
Crane Poole & Schmidt, as Boston Legal - Season 5 (2008) rests
its case with the final season on DVD. This final installment of
the show that put a facetiously refreshing spin on the legal
drama genre tackles controversial judicial and personal issues
without objection in these 13 episodes, including the 2008
presidential election, Mad Cow disease, gay marriage rights, and
regulations for an unapproved Alzheimer's drug. Headlining
the outstanding ensemble cast are James Spader and William
Shatner, starring in their respective Emmy and Golden Globe
award-winning roles as Alan Shore and Denny Crane, two unlikely
kindred spirits among the brigade of high-priced litigators at
Crane Poole & Schmidt. Matching forces in her Emmy-nominated role
is Candice Bergen playing the vigilant founding partner Shirley
Schmidt, along with four-time Emmy winner and former TV lawyer
John Larroquette as Carl Sack. This final round of drinks and
cigars includes appearances from previous seasons' guest stars,
including Rene Auberjonois and Betty White, as well as new
clients including William Daniels, Roma Maffia, Jane Lynch,
Brenda Strong, and Ming-Na.