Boston Legal ongoing thread (1 Viewer)

Taking over "The Practice"'s timeslot of 10 p.m. EDT on ABC, Boston Legal premieres tonight. James Spader, fresh off his recent Emmy win (as well as William Shatner) stars in the law drama where line between right/wrong/legal/illegal is constantly being blurred. The cast was fun to watch last season on "The Practice" and I hope the writers can sustain the characterizations and semi-interesting court cases.

Hilariously wacky show. I couldn't believe my eyes when Al Sharpton showed up!

William Shatner and James Spader were both great. And the three female leads were all easy on the eyes. I also thought it was a nice Star Trek connection to see Rene Auberjonois (Odo on Deep Space Nine) in the same show as Shatner.

I never watched The Practice, but I'll definitely be tuning in to this unpredictable dramedy.

I was kind of amazed they didn't really introduce the Monica Potter character (Lori), given all her airtime in this episode. I guess she replaced the Rebecca Demornay character.

Keen Eddie (Brad) and Alan are going to be fun to watch. Shore's pronouncement that Sally and Brad being former lovers by the way they argued was cute.

Tara was reduced to being a hottie enticement, but I ain't complaining.

Seeing the "Sorry" guy (from the current commercial) as the sleazy father using his kids to drive his ex-wife from moving out of the state was odd.

Shore having to argue to Annie case (a black mom screams racism because her daughter wasn't given the role of Annie due to her ethnicity). Denny Crane suggest Shore pull and rabbit out of the hat, and courtesy of Denny, that rabbit was the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Next week it looks like it's going to be crowded for ex-Melrose Place cast members as 3 of them will be on Sunday night shows (Daphne Zuniga on American Dreams, Doug Savant on Desperate Housewives, and Kelly Rutherford on Boston Legal).

I thought it was an okay premiere but the show's music was horrible.

I'll agree about the music. It was a little too goofy for my tastes.

I thought the music was rather bold in having some fun with the situations that developed. Maybe I just liked it because it gave my surround speakers something to do during the show.

I'm so glad they didn't put Al Sharpton in the commercials. His appearance made for a wonderful surprise.

One of those housewives was on Melrose Place also... the red headed wife.

I wasn't planning onwatching this at all, but it came on after DH and my husband wanted to watch it. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. As much as I cannot stand William Shatner, he did a nice job in his role. James Spader is awesome as always in anything he does.

I may just have to add this one to my lineup.

The show did a good job comign up with a very differrent style from the Pratcice, even if it did lead to some odd cinematography.

I found the quick zooming into characters distracting. Although it was only a small incremental zoom, it was noticable enough to get old by the third show or so. The show needs to stand on it's own through good writing and memorable characters and guest appearances. The quirky camera work and music will not sustain the show.

A fun show with lots of potential, IMO! This is a fast moving hour with a splendid cast. Spader is in fine form, but I thought Shatner's "Denny Crane" character was a little less bombastic than during his Practice appearances. Shatner was good though, just a bit more toned-down than before. I agree about the camera work. The "shaky cam" and "quick zoom" is right out of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. It is more distracting than anything else.

I miss Denny Crane announcing himself where ever he goes.

I watched every episode of Murder One. When that was cancelled, I watched every episode of The Practice (it took Murder One's time slot). Boston Legal will need to grow on me as I wasn't impressed. I never watched Ally MacBeal, but this show seems closer to my sense of Ally than The Practice. May just not be my cup of tea. It feels thrown together for shocks and laughs.

The women are cute, but letting them just be that is underusing them tremendously. C'mon. It's 2004. Women who graduate from law school are not doorstops. All of these characters, including Denny Crane and Alan Shore, were much better last season when they premiered on The Practice.

Here's hoping it gets better.

It ws funnier when Al Sharpton did it on his way out.

I wasn't all that hot on this episode, even with the appearance of Elizabeth Mitchell (whom I mis-identified as Kelly Rutherford in a quick snippet from the previews). The stalker subplot didn't need to come so quick to this show.

Alan must always have some lady in waiting while he's diddling with his current lady friend. Sally is starting to looking like a butterface (she looks worse when she puts on a lot of makeup).

Brad's speedtalking at the meeting was probably the only funny bit this episode.

Denny's defense seemed forced and unconvincing to me.

I wanted to watch the second episode but the local ABC affiliate pre-empted the primetime line up in order to air another Redskins loss. Fortunately, for me anyway, they showed Boston Legal late at night and my PC (hopefully) recorded it.

I want to like it but...

Spader's character was much better when surrounded by "normal" people - a la "The Practice". When he is tossed in with a firm full of exaggarated stereotypes, his character becomes neutered. I am afraid that the producers may have assumed that Spader and Shatner's presence alone could make for a winner. The overused stories, on-going "crisis" with Denny's mental issues and Spader's fickleness with women cannot last a season - much last beyond. I had hoped for more.

A little help please. As I stated above, my local ABC station delayed broadcast of last Sunday's episode due to Redskins football. My PC recorded all but about the last six minutes. Can anyone tell me what happened when Spader's ex-girl friend showed up at the party?

I realize they have to develop all of these new characters, but the next few episodes need more screen time for Rhona Mitra in them. Other than that, this is my new favorite show until Alias starts up again.