Gutsycurene
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
carriedragicevic
I watched Boston Legal when it first aired more than 10 years ago and loved it. I recently decided to binge watch it again. I must say, I can't think of a show that holds up better. Denny Crane and Alan Shore have the sweetest relationship on television, romantic or not. They are a testament to the power of love and friendship and its ability to overcome idealogical differences that so often tear us apart. James Spader and William Shatner were absolute perfection in their roles. Speaking of casting - there was quite a bit of turnover throughout the series, and that was at times a bit jarring. You would become invested in characters only to have the disappear without a trace. But I find it fogivable because 1) the core cast (namely Spader, Shatner, and Candice Bergen) were phenomenal and consistent and 2) the cast really did improve over time with the final two seasons being some of the best. John Larroquette and Christian Clemensom were particularly excellent additions! (I do with Gary Anthony Williams had been around for the final season (with perhaps some more appearances by alter-ego Clarice!) but I can't complain.) To call out all of the wonderful recurring characters would be too cumbersome, but know that there are many and they are wonderful!The occasional breaking of the fourth wall was always a delightful surprise and contributed to the show's very unique combination of drama, issue-tackling, and laugh-out-loud comedy. The finale - I hate to see my favorite shows end, particularly because they are almost always unsatisfactory conclusions. BL is a definite exception! Without giving anything away, very little could've been done to make it a happier ending for beloved characters. I wish this show had gotten more love from the network when it aired; and I wish one of the streaming services would pick it up. More people need to see this wonderful show.
Johnny D
I've seen many TV shows in my life and I can say undoubtedly that nothing's better than Boston Legal, the only show that I would give an over 10/10 rating from all I've seen till this day. 3/5 seasons done watching presently. With the exception of some anime because those can be called shows too, only animated shows. It is simply fascinating, the more the seasons pass, the more you comprehend Alan, a man that appreciates everything fine in life, one could argue not too different from any one of us, but the big difference relies in the manner in which he does it, he does it in an very specific and well determined kind of way. The most important thing for Alan is the moral justice, then his friends, then the law, then his profession which he loves, and only then his intimate pleasures/relations. He never sets himself astray from this order of life affairs, his heart simply can not let him to. He will not be hindered or swayed away from this well determined principles even if he has to face the USA Government to defend the law, the law to defend his friends, or even his friends to defend what is moral! And not that this would be unheard of, but you scarcely if ever find out this type of people/characters doubled by such a mind blowing intelligence and ability, as well as an absolute lack of humility in face of immoral factors or character persecution, he feels like it's a personal must to quest to face them. With other words he would fight with everything he's got against the USA Government, against the law, even against his own firm and friends who employed him to defend what he thinks is right, what he thinks is fair with almost absolute and nearly insane disregard to his own benefit! That's why he doesn't make partner and nobody can trust him except the ones prejudiced by the government, by the law or by any other corporation, may it be even his own firm, or even his own dear friends. Instead of "Boston Legal" this show could be easily called "He's got no chance! No, he's got Alan Shore!", as one (woman) says to him at one point "I hear you do wanders with the underdog!", he never backs down from a challenge no matter how hopeless for just the chance to relieve or at least attenuate the injustice done to the ones that can not defend themselves and no one else will or can or care, regardless of personal persecution. For all intents and purposes Alan Shore is a modern Don Quijote. There's one big difference between Don Quijote and Alan Shore though: Alan is simply too brilliant to be ridiculed, nobody makes sport of him, he makes sport of others, bitch-slapping them with their own dirty hands that over presumptiously uphold the law. A purifying and utmost distinguished pleasure for me, the casual viewer yearning for morality and not just money to prevail.The writing is nothing short of brilliant, genius at times even, combining elegantly comedy with tragedy, by E. Kelley who wrote also all of the 8 seasons of The Practice a show which I consider a damn worthy preamble to this masterpiece which is Boston Legal! Alan Shore(James Spader) 1st appears in the last season, season 8 of The Practice and he is such a charismatic character that E. Kelley made a show, this show centered around him. If you are a guy that is in the habit of enjoying elite life-concerning debates with the occasional tasty mind fu*k, this is as good as it gets. It literally gives you the means to enjoy reason on a variant plateau of topics with the occasional sentencing of which the true jury is made of us, the spectators. My sentence can only be this: best show ever, I can not imagine it any better and I still have 2 seasons to go out of the 5. Do I recommend it? Only if you trust your intellect enough to handle it! I am not one to slander, but as a comparison, the show Suits (which I enjoy) can not hold a candle to this show basically because here you can really feel the semidesperate cries for justice and the tasteful "melee" courtroom battles in the eyes of the jury and those of the media, in the public eyes; while in Suits, although somewhat brilliant at times, the lawyering is reduced to the mimic of arrogant gestures, dick measuring, threats outside the courtroom and sheer blackmails towards the purpose of just rendering a plea outside true justice itself, on the low-hand I could say, behind the scenes, in secrecy. And I haven't even discussed the other characters which occasionally are scaffolding gems on their own accord. PS: Denny Crane. Can't help it. :>
bravesfan35
This show ended way before it should have. I never get tired of watching this show. Between Alan's countless humorous speeches to Denny's gun-loving goofiness, this show delivers many laughs. I know some people were unhappy about the constant cast changes and how it was never explained why each character suddenly disappeared but who cares? Alan and Denny may have been the only ones who were in every single episode but they were the ones who made the show funny. The only complaint I have about it is that Rene Auberjonois wasn't a regular in every season. He was a regular in the first 3 seasons but only appeared in 1 season 4 episode and 3 season 5 episodes. Anyway, I was happy to see this spin-off of The Practice. Unfortunately, as seems to be with a lot of David E. Kelley shows, it ended way before its time. I'm surprised he kept The Practice going for 8 seasons.
krycek19
P****d me off from episode 1.Again, why is it not possible to rate a title with 0 stars, IMDb? Boston Legal is a boring show about a bunch of arrogant full of them selves a-hole lawyers who treat all women including their co-workers like s***t and love them selves so much that they keep talking about themselves in the third person telling us their full names 5 or 6 times per episode. PLEASE S.T.F.U. ALREADY!! A chubby James Spader, plays the lead and his character is a total dirt-bag. There is not a single likable or even remotely interesting character on this show but Spaders character is the worst of them.All the women on the show are of course gorgeous as this is a male chauvinist show, but even though I'm a guy who enjoys female eye-candy,that cannot keep me interested in this snooze fest.The show tries to be funny and clever but it's just incredibly stupid!! I only watched the first three episodes, but that was plenty.Boston Legally Boring is one of those shows that should have been axed after the pilot.
