Product Description

Led by an Emmy Award-winning cast (James Spader, Denny Crane and Candice Bergen), "Boston Legal" tells the professional and personal stories of a group of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys. Fast-paced and darkly comedic, the series confronts social and moral issues, while its characters continually stretch the boundaries of the law.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1167 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-23
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English, French
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 739 minutes

Amazon.com
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.

Red Carpet Video: The Boston Legal cast gives Amazon.com some behind-the-scenes scoop and recommends their favorite DVDs and music. High |Low

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 relief, 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

Customer Reviews

"Shock & awe"
This show is one of the all time best shows on television. Few shows have ever made me laugh so hard. David E. Kelley is a wonderful writer and does a great job with developing such intricate characters as Alan Shore, Denny Crane and Shirley Schmidt. What is so strikingly funny about Alan Shore's character is his amazing one liners and his wonderfully constructed tirades. Denny, on the other hand, just says what he thinks. He says the things that a person would think someone would know better than to say, even if they thought them. All I can say is, no better show out there . . .

The great and bloated Captain Kirk
To the reviewers who lambaste this show for it's obvious and pervasive non-realism, perhaps you have missed the point. I am an attorney. I have taken two bar exams and am thus all too familiar with the rules of evidence, constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal law, criminal procedure, family law, torts and contracts. I only mention these areas because they are the only areas this show deals with (apart from an occasional mention of M & A and other corporate practices) and are consequently the areas that this show fudges severely. Almost nothing about the way lawsuits are brought or the way they proceed is realistic in any way shape or form in this program. Further, if Crane, Poole & Schmidt is the gargantuan law firm the viewer is led to believe it is, associate Alan Shore would not be able to pick whatever random criminal, tort or constitutional case he feels like trying. Also, neither the partners nor any other associates would involve themselves in ANY criminal or family law matters unless in a pro bono capacity. Going even further, no attorney in the firm, partner or otherwise would be able to continually get away with shooting people. Oh, and while we're on the subject, partners would not be able to fondle members of the opposite sex in the office and attorneys who were sleeping with each other would probably be disciplined for discussing their relations or having sex in the office whilst others can see or hear. It is also likely that sex dolls would be disallowed, whether or not they were made in the likeness of one of the named partners. Since we're on the topic of unrealism, another common trait shared among real-world firms that operate on the national and international scale comparable to this make-believe firm is that the named partners are usually dead. You may be able, from time to time find a lawyer named Foley, Larder, Arnold, Porter, Snell, Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, King, Spalding etc., but it's quite rare that this lawyer is the one who founded the firm that carries his/her namesake. The show is set in a fake TV world. Here's a few other shows set in a fake TV world where nothing resembles realism:
House (Hugh Laurie is really English!!)
The Cosby Show (Bill Cosby was really a comedian, not a doctor!!)
ER
Chicago Hope
Law and Order
Law and Order SVU
Law and Order CI
Law and Order XR4TI
Law and Order S&M
Law and Order ABC
Law and Order USA
Law and Order MIA
Law and Order DDP
Law and Order DDT
CSI Miami
CSI New York
CSI Poughkeepsie
CSI Marietta
CSI Green Bay
CSI Newfoundland
CSI Siberia
Medium
Large
Xtra Large
Small

All are (or were) hit shows. All have very little basis in reality. The difference between Boston Legal and the other "legal" dramas is Boston Legal flaunts its lack of realism. It almost seems as if David E. Kelley is poking fun at his own work to some degree as well as the various Law and Order franchises. True, there are many points in every episode in which the characters (most often Alan Shore) pontificate and make profound discoveries, but in the interim, the show does not take itself too seriously. So therefore I love it, even though I know it is wrong. I contrast the Law and Order series, which is equally unrealistic, yet does take itself all too seriously, constantly pretending that it is not pretending even though the show's version of basic rules of law is no less outlandish than Denny Crane firing off a shotgun in a courtroom. In short, Boston Legal is good. The actor's deliver because the screenplays deliver and the insincere treatment of law and procedure can be excused by the sincere treatment of the topics as well as the laughs. I would encourage anyone to buy this set and view it periodically (just perhaps not with your kids if they're under 16).

All Hail Denny
Hopefully as you read this the price is still right; picked up the first three seasons for 25 bucks a pop! Great to get the first two, since back then the ABC schedule was less dependable and I missed a lot of early episodes of the best lawyer show in the history of television.