Boston Legal
By Mal Simons, Blockbuster.co.uk

“They call them cling ons” – Alan Shore
“Did you say Klingons?” – Denny Crane

The legendary William Shatner teams up with James Spader, Candice Bergen and Rene Auberjonois in this brilliantly dark dramatic comedy series from TV guru and Ally McBeal creator David E Kelly.

Boston Legal tells the story of the lawyers from one of the most prestigious law firms in Boston – Crane, Poole, and Schmidt. They’re all amazingly attractive and often take on the insane cases that no one else can win. The firm is headed up by Denny Crane (played brilliantly by the legendary William Shatner), an arrogant and cocky man who believes that he is God’s gift to the legal profession. Sadly Denny is well, a little bit mad. He is getting forgetful in his old age which has made him even more eccentric. He walks around the office (and on the way to court), saying his name aloud to anyone and everyone in order to remind people who he is... (or to ensure that he doesn’t forget his own name)

“Denny Crane”

Alan Shore (James Spader) is another leading character in the show; a charmingly smarmy lawyer who in addition to being generally unstoppable in a court room, is both ruthless and eccentric when he trying to do right by his innocent clients. Shore has his own mental problems but is a brilliant attorney, being afraid of commitment, clowns and has night terrors; He is also Denny Crane’s unlikely best friend.

The rest of the firm is made up of more conventional characters such as ex-marine Brad Chase ( Mark Valley), a fast talking ex-marine often at odds with Alan Shore; senior partners Paul Lewiston (Renee Auberjonois) and Shirley Schmidt (Candice Bergen) who both try to protect Denny from himself and to prevent their clients from discovering Denny’s deterioration. There are also plenty of beautiful women at the firm, particularly Tara ( Rhona Mitra), Sally (Lake Bell) and Lori ( Monica Potter) who are all trial lawyers. Sally is by far the weakest link and it is not long before Schmidt axes the rather dozy lawyer who incidentally had a fling with Alan Shore.

The office is a mess with political incorrectness and idiocy everywhere but somehow, they get the job done. It would be both great and scary if the office of Crane, Poole and Schmidt really existed and is as it is portrayed in the TV series. It would be a fun place to work however…

The decision to put William Shatner and James Spader together on screen in a regular series was an act of pure genius and the two of them are perfect together. Both are perfectly cast in their respective roles and the excellent scripts allow them to really put meat on the bones of their characters.

David E Kelly is the daddy of the courtroom comedy-drama with The Practice, Picket Fences and Ally McBeal already on his belt. Boston Legal is the natural successor to all his past shows and a brilliant series in its own right. William Shatner won an Emmy Award for his performance as Denny Crane and it is justly deserved. Add to your list now… Denny says so….