Boston Legal – Season Two

 

Picture: B     Sound: B-     Extras: C+     Episodes: B

 

 

Very few television series today encompass all that Boston Legal has to offer, with its overflowing character, charm, and brilliance.  To this reviewer very few series on television can be considered among the best, some that fall into this category are Nip/Tuck, House, Grey’s Anatomy, and now Boston Legal.  Prior to viewing Boston Legal - Season Two this reviewer had never seen a single episode of the amazing series.  The series is innovative, refreshing, and contains one of the best casts on television.  The ability of the cast members to switch from serious to humorous in an instant is a gift, a gift for them to possess and an even bigger gift for us as an audience to experience.  William Shatner (Star Trek), Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown), and James Spader (The Practice) line up to create a jaw dropping cast that NEVER fails to entertain, carrying the show with their brilliance and heart.  James Spader’s character (Alan Shore) is actually a spin off of the television hit The Practice, actually kicking the character up a notch to a whole new level of depth, emotion, and sarcasm the compels the audience to hang on his every word.

 

But even with the talented James Spader lighting up the room, it is the essence that is William Shatner that directs the room.  Shatner’s character (Denny Crane) is also a spin off character from the hit drama The Practice, where both Shatner and Spader shared the courtroom in the last season of that series (I guess they made an impression).  The premise of this amazing series revolves around one the largest practices in the United States Crane, Poole, & Schmidt whose primary base is located in Boston.  As an audience we follow the lives of the crazy cast of attorneys both inside and outside of the courtroom.  This series is neither a comedy nor a drama but a superb mesh of the two that is sure to please any audience.  The antics of every character are so greatly executed, that it is an atmosphere of controlled chaos.  There is something new and special with every episode that will make you want to laugh, cry, and thank the world for William Shatner.

 

From beginning to end the show is a pleasure.  The skilled writing staff coupled with an even more talented acting cast brings to the set an overall aura of dignified debauchery.  This reviewer can not stress enough how excellent this series truly is, most crime series not containing much ability to be rewatched but this particular series can be watched again and again with pure amusement.  Only one continuity issue arises is that the character Paul Lewiston (played by Rene Auberjonois) was also on The Practice on a few occasions as Judge Mantz, overall not being a huge issue and only noticeable to picky Television Critics.  Prepare yourself for the incomparable wit, humor, and essence that is Boston Legal.

 

This 7 disc, 1165 minute set is excellent in both the areas of picture and sound but lacks somewhat in the area of extras.  Though each episode is about an hour long it always feels to end to quickly, the audience always wanting more.  The picture is presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format, which is quite appropriate for the attorney based series, overall the picture having a clean and crisp texture.  The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround and is slightly less impressive than the picture quality at times sounding too light.  Boston Legal’s Second Season definitely shows extreme growth since Season One, making a name for itself as a groundbreaking series rather than just a spin off of The Practice, hence why the special features of this DVD set should be equally impressive.  The extras are lacking to a great extent being sadly unexciting and sparse only offering two featurettes one entitled “Exhibit A: The Look of Boston Legal” and the other “Legal Pad: The Words of Boston Legal.”  Even with the short comings of the DVD extras the series remains stunning.

 

Alan Crane (James Spader) brings the sarcasm and wit and partnered with his best friend, the now aging and possibly Alzheimer stricken, Denny Crane who brings a sense of truth and humor the show is unstoppable.  Boston Legal is one of the best things to happen to prime time television in the last few years.  When a person has the ability to speak his name and win a trial, this reviewer is in for the long haul.  Over and Out…Denny Crane!

 

"Pull a rabbit out of your hat. That's the secret both to trial law and life." - Denny Crane

 

 

-   Michael P Dougherty II