Denny Crane.
“Boston Legal,” a.k.a. “Fleet Street” a.k.a. “The Practice: Fleet Street” is David E. Kelley’s “Practice” sequel revolving around the James Spader, Rhona Mitra, William Shatner, and Lake Bell characters we met last season. Mark Valley (“Keen Eddie”), Rene Auberjonois (“Deep Space Nine”) and the blonde Julia Roberts, Monica Potter (“Along Came A Spider”), join up for the new show.
Everybody’s quick to agree Spader deserved his big Emmy win, and that's one bandwagon on which I can jump. But I add Emmy-winner Shatner was no less deserving for turn as strange but formidable senior partner Denny Crane.
There’s very little not to like about the show, which is the same thing I said about Kelley’s “Ally McBeal” opener eight autumns ago. “Ally” enjoyed two inspired seasons before it went completely off the rails. Let’s hope this one maintains its balance a bit longer.
The Hollywood Reporter says:
Everybody’s quick to agree Spader deserved his big Emmy win, and that's one bandwagon on which I can jump. But I add Emmy-winner Shatner was no less deserving for turn as strange but formidable senior partner Denny Crane.
There’s very little not to like about the show, which is the same thing I said about Kelley’s “Ally McBeal” opener eight autumns ago. “Ally” enjoyed two inspired seasons before it went completely off the rails. Let’s hope this one maintains its balance a bit longer.
The Hollywood Reporter says:
The Hollywood Reporter says:
… "L.A. Law" on crack. That isn't a cause for complaint but, rather, celebration. … fun to watch and impossible to anticipate … groundbreaking drama that reflects the spirit of the times. … James Spader's portrayal of Shore won him a well-deserved Emmy and the character revitalized [“The Practice”], but there was always a nagging feeling that he operated in some parallel universe. Not anymore. Shore is completely within his element in ABC's "Boston Legal," an entire law firm dedicated to Vince Lombardi's tenet that winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. … Kelley proved last season that there's still a thirst for a smartly executed legal drama at 10 p.m. Sundays. His latest effort should keep viewers coming back for more.
Variety says:
Maybe producer David E. Kelley should always have a legal series on the air somewhere, simply because he's so good at it a lascivious, incorrect, self-absorbed boor who somehow manages to be appealing in spite of (or, God help us, because of) those traits. The problem, alas, is that he and his colleagues are stuck hitting the same old notes - down to Shore's rule-breaking solution to a seemingly intractable situation. What, no Eugene to come in and verbally box his ears? … smart, sexy and watchable enough, but for all that, Kelley seems to have exhausted much of his pixie dust supply. …
TV Guide says:
… It will be closer in politically correct tone to Ally McBeal than to the melodrama of The Practice … Spader is a lascivious hoot and Shatner indulges his ham bone with great glee. The welcome addition of Keen Eddie’s Valley may stop the show from going completely loony tunes.
The Los Angeles Times says:
There are at least two reasons to watch "Boston Legal," which premieres Sunday night on ABC, and their names, in alphabetical order, are William Shatner and James Spader. They are not the only reasons … "Boston Legal" hits more than it misses. … The only false note is the romance Kelley has assigned him with fellow attorney Lake Bell ("Miss Match") — to heighten the rivalry with square-jawed ex-boyfriend Mark Valley ("Pasadena") and because sex is a subject Kelley cannot leave alone. But Spader's appeal is peculiarly nonsexual; his real chemistry here is with Shatner. Indeed, there's something sort of Kirk and Spock about them — Shatner puffed up like a blowfish, Spader deadpan and not quite of this Earth. … Aged an unbelievable 73, Shatner delivers a typically big performance, but one perfectly appropriate to a character who conceives of himself as larger than life. Yet at the same time, it's his most modest work ever. Shatner has an unusual ability to play off his own pompousness, which makes him extremely likable, and for all kinds of reasons, not the least of them having to do with one's memories of earlier Shatners, he is a joy to watch — that certain joy of watching the actor and the character at the same time. It helps that he is given clever things to say. …
USA Today gives it three stars (out of four) and says:
Every David E. Kelley show has one important star you never see: David E. Kelley. … I had no particular use for the Shore and Crane duo when they were shoehorned into The Practice, pushing aside old favorites and depriving them and their show of a fitting finale. … Taken on its own purposely outrageous terms, Boston succeeds as a decent legal comedy led by two broadly amusing characters. Their act isn't for everyone, but there's no denying Spader and Shatner are well-matched scene-stealers. … As with all Kelley shows, Boston is likely to provoke strong and opposite reactions, sometimes from scene to scene. The show undoubtedly goes too far, but that's Kelley's signature style. You hire a star, you get the star's act.
10 p.m. Sunday. ABC.
