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Published on Sunday, October 3, 2004 - 1:18am |
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Herc Hearts ABC
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I am – Hercules!!
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.
… "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.
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. …
… 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.
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.
I am – Hercules!!
Looking for bumper stickers, plush toys and girls’ underwear covered with cute cartoon double-amputees? Visit The Herc Store!
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Reader Talkback
It looks like it sucks.
by Battousai | Oct 3rd, 2004
01:56:19 AM | William Shatner hamming it
up......
by Jimmy Jazz | Oct 3rd, 2004
01:58:02 AM | Herc
by Battousai | Oct 3rd, 2004
01:59:52 AM | Alternate Practice spinoff
possiblities......
by Battousai | Oct 3rd, 2004
02:21:23 AM | Thanks for the talkback
Herc....
by baj24 | Oct 3rd, 2004
07:19:48 AM | Shatner rules man!
by Russman | Oct 3rd, 2004
09:01:31 AM | Um... Rebecca DeMornay???
by christonomist | Oct 3rd, 2004
09:43:37 AM | Wait a tick...
by Johnny Smith | Oct 3rd, 2004
11:21:11 AM | I heart Shatner
by Silver Shamrock | Oct 3rd, 2004
12:22:58 PM | For those who can't get enough
Shatner in their lives.
by Floyd Gondolli | Oct 3rd, 2004
12:57:38 PM | www.examiner.ie/breaking/2004/
09/30/story/68895.html
by joe brady | Oct 3rd, 2004
01:46:23 PM | DENNY CRANE.
by robogeek.com | Oct 3rd, 2004
06:01:31 PM | The title sequence with the
animation,and for that matter
the th
by 007-11 | Oct 3rd, 2004
10:06:59 PM | Monica Potter
by somethingreal81 | Oct 3rd, 2004
10:21:39 PM | A definite mixed bag
by DevilCat | Oct 4th, 2004
08:45:13 AM | All David E Kelley shows get
wierd
by Drath | Oct 4th, 2004
09:56:07 AM | All David Kelly shows end up
weird...
by Christopher3 | Oct 4th, 2004
10:03:56 AM | P.S.
by Christopher3 | Oct 4th, 2004
10:04:37 AM | Disappointing
by The Bear | Oct 4th, 2004
12:51:41 PM | Lake Bell looks like a man and
her character sucks. Replace
her
by Big Bad Clone | Oct 4th, 2004
01:42:46 PM | this ep was strangly
disappointing.
by Fantomex | Oct 4th, 2004
04:24:11 PM | Shatner and Spader were great,
but what's up with all the
"too h
by SpyGuy | Oct 4th, 2004
04:37:40 PM | Crapner and Spade. Ick.
by Kid Zero | Oct 4th, 2004
04:51:56 PM | um, The Bear
by BurlIvesLeftNut | Oct 4th, 2004
05:53:28 PM | every single show on American
TV is about lawyers, doctors,
or p
by beamish13 | Oct 4th, 2004
06:02:06 PM | It's Really All About Tara....
by Vermifax | Oct 4th, 2004
06:32:52 PM | Shatner is STILL the man!
by DarkHawke | Oct 4th, 2004
07:02:58 PM | Rev. Al
by royny2387 | Oct 4th, 2004
07:57:01 PM | Omg, I want to be a 76 old guy
and have sex with that hot
Britis
by Judge Briggs | Oct 5th, 2004
01:59:43 PM |
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