Boston Legal is a ...
Question: Boston Legal is a well-written
David E. Kelley series in the tradition of
Picket Fences and
The Practice. But I have become turned off in recent weeks by the show's tendency to break the fourth wall time after time. In one instance, Denny Crane (
William Shatner) berates his friend and colleague Alan Shore for withholding important information from him. "I wish you had let me in on the game," Crane said. "I can act, you know. I won an Emmy." Shatner, of course, has won two Emmy awards for playing the off-the-wall attorney. In Tuesday night's episode, Shore (played by
James Spader, another two-time Emmy winner) is warned by his overamorous secretary (
Marisa Coughlan) not to become romantically involved with a female attorney (
Kerry Washington). "Don't fall for her, Alan," the secretary said. "She's just a guest star." I don't know about you, but I take my TV dramas seriously. Satire is fine in its place, but it seems as if
Boston Legal is taking things to a whole new level. Does it bother you as well?
Answer: Reason number "I've-lost-count" of why I don't watch this show anymore: It's so busy cracking itself up I rarely find myself amused. But the show's fans love this sort of meta wink-winking. If you take your TV dramas seriously, I'm surprised you didn't bail on
Boston Legal long before. It's not meant to be taken seriously. Kelley himself regards the show as more of a comedy, which allows him to take outrageous liberties with character, plot and, obviously, dialogue. That's what many people love about the show.
