Being a fan of both William Shatner and James Spader, I was already sold on the idea of a T.V. show staring both of them. Boston Legal aired in the US in 2004 but it I had to wait for another 2 years for it to show up in Germany, and then it was in German, of course. As I have mentioned before, comedy does not often translate well from English to German. So I was mildly disappointed, until I was able to buy the whole series on DVD. The show had interesting topics and gave me a little insight to what was going on in America politically in the last years of G.W. Bush and the incoming Barack Obama.
The characters Denny Crane and Alan Shore (portrayed by William Shatner and James Spader, respectively) who, even though they had completely different political ideologies, were the best of friends. Denny was a conservative Republican who supported 2A, while Alan was your typical moderate Democrat. They faced off several times due to their differences, but in the end their friendship was more important. Hard to imagine that happening today, when we seem to be so absolutely polarized.
Over the 5 season that the show ran, some members of the main cast were traded out for new ones including Candice Bergen, Julie Bowen, John
Larroquette, and René Auberjonois. And several famous actors had re-occurring guest roles, such as Tom Selleck, Michael J. Fox, Betty White, and Freddie Prinz Jr..
I always enjoyed the fact that there were several actors besides William Shatner in the series who were also in the Star Trek franchise. Among those were Rene
Auberjonois, John Larroquette, Armin Shimerman, Jeri Ryan, Ethan Phillips,
Michelle Forbes, Scott Bakula, Lee Duncan, Ellen Bry, David Clennon, Michael
Wiseman, Ron Ostrow, Alan Ruck, Derek Magyar, and Lawrence Pressman.
The series touched on several sensitive issues for the time. Some of which when I watch the episodes today, I can see how it has not improved, but in fact has gotten only worse. Though the series now seems too optimistic regarding what an Obama presidency would mean for America.
Regardless of my own personal political views, I can still watch the show and enjoy a good laugh without getting upset over the views of specific characters which I do not agree with.
What did you think of the series?
Let me know in the comments below. And as always, please recommend!
