Boston Legal-Season 1 (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-An Unlikely Pair: Allan Shore And Denny Crane Featurette-Court Is Now In Session - How Boston Legal came To Be Deleted Scenes-From Pilot Episode "Head Cases" Web Links
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	?
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (5)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Lou Antonio Steve Robin
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	James Spader Julie Bowen Monica Potter Rhona Mitra Lake Bell Mark Valley Rene Auberjonois Justin Mentell Ryan Michelle Bathe Candice Bergen William Shatner
Case	?
RPI	$74.95	Music	Danny Lux

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	Danish English for the Hearing Impaired Finnish Norwegian Swedish	Smoking	Yes, Lots of cigars
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Amongst all of the rehashed genres on TV, legal dramas have certainly had their share of hits and misses. Fortunately, Boston Legal is a hit. Not a ratings smash, but definitely a critical success. Personally it has been one of the biggest surprises on TV over the last few years.

    After catching a glimpse on the Seven Network a few months ago I was surprised that the writing was sharp, witty and quite topical. Up until that point I thought it was a 'show full of has beens', the 'has beens' being James Spader, William Shatner and Candace Bergen.

    Spader (in the role of his career) is compelling as the morally challenged legal whiz Alan Shore. Shore takes cases no one else will, and uses tactics that could get him fired, disbarred or jailed. Typically, a character of his nature would be easy to hate. He can be despicable, corrupt and sexually harassing a female staff women one second, but make you laugh the next. When you least expect it he shows more humanity than some people express in a lifetime, even if he has just bribed or blackmailed someone moments before.

    I've never been much of a fan of Shatner's, but I fondly recall his anti-trekkie tirade in a Saturday Night Live sketch many years ago where he deftly showed his immense talent for satire. Playing senior partner Denny Crane, Shatner shines and virtually steals every scene he is in. Obsessed with sex, struggling to come to terms with ageing and incredibly arrogant Crane adds a lot of humour to the show. There is no denying that Spader and Shatner have a tremendous chemistry and respect for each other. Their onscreen friendship was not an initial plan for the show, but something David E Kelley developed after seeing how well the actors worked together.

    Candace Bergen plays senior partner Sally Schmidt. Let's say that her character's personality is summed up in the name of the episode that she first appears in - "Schmidt Happens." She is feisty, mean and is looking for an excuse to get Crane and Shore out of the firm.

    The supporting cast are good, but don't have much to do. In the early episodes in the season each cast member has plot points and a fair bit of screen time. Considering how amazing Spader and Shatner are it's no surprise that supporting cast members' roles were increasingly marginalised over the season. From what I have heard there are a few cast shake ups in Season 2.

    David E Kelley probably doesn't need much of an introduction. A former lawyer from Boston, he has stayed close to the law (and Boston for that matter). This is the first show of his that I have loved. I hated the title character in Ally McBeal but enjoyed her co-workers. The Practice had glimpses of greatness but never held my interest for long and the little bit of Boston Public that I saw looked awful. It's incredible that from the crumbling ruins of the final season of The Practice that Boston Legal was born. The spin-off is much more enjoyable than the original.

    With some of the best writing on TV, the season ended way too fast. It can be a little preachy, but I can't wait for Season 2!

    Highly recommended.

    Note that there are some assumed knowledge facts from the end of The Practice that carry over into the early episodes of Boston Legal, so every now and then I felt like I had missed something. It's not a big deal, but if you want to catch up Wikipedia has a great FAQ for Boston Legal that will help bring you up to speed. Google Boston Legal and you'll find it on the first page. Due to the knowledge of spoilers possibly lessening your viewing experience I am not including episode summaries. Please go to www.tv.com for their great (and spoiler filled) summaries. All episodes are network standard 41 or so minutes long.

    Disc 1

    1. Head Cases
    2. Still Crazy After All These Years
    3. Catch and Release
    4. Change of Course

    Disc 2
    5. An Eye for an Eye
    6. Truth Be Told
    7. Questionable Characters
    8. Loose Lips

    Disc 3
    9. A Greater Good
    10. Hired Guns
    11. Schmidt Happens
    12. From Whence We Came

    Disc 4
    13. IT Girls and Beyond
    14. Til We Meat Again
    15. Tortured Souls
    16. Let Sales Ring

    Disc 5
    17. Death Be Not Proud

Video

    The PAL transfer is in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 is 16x9 enhanced. It's hard to know what to write when the transfer looks this good.

    The image is sharp and for the most part crystal clear. Shot in HD, it's doubtful that except for HD broadcasts that the series has never looked this good.

    It's a studio shot show, but colours look good. Skin tones are natural. Black levels and shadow details are fine.

    There are no MPEG artefact problems.

    Chapter breaks occur where TV commercial breaks would take place.

    Overall, this is a very good transfer.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The only audio track is a solid English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) soundtrack.

    The dialogue comes through clearly and in sync. There are no issues with clicks, pops or drop-outs.

    The soundtrack is that funky jazz style that Kelley sticks with. Quite pumpin', and even with a 2.0 track it shakes the walls.

    There is no surround use and the soundtrack is centre heavy, but it does the job. Neither is there any subwoofer use, but it wasn't expected.

    Subtitles are available in Danish, English for the Hearing Impaired, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish.

    More releases should follow the example of Boston Legal with the inclusion of an English for Hearing Impaired subtitle track.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Featurette-An Unlikely Pair: Allan Shore And Denny Crane (5:05)

    Fun to watch but way too short. Brief interview snippets that don't add much to the info provided in the other featurette.

Featurette-Court Is Now In Session - How Boston Legal Came To Be (11:02)

    Interviews with key cast and crew members on the show's first season. Typical promo fare - a bit more depth would have been nice.

Deleted Scenes-Pilot (14:59)

    David E Kelley gives an interview at the beginning to explain that 3 pilots were written. The first was "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" in a courtroom, the second an episode of The Practice and the third was the one that aired, a combination of the first two. The cut scenes generally deserved to be left out. Some are extended scenes whilst others don't really add much to the story. Strangely enough there are no chapter breaks or menu to watch them individually so it's an all-or-nothing proposition.

Web Links

    Link to Fox Movies website

    The special features are identical, so let's call it a tie.

    Overall, one of the better dramas on TV at the moment.

    The video is first class.

    The audio is good too.

    The special features are minimal, but enjoyable. A show this good warrants a commentary or two.

    Lots of fun. Buy it now!

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall