Been rewatching Boston Legal recently.
What a show.
I know it's probably not everyone's cup of tea but I have a weakness for legal shows, I don't really know why. I know that secret/government agent shows are all the rage, but in my opinion none of them stand up to scrutiny other than 24. Jack Bauer is the only government agent that I don't find ludicrous.
Not only that - they are invariably beyond serious (apart from perhaps Alias), and the world has plenty of serious. It is brimming over with serious. We're all drowning in it. And killing. And death. I'm rewatching Boston Legal in a small, solitary protest against the direction of the tide in TV series and movies right now: death, death and more death. Is that really the height of mankind's achievement? Is that all we can come up with by way of entertaining plot? Apparently so, if hot video games are anything to go by. Don't worry I'm putting my soapbox away.
More subjectively, Boston Legal has sentimental value. It's a series I watched with my sister, and no one else in the world quite shares our sense of humour or point of view. We had one of those interesting 'rough' upbringings which I suppose forges a strong shared reality, but also makes you a weirdo unable to blend in with your peers for life. Boston Legal was our bond, and we even both have the t-shirt. She's moved to Australia now, the other side of the world.
Anyway - apart from the fact that it's a legal show, it's also in-your-face and a bit loud. The average person probably won't know how to take it, unless they've seen the creator's previous offering along the same lines, Ally McBeal.
Boston Legal is actually LESS weird than Ally McBeal. And all the weirdness it keeps is the good kind. OK I was bound to like the show for the simple reason it stars two of my all-time favourite heroes, the always creepy but always excellent James Spader, and my Captain, William 'Bill' Shatner.
The show is loud, jazzy, annoying and irreverent - none of which surprises when the opening credits go like this:
Boston Legal Opening Credits
The series ran from 2004 to 2008. I'm not going to give you the vital statistics or even a summary, you can Google it for that. Any summary of this complex show could never do it justice anyway, you have to watch it.
All I know is that it encapsulates the greatest 'bromance' ever put on screen. I don't even like the term to be honest, and bromance doesn't really describe what 'Mr Pfeiffer' tries to put across. Namely life-long friendship that transcends everything. Finding someone who, to misquote Jerry McGuire, makes your life complete. Acts as a tether when every other force in the world is trying to rip you away. And the fascinating concept that this might be found much later in life – Denny Crane (Shatner) is in his 70s, and Alan Shore (Spader) in his 40s. I don't even think you could say that what they have is like a non-sexual marriage of the same sex – it really isn't. It doesn't hold anything in common with a domestic relationship whether of the opposite or same sex. It doesn't fit into any social category, it just is, and this relationship means more to the characters than any marriage, any job, any other personal interest. Not that it's some kind of mawkish affair, on the contrary. It's boisterous, and messy. It's both beyond 'grown-up' on the emotional plane, reaching a level of maturity which borders on damn good philosophy, and at the same time akin to the simplicity of friendships forged in the playground. But above all it is a ray of hope when life teaches us that with every passing year, all we can look forward to is becoming ever more jaded, ever more set in our ways, and ever more unable to see life as we once did.
Apart from the central relationship of the piece, every supporting role has much to offer, even down to the 'Ken doll' of the piece: Mister America, Brad Chase. In fact – in particular Brad Chase. Never judge a book by its cover – or even if you do, the point is that there are on average another 250 pages to take into consideration.
What a show.
I know it's probably not everyone's cup of tea but I have a weakness for legal shows, I don't really know why. I know that secret/government agent shows are all the rage, but in my opinion none of them stand up to scrutiny other than 24. Jack Bauer is the only government agent that I don't find ludicrous.
Not only that - they are invariably beyond serious (apart from perhaps Alias), and the world has plenty of serious. It is brimming over with serious. We're all drowning in it. And killing. And death. I'm rewatching Boston Legal in a small, solitary protest against the direction of the tide in TV series and movies right now: death, death and more death. Is that really the height of mankind's achievement? Is that all we can come up with by way of entertaining plot? Apparently so, if hot video games are anything to go by. Don't worry I'm putting my soapbox away.
More subjectively, Boston Legal has sentimental value. It's a series I watched with my sister, and no one else in the world quite shares our sense of humour or point of view. We had one of those interesting 'rough' upbringings which I suppose forges a strong shared reality, but also makes you a weirdo unable to blend in with your peers for life. Boston Legal was our bond, and we even both have the t-shirt. She's moved to Australia now, the other side of the world.
Anyway - apart from the fact that it's a legal show, it's also in-your-face and a bit loud. The average person probably won't know how to take it, unless they've seen the creator's previous offering along the same lines, Ally McBeal.
Boston Legal is actually LESS weird than Ally McBeal. And all the weirdness it keeps is the good kind. OK I was bound to like the show for the simple reason it stars two of my all-time favourite heroes, the always creepy but always excellent James Spader, and my Captain, William 'Bill' Shatner.
The show is loud, jazzy, annoying and irreverent - none of which surprises when the opening credits go like this:
Boston Legal Opening Credits
All I know is that it encapsulates the greatest 'bromance' ever put on screen. I don't even like the term to be honest, and bromance doesn't really describe what 'Mr Pfeiffer' tries to put across. Namely life-long friendship that transcends everything. Finding someone who, to misquote Jerry McGuire, makes your life complete. Acts as a tether when every other force in the world is trying to rip you away. And the fascinating concept that this might be found much later in life – Denny Crane (Shatner) is in his 70s, and Alan Shore (Spader) in his 40s. I don't even think you could say that what they have is like a non-sexual marriage of the same sex – it really isn't. It doesn't hold anything in common with a domestic relationship whether of the opposite or same sex. It doesn't fit into any social category, it just is, and this relationship means more to the characters than any marriage, any job, any other personal interest. Not that it's some kind of mawkish affair, on the contrary. It's boisterous, and messy. It's both beyond 'grown-up' on the emotional plane, reaching a level of maturity which borders on damn good philosophy, and at the same time akin to the simplicity of friendships forged in the playground. But above all it is a ray of hope when life teaches us that with every passing year, all we can look forward to is becoming ever more jaded, ever more set in our ways, and ever more unable to see life as we once did.
Apart from the central relationship of the piece, every supporting role has much to offer, even down to the 'Ken doll' of the piece: Mister America, Brad Chase. In fact – in particular Brad Chase. Never judge a book by its cover – or even if you do, the point is that there are on average another 250 pages to take into consideration.
