Boston Legal (Complete First Season) (2004)

"Nobody does lawyer comedy dramas quite like David E. Kelley.  Brett Cullum, DVD Verdict
"Hello, my name is Jeff and I'm addicted to Boston Legal...[it is an] excellent show...  Jeff Swindoll, Monsters and Critics
"...one of TV's most entertaining, intelligent shows...inventive acting and splendid chemistry...  Kim Morgan, Reel.com
"...irreverent and uproarious at times, in addition to displaying some heavy-handed writing...Highly recommended!  Andy Dursin, The Aisle Seat
"Poetically demented.  Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"This wonderfully executed eccentricity of a show couldn't be any more charmed.  TV Guide

Editor's Note BOSTON LEGAL, a wry courtroom television show that walks the line between drama and comedy, is the creation of perennial hit-maker David E. Kelly (ALLY MCBEAL, PICKET FENCES). BOSTON LEGAL revolves around the Boston litigation law firm of Crane, Poole, & Schmidt, in particular two eccentric and flawed attorneys, Alan Shore and Denny Crane. Shore, an unscrupulous and wily ambulance chaser and womanizer (played, with sly charm by James Spader) finds an uneasy alliance with Crane, a bombastic, self-aggrandizing, and occasionally batty elder lawyer (William Shatner in an Emmy-winning performance). Despite their ethical and emotional deficiencies, Shore and Crane usually find themselves fighting on the right side, as they take up cases that no one else is willing to touch. The 17-episode first season kicks off with quirky flair, full of oddball situations including: Shore, on a dare, taking the case of an African-American actress denied the role of Annie; Crane caught having an affair with the firm's biggest client; Shore representing an ex-lover who had attempted to murder him; Shore defending a millionaire CEO caught shoplifting, and a Santa fired for being a transvestite. Adding even more mayhem to the madcap cases, the sexual chemistry at the firm begins to boil over, and both Shore and Crane find themselves compromised with the various female lawyers.

	Betty White
	Candice Bergen
	James Spader
	Mark Valley
	Michael J. Fox
	Monica Potter
	Rene Auberjonois
	William Shatner
	Bill D'Elia - Executive Producer
	Danny Lux - Original Music By
	David E. Kelley - Writer
	James R. Bagdonas - Cinematographer
	Lawrence Broch - Writer
	Michael Hathaway - Editor
	Philip Carr Neel - Editor
	Robert Breech - Producer

Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he result is genius....BOSTON LEGAL is endlessly entertaining." 07/01/2006 p.89

Sight and Sound
"[T]he real star is William Shatner. Playing a once great advocate succumbing to dementia, he is in barnstorming form." 10/01/2006 p.90

The Aisle Seat 9 of 10
Kelley's spin-off of "The Practice" is a superior, often off-the-cuff legal drama enhanced by supercharged performances from James Spader and William Shatner, essaying attorneys at one of Beantown's most esteemed law firms...The series looks great..."Boston Legal" is irreverent and uproarious at times, in addition to displaying some heavy-handed writing and a varying tone -- all issues inherent with Kelley's past series. That said, the mixture is more satisfying here than in any of the creator's recent output, lifted by tongue-in-cheek subplots, occasional moments of self-parody, and Spader and Shatner being nothing short of a blast to watch (as are co-stars Rene Auberjonis, Monica Potter and Rhona Mitra). Highly recommended! - Andy Dursin