Sarah Jansen | Writer | Editor | Web Geek

For Boston Legal is no more. After four seasons of slapstick and social commentary, the attorneys at Crane, Poole and Schmidt have closed their doors for good, and the landscape of our television is that much bleaker.

My love affair with the program began, as many affairs of the heart do, accidentally. I caught an episode or two as they followed my regular viewing and one day I found that I was a fan.

It wasn’t just the quirky characters (although they’re awesome) or the issue-of-the-week storylines (although they’re fascinating); it’s the whole packages of smart plots played out through interesting people; fun, playful direction and cinematography; and the coolest theme song on TV.

But a week into the mourning period, it’s the characters that I’m reflecting on the most. While Boston Legal was an ensemble production, there were two characters who were very definitely the centre: Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner).

Towards women, both are essentially complete pigs. But juxtaposed with their bluster and brashness is an unapologetic refusal to pretend to be anything other than themselves that I can’t help but admire. Plus political incorrectness is funny.

And let’s not forget the stroke of genius that was casting William Shatner as the legendary lawyer Denny Crane (he’s never lost a case and has beaten Big Tobacco). He was the gift that kept giving with a finely honed combination of earnestness and tongue in cheek.

Token female Shirley Schmidt was played by the accomplished and poised Candice Bergen, who was clearly much happier playing a powerful, capable woman than the whiney, insecure character she was given by Sex and the City.

The program was also full of surreal moments, but in different ways from Ally McBeal and Scrubs. In those shows, moments of surreality are presented as the fantasies of individuals. On Boston Legal they’re a fully integrated part of the universe. Alan and Denny really do shoot each other with paintball guns over 2008’s presidential candidates; Shirley really does find a friend’s severed head in a Halloween house of horror; Jerry actually leaps over his desk when asked out by a beautiful colleague; and Denny seriously keeps a life size model of old flame Shirley in his office.

Its post-modern self-reflexivity gave some heavy handed hints about why such a clever, entertaining program was pulled, such as network–producer vendettas, censorship gone haywire, the alleged general dumbing down of all TV leading to intelligent programming disappearing, and several of its regular cast members being over 50. Whatever the reason, there is now one less show to provoke and inspire on a weekly basis.