Showbits

I have never seen CSI, West Wing, Law & Order, or any number of other popular dramas. Not only do my television tastes lean more to The Dick Van Dyke Show, Quantum Leap, and Buffy — you know, fun stuff not likely to be mistaken for the evening news — but I also have not had television service in eight years. I am not secluded from popular culture, though, and I absorb the gist of shows like Lost and 24 rather easily. But one show had me stumped and required direct exposure.

After years of not comprehending the concept of a "legal dramedy", I finally got my hands on the first season of Boston Legal, which has been on ABC since 2004. Before I returned the DVDs, I watched only the pilot episode; without any following or even previous experience (The Practice falls within my blackout zone), I'm hardly qualified to offer an informed opinion. But I'm happy to share my uninformed one, based on first impressions.

The cast was what first struck me. William Shatner was a given, but Rene Auberjonois' inclusion as a changeling lawyer (talk about two-faced!) had escaped my memory. More surprising was Mark Valley, who played Jack Deveraux (or one of them, anyway) on Days of our Lives — a show my overindulgence of which prompted my kicking the TV habit. I don't think I'd ever seen a soap star get a "real" acting job, so it seemed fitting that he's described in this episode as a "Ken doll".

Also notable in the pilot was Larry Miller of Christopher Guests' films — and, of course, James Spader, who I now find unrecognizable from his Stargate stardom.

As for the show itself, I was a bit surprised and relieved that it is not a comedy in the sense of a spoof; it does not do for for the glut of legal dramas what Get Smart did for James Bond. Nothing about the show is infeasible, which probably makes it more consumable and popular to the masses sitting on their sofa seats, waiting for CSI's other shoe to fall. The situations all seemed realistic, but the snappy dialogue that would be used to dramatic effect elsewhere is effectively comedic here.

Though it cannot compete with a show that focuses on doing either drama or comedy well, Boston Legal makes up in breadth what it lacks in depth, successfully straddling the line between the two genres. I don't know that any show can hook someone after just one episode; if first and last impressions were one and the same, how many of us would've become Trekkies? I liked the pilot episode, but I'd have to see more before I fall in love with it. Unfortunately for Boston Legal, I too am a creature of breadth, and rather than explore the show further, I am moving on to my virgin showing of Firefly. If lines are to be straddled, let it be with cowboys and aliens!

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