Lost in all of the hype surrounding this year’s Emmy telecast (who knew that Gidget had joined the terrorists?) was the only bit of info that truly interested me. Sure, Katherine Heigl looked gorgeous, and yes, America Ferrera was adorable, but the real shock was neither the attire nor the speech omissions of the winners. The big news was who did not take home the trophy. That’s right, James Gandolfini in his final season as America’s favorite mobster did not get that last Emmy nod. Who dared to steal Tony Soprano’s thunder? The only man powerful enough to do so, I imagine, James Spader from Boston Legal.

Somehow the fact that Spader trumped Soprano did not get a lot of play from the info-tainment shows. Now, I realize that chubby white men do not have the same red carpet appeal as, say, Debra Messing’s gown; but the fact that James Spader had won his third Emmy in four years for portraying morally flexible attorney Alan Shore on ABC’s Boston Legal should have been news worth noting nonetheless. After all, when compared to the perfect media storm that followed the final episode of HBO’s the Sopranos, David E. Kelley’s Boston Legal received almost no fanfare for its exceptional third season. It could almost pass for a David-beats-Goliath story…as long as David was played by an overly libidinous, left-leaning lawyer, of course.

So in case you were busy trolling New Jersey last season and missed out on the antics of Alan Shore, check out the Boston Legal Season Three DVD box set (now available from 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment). The seven disk collection won’t be evidence enough for every Sopranos fan, but they certainly should provide enough hilarious reasonable doubt to at least acquit Spader of grand theft Emmy.   

Perhaps it was Spader’s inclusion in the “Lead Actor in a Drama” category that had people scratching their heads. Any Boston Legal fan will tell you that the show is far from a drama. Peopled by drag queens, angry dwarves and one man who purrs intermittently (and those are just the lawyers), the prestigious Boston firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt has become a comedy oasis for its small, but devoted core of fans.                                             

Launched in 2004 as a kind of spin-off for Kelley’s very dramatic The Practice, Boston Legal appeared immediately to have more in common with Kelley’s other famous legal hit Ally McBeal. Here again were lawyers more interested in pursuing personal issues than in preparing for cases. Luckily for fans, however, Boston Legal had no need for dream sequences. For inside the offices of Crane, Poole & Schmidt whatever neurosis or depravity crouched inside a character’s imagination was allowed to gallop, free range, through the hallways and courtrooms.

Exhibit A: BL’s brilliant William Shatner. As senior partner Denny Crane, Shatner’s funny cup continually runneth over. While past seasons saw his “mad cow disease” tarnishing his legal reputation, season three found other outlets for Denny’s increasingly ornery spirits, including his romance with angry, little-person lawyer Bethany Horowitz (Meredith Eaton Gilden). Denny is also pursued by Bethany’s mother Bella (Delta Burke) and has some “chubby sex” with BL’s Nancy Grace doppelganger Gracie Jane.

The pitch perfect pairing of Shatner and Spader remains the heart and soul of Boston Legal, or perhaps ‘cock and balls’ is a more apt description. Always my vote for cutest couple on TV, season three finally finds voice for Alan and Denny’s special love song. When Denny finds Alan spending an increasing amount of time with regular guest star Jerry Espenson (Emmy winner Christian Clemenson) he admits solemnly “I always suspected there was a connection between you and that man; that you got something from him that you didn’t get from me.” Alan’s response, delivered without an ounce of irony is one of the season’s finest moments.

“I always wondered why jealousy and fidelity is reserved for romance…I love you

Denny, I can’t imagine going through life without you as my best friend.”

Any woman will tell you that such sentiments are hard to pry out of a man, making the bond between Denny and Alan, eloquently illustrated by the balcony scenes that continue to close each episode, both touching and unique.

Still doing her best to keep Denny Crane in line is senior partner Shirley Schmidt (Candace Bergen). Once Boston Legal’s glorified hall monitor, in season three Shirley proves that in this office there is just not enough Schmidt to go around. Her affections are the prize in a wrestling match between Denny and Alan, she is again pursued by ex-husband Ivan Tiggs (Tom Selleck) and the anatomically correct “Shirley Schmidt-ho” doll sees more action than most of the cast combined. Shirley is also stalked by one of the season’s most memorable murder suspects, the attention-seeking Capote wannabe Lincoln Meyer (David Dean Bottrell).

Of course it wouldn’t be Boston Legal without a few cast changes, and in season three Kelley and his wildly imaginative writing staff (including co-producers Bill D’Elia and Janet Leahy) drafted even more new recruits. Jeffrey Coho (Craig Bierko) and Claire Simms (Constance Zimmer), transfers from C, P & S’s New York branch, arrive in episode two to soften the departure of Parker Posey’s brilliantly bitchy Marlene “the Squid” Stanger. While Coho immediately rubs series regular Brad Chase (Mark Valley) the wrong way, he apparently rubs Brad’s longtime “friend with benefits” Denise (Julie Bowen) just right. This leads to a “who’s your daddy” pregnancy scare as well as a “battle of the Buzz Lightyears” smackdown.

Also new to the BL ensemble in season three is Clarence Bell (Gary Anthony Williams). First introduced as “Clarice,” Clarence’s debilitating shyness forces him to don one of many alternate personas every time he feels insecure. Cross-dressing attorneys may seem out of place at most prestigious law firms, but at Crane, Poole & Schmidt Clarence/Clarice fits right in; even trying cases alongside fellow oddball Jerry Espenson by season’s end.

It is the razor-sharp writing that keeps the Boston Legal lawyers like Jerry and Clarence from becoming caricatures. Still used to great effect in season three are the meta-references that have become staples of many BL scripts. When Jefferey Coho introduces himself as “the new guy” to Denny Crane, Shatner intones “Oh please, if there were new guys they would have shown up in the season premiere.” This winking self-awareness permeates almost every episode, even lightening those scenes that seemed weighted down in prior seasons: the trials. Alan’s “politically biased but compelling” closings have been tedious in the past, but with comments like “I’ll deliver one of my overwritten closing arguments… they’ve been known to work” the level of liberal lecturing is lowered considerably.

If the title “Best Drama” seems inaccurate when applied to Boston Legal, subjects as serious as Guantanamo Bay and Hurricane Katrina do not make “Best Comedy” leap immediately to mind either. Since I am genetically incapable of using the term “dramedy,” I like to think of BL as fantasy fiction, more akin to Heroes than to Law & Order. These are attorneys with super powers, after all. How else to explain the fact that the newly pudgy Spader continues to have his way with almost every attractive woman his character meets. Is it just his Axe body spray? And what is with all of the costumes? Halloween episode aside, these lawyers leap into wigs and tights with very little prompting.

Of course there is no better proof of Alan Shore’s super powers than his recent defeat of crime boss Tony Soprano. James Spader’s win over James Gandolfini at this year’s Emmy Awards may have seemed like an upset, but any actor who can make a sexually deviant defense attorney seem so noble deserves more than just a trophy.

Audio/Video/Extras

Boston Legal Season Three is a seven disk set that, like the law firm it depicts, is all about slick packaging. Excellent disk graphics and individual menu screens for all 24 episodes lend the Boston Legal set a polished look absent on other big TV releases. Extras are minimal, comprised of only two short featurettes: “Out of Order?” examines the role of some of BL’s funniest guest stars, its judges, while “Character Witness” interviews the actors behind Boston Legal’s most memorable supporting players. Episode recaps featuring original airdates make this an appealing collection even for those unfamiliar with the series. Boston Legal is presented in anamorphic widescreen, with English, French & Spanish subtitles as well as closed captioning. Dolby digital 5.1 or 4.0 surround soundtracks are available.

Final Words

Perhaps the reason that Boston Legal hasn’t received more attention for its stellar third season (even after a third Emmy win for star James Spader) is that the show itself occasionally suffers from the same sort of identity disorder so satisfyingly evident in most of its characters. Part courtroom drama, part slapstick comedy, ABC has struggled to build an audience for Boston Legal from the day its popular predecessor The Practice went off the air. I suppose it’s hard to sell a show about the love between a blowhard bigot and a left-leaning lecher, especially when the lovers are two aging, portly men. As a Boston Legal fan I can only hope that continued Emmy success will add up to a few more seasons on the air with the attorneys at Crane, Poole & Schmidt. If not I will always have my BL DVDs to comfort me.