ABC "The Practice"

"We conduct our sexual harrassment behind closed doors here."
- Denny Crain (William Shatner) to Alan Shore (James Spader)

I finally got around to watching last night's episode of "The Practice." (We had a cable outage last night, but fortunately, a friend taped it for us.)

I have to say, William Shatner has been terrific as a special guest star. His scene-chewing, over the top hamminess is perfect for this show. His character is a loopy, bizarre freak who keeps repeating his name as if it were a magical mantra. Yet somehow in court, as the partner representing Alan Shore in his wrongful termination suit against the firm, Crain becomes effective.

Meanwhile, Spader continues to impress me. I remember how he played rich punks in movies like "Pretty in Pink" back in the 1980s; he's aged well and now plays Shore as a deeply disturbed, yet sympathetic character. I especially like the interaction between Tara Wilson (Rhona Mitra) and Shore. My concern for the proposed spin-off is that Shore and Wilson will have a "Moonlighting"-esque "will they or won't they?" sexual tension that will distract from the show.

One bit of irony from the episode: in defending the law firm's decision to terminate Shore, Eugene Young (Steve Harris) goes into great detail about all of Shore's ethical and legal lapses -- impersonating an airline executive to settle a case, hiding a murder weapon from the police, stealing opposing counsel's documents, blackmailing adverse parties. . . .

All very bad stuff. And Young probably had a duty to report these various ethical breaches to the state bar. But having not done so, can Young simply breach client confidences by spilling the beans in court? After all, now the opposing parties can sue to undo the settlements or verdicts, clients might complain of malpractice, and so on. Kind of ironic that Young accused Shore of breaching privilege, since that's what Young just did.

No preview for the next episode, since next week is Easter weekend, and ABC is showing "The Ten Commandments." There are only four episodes left, and I wonder if Spader and Mitra will be in them, or if the remaining episodes will focus on closing out the law firm.

Comments

[tom]

While Shatner’s loopiness as Denny Crane might be fun to watch now, it’s going to be particularly grating after watching it week after week for a season, then two, then three, especially when he’s surrounded by characters who are just as goofy and loopy as he is. That’s exactly what happened with “Ally McBeal,” when Kelly took these endearingly loopy characters from the first season, played up their loopiness in season two so that they became nothing but cartoon characters and by season three, the show was irritating as hell. Denny Crane is basically just Richard Fish 30 years later. How much longer before he starts saying “bygones?” If they introduce a unisex bathroom or have characters having sex in a car wash, forget it. Unfortunately, I’ve read Kelly himself describe the spinoff as “Ally McBeal-ish” and that he intends to have the women wearing much tighter clothing, so I’m not hopeful. I suspect it will follow the pattern of so many of Kelly’s previous shows (L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, McBeal, The Practice)—the first season will be very good to great, the second season will be so-so, any by the third season, he will have completely run out of ideas and the show will just suck. And there’s always a definable, jump the shark moment, too—Rosalind gets dropped down the elevator shaft, Ally has sex with the male hunk in the car wash, Eleanor’s friend turns out to be a cross-dresser who wears a nun’s habit while cutting peoples’ heads off with a knife.

[L.Lee]

I'm looking for the last episode of the Practice (week ending on the 4-4-04). I'm a huge fan and will pay for it. Thank you.

Regards,
Lee

[L.Lee]

I'm looking for the last episode of the Practice (week ending on the 4-4-04). I'm a huge fan and will pay for it. Please emailto:

[email protected].

Thank you.

Regards,
Lee

[Ken Neth]

Did you ever get a copy of "The Practice" ??? I may have a copy. I'll look for it if you need it.