When I first heard a little over a year ago that a show existed that boasted a cast of Emmy winning characters which included Capt. Kirk *and* Odo (I"m a trekkie, so sue me), and was a spinoff of the Practice, well... I was hooked even before I started watching. It was a combination of everything that could be right and good in the world in one hour-long tv show. I drooled at the prospect of such amazing tv. And after having a little trouble finding its place, I can safely say that it has exceeded my ridiculously high expectations.

I have to admit that when I first saw it, I had my reservations - I mean, I used to be a HUGE Practice fan back in the day... you know, waaay back, like Bobby and Lindsay finally getting married back in the day (them getting eloped at the baseball stadium? Classic). I stopped watching a long time before Tara, Alan, and Denny ever popped their heads into the show. (Hell, if I had known about Bill Shatner coming and doing a guest spot, that probably would've been enough for me to start watching again... again, huge trekkie, etc.) But like I said, I stopped watching... and that's because I felt like the show had fallen into the typical traps of courtroom dramas... the "my god I got this guy off even if I knew he was guilty" and the "how far are we going to sink to get people off" and conversely the "my god I got this guy life even if I knew he was innocent." All great stuff by itself, but if every single last freaking episode seems to centre around it, it just really starts to wear you down - I mean, you can tug at the injustice strings in the hearts of your viewers only so often, and the Practice was definitely getting to that point. (To see the exact same thing happen to a medical drama, check out basically any season of ER after the first couple ones.) You just start to get numb to it all, and I was really scared that that's where this new show, Boston Legal, was going to go as well.

The other reservation I had about the show was the casting - now I know that I said practically jumped for joy to see le Shat in action again (for those of you who don't know, William Shatner is god. He is the only man who is actually immortal. See, by the sheer magnitude of his awesomeness, God has simply refused to let him die. Ever. He will live on in eternity in his coolitude. It's that simple.), but on the other hand... well, the only acting I've actually seen him in was TOS and Miss Congeniality, and to be honest I was deeply and utterly scared that his acting would suck ass. As in, TOS suck levels. This would mean that Bill actually rendered something worse by relating himself to it, which in my mind is impossible (see my rant a few lines up). That, and other than Odo (who has already been established as an acting god), I had no idea who the rest of this cast was and whether or not they would be any good. Simply put, I was deeply scared that it would be a cast that looks fantastic on paper, but would suck ASS in real life.

Thankfully, I was completely and utterly wrong on both counts. I discovered about 5 seconds into "meeting" Alan Shore that I already knew I adored him, and after seeing a rapport develop between Alan and Denny I knew that they could carry the show through anything, be it bad acting from others, horrible plotlines and stupid network people.

And as for the horrible stereotypical courtroom drama? They've barely touched it. Yes, we've had the "omg was he guilty or not? Did I let a killer roam free?" episodes, but they have thankfully been few and far between, and by and large quite well done. Instead, David E. Kelley had chosen to use this show as an avenue to discuss current events that the general public is unaware of and to shine a new light or angle on problems that have already been done to death. Thankfully, this is done in such a smart, subtle way that you don't feel like you're being preached at, and yet it still makes you think - the ultimate balance to strike when you comment on society on network tv. And the horrible "lawyer guilt" that seems to be so prevalent on network tv, and yet seemingly unlikely to me (I mean, how would lawyers function if they were actually like that in real life?) is replaced with a feeling of business - yes, you lose some cases, and yes, something things don't come out "right", and yes, sometimes you have to get your hands dirty to get something done... but to the people there it has a certain level of emotional detachment, as it would be in real life. Emotions still run awry at times, but by and large it's replaced by a "this is my job, and I"m going to do it well" type vibe, which is so much more realistic and relateable.

In fact, the writing on this show overall is just phenomenal - some of the people there should write speaches for politicians or lawyers, they're so freaking good. I look forward to Alan Shore's closing arguments in every episode, because I know deep down that no matter how ridiculously impossible his case seems, he'll argue it so persuasively that in the end even I'll agree with him.

I'll admit that the writing and ideas in season one were kindof iffy... especially in the area of character development. It felt like other than Alan and Denny that the rest of the characters didn't have a soul or home, and without that it's impossible for a viewer to get behind them. For a while, in fact, it felt like there was a revolving door when in came to cast members - Pop! Entre Shirley Shmidt. Pop! Exeunt Lori Colson. Pop! Enter two newbies to the firm. Pop! ... and there they go again. If anything, it was a lesson on why every producer out there needs to cast their characters very, very carefully - when done wrong, it can mess up the entire show's vibe.

Thankfully, season two has been fortunate in this regard - the addition of Denise was a godsend; she's like the Lori that was supposed to be there since the start. And the development of Paul was just fantastic, because honestly they really were wasting this guy's talents by giving him maybe a line an episode. And finally, the one that surprised me the most - Brad, the ex-military random dude from season one has actually been fleshed out into a real character, one that the audience can actually relate to. To be honest, I thought this guy's goose was cooked by the end of the season... but they managed to turn him around. Big kudos to the writers.

And of course, the heart of the show has always been and always will be Denny Crane and Alan Shore. William Shatner proves every single time he's on screen that he deserved his Emmys, and James Spader just gives him the most incredible character to bounce off of. From the beginning, we've seen this relationship evolve from new aquaintances to good friends and the entire time it has felt incredibly natural and real. Denny is quirky and doesn't care what people think of him anymore; whereas Alan is knowingly absurd and has purposely chosen to rub people the wrong way: a match made in heaven. And even with the tweaking of Alan's character (from the charasmatic **** who hounds gorgeous women to the charasmatic **** who hounds gorgeous women and will fight for justice) has only made him more endearing. And James Spader deserves every bit of his Emmy as well - Alan is such a complex and difficult character to get right, but it's like Spader was BORN to play this role. I never understood the attraction to the "bad boy" before, but after watching him in action I suddenly understand. That's how good he is.

But I think my absolute most favourite thing about this show, past the witty comments on social problems, past the incredible writing, past the fantastic cast, and past Denny and Alan in particular... is the show's incredible lack of propriety when it comes to breaking down the fourth wall. This is what seperates this show from the pack, and what truly makes it special.

For those of you who don't know, "breaking the fourth wall" is when a show or cartoon or movie or play or whatever will willingly acknowledge the audience, either by referring to the fact that it is a show/cartoon/movie/play or by adressing the audience directly. Typical examples include talking about how an animation style has evolved over time in a comic (pvp comes to mind), or when a character in a movie will look straight into the camera (Wayne's World comes to mind). It's very rarely done, and it is very difficult to pull off without just losing the realism of what the audience is watching with no emotional payoff.

Boston Legal pulls if off by making just very casual remarks that to the non-observant viewer would almost be missed. They range from ones that are practically just inside jokes (things like having William Shatner liken something to a kidney stone, which refers to the fact that he just sold his stone in an auction for charity), to flat out talk of the fact that they are, in fact, on a tv show ("The last time I saw you..." "I believe it was a Sunday, then I was taken off the air, you went off to do movies, I got switched to Tuesdays, and..." "Here we are... with old footage.") Every single time something like that shows up, it's like the writers snuck in something mildly wrong or illegal, and it's thrilling to catch and be a part of it. It almost feels wrong that they did it, and vaguely dangerous to catch, which just makes it all the more fun.

My favourite "fourth wall" moments, though, will always be the Star Trek related ones (I"m a trekkie, etc., you know the drill by now). The very first one they snuck by us, way back at the start of the season, was when they mentioned "Cling-ons", which of course resulted in a zoom-in on Denny's face and him replying "Did you just say... Klingons?" From there, oh so vague mentions of beaming himself to work and having his cell phone make a little communicator noise (my favourite to date... I think I rewound an listened that that sound at least 10 times, convincing myself that they indeed snuck it in and I wasn't dreaming a ridiculously awesome dream) have just added to the Star Trek euphoric giddiness. Hearing this kind of stuff just makes my life, and makes me love Boston Legal all the more.

So in conclusion? I was scared for BL, I really was. It sounded good, it looked good, and I had really high hopes, hopes that I thought were almost unattainable. But somewhere along having Alan sleep with his upteenth woman, Denny shooting yet another person, and having heard so many great, fantastic courtroom speeches about fascinating cases... I got hooked. Bad. And I am really, really, REALLY hoping that I can wait until September for some more.

I posted this in a forum, and almost immediately after posting it I realized that it's probably better suited for my blog, due to how incredibly long winded it is (for some reason, it has some strange line breaks in it, but I'm too lazy to change it.  Deal with it.):


Okay, this episode was so freaking unbelievable that it turned me, a
devout non poster (please don't kill me - it's just that I always write
waaaay too much and then spend almost all of my day on these things)
into somebody who needed to discuss this thing.

Part
of me knew right after Booze Cruise, when Pam and Roy set a date, that
before the season was out that there was going to be some sort of
showdown/climax/resolution to the Jam relationship - there was no way
around it. Yes, it is early on in the show, but it's at a point in the
show that makes the most sense realistically, and I think that the
realism in this show is one of its greatest strengths.

As for
the final few minutes of the season finale... well, I am THIS close to
starting a petition to get John Krazinski and Jenna Fischer Emmys.
I've probably seen those two last cruical scenes about 20 times now,
and every single time I watch it I'm even more amazed by how completely
real, understated, raw, and realistic it all was.

Jim takes
Pam aside, most likely to talk about the transfer, when he just
suddenly looks into the eyes of this wonderful girl he adores, and just
decided that screw it, why not go for the gusto? You can see him half
shaking his head as he confessed that he in love with her, like he
can't even believe he's doing it. But in for a penny, in for a pound -
he starts talking about it, and all those little Jim mannerisms begin
to creep in, like the half-shrug-smile he gives when he says that "I
just wanted you to know - once." But when Pam shoots him down, he just
tears up inside, like he's telling himself "Well, what did you expect,
dummy? That she was going to jump into your arms and live happily ever
after?" I think part of the reason that Jim hasn't told Pam before
this about how he feels (other than the obvious ones) is that deep
down, he was always scared of her rejecting him - and she had just done
that. Realizing that he needs to get himself together and make a quick
escape, he says a few apologetic words that he probably barely
registers and walks off.

Pam, on the other hand, can't even tell
that Jim had anything weighty on his mind. When he confesses, she is
just so completely and utterly shocked that in that first look at her
(with the crazy camera zoom, props to the director), it hasn't even
sunk in yet. But the next time we see her face, her emotional state is
now clear - complete and utter terror. She is just so scared of what
he's telling her, and part of her just wants him to stop, rewind, and
forget this ever happened. But it is happening, and she wants him to
stop. In fact, how dare he do it? So she lashes out, which is
probably the worst thing she could have done, but honestly, who can
blame her? And then she checks herself, realizing how horrible she's
being, and she just spends the rest of the time desperately fishing for
something to say, finally grasping to such tired cliches that Jim
knows what's coming long before she says anything. More than anything
in this scene, she's just confused and shocked and Jenna does such an
incredible job that you can read everything. And then that phone
call... notice how her voice, usually very wavery and quiet throughout,
goes extremely flat when she says "Yeah, he's great" (I personally
think she's talking about Roy... she's had to say it so many times that
it comes naturally to her now.) And then when she says "Yeah, I think
I am..." She just sounds so vulnerable and scared of what she's saying,
because she knows confessing that she loves Jim makes it something real
that she needs to deal with, which is going to change her life around
permanently.

And the kiss... oh god, the kiss. The girl inside
of me ADORES this kiss. Jim just walks in on Pam, and realizing that
he's probably screwed up their relationship permanently (based on their
conversation in the parking lot) and realizing that he's probably going
to take that transfer and barely ever see her, if ever, and realizing
that he has nothing to lose, just goes for it. So we get the kiss that
we all wanted so desperately, but not at the cost of the realism of the
show. There was no schmaltzy "You don't love me? I'll kiss you and
prove that you love me! How can you kiss me like that and still say
you don't love me?", or the somewhat unrealistic walk-away, then "Oh,
but I do love you! Let me jump into your arms and kiss you
passionately! And now we'll live happily ever after!" No, Pam has real
world issues that get in the way of these things and honestly, who has
ever seen one of those two things work in real life?

When I saw
that kiss for the first time, what struck me the most was Jim - we
walks up, determined, but holds her so carefully and delicately, yet
firmly. And when he kisses her, you can see how much passion he was
for this woman, and he puts his all into those fleeting moments. He kisses her passionately, gently, reverently, wonderfully, and amazingly... just a perfect kiss. He
never wants it to end, and even sneaks in a quick third kiss in there
because he thinks he'll never get the chance again. And then he step
away, realizing that it was most definitely Pam who finished the kiss.
I personally think he says "Okay..." as he steps back, as in "okay, I
understand that I've overstepped my boundaries and you want me to
stop." And on Pam's side of the kiss, she does does the three steps -
the intial shock, the reciprocation, and then the termination because
she suddenly feels guilty about what she's doing. Yet again, superb
acting on both their parts.

As for the future... well, the key I
think here is that 1) Actually having Jim transfer and having to film
him seperately is just too much of a pain in the ass, not to mention
the writers then need to create and entirely new group of people for
him to work with so he'll have to stay (Elliot in Scrubs, anybody?),
and 2) the show prides itself on realism, and I would be sorely
disappointed if it suddenly went uber hardcore soap opera on us with
pregnancies, cheating, alter leaving, and the like, 3) as much as I
would adore seeing Jim as the boss of the firm (I would pay good money
just to see Dwight's reaction), it would put Michael's job in question,
and therefore his character on the show. Overall, I know that it's
going to be good - I just don't know WHAT. I don't think anybody
here's quite nailed it, but there have been some good ideas.

Bottom
line? We'll have to wait until September... no matter how damaging
that is to our mental health. I"m counting down the hours.

In my experience, the reasons people watch the shows they do fall into a few distinct categories:

1) It's a freaking amazing show with cool stuff happening every episode
so I can't miss a single one and omg I need to see what happens next
(aka Lost, 24, Prison Break and the like)

2) I've seen a whole bunch of it and it was really, really good... and
I just can't give up on it yet (Desperate Housewives, the OC, Naruto,
etc.)

3) It's just so freaking hilarious that I can't wait for next week (Family Guy, South Park, Scrubs)

4) It's just a really well scripted, episodic show and I enjoy it (CSI, Numb3rs, etc)

5) I just feel... comfortable with it, you know? The show just *grows* on you.

Futurama for me falls into that last category. It's not groundbreaking, or particularily special, or consistently laugh-out-loud funny... but it's still good.

When I saw the first couple of episodes, I thought "Meh, whatever, it's okay-ish, I'll watch it through"... that slowly became "Hey, this show is pretty good"... and finally, "Wow, I really, really like this show and I really want to see the next ep." I suddenly understood why it has such a cult following.

It's just one of those shows that grows on you. You start getting comfortable with the characters, the writers really start finding their groove, and the show starts to have a distinct feel to it that you really begin to enjoy. Sure, it's not going to change the world, or make you think differently... but for god's sake, it's tv and it does what tv is supposed to do: entertain you.

What I really enjoy about the show is that it has a wonderful irreverent tone, one that actually reminds me of Arrested Development in a way. The future in Futurama is slightly ridiculous, what with suicide booths, blurnsball, mutants living in old new york, the smelloscope, and combating global warming by using a giant ice cube... but what truly makes the world absurd is that absolutely nobody, not even the even-keeled Leela, finds it at all bizarre. To them, this goofy world where aliens from Omicron Persei 8 invade because they didn't see the season finale of Ally McBeal (or Single Female Lawyer, as they call it) or where Atlanta is now inhabited by mermaids at the bottom of the sea is completely, utterly normal. It almost makes you wonder what our world would look like through the eyes of somebody from the past - would we seem as ridiculous to them?

The joy about this ridiculous undertone to the show is that anything can happen, and it since the world is crazy already it doesn't seem that far fetched. Going back in time due to putting metal in the microwave? Fine. A giant mechanized Santa Claus that terrorizes the world on December 24th? Sure, why not? And not only that, but you can really feel that Fry, who has that same sort of strange ridiculousness due to his idiocy, would really feel at home a thousand years into the future, or at least much more at home than he did back in the "normal" 20th century.

The show also has some other fun quirks that I just love, such as their constant references to Star Trek (I'm a trekkie, okay? Deal with it.) Anything from the casual "Now this is a class M planet, so there should be some Roddenberries around" to the entire Star Trek based episode, "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" (Best. Episode. EVER!) can just make my day. I love how they got practically the entire cast to TOS for that episode, or how they get the actual famous person to voice their head for *any* episode, be it anyone from Al Gore to Lucy Liu.

But I think what I love the most about the show is the strange continuity they have. The writers will just throw these random things into the episodes, and you're never sure if and when they'll ever come back. Some things, like Flexo, will come back for maybe an episode or two, while other things, like Amy and Kif's relationship, or the whole nibblonian/flying brain debacle, just keep coming back again and again, when you never thought that they would amount to anything.

The last example with the flying brains is my personal favourite, because it cobbles together the most seemingly random episodes and they all make sense with one another. When the flying brains first came to earth and Fry was the only person who could stop them, you never really thought that they were going to explain why; that's just the way it was. And when Fry became his own grandfather (another one of my favourite episodes), we just laughed and forgot. But when they brought the two together, along with Nibbler being the reason that Fry was cryogenically frozen, not only was it funny, but it just made so much damned sense. It makes me wonder if the writers had this whole story planned out from the beginning, or whether it just fell wonderously into place along the way - neither one would surprise me with this show.

So yeah... Futurama, not particularily ground breaking, or hilariously funny, but it's consistently really, really good. That, and it has a fantastic theme song. And when it comes down to it, isn't that what we need TV to be?