Boston Legal

Boston Legal

Boston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC...

is an American legal drama

Legal drama

A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about crime and civil litigation. Subtypes of legal dramas include courtroom dramas and legal thrillers, and come in all forms, including novels, television shows, and films. Legal drama sometimes overlap with crime drama, most notably in the case of Law...

-comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 (dramedy) created by David E. Kelley

David E. Kelley

David Edward Kelley is an American television writer and producer, known as the creator of Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Boston Legal and Harry's Law, as well as several films. Kelley is one of the only screenwriters to have had a show created by him run on...

, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television

20th Century Fox Television

20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...

 for the ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

. The series aired from October 3, 2004, to December 8, 2008.

Boston Legal is actually a spin off of long-running Kelley series The Practice

The Practice

The Practice is an American legal drama created by David E. Kelley centering on the partners and associates at a Boston law firm. Running for eight seasons from 1997 to 2004, the show won the Emmy in 1998 and 1999 for Best Drama Series, and spawned the successful and lighter spin-off series Boston...

, following the exploits of former Practice character Alan Shore (James Spader

James Spader

James Todd Spader is an American actor best known for his eccentric roles in movies such as Pretty in Pink, Less Than Zero, Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Crash, Stargate, and Secretary...

) at the legal firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt.

Series overview

Season		Region 1	|Region 4		1	17	2004–2005	May 23, 2006	July 24, 2006	August 9, 2006	5
			2	27	2005–2006		March 5, 2007		7
	3	24	2006–2007				7
	4	20	2007–2008				5
	5	13	2008				4

Season 1: 2004–2005

Starring: James Spader as Alan Shore, Monica Potter as Lori Colson, Rhona Mitra as Tara Wilson, Lake Bell as Sally Heep (eps 1-12), Mark Valley as Brad Chase, Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston (recurring eps 1-12, regular eps 13-17) with Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt (eps 11-17) and William Shatner as Denny Crane.
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Series #	Episode #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date

Season 2: 2005–2006

Starring: James Spader as Alan Shore, Julie Bowen as Denise Bauer, Mark Valley as Brad Chase, Justin Mentell as Garrett Wells (eps 1-16), Ryan Michelle Bathe as Sara Holt (eps 1-16), Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston, with Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt and William Shatner as Denny Crane.
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Series #	Episode #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date

Season 3: 2006–2007

Starring: James Spader as Alan Shore, Julie Bowen as Denise Bauer, Mark Valley as Brad Chase, Craig Bierko as Jeffrey Coho (eps 2-15), Constance Zimmer as Claire Simms (eps 2-22), Gary Anthony Williams as Clarence Bell (eps 11-22), Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston, with Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt and William Shatner as Denny Crane.
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Series #	Episode #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date

Season 4: 2007–2008

Starring: James Spader as Alan Shore, John Larroquette as Carl Sack, Christian Clemenson as Jerry Espenson, Gary Anthony Williams as Clarence Bell, Saffron Burrows as Lorraine Weller, Tara Summers as Katie Lloyd, Taraji P. Henson as Whitney Rome (eps 3-20) with Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt and William Shatner as Denny Crane.

Series #	Episode #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date

Season 5: 2008

Starring: James Spader as Alan Shore, John Larroquette as Carl Sack, Christian Clemenson as Jerry Espenson, Tara Summers as Katie Lloyd, with Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt, Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston (eps 7, 12-13), and William Shatner as Denny Crane.
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Series #	Episode #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date