BEAR IN MIND THAT I LIKED "GIRLS CLUB:" David E. Kelley's new series, "Boston Legal," tries to answer an interesting question--can you make a successful series in which every single regular character (save maybe one) is a craven, amoral one? And the answer, at least thus far, is "yes." They made a smart move by changing the name, because the show is far less "The Practice" than it is "L.A. Law" by way of "Ally McBeal." The center of the show are characters we came to know last season on "The Practice"--James Spader as Alan Shore, Rhona Mitra as Tara Wilson, last year's second most memorable Santa-boffer Lake Bell as the unfortunately named Sally Heep, and William Shatner as senior partner Denny Crane. The two new additions are Julia Roberts clone Monica Potter as Lori Colson, and former "Keen Eddie" Mark Valley as Brad Chase, the one quasi-moral one in the bunch.
Like in the pilot of "L.A. Law," one of the name partners of the firm goes out of the picture in the opening scene, though this time it necessitates a "partial nudity" warning rather than a man passing out in a plate of spaghetti. From there, we push into a series of cases, including a custody dispute, a young African-American girl suing to get the lead in "Annie," and a rich man who's convinced his wife is cheating on him. Like "L.A. Law," they spin together, and it works. It's not perfect--the balance between humor and drama isn't quite level (though it seems like this will be far more comic than "The Practice" was), but the performance, except for Potter, are all high-level, and Potter's apparently leaving in the not-too distant future. Worth checking out, especially given that your alternatives are "Crossing Jordan" and the "CBS Sunday Movie."
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