"Boston Legal" Broadcast Blast: David E. Kelley vs. the Networks

amp160Iamp8217ll miss the unique mix of farcical comedy challenging drama and cutting social and political commentary that is Boston Legal ABC will telecast its twohour finale on Monday marking the end of a multishow multinetwork Bostonbased narrative created by David E Kelley that began in 1997 with ABCamp8217s The Practice the highly acclaimed series from which Boston Legal was spunoff in 2004 Attorneys Alan Shore and Denny Crane played by James Spader and William Shatner respectively first appeared on The Practice during its final season Spader as a series regular Shatner as a guest star During its run characters from The Practice appeared on another series created by Kelley the legal comedy Ally McBeal which was telecast on Fox while characters from Ally McBeal were also seen on The Practice Later a character from another series Kelley created for Fox the highschool drama Boston Public appeared on Boston Legalamp160What a shame that Kelley isnamp8217t ready to roll with a Boston Legal spinoff if only to keep alive this oneofakind farreaching franchise if one may call it that Given Kelleyamp8217s past trajectory it need not even be on ABC In addition to Fox Kelley has a rich history at NBC where he worked as a writer and producer on LA Law and CBS which telecast his quirky small town drama Picket Fencesamp160Kelley has never been one to keep his opinions to himself or out of the scripts for his shows amp8211 especially when the topic is television itself Last weekamp8217s penultimate episode of Boston Legal made that abundantly clear in a storyline that began with a very frustrated Catherine Piper a recurring character played by Betty White expressing to Attorney Carl Sack John Larroquette her outrage at being made to feel so useless and unwanted during her senior years She wanted to file a suit against someone or something and broadcast television was one of her suggested targetsamp160amp160amp160amp8220Weamp8217re just shoved aside as a nuisanceamp8221 Catherine declared amp8220I canamp8217t even watch television shows for Godamp8217s sake because the networks consider me irrelevant It seems they donamp8217t program for anyone over 50amp8221 These words took on a sublime glow coming from the mouth of Ms White at 86 a beloved broadcast television legend whose career in the medium spans seven decadesamp160amp8220You actually may have something thereamp8221 Sack replied amp8220The networks are supposed to serve the public Iamp8217m over 50 myself and I want something to watchamp8221 With that the stage was set for several scenes that took broadcast television to task for failing to meet its obligations while continually narrowing its focus on everyounger viewers to the detriment of the overall audience not to mention the business itself Youthobsessed advertisers were briefly referenced but otherwise sparedamp160After his meeting with Catherine Sack presented his argument to Judge Clark Brown Henry Gibson who responded with characteristic exasperation amp8220You canamp8217t sue the networksamp8221amp160Sack was undeterred amp8220The airwaves judge are a public trust at least as far as the broadcast networks are concernedamp8221 he explained amp8220Thatamp8217s why theyamp8217re regulatedamp160amp8220There may have been a time when it didnamp8217t make practical business sense to exclude the old but not todayamp8221 Sack continued amp8220Americans over 50 make up the fastest growing market The baby boomers now all over 50 earn two trillion in annual income Weamp8217ve got more money We spend more money We watch more television We go to more movies We buy more CDs than young people do And yet weamp8217re the focus of less than ten percent of the advertising All the networks want to do is skew younger Kids shows for kids The only show unafraid to have its stars over 50 is Bo amp8221 Here Sack pointed directly to the cameraamp160amp8220I canamp8217t say itamp8221 Sack sighed amp8220It would break the fourth wallamp8221amp160Brown roared again amp8220You canamp8217t tell the networks what shows to makeamp8221 he criedamp160amp8220No but you can order them not to discriminateamp8221 Sack replied amp8220What theyamp8217re doing intentionally excludes a class of society Thatamp8217s bigotry We should be able to turn on our damn televisions and see something other than reality shows aimed at fourth graders game shows aimed at those slightly smarter than fifth graders and scripted shows with dimwitted sexcrazed twentysomethings running around in suits or doctorsamp8217 scrubs Old people the ones with intelligence donamp8217t want to watch that crap Weamp8217re fed up The networks might think weamp8217re dead but weamp8217re not Weamp8217re very much alive with working brains Give us something to watch damn itamp8221amp160Sack continued his pitch to Judge Brown during their lunch breakamp160amp8220You know judge in addition to there being little for us to watch most of it stinksamp8221 he said Sack then brandished his cell phone amp8220Itamp8217s this thingamp8217s fault A lot of people are on it while theyamp8217re watching They no longer give television their undivided attention Theyamp8217re on the phone or texting or on the Internet So the producers they dumb down the plots make them easier to keep up with while their viewers multitask Kids nowadays watch an average of three hours of television a day Thatamp8217s while being distracted People over 55 we watch six hours a day And we really watch So why arenamp8217t they programming for us Do these idiots a favor judge Send these network bozos a clueamp8221amp160Later an angered Judge Brown addressed the courtroom amp8220Ageism is one of the last socially condoned bigotries and it is rampant in this broadcast network businessamp8221 he hissed amp8220They consider those of us over 50 to be irrelevant How is it possible that we are not even part of the target demo when we watch the most television and spend the most money My God there are 87 million of us and that number will grow by 31 million more by 2020 Are you really telling me that it doesnamp8217t make sense to make television shows that we want to watch If I am to assume that the industry is not run by a bunch of idiots then I can only conclude that it is dominated by prejudice The case standsamp8221amp160Okay so maybe certain aspects of Kelleyamp8217s amp8211 I mean Sackamp8217s amp8211 argument are outdated or seem to come from someone who is too busy making television to really watch it Primetime broadcast programming isnamp8217t all bad though it might seem somewhat lopsided to anyone who doesnamp8217t have an insatiable hunger for procedural crime dramas Sadly with Boston Legal reaching the end of its run weamp8217ll never see this case arguedamp160Before the end of the same episode Kelley seemingly took a direct shot at ABC Attorneys Alan Shore and Denny Crane were shown enjoying their nightly cocktail hour on the terrace outside their offices discussing their next challenge A return to the Supreme Court this time to argue in favor of allowing Alzheimeramp8217s patients access to drugs that are known to slow the progress of the disease but are not yet approved by the FDA That highstakes showdown will be the primary storyline in next Mondayamp8217s twohour series finaleamp160amp8220Hey maybe Iamp8217ll retire after thisamp8221 Crane mused cigar in hand amp8220What better way to go out My last case in front of the Supreme Court Now thereamp8217s a finaleamp8221amp160amp8220They should put it on TVamp8221 Shore respondedamp160amp8220Theyamp8217ll get ratingsamp8221 Crane agreedamp160amp8220If they promoted usamp8221 Shore replied amp8220Of course I think thereamp8217s a law against promoting usamp8221amp160amp8220Seems to beamp8221 Crane concludedamp160Television wonamp8217t be the same without these guys amp160

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"Boston Legal" Broadcast Blast: David E. Kelley vs. the Networks

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