%%* Crazy Awesome: Denny Crane in a nutshell. Come on, you know you like him.
* CreatorsPet: Jerry arguably weasels his way into virtually every episode by season three.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: More than once. A shining example has to be Brad [[spoiler:accidentally cutting off the fingers of a priest with a fire axe -- while impersonating an FBI agent -- and then the priest's cat making off with one of the man's severed fingers, whilst a crowd of nuns scream in shock and horror, and when they find the missing finger, they use it to blackmail the priest before giving it back.]]
* {{Fanon}}: Because of James Spader's current role in ''Series/TheBlacklist'', many have painted Alan Shore as one of Raymond Reddington's aliases.
* HarsherInHindsight: in the season 4 episode ''Attack of the Xenophobes'', Denny Crane says "I have nothing against the Chinese". Later in the season 5 finale, [[spoiler:his law firm of Crane Poole & Schmidt is bought out by a Chinese organisation, against his wishes; they ultimately fire Denny and remove his name from the firm]].
* HilariousInHindsight:
** The pilot deals with a woman who sues casting directors after her African-American daughter was passed over for the title role in ''Theatre/{{Annie}}'', a part traditionally played by a white actress, culminating in an iconic moment in which the Reverend Al Sharpton bursts into the courtroom and demands "Give the world a black Little Orphan Annie!". Ten years later, the remake ''Film/Annie2014'' was made, starring Quvenzhané Wallis, a black actress.
** In that very same speech, Reverend Sharpton calls for an "African-American Spider-Man." [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Miles Morales]], that's your cue.
* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: After Denise manages to get a sympathetic client a better settlement than initially offered by bluffing that the amount offered by the other side is unacceptable and threatening to beat them in court for much more, she immediately assures the client that she would never have let that offer actually walk out the door had her bluff been called. It's a very genuine moment that establishes her as a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and proves that, despite her cold exterior, she really does care about helping her clients and fighting for what's right.
* HoYay: Lampshaded, subverted, inverted, etc... all by the same two characters. Alan and Denny have declared each other to be "partners" and "soulmates." When Denny asks why their significant others haven't come to get them out of jail (contempt of court), Alan reminds him, "Denny, we ''are'' our significant others." They're ''[[InsistentTerminology flamingos]]''. Nobody mentions the Ho Yay because it would be tantamount to pointing at water and saying, "That's wet." [[spoiler: Up until they got married...]]
* LoveToHate: Melvin Palmer, the sleazy SmugSnake Texan that faces off with Alan multiple times. He's cloying, condescending, and masking his nonexistent morals underneath his [[BitchInSheepsClothing utterly nauseating brand of "charm."]] Because of this, it is ''so utterly satisfying'' whenever we get to watch Alan Shore -- and, on one occasion, Katie -- take him down a peg. Not that it lasts, unfortunately.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
** James Spader's soft, low monotones, employed in an elegant summary for the defense, is really like warm chocolate for the aural cavities.
** "Denny Crane."
** "Dennnnnnnny... Dennnnnnnnnnny... Denny Craaaannnnnnne."
** Tara's voice. Holy hell, Creator/RhonaMitra.
** Katie's purrfect UsefulNotes/{{British Accent|s}}.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/JulieBowen, following the success she's had as one of the stars in ''Series/ModernFamily''.
* TheScrappy: Judge Robert "Poopycock" Sanders. A large chunk of viewers, ''especially'' those with legal careers, found the concept of an irritable, likely senile judge who is not conscious of 90% of what goes on in his courtroom or capable of understanding metaphor to be ''horrifying'' rather than funny. Judge Sanders was clearly not fit to be a judge, and often handed down rulings without even understanding the case or even listening to the eloquently written closings, instead relying on one-sentence summaries usually given when he interjects that he doesn't understand the "jibber-jabber" or "poopycock" that is being spoken to him in plain English.
* {{Squick}}: "The Ass Fat Jungle" is about a plastic surgeon who injects his own ass fat into women's lips.
* StrangledByTheRedString: While Brad is clearly established as having feelings for Denise early on, and Denise likes him as a friend, we're supposed to buy she's gone from finding him attractive to being in love with him because... she says she does, after very little onscreen to ''show'' she does. It doesn't help that many of their values and worldviews are inherently incompatible. Somewhat lampshaded, as both Shirley and Denny are of the opinion Denise only convinced herself she loves Brad because she was carrying his child and marrying him was practical.
* StrawmanPolitical: Particularly in the last three seasons, Creator/DavidEKelley pretty much just used the show as a soapbox for his views, lampshading it more than once. If you agreed with his views, you likely loved it and called it the best show on television. If you didn't, you likely shouted at the screen during Alan's lengthy closing arguments and found yourself liking Brad more than any other character.
* TearJerker: While normally a zany, wacky, funny show, when it decides to make you cry, you are damn well going to cry.
** The fate of [[spoiler:Joseph Washington. He was convicted and locked up for a rape he didn't commit, and then accused of a murder he didn't commit, tortured into giving a false conviction, and assumed to be guilty by everyone, even his lawyer. Then he gets Katie on his case, and ''finally'', he gets [[HopeSpot a ray of hope]]; she believes him, she'll fight for him. And against incredible odds, she and Jerry manage to get him acquitted. But when he tries to rejoin society, the trial and his previous conviction hangs over him and he's shunned by the town he tries to move to. But Katie ''again'' manages to help him, this time getting his false conviction thrown out when the "victim" recants... and [[ShootTheShaggyDog he's promptly murdered]]. Dear ''God''. Katie's left devastated, with only the small consolation that thanks to her actions, he died an innocent man.]]
** Shirley [[spoiler: ending the life of her suffering father after a long court battle for the right to do so]] is one of the show's most iconic non-comedy scenes, and for good reason. Overlaps with a strange SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} when Shirley tells Alan that while she will inevitably have to fire him for ''something'', the way he fought for her in court will make it much harder.
** Alan's impassioned speech toward the end of the show, in which he says he wishes he could [[spoiler: tear the Alzheimer's from Denny's body and fight it to the death if it would stop the disease from claiming his mind]]. The moment is so viscerally emotional, especially for viewers who have friends or loved ones [[spoiler: who have suffered from Alzheimer's or any mental illness]] and have found themselves wishing the very same thing.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Jeffrey Coho, after starting with a very impressive murder case, is just used in a love triangle involving him, Denise, and Brad. The other two characters were equally wasted in that storyline, especially Denise who, when used in actual cases, was a fantastic lawyer.
* WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack: You might find yourself wondering what, exactly, Denise sees in Brad, after he first tries to sue her for having an abortion after she told him she was considering her options re: her pregnancy (which she didn't end up having, as she'd decided on her own to have his child, and he would've known that if he'd bothered to ''talk'' to her about it), and then outright dismisses the idea that she'll return to work after maternity leave, despite her being very firm about wanting to keep her job. He even has the nerve to insist that no mother ''really'' wants to work. (Tellingly, when she reappears after her baby is born, she has returned to work.) Hell, even as they were ''getting married'', he makes an utter ass of himself, insisting they get married in the hospital room, while she's ''giving birth''... because if they don't, their baby will be born a bastard! (Never mind that Denise is clearly in pain, what with the whole being in labor thing, is in no mood to be dealing with anyone's nonsense, and also blatantly does not care if they're married before or after the kid is born.)
* TheWoobie:
** Poor, poor [[OnlySaneMan Carl Sack]]...
** Jerry Espenson, which is somewhat amazing since his second appearance ended up with him holding a knife to Shirley's throat after he didn't make partner. The only reason he didn't make partner in the first place was because he had Asperger's and the Senior Partners weren't going to accept him because he was different, even though he did excellent work and was more deserving than Brad, who made partner.
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