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* HeroicBSOD: Alan in Season 5, after [[spoiler: he finds out that an ex-girlfriend totally played him in order to keep her husband out of jail for first-degree murder]].
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Please don\'t insert yourself into the article.
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** My favorite would be, when an extra opens their mouth to support a one-off character:
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** My favorite would be, Another time, when an extra opens their mouth to support a one-off character:
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* BunnyEarsLawyer: almost the entire cast, save for one of the interns that showed up for a few months who didn't have any quirks. [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] was The OnlySaneMan. And Brad is TheComicallySerious.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the TropeNamer?
** Literal in several cases.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the TropeNamer?
** Literal in several cases.
to:
* BunnyEarsLawyer: The TropeNamer is Alan Share, but almost the entire cast, cast qualify, save for one of the interns that showed up for a few months who didn't have any quirks. [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] was The OnlySaneMan. And Brad is TheComicallySerious.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the TropeNamer?
** Literal in several cases.TheComicallySerious.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the TropeNamer?
** Literal in several cases.
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* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: In an episode Jerry is sued for sexual harassment, and Marlena sees her come down the hallway, the camera fixes on [[http://www.theplace2.ru/archive/rachelle_lefevre/img/rachelle_rachelle_le.jpg Rachelle Lefevre's face]] and Marlena is slackjawed.
to:
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: In an episode Jerry is sued for sexual harassment, and Marlena sees her come down the hallway, the camera fixes on [[http://www.theplace2.ru/archive/rachelle_lefevre/img/rachelle_rachelle_le.jpg Rachelle Lefevre's face]] face and Marlena is slackjawed.
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* ActorAllusion:
** There's quite a few jabs at Creator/WilliamShatner's iconic Captain Kirk role, such as when Denny is given a cellphone by one of his many girlfriends and it makes the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' communicator beeping sound whenever he flips it open.
** Also, when describing a parasitic water bug,
-->'''Alan''': They call them cling-ons.
-->'''Denny''': Did you say ''Klingons''!?
** The third season episode "Son of the Defender" used footage from the 1950's Defender TV movie featuring Shatner to present Denny as a young attorney clashing with his father. It was surprisingly emotional.
** In one episode, Valerie Bertinelli appeared as a guest character, and her appearance was heralded with the theme from ''Series/OneDayAtATime'', the show that made her a star.
** There's quite a few jabs at Creator/WilliamShatner's iconic Captain Kirk role, such as when Denny is given a cellphone by one of his many girlfriends and it makes the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' communicator beeping sound whenever he flips it open.
** Also, when describing a parasitic water bug,
-->'''Alan''': They call them cling-ons.
-->'''Denny''': Did you say ''Klingons''!?
** The third season episode "Son of the Defender" used footage from the 1950's Defender TV movie featuring Shatner to present Denny as a young attorney clashing with his father. It was surprisingly emotional.
** In one episode, Valerie Bertinelli appeared as a guest character, and her appearance was heralded with the theme from ''Series/OneDayAtATime'', the show that made her a star.
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* FakeAmerican: Canadian Creator/WilliamShatner as staunch, gun-loving Denny Crane.
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* IAmNotSpock: For a lot of people, this show was responsible for Creator/WilliamShatner not just being Captain Kirk. In fact inverted, now people make Denny Crane jokes about old ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' episodes.
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* YouMightRememberMeFrom: Creator/CandiceBergen's earlier claim to fame was on the [[LongRunner long-running]] sitcom ''Series/MurphyBrown''.
** And Christian Clemenson played sidekick to Bruce Campbell as another lawyer, Socrates Poole, in ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr''.
*** Perhaps more relevantly, Clemenson played Spader's brother in Bad Influence.
**** John Larroquette, who joined the cast as the straight-laced DeadpanSnarker Carl Sack is certainly better known for playing a lawyer, who was the complete opposite on ''NightCourt'', Dan Fielding.
** And Christian Clemenson played sidekick to Bruce Campbell as another lawyer, Socrates Poole, in ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr''.
*** Perhaps more relevantly, Clemenson played Spader's brother in Bad Influence.
**** John Larroquette, who joined the cast as the straight-laced DeadpanSnarker Carl Sack is certainly better known for playing a lawyer, who was the complete opposite on ''NightCourt'', Dan Fielding.
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* BoringInvincibleHero: Discussed by Alan in one episode.
-->'''Alan:''' Do we win too much? Are we losing all suspense?
** Ironically Alan, while a very talented attorney, is far from invincible and does lose a few cases here or there. Chances are that, if Alan goes up against Denny, Alan will lose to the even more invincible Denny.
** Denny, himself, subverts the boring part, because, while he never loses a case, you can never be sure how he will win it and it is always entertaining. Usually thanks to - in various ways - his "Mad Cow".
-->'''Alan:''' Do we win too much? Are we losing all suspense?
** Ironically Alan, while a very talented attorney, is far from invincible and does lose a few cases here or there. Chances are that, if Alan goes up against Denny, Alan will lose to the even more invincible Denny.
** Denny, himself, subverts the boring part, because, while he never loses a case, you can never be sure how he will win it and it is always entertaining. Usually thanks to - in various ways - his "Mad Cow".
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* InvincibleHero: Discussed by Alan in one episode.
-->'''Alan:''' Do we win too much? Are we losing all suspense?
-->'''Alan:''' Do we win too much? Are we losing all suspense?
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* BrotherChuck: Nearly all of the characters except for Alan Shore, Denny Crane, Shirley Schmidt, Carl Sack, Jerry Espensen, and Katie Lloyd.
to:
* BrotherChuck: Nearly all of the Many characters. The only characters except for that aren't this or put on a bus are Alan Shore, Denny Crane, Shirley Schmidt, Carl Sack, Jerry Espensen, and Katie Lloyd.
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->''"Any day, Denny Crane."''
to:
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* BrotherChuck: Nearly every character besides Alan Shore, Denny Crane, and Shirley Schmidt.
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* BrotherChuck: Nearly every character besides all of the characters except for Alan Shore, Denny Crane, and Shirley Schmidt.Schmidt, Carl Sack, Jerry Espensen, and Katie Lloyd.
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** Carl Sack gets brought on board by Shirley to ''be'' this to the rest of the firm.
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* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: In an episode Jerry is sued for sexual harassment, and Marlena sees her come down the hallway, the camera fixes on [[http://www.theplace2.ru/archive/rachelle_lefevre/img/rachelle_rachelle_le.jpg Rachelle Lefevre's face]] and Marlena is slackjawed.
---> '''Marlena''': Look at her! She's ''gorgeous''!
---> '''Marlena''': Look at her! She's ''gorgeous''!
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** Paul Lewiston was basically Matthew Billings' substitute. While very different looks and personality wise, their role was the same. Both characters acted as traffic cop around the firm, keeping Denny in order. The biggest difference was that Billings believed in Denny's competence, whereas Paul does everything he can to make sure Denny doesn't take cases.
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* {{Hypocrite}}: Denny seems to get upset when Donny turns his back on him after find out that he's not really Denny's boy, whereas Denny basically did exactly the same thing years ago, after finding out Donny wasn't his son.
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''Boston Legal'' was a legal {{dramedy}} series than ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 2004 to 2008. It was to the BunnyEarsLawyer trope what ''Series/{{House}}'' is to DrJerk. The series starts as a senior partner at the firm goes completely insane and has to be hauled off to a mental hospital, and the rest of the employees aren't much more stable. They include a renowned trial lawyer in the early stages of Alzheimer's (affectionately referred to as Mad Cow Disease by him and the rest of the firm), several lawyers suffering from everything from extreme shyness to UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome, and the lead, who is merely lecherous and corrupt (although he, too, suffers from occasional [[WordSalad mental issues]]). Together they take on cases that are almost as odd as they are.
to:
''Boston Legal'' was is a legal {{dramedy}} series than ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 2004 to 2008. It was to the BunnyEarsLawyer trope what ''Series/{{House}}'' is to DrJerk. The series starts as a senior partner at the firm goes completely insane and has to be hauled off to a mental hospital, and the rest of the employees aren't much more stable. They include a renowned trial lawyer in the early stages of Alzheimer's (affectionately referred to as Mad Cow Disease by him and the rest of the firm), several lawyers suffering from everything from extreme shyness to UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome, and the lead, who is merely lecherous and corrupt (although he, too, suffers from occasional [[WordSalad mental issues]]). Together they take on cases that are almost as odd as they are.
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* OneOfOurOwn: Alan frequently has to help Denny out of some legal trouble, or else help him to sue when Denny feels he's been wronged. Conversely Alan occasionally finds himself in legal trouble, which results in Denny having to back him up.
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Namespace
** In one episode, Valerie Bertinelli appeared as a guest character, and her appearance was heralded with the theme from ''Series/OneDayAtATime'', the show that made her a star.
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* ThemeTuneCameo: Jerry Espenson sings along with the theme song during the opening credits of one episode. In one episode, Valerie Bertinelli appeared as a guest character, and her appearance was heralded with the theme from ''OneDayAtATime'', the show that made her a star. Denny Crane plays it on a kazoo to usher in a different episode. Not just a kazoo, a ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome trombone kazoo]]''.
to:
* ThemeTuneCameo: Jerry Espenson sings along with the theme song during the opening credits of one episode. In one episode, Valerie Bertinelli appeared as a guest character, and her appearance was heralded with the theme from ''OneDayAtATime'', the show that made her a star. Denny Crane plays it on a kazoo to usher in a different episode. Not just a kazoo, a ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome trombone kazoo]]''.
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** The third season episode "Son of the Defender" used footage from a 1950's TV movie featuring Shatner to present Denny as a young attorney clashing with his father. It was surprisingly emotional.
to:
** The third season episode "Son of the Defender" used footage from a the 1950's Defender TV movie featuring Shatner to present Denny as a young attorney clashing with his father. It was surprisingly emotional.
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** Alan Shore's abuse of Jerry's Asperger's Syndrome in 'The Good Lawyer'
to:
** Alan Shore's abuse of Jerry's Asperger's Syndrome in 'The Good Lawyer'Lawyer' (which Alan later regretted).
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* ArousedByTheirVoice: Shirley can get Denny hot and bothered just by whispering his name.
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* AudioErotica: Shirley can get Denny hot and bothered just by whispering his name.
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* Mood Whiplash: One moment they'll joke about Alzheimer's, then the next it will suddenly be a serious issue. For a supposed comedy show, it's disturbingly dark to have the first series finale end with [[spoiler:the sounds of a man gasping and struggling for his life as he's about to be executed while the credits roll]].
to:
* Mood Whiplash: MoodWhiplash: One moment they'll joke about Alzheimer's, then the next it will suddenly be a serious issue. For a supposed comedy show, it's disturbingly dark to have the first series finale end with [[spoiler:the sounds of a man gasping and struggling for his life as he's about to be executed while the credits roll]].
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typo, formatting
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**** John Larroquette, who joined the cast as the straight-laced DeadpanSnarker Carl Sack is certainly better known for playing a lawyer, who was the complete opposite on NightCourt. Dan Fielding.
to:
**** John Larroquette, who joined the cast as the straight-laced DeadpanSnarker Carl Sack is certainly better known for playing a lawyer, who was the complete opposite on NightCourt. ''NightCourt'', Dan Fielding.
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typo
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* ThePerfectionist: Denny has never lost a case. Nowadays he only takes cases he thinks it's a lock to win, and/or takes second chair in cases so if he side does lose it doesn't count for his stats.
to:
* ThePerfectionist: Denny has never lost a case. Nowadays he only takes cases he thinks it's a lock to win, and/or takes second chair in cases so if he his side does lose it doesn't count for his stats.
stats.
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formatting
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-->'''Alan:''' ''*standing on crate*'' Getting on my soapbox, Your Honor, I do it once a week.
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-->'''Alan:''' ''*standing ''(standing on crate*'' crate)'' Getting on my soapbox, Your Honor, I do it once a week.
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--->'''Denny''': Welcome to ''[[TitleDrop Boston Legal]]''... [[ThemeMusicPowerUp Cue the music]]! [The opening credits begin to roll inter-cut with shots of Jeffery Coho looking absolutely stupefied].
to:
--->'''Denny''': Welcome to ''[[TitleDrop Boston Legal]]''... [[ThemeMusicPowerUp Cue the music]]! [The ''(The opening credits begin to roll inter-cut with shots of Jeffery Coho looking absolutely stupefied].stupefied)''.
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** There's quite a few jabs at WilliamShatner's iconic Captain Kirk role, such as when Denny is given a cellphone by one of his many girlfriends and it makes the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' communicator beeping sound whenever he flips it open.
to:
** There's quite a few jabs at WilliamShatner's Creator/WilliamShatner's iconic Captain Kirk role, such as when Denny is given a cellphone by one of his many girlfriends and it makes the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' communicator beeping sound whenever he flips it open.
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* FakeAmerican: Canadian WilliamShatner as staunch, gun-loving Denny Crane.
to:
* FakeAmerican: Canadian WilliamShatner Creator/WilliamShatner as staunch, gun-loving Denny Crane.
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* IAmNotSpock: For a lot of people, this show was responsible for WilliamShatner not just being Captain Kirk. In fact inverted, now people make Denny Crane jokes about old ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' episodes.
to:
* IAmNotSpock: For a lot of people, this show was responsible for WilliamShatner Creator/WilliamShatner not just being Captain Kirk. In fact inverted, now people make Denny Crane jokes about old ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' episodes.
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* LargeHam: Everyone who isn't TheComicallySerious or the StraightMan. ''Especially Denny Crane.''
** Denny Crane is so much of a LargeHam that he makes the entire WorldOfHam look perfectly normal.
** Denny Crane is so much of a LargeHam that he makes the entire WorldOfHam look perfectly normal.
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* DownerEnding: A lot of the time, especially any time they win when the client was a dick (too many examples to specify) and when they lose and the client wasn't a dick (the season one ending, when they fought valiantly to get a guy off death row and lost. The season ended with his execution).
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* BunnyEarsLawyer: almost the entire cast, save for one of the interns that showed up for a few months didn't have any quirks.[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] was The OnlySaneMan. And Brad is TheComicallySerious.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the trope namer?
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the trope namer?
to:
* BunnyEarsLawyer: almost the entire cast, save for one of the interns that showed up for a few months who didn't have any quirks.quirks. [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] was The OnlySaneMan. And Brad is TheComicallySerious.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is thetrope namer?TropeNamer?
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the
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* LostEpisode: The end of the first season was pre-empted to allow Grey's Anatomy to establish itself. As a result some of those episodes were cut, and the production team used the footage to create new episodes.
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* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Boston Legal's Lori Colson (played by Monica Potter) to The Practice's Hannah Rose (played by Rebecca De Mornay). Both were blonde, attractive attorneys who held positions of responsibility within Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Both were attracted to Alan but repelled by him ethically. The only real difference is that Hannah Rose was more aggressive than Lori Colson.
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* AndStarring: James Spader leads off, CandiceBergen gets the "with" and WilliamShatner brings up the rear with the "and."
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* AndStarring: James Spader leads off, CandiceBergen Creator/CandiceBergen gets the "with" and WilliamShatner Creator/WilliamShatner brings up the rear with the "and."
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* YouMightRememberMeFrom: CandiceBergen's earlier claim to fame was on the [[LongRunner long-running]] sitcom ''MurphyBrown''.
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* YouMightRememberMeFrom: CandiceBergen's Creator/CandiceBergen's earlier claim to fame was on the [[LongRunner long-running]] sitcom ''MurphyBrown''.''Series/MurphyBrown''.
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favorite example
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**Armin Shimerman plays a judge in the first few episodes of season 3. In one scene, he and former Deep Space Nine castmate Rene Auberjonois face off with all the chemistry of the Quark/Odo exchanges.
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moved to namespace
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bostonlegalinvite.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Yup, it's that kind of show.]]
->''"Any day, Denny Crane."''
->''"You're thinking. I used to do that, but when you grow old, you realise what it's all about: Money."''
->--'''Denny Crane'''
''Boston Legal'' was a legal {{dramedy}} series than ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 2004 to 2008. It was to the BunnyEarsLawyer trope what ''Series/{{House}}'' is to DrJerk. The series starts as a senior partner at the firm goes completely insane and has to be hauled off to a mental hospital, and the rest of the employees aren't much more stable. They include a renowned trial lawyer in the early stages of Alzheimer's (affectionately referred to as Mad Cow Disease by him and the rest of the firm), several lawyers suffering from everything from extreme shyness to UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome, and the lead, who is merely lecherous and corrupt (although he, too, suffers from occasional [[WordSalad mental issues]]). Together they take on cases that are almost as odd as they are.
Created by DavidEKelley. Technically a SpinOff from ''ThePractice'', with which it shares Alan Shore, Denny Crane, a few female supporting roles who were victims of ChuckCunninghamSyndrome or otherwise PutOnABus, and virtually nothing else. It ran for a total of 101 episodes in five seasons.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* AccuseTheWitness
** Jeffrey Coho takes this UpToEleven during his big trial. He accuses three separate witnesses of being the murderer, including the husband and the neighbor of the victim. Lastly, he accuses the mother of a defendant of being the real murderer of the defendant's lover, in order to get the son acquitted. [[spoiler:While Jeffrey thinks their story of the mother being in an incestuous relationship with her son and having killed out of jealousy is just a cover story, it's actually true.]]
** Alan does this in an [[LargeHam overly melodramatic]] and obviously insincere manner during another trial, and tries to excuse it to the judge by saying he had to do ''something'' to distract the jury from the witness's damaging testimony.
** This is played straight in another episode where Katie Lloyd asks the husband of the victim if he was the murderer.
** Subverted in yet another episode, where Alan and Denny separately represent two sons who are both accused of killing their father. [[spoiler:They secretly agree to have both the boys accuse the other one of being the murderer while on the stand, while pretending that they each pulled this trick on the other. The jury can't decide if it was one boy or the other, or if it was both boys, or someone else entirely, creating reasonable doubt.]]
* ActivistFundamentalistAntics: One episode had two religious groups suing each other for blasphemy-related charges.
* ActorAllusion:
** There's quite a few jabs at WilliamShatner's iconic Captain Kirk role, such as when Denny is given a cellphone by one of his many girlfriends and it makes the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' communicator beeping sound whenever he flips it open.
** Also, when describing a parasitic water bug,
-->'''Alan''': They call them cling-ons.
-->'''Denny''': Did you say ''Klingons''!?
** The third season episode "Son of the Defender" used footage from a 1950's TV movie featuring Shatner to present Denny as a young attorney clashing with his father. It was surprisingly emotional.
* AdrenalineTime: Done for transitions between scenes, usually showing one character dramatically walking to the next scene. Also appears in the intros.
* AmoralAttorney: Inverted in Alan Shore (he's more than happy, eager even, to bend or break legal ethics to uphold his own moral ones).
* AndStarring: James Spader leads off, CandiceBergen gets the "with" and WilliamShatner brings up the rear with the "and."
* AssholeVictim
* AudioErotica: Shirley can get Denny hot and bothered just by whispering his name.
* AuthorTract: [[TropesAreNotBad And how]]! Especially in the later years, many cases involved the firm getting involved in political issues and Alan Shore would invariably deliver a closing argument in the author's voice. {{Lampshaded}} in "Selling Sickness":
-->'''Judge Weldon:''' Counsel, what are you doing?
-->'''Alan:''' ''*standing on crate*'' Getting on my soapbox, Your Honor, I do it once a week.
* BackdoorPilot: The final season of ''ThePractice''.
* BerserkButton: As far as CP&S is concerned - Shirley. As far as Shirley herself is concerned... well, don't make fun of/attempt to fire Denny Crane. Just... don't.
* BetterThanABareBulb
* BittersweetEnding: A pretty deep and [[SequelHook utterly inconclusive]] TwistEnding, in fact. Almost surprising considering the tone of the rest of the show. [[spoiler:Carl and Shirley get married... but [[HomoeroticSubtext so do Alan and Denny]], so that Denny's fortune would be preserved in Alan. Denny's case to get the experimental Alzheimer's medicine is appealed to the Supreme Court where he meets his hero Justice Scalia and wins his case... But in the midst of all this a Chinese international company buys out Crane, Poole, and Schmidt, then the company won a lawsuit when Shirley sued on the grounds that the Chinese have no right to buy a law firm. They put the litigations department under watch, especially Alan. [[KickTheDog And they took Denny's name off the firm and renamed the firm Chang, Poole, and Schmidt.]]]]
* BlackWidow: The firm once defended a woman who married for money whose husband turned up dead. [[spoiler:It's left ambiguous whether or not she actually killed him.]]
* BoringInvincibleHero: Discussed by Alan in one episode.
-->'''Alan:''' Do we win too much? Are we losing all suspense?
** Ironically Alan, while a very talented attorney, is far from invincible and does lose a few cases here or there. Chances are that, if Alan goes up against Denny, Alan will lose to the even more invincible Denny.
** Denny, himself, subverts the boring part, because, while he never loses a case, you can never be sure how he will win it and it is always entertaining. Usually thanks to - in various ways - his "Mad Cow".
* BrotherChuck: Nearly every character besides Alan Shore, Denny Crane, and Shirley Schmidt.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: almost the entire cast, save for one of the interns that showed up for a few months didn't have any quirks.[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] was The OnlySaneMan. And Brad is TheComicallySerious.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the trope namer?
** Literal in several cases.
* CanadaEh: Denny Crane, eh?
* CatchPhrase: Denny Crane. He says his own name often enough for it to be considered such.
--->'''Denny Crane:''' Denny Crane!
--->'''Shirley:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny That's not a defense]]!
* ClingyJealousGirl
* CharacterFilibuster: Oh, so many times. Partially justified in that they're lawyers and it's their job to give long speeches, but more often than not their closings had only a tangential relationship to the case at hand. Alan Shore is basically the epitome of this trope.
** It's a trick that legendary civil libertarian lawyer Clarence Darrow used to employ. No one since Darrow has ever come close to doing it right... Except the fictional Alan Shore.
** A father once pulled a gun on Alan at work after Alan agreed to represent the guy's ex-wife in a custody battle.
** The son of a woman whose accused murderer was cleared by Denny Crane and his father once took Denny Crane and much of the rest of the supporting cast hostage in order to stage the trial again.
* TheComicallySerious:
** Shirley Schmidt is ''comparatively'' strait-laced compared to most of the loons on this show, even though her entrance into the series in an innuendo-laden discussion with Alan Shore is something of a CrowningMomentOfFunny for both of them. She's hilarious in the office, but in public she's the serious partner.
** Paul Lewiston is almost entirely devoid of a sense of humour.
* CourtroomAntics: Ohh yeah.
* DeadpanSnarker: Pretty much everybody, but Shirley Schmidt and,arguably, Paul Lewiston are reigning King and Queen of this trope.
* DemotedToExtra: Sally Heep (appearing in two season 3 episodes), Paul Lewiston (after season 3), Brad Chase (appearing once after season 3), Denise Bauer (appearing once in season 5).
* [[OscarBait Emmy Bait]]: ''Amazingly'' parodied and lampshaded. Denny talks about how he likes to pretend "that everything I'm doing is on television" and calls an abortion case bad television. Alan tells him to "just think of this as our Emmy episode." Denny Crane even says at one point that he's won an Emmy. Note that this is Denny Crane (a lawyer) saying this!
* EndOfSeriesAwareness: The show is absolutely relentless about this.
* EvolvingCredits: The producers listened keenly to fans reactions to certain characters and would routinely [[PromotionToOpeningTitles make full-time cast members]] out of [[BreakoutCharacter Breakout Characters]] and [[DemotedToExtra write off]] perceived [[CreatorsPet Creator's Pets]] and [[TheScrappy Scrappys]].
* FakeAmerican: Canadian WilliamShatner as staunch, gun-loving Denny Crane.
* {{Flanderisation}}: In the last season of The Practice and the first season of Boston Legal, Alan was far more amoral and willing to bend laws for moral reasons. Denny was an eccentric but otherwise brilliant attorney who had occasional problems with Alzheimer's (bad enough to forget the facts of a case, good enough to engineer a mistrial as a result). By the second season Alan was becoming a lot less amoral, more like wise-cracking, and Denny was becoming so incompetent that the other partners would never let him work on a case for anything other than appearances.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Denise attempts to maintain a friends-with-benefits arrangement with both Brad and Jeffrey simultaneously, without either of them knowing about the other.
* FrivolousLawsuit: These seem to make up about half of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt's cases.
* FromTheAshes: Technically it sort of picks up where ''ThePractice'' leaves off.
** To elaborate, The Practice ended with Alan joining Crane, Poole and Schmidt. Boston Legal begins with Alan having settled in for what must be a year (if you go by Alan's claim to have known Denny for six years in the series finale). The first season contains perhaps the most references to things that happened to Alan on The Practice, given that there were more carry-over characters like Tara and Sally and Catherine Piper, than there were in later seasons.
* FunnyAneurysm / ReverseFunnyAneurysm (depending on your politics): One episode airing in early 2005 was about the firm successfully defending a school district that forced science teachers to teach Intelligent Design (creationism with the serial numbers filed off) as an alternative to evolution, firing those that refused. In real life a similar case really happened later that year, with the plaintiffs and school board using arguments essentially identical to those from the show (although at much greater length and with everyone showing their work). The school board lost so badly the movement to get ID taught in schools [[strike: basically died that day.]] had to go into hibernation for a few years.
* HangingJudge: Judge Clark Brown.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Denny.
-->'''Denny:''' ''[to Alan, as he fixes Denny's tie]'' I wish you and I were getting married. That's you and I. Both of us. To others... I'm not gay.
-->'''Alan:''' I heard you the first Freudian slip.
* HeadTiltinglyKinky: Alan does this as he watches Denny and Bev dancing at their wedding reception.
* HomoeroticSubtext : Alan and Denny. At the end of the show, [[spoiler: they make it legal]].
* IAmNotSpock: For a lot of people, this show was responsible for WilliamShatner not just being Captain Kirk. In fact inverted, now people make Denny Crane jokes about old ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' episodes.
* InsufferableGenius: Guess, just guess.
* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Heather Locklear, one of William Shatner's old friends, played Denny Crane's client. Christian Clemenson, one of James Spader's old friends, played Jerry Espenson. Unfortunately the show was cancelled before [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]] could agree to do an appearance.
* IWontSayImGuilty: Nearly every innocent client the firm represents says this at one point.
* JustFriends: Katie and Jerry deal with this, complete with [[spoiler: LastMinuteHookup]].
* KickTheDog: Denny ''shot a homeless guy with a paintball gun and gloated about it on Larry King!!''
** Alan Shore's abuse of Jerry's Asperger's Syndrome in 'The Good Lawyer'
* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled:
** Patrice Kelly's daughter was murdered by a man who got off on not guilty on grounds of temporary insanity because he had skilled lawyers. So, she goes to Alan Shore to announce that she's going to kill the man and wants to be found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
** [[spoiler:Catherine]] kills [[spoiler:Bernard]], who killed his mother and neighbor.
* LampshadeHanging: Of ''everything''.
* LastMinuteHookup: Played with (to say the least) with Alan/Denny, and played straight with [[spoiler: Jerry/Katie + a SealedWithAKiss in the last 5 minutes of the final episode]].
* LighterAndSofter: Than its parent show, ''ThePractice''. ''Much'' lighter.
** This is down to differing genres. The Practice was a straight drama. Boston Legal is a comedy-drama.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Denny and Alan, of course.
* Mood Whiplash: One moment they'll joke about Alzheimer's, then the next it will suddenly be a serious issue. For a supposed comedy show, it's disturbingly dark to have the first series finale end with [[spoiler:the sounds of a man gasping and struggling for his life as he's about to be executed while the credits roll]].
* MotorMouth: Alan Shore.
* NiceHat: Not necessarily always a hat, but Alan is particularly fond of wearing strange things on his head. Ornaments (that light up, no less), mistletoe, wigs, coonskin caps. . .
** ... [[BunnyEarsLawyer Bunny ears...]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Gracie Jane is a thinly-disguised Nancy Grace.
* NoFourthWall: This show was created with none installed.
** Denny Crane can identify guest characters and season finales, and isn't shy about discussing them. Characters talk obliquely of getting their own spin-offs. A heated argument between two characters regarding the merits of Obama and [=McCain=] was on an episode that aired the day before Election Day.
** Heck, people have the show's theme song as cell phone ringtones. And in one of the final episodes someone sues the Network for not having television programing with older casts.
--->You know, the only show unafraid to have its stars over 50 is ''Bo''... Gee, I can't say it. (gesturing toward the cameras and the audience) It would, um, [[NoFourthWall break the wall]].
** And, from the finale:
--->'''Alan:''' It'll be great!
--->'''Denny:''' Like [[JumpingTheShark jumping a shark!]] [[invoked]]
** My favorite would be, when an extra opens their mouth to support a one-off character:
--> '''Alan''': You're an extra. You don't get to talk.
** And, of course:
--->'''Denny''': Welcome to ''[[TitleDrop Boston Legal]]''... [[ThemeMusicPowerUp Cue the music]]! [The opening credits begin to roll inter-cut with shots of Jeffery Coho looking absolutely stupefied].
** The ThemeMusicPowerUp gets this treatment a number of times- when Shirley hires Jerry, he mentions that he has a favourite song he hums when happy. After prompting from Shirley, he proceeds to hum and sing along with the theme for the entire duration of the opening credits, much to Shirley's bemusement.
** And again when Alan and Denny go to LA, and Denny proceeds to play the first few bars of the theme with a kazoo.
* NoSenseOfHumor: Brad Chase.
* NotLoveInterest: Denny and Alan, for each other.
* NotSoDifferent: Many sources are quick to point out that Alan and Denny are best friends despite being so ideologically different. While it is true that they are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the reason that they are such great friends is down to the fact that, politics and personal interests aside, they are very similar personality wise, particularly when it comes to women.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[TwoWords Denny. Crane.]]
* OffOnATechnicality: Claire gets one of her clients off by claiming that while he took someone else's cell phone, and while he didn't give it back when he realized it wasn't his, he didn't have the intent to steal the phone at the moment he took it from his victim - he just thought it was his own phone.
* OnceAnEpisode: At the end of every episode, Alan and Denny sit out on a balcony and talk.
** This only gradually became a thing. The first season is noted for its EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in that the episodes do not often end with a balcony scene.
* OnlySaneMan: Shirley Schmidt, Paul Lewiston, and Carl Sack. To a lesser extent, Denise Bauer, Brad Chase, and Claire Simms.
** So, really, it's more like Denny Crane and Alan Shore are the Only Insane Men.
*** They more than make up for it, however.
* OverCrank: Usually occurs partway into a character walking to the next scene. Everything starts off normal, then as they round the corner, everything slows to increase the drama.
* OverlyLongGag: Any time Donny Crane and Denny Crane meet.
--> "Donny Crane."
--> "Denny Crane."
--> "Donny Crane."
--> "Denny Crane."
--> "Donny Crane."
--> "[[RuleOfThree Denny Crane]]."
* ThePerfectionist: Denny has never lost a case. Nowadays he only takes cases he thinks it's a lock to win, and/or takes second chair in cases so if he side does lose it doesn't count for his stats.
* PracticeKiss: Denise gives Brad one of these to try to find out why all his ex-girlfriends have called him the worst kisser in the world.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: At least a few, but arguably Jerry Espenson is the most notable, receiving a thorough introduction and fleshing out in seasons 2&3 before becoming a fully-fledged cast member in season 4.
* TheRainman: Jerry Espenson, the brilliant attorney with Asperger's Syndrome.
* RefugeInAudacity: Constantly. Did I mention the time the firm represented Nantucket in its quest to obtain a nuclear weapon?
* RevolvingDoorCasting: Over the course of only five seasons they experimented with 19 main characters, of which only 7 made it to the series finale. (Alan, Denny, Shirley, Katie, Jerry, Carl, Paul[[note]] who was only a guest star at this point[[/note]])
* RunningGag: Denny referring to his Alzheimer's as "mad cow."
* SarcasmFailure: usually during the CodeSilver.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Denny Crane (as per the quote at the top of the page). Also Daniel Post, who uses his money to manipulate cancer studies to his benefit.
* ShaggyDogStory / [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog]]: The case of [[spoiler: Joseph Washington]]. Katie and Jerry get him off the hook for a murder he didn't commit and the DA is lawful enough to then immediately proceed a lead that surfaced during the trial. Then, it turns out that the community he tried to join shuns him due to a prior (false) rape conviction. They get the victim to recant the statement and he's off the hook again, but the community still won't accept him and ask him to leave. [[spoiler: And then, he's murdered.]]
* SinisterMinister: Standouts include such {{Smug Snake}}s as Reverend Donald Diddum (the "[[CatchPhrase Think on it, pray on it]]" guy with the fetish for used panties), and Father Ryan, who "[[LawfulStupid cloaks himself in canon law]]" to shield a pedophile kidnapper who confessed to him.
* SmugSnake: On a show about amoral, high-powered lawyers? [[SarcasmMode I'm shocked.]]
* SpinOff: Of ''ThePractice'', although you'd be forgiven for not noticing.
** Part of what distinguishes the two is the fact that none of the Practice characters made any guest appearances. While this is arguably justified in that every non-female member of Young, Frutt and Berluti hated Alan by the end of the Practice, David E. Kelley noticeably opened the door for Eugene to appear on Boston Legal as a judge, which he never did.
* StrawmanPolitical: Alan Shore very frequently goes up against broad conservative caricatures, and always wins. Oddly, he himself resembles the conservative straw man of a corrupt liberal trial lawyer.
** Denny Crane is a straw man political caricature of a conservative gun nut, although this did allow him to save the day a few times. Keeping guns in your office seems so much less crazy when you just used them to shoot the man about to kill your friends.
** The show is more than self-aware enough to strawman consciously, and the real beauty of it is its use of the basic fact that a lawyer is supposed to advocate for his client: Alan is a liberal, but he's not always on the liberal side of the case, and Brad, a conservative, passionately defends a number of liberal causes. (Denny, for his part, is very good at avoiding cases he doesn't want, up to and including [[spoiler: ''shooting his client'']].
* StraightMan: A trifecta -- Paul Lewiston, Brad Chase, and Shirley Schmidt.
* SympatheticMurderer
* TakeThat: Texas, Utah, Fox News, the New York Yankees, Scientology, the list goes on...
* ThemeTuneCameo: Jerry Espenson sings along with the theme song during the opening credits of one episode. In one episode, Valerie Bertinelli appeared as a guest character, and her appearance was heralded with the theme from ''OneDayAtATime'', the show that made her a star. Denny Crane plays it on a kazoo to usher in a different episode. Not just a kazoo, a ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome trombone kazoo]]''.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Denny full-names himself on a regular basis.
* VerbalTic: Lincoln has a particularily noticable one. He uses heavy emphasis every time he says "Shirley Schmidt" (and he says it ''a lot''). It doesn't really help that the camera almost always zooms in on his face when he says it.
* VoiceOfDramatic: James Spader's voice can make the most {{Anvilicious}} [[strike:AuthorTract]] closing statement incredibly easy on the ears.
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: Denny tells Alan that "it's better to want a woman you can't have than to have a woman you don't want."
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Clarence/Clarice
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Alan Shore is terrified by clowns.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Alan/Shirley, and Jerry/Katie: [[spoiler:it looked, for a while, like Jerry and Katie wouldn't, but according to this page, they do.]]
** Alan and Shirley on the other hand, [[spoiler:don't]].
* YouLookFamiliar: John Larroquette, who plays Carl Sack, earlier played MagnificentBastard Joey Heric on ''ThePractice'', from which this show spun off.
* YouMightRememberMeFrom: CandiceBergen's earlier claim to fame was on the [[LongRunner long-running]] sitcom ''MurphyBrown''.
** And Christian Clemenson played sidekick to Bruce Campbell as another lawyer, Socrates Poole, in ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr''.
*** Perhaps more relevantly, Clemenson played Spader's brother in Bad Influence.
**** John Larroquette, who joined the cast as the straight-laced DeadpanSnarker Carl Sack is certainly better known for playing a lawyer, who was the complete opposite on NightCourt. Dan Fielding.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Alan after he's told "your country thanks you" by a conservative student he represented that sued his school for not allowing Fox News.
----
'''''[[SayMyName Denny Crane]]'''''.
[[caption-width-right:350:Yup, it's that kind of show.]]
->''"Any day, Denny Crane."''
->''"You're thinking. I used to do that, but when you grow old, you realise what it's all about: Money."''
->--'''Denny Crane'''
''Boston Legal'' was a legal {{dramedy}} series than ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 2004 to 2008. It was to the BunnyEarsLawyer trope what ''Series/{{House}}'' is to DrJerk. The series starts as a senior partner at the firm goes completely insane and has to be hauled off to a mental hospital, and the rest of the employees aren't much more stable. They include a renowned trial lawyer in the early stages of Alzheimer's (affectionately referred to as Mad Cow Disease by him and the rest of the firm), several lawyers suffering from everything from extreme shyness to UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome, and the lead, who is merely lecherous and corrupt (although he, too, suffers from occasional [[WordSalad mental issues]]). Together they take on cases that are almost as odd as they are.
Created by DavidEKelley. Technically a SpinOff from ''ThePractice'', with which it shares Alan Shore, Denny Crane, a few female supporting roles who were victims of ChuckCunninghamSyndrome or otherwise PutOnABus, and virtually nothing else. It ran for a total of 101 episodes in five seasons.
----
!!This show provides examples of:
* AccuseTheWitness
** Jeffrey Coho takes this UpToEleven during his big trial. He accuses three separate witnesses of being the murderer, including the husband and the neighbor of the victim. Lastly, he accuses the mother of a defendant of being the real murderer of the defendant's lover, in order to get the son acquitted. [[spoiler:While Jeffrey thinks their story of the mother being in an incestuous relationship with her son and having killed out of jealousy is just a cover story, it's actually true.]]
** Alan does this in an [[LargeHam overly melodramatic]] and obviously insincere manner during another trial, and tries to excuse it to the judge by saying he had to do ''something'' to distract the jury from the witness's damaging testimony.
** This is played straight in another episode where Katie Lloyd asks the husband of the victim if he was the murderer.
** Subverted in yet another episode, where Alan and Denny separately represent two sons who are both accused of killing their father. [[spoiler:They secretly agree to have both the boys accuse the other one of being the murderer while on the stand, while pretending that they each pulled this trick on the other. The jury can't decide if it was one boy or the other, or if it was both boys, or someone else entirely, creating reasonable doubt.]]
* ActivistFundamentalistAntics: One episode had two religious groups suing each other for blasphemy-related charges.
* ActorAllusion:
** There's quite a few jabs at WilliamShatner's iconic Captain Kirk role, such as when Denny is given a cellphone by one of his many girlfriends and it makes the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' communicator beeping sound whenever he flips it open.
** Also, when describing a parasitic water bug,
-->'''Alan''': They call them cling-ons.
-->'''Denny''': Did you say ''Klingons''!?
** The third season episode "Son of the Defender" used footage from a 1950's TV movie featuring Shatner to present Denny as a young attorney clashing with his father. It was surprisingly emotional.
* AdrenalineTime: Done for transitions between scenes, usually showing one character dramatically walking to the next scene. Also appears in the intros.
* AmoralAttorney: Inverted in Alan Shore (he's more than happy, eager even, to bend or break legal ethics to uphold his own moral ones).
* AndStarring: James Spader leads off, CandiceBergen gets the "with" and WilliamShatner brings up the rear with the "and."
* AssholeVictim
* AudioErotica: Shirley can get Denny hot and bothered just by whispering his name.
* AuthorTract: [[TropesAreNotBad And how]]! Especially in the later years, many cases involved the firm getting involved in political issues and Alan Shore would invariably deliver a closing argument in the author's voice. {{Lampshaded}} in "Selling Sickness":
-->'''Judge Weldon:''' Counsel, what are you doing?
-->'''Alan:''' ''*standing on crate*'' Getting on my soapbox, Your Honor, I do it once a week.
* BackdoorPilot: The final season of ''ThePractice''.
* BerserkButton: As far as CP&S is concerned - Shirley. As far as Shirley herself is concerned... well, don't make fun of/attempt to fire Denny Crane. Just... don't.
* BetterThanABareBulb
* BittersweetEnding: A pretty deep and [[SequelHook utterly inconclusive]] TwistEnding, in fact. Almost surprising considering the tone of the rest of the show. [[spoiler:Carl and Shirley get married... but [[HomoeroticSubtext so do Alan and Denny]], so that Denny's fortune would be preserved in Alan. Denny's case to get the experimental Alzheimer's medicine is appealed to the Supreme Court where he meets his hero Justice Scalia and wins his case... But in the midst of all this a Chinese international company buys out Crane, Poole, and Schmidt, then the company won a lawsuit when Shirley sued on the grounds that the Chinese have no right to buy a law firm. They put the litigations department under watch, especially Alan. [[KickTheDog And they took Denny's name off the firm and renamed the firm Chang, Poole, and Schmidt.]]]]
* BlackWidow: The firm once defended a woman who married for money whose husband turned up dead. [[spoiler:It's left ambiguous whether or not she actually killed him.]]
* BoringInvincibleHero: Discussed by Alan in one episode.
-->'''Alan:''' Do we win too much? Are we losing all suspense?
** Ironically Alan, while a very talented attorney, is far from invincible and does lose a few cases here or there. Chances are that, if Alan goes up against Denny, Alan will lose to the even more invincible Denny.
** Denny, himself, subverts the boring part, because, while he never loses a case, you can never be sure how he will win it and it is always entertaining. Usually thanks to - in various ways - his "Mad Cow".
* BrotherChuck: Nearly every character besides Alan Shore, Denny Crane, and Shirley Schmidt.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: almost the entire cast, save for one of the interns that showed up for a few months didn't have any quirks.[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Odo]] was The OnlySaneMan. And Brad is TheComicallySerious.
** How could people forget to mention that Shore is the trope namer?
** Literal in several cases.
* CanadaEh: Denny Crane, eh?
* CatchPhrase: Denny Crane. He says his own name often enough for it to be considered such.
--->'''Denny Crane:''' Denny Crane!
--->'''Shirley:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny That's not a defense]]!
* ClingyJealousGirl
* CharacterFilibuster: Oh, so many times. Partially justified in that they're lawyers and it's their job to give long speeches, but more often than not their closings had only a tangential relationship to the case at hand. Alan Shore is basically the epitome of this trope.
** It's a trick that legendary civil libertarian lawyer Clarence Darrow used to employ. No one since Darrow has ever come close to doing it right... Except the fictional Alan Shore.
** A father once pulled a gun on Alan at work after Alan agreed to represent the guy's ex-wife in a custody battle.
** The son of a woman whose accused murderer was cleared by Denny Crane and his father once took Denny Crane and much of the rest of the supporting cast hostage in order to stage the trial again.
* TheComicallySerious:
** Shirley Schmidt is ''comparatively'' strait-laced compared to most of the loons on this show, even though her entrance into the series in an innuendo-laden discussion with Alan Shore is something of a CrowningMomentOfFunny for both of them. She's hilarious in the office, but in public she's the serious partner.
** Paul Lewiston is almost entirely devoid of a sense of humour.
* CourtroomAntics: Ohh yeah.
* DeadpanSnarker: Pretty much everybody, but Shirley Schmidt and,arguably, Paul Lewiston are reigning King and Queen of this trope.
* DemotedToExtra: Sally Heep (appearing in two season 3 episodes), Paul Lewiston (after season 3), Brad Chase (appearing once after season 3), Denise Bauer (appearing once in season 5).
* [[OscarBait Emmy Bait]]: ''Amazingly'' parodied and lampshaded. Denny talks about how he likes to pretend "that everything I'm doing is on television" and calls an abortion case bad television. Alan tells him to "just think of this as our Emmy episode." Denny Crane even says at one point that he's won an Emmy. Note that this is Denny Crane (a lawyer) saying this!
* EndOfSeriesAwareness: The show is absolutely relentless about this.
* EvolvingCredits: The producers listened keenly to fans reactions to certain characters and would routinely [[PromotionToOpeningTitles make full-time cast members]] out of [[BreakoutCharacter Breakout Characters]] and [[DemotedToExtra write off]] perceived [[CreatorsPet Creator's Pets]] and [[TheScrappy Scrappys]].
* FakeAmerican: Canadian WilliamShatner as staunch, gun-loving Denny Crane.
* {{Flanderisation}}: In the last season of The Practice and the first season of Boston Legal, Alan was far more amoral and willing to bend laws for moral reasons. Denny was an eccentric but otherwise brilliant attorney who had occasional problems with Alzheimer's (bad enough to forget the facts of a case, good enough to engineer a mistrial as a result). By the second season Alan was becoming a lot less amoral, more like wise-cracking, and Denny was becoming so incompetent that the other partners would never let him work on a case for anything other than appearances.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Denise attempts to maintain a friends-with-benefits arrangement with both Brad and Jeffrey simultaneously, without either of them knowing about the other.
* FrivolousLawsuit: These seem to make up about half of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt's cases.
* FromTheAshes: Technically it sort of picks up where ''ThePractice'' leaves off.
** To elaborate, The Practice ended with Alan joining Crane, Poole and Schmidt. Boston Legal begins with Alan having settled in for what must be a year (if you go by Alan's claim to have known Denny for six years in the series finale). The first season contains perhaps the most references to things that happened to Alan on The Practice, given that there were more carry-over characters like Tara and Sally and Catherine Piper, than there were in later seasons.
* FunnyAneurysm / ReverseFunnyAneurysm (depending on your politics): One episode airing in early 2005 was about the firm successfully defending a school district that forced science teachers to teach Intelligent Design (creationism with the serial numbers filed off) as an alternative to evolution, firing those that refused. In real life a similar case really happened later that year, with the plaintiffs and school board using arguments essentially identical to those from the show (although at much greater length and with everyone showing their work). The school board lost so badly the movement to get ID taught in schools [[strike: basically died that day.]] had to go into hibernation for a few years.
* HangingJudge: Judge Clark Brown.
* HaveIMentionedIAmHeterosexualToday: Denny.
-->'''Denny:''' ''[to Alan, as he fixes Denny's tie]'' I wish you and I were getting married. That's you and I. Both of us. To others... I'm not gay.
-->'''Alan:''' I heard you the first Freudian slip.
* HeadTiltinglyKinky: Alan does this as he watches Denny and Bev dancing at their wedding reception.
* HomoeroticSubtext : Alan and Denny. At the end of the show, [[spoiler: they make it legal]].
* IAmNotSpock: For a lot of people, this show was responsible for WilliamShatner not just being Captain Kirk. In fact inverted, now people make Denny Crane jokes about old ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'' episodes.
* InsufferableGenius: Guess, just guess.
* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Heather Locklear, one of William Shatner's old friends, played Denny Crane's client. Christian Clemenson, one of James Spader's old friends, played Jerry Espenson. Unfortunately the show was cancelled before [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]] could agree to do an appearance.
* IWontSayImGuilty: Nearly every innocent client the firm represents says this at one point.
* JustFriends: Katie and Jerry deal with this, complete with [[spoiler: LastMinuteHookup]].
* KickTheDog: Denny ''shot a homeless guy with a paintball gun and gloated about it on Larry King!!''
** Alan Shore's abuse of Jerry's Asperger's Syndrome in 'The Good Lawyer'
* TheKillerBecomesTheKilled:
** Patrice Kelly's daughter was murdered by a man who got off on not guilty on grounds of temporary insanity because he had skilled lawyers. So, she goes to Alan Shore to announce that she's going to kill the man and wants to be found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity.
** [[spoiler:Catherine]] kills [[spoiler:Bernard]], who killed his mother and neighbor.
* LampshadeHanging: Of ''everything''.
* LastMinuteHookup: Played with (to say the least) with Alan/Denny, and played straight with [[spoiler: Jerry/Katie + a SealedWithAKiss in the last 5 minutes of the final episode]].
* LighterAndSofter: Than its parent show, ''ThePractice''. ''Much'' lighter.
** This is down to differing genres. The Practice was a straight drama. Boston Legal is a comedy-drama.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Denny and Alan, of course.
* Mood Whiplash: One moment they'll joke about Alzheimer's, then the next it will suddenly be a serious issue. For a supposed comedy show, it's disturbingly dark to have the first series finale end with [[spoiler:the sounds of a man gasping and struggling for his life as he's about to be executed while the credits roll]].
* MotorMouth: Alan Shore.
* NiceHat: Not necessarily always a hat, but Alan is particularly fond of wearing strange things on his head. Ornaments (that light up, no less), mistletoe, wigs, coonskin caps. . .
** ... [[BunnyEarsLawyer Bunny ears...]]
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Gracie Jane is a thinly-disguised Nancy Grace.
* NoFourthWall: This show was created with none installed.
** Denny Crane can identify guest characters and season finales, and isn't shy about discussing them. Characters talk obliquely of getting their own spin-offs. A heated argument between two characters regarding the merits of Obama and [=McCain=] was on an episode that aired the day before Election Day.
** Heck, people have the show's theme song as cell phone ringtones. And in one of the final episodes someone sues the Network for not having television programing with older casts.
--->You know, the only show unafraid to have its stars over 50 is ''Bo''... Gee, I can't say it. (gesturing toward the cameras and the audience) It would, um, [[NoFourthWall break the wall]].
** And, from the finale:
--->'''Alan:''' It'll be great!
--->'''Denny:''' Like [[JumpingTheShark jumping a shark!]] [[invoked]]
** My favorite would be, when an extra opens their mouth to support a one-off character:
--> '''Alan''': You're an extra. You don't get to talk.
** And, of course:
--->'''Denny''': Welcome to ''[[TitleDrop Boston Legal]]''... [[ThemeMusicPowerUp Cue the music]]! [The opening credits begin to roll inter-cut with shots of Jeffery Coho looking absolutely stupefied].
** The ThemeMusicPowerUp gets this treatment a number of times- when Shirley hires Jerry, he mentions that he has a favourite song he hums when happy. After prompting from Shirley, he proceeds to hum and sing along with the theme for the entire duration of the opening credits, much to Shirley's bemusement.
** And again when Alan and Denny go to LA, and Denny proceeds to play the first few bars of the theme with a kazoo.
* NoSenseOfHumor: Brad Chase.
* NotLoveInterest: Denny and Alan, for each other.
* NotSoDifferent: Many sources are quick to point out that Alan and Denny are best friends despite being so ideologically different. While it is true that they are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, the reason that they are such great friends is down to the fact that, politics and personal interests aside, they are very similar personality wise, particularly when it comes to women.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: [[TwoWords Denny. Crane.]]
* OffOnATechnicality: Claire gets one of her clients off by claiming that while he took someone else's cell phone, and while he didn't give it back when he realized it wasn't his, he didn't have the intent to steal the phone at the moment he took it from his victim - he just thought it was his own phone.
* OnceAnEpisode: At the end of every episode, Alan and Denny sit out on a balcony and talk.
** This only gradually became a thing. The first season is noted for its EarlyInstallmentWeirdness in that the episodes do not often end with a balcony scene.
* OnlySaneMan: Shirley Schmidt, Paul Lewiston, and Carl Sack. To a lesser extent, Denise Bauer, Brad Chase, and Claire Simms.
** So, really, it's more like Denny Crane and Alan Shore are the Only Insane Men.
*** They more than make up for it, however.
* OverCrank: Usually occurs partway into a character walking to the next scene. Everything starts off normal, then as they round the corner, everything slows to increase the drama.
* OverlyLongGag: Any time Donny Crane and Denny Crane meet.
--> "Donny Crane."
--> "Denny Crane."
--> "Donny Crane."
--> "Denny Crane."
--> "Donny Crane."
--> "[[RuleOfThree Denny Crane]]."
* ThePerfectionist: Denny has never lost a case. Nowadays he only takes cases he thinks it's a lock to win, and/or takes second chair in cases so if he side does lose it doesn't count for his stats.
* PracticeKiss: Denise gives Brad one of these to try to find out why all his ex-girlfriends have called him the worst kisser in the world.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: At least a few, but arguably Jerry Espenson is the most notable, receiving a thorough introduction and fleshing out in seasons 2&3 before becoming a fully-fledged cast member in season 4.
* TheRainman: Jerry Espenson, the brilliant attorney with Asperger's Syndrome.
* RefugeInAudacity: Constantly. Did I mention the time the firm represented Nantucket in its quest to obtain a nuclear weapon?
* RevolvingDoorCasting: Over the course of only five seasons they experimented with 19 main characters, of which only 7 made it to the series finale. (Alan, Denny, Shirley, Katie, Jerry, Carl, Paul[[note]] who was only a guest star at this point[[/note]])
* RunningGag: Denny referring to his Alzheimer's as "mad cow."
* SarcasmFailure: usually during the CodeSilver.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Denny Crane (as per the quote at the top of the page). Also Daniel Post, who uses his money to manipulate cancer studies to his benefit.
* ShaggyDogStory / [[spoiler:ShootTheShaggyDog]]: The case of [[spoiler: Joseph Washington]]. Katie and Jerry get him off the hook for a murder he didn't commit and the DA is lawful enough to then immediately proceed a lead that surfaced during the trial. Then, it turns out that the community he tried to join shuns him due to a prior (false) rape conviction. They get the victim to recant the statement and he's off the hook again, but the community still won't accept him and ask him to leave. [[spoiler: And then, he's murdered.]]
* SinisterMinister: Standouts include such {{Smug Snake}}s as Reverend Donald Diddum (the "[[CatchPhrase Think on it, pray on it]]" guy with the fetish for used panties), and Father Ryan, who "[[LawfulStupid cloaks himself in canon law]]" to shield a pedophile kidnapper who confessed to him.
* SmugSnake: On a show about amoral, high-powered lawyers? [[SarcasmMode I'm shocked.]]
* SpinOff: Of ''ThePractice'', although you'd be forgiven for not noticing.
** Part of what distinguishes the two is the fact that none of the Practice characters made any guest appearances. While this is arguably justified in that every non-female member of Young, Frutt and Berluti hated Alan by the end of the Practice, David E. Kelley noticeably opened the door for Eugene to appear on Boston Legal as a judge, which he never did.
* StrawmanPolitical: Alan Shore very frequently goes up against broad conservative caricatures, and always wins. Oddly, he himself resembles the conservative straw man of a corrupt liberal trial lawyer.
** Denny Crane is a straw man political caricature of a conservative gun nut, although this did allow him to save the day a few times. Keeping guns in your office seems so much less crazy when you just used them to shoot the man about to kill your friends.
** The show is more than self-aware enough to strawman consciously, and the real beauty of it is its use of the basic fact that a lawyer is supposed to advocate for his client: Alan is a liberal, but he's not always on the liberal side of the case, and Brad, a conservative, passionately defends a number of liberal causes. (Denny, for his part, is very good at avoiding cases he doesn't want, up to and including [[spoiler: ''shooting his client'']].
* StraightMan: A trifecta -- Paul Lewiston, Brad Chase, and Shirley Schmidt.
* SympatheticMurderer
* TakeThat: Texas, Utah, Fox News, the New York Yankees, Scientology, the list goes on...
* ThemeTuneCameo: Jerry Espenson sings along with the theme song during the opening credits of one episode. In one episode, Valerie Bertinelli appeared as a guest character, and her appearance was heralded with the theme from ''OneDayAtATime'', the show that made her a star. Denny Crane plays it on a kazoo to usher in a different episode. Not just a kazoo, a ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome trombone kazoo]]''.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Denny full-names himself on a regular basis.
* VerbalTic: Lincoln has a particularily noticable one. He uses heavy emphasis every time he says "Shirley Schmidt" (and he says it ''a lot''). It doesn't really help that the camera almost always zooms in on his face when he says it.
* VoiceOfDramatic: James Spader's voice can make the most {{Anvilicious}} [[strike:AuthorTract]] closing statement incredibly easy on the ears.
* WantingIsBetterThanHaving: Denny tells Alan that "it's better to want a woman you can't have than to have a woman you don't want."
* WholesomeCrossdresser: Clarence/Clarice
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Alan Shore is terrified by clowns.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Alan/Shirley, and Jerry/Katie: [[spoiler:it looked, for a while, like Jerry and Katie wouldn't, but according to this page, they do.]]
** Alan and Shirley on the other hand, [[spoiler:don't]].
* YouLookFamiliar: John Larroquette, who plays Carl Sack, earlier played MagnificentBastard Joey Heric on ''ThePractice'', from which this show spun off.
* YouMightRememberMeFrom: CandiceBergen's earlier claim to fame was on the [[LongRunner long-running]] sitcom ''MurphyBrown''.
** And Christian Clemenson played sidekick to Bruce Campbell as another lawyer, Socrates Poole, in ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr''.
*** Perhaps more relevantly, Clemenson played Spader's brother in Bad Influence.
**** John Larroquette, who joined the cast as the straight-laced DeadpanSnarker Carl Sack is certainly better known for playing a lawyer, who was the complete opposite on NightCourt. Dan Fielding.
* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: Alan after he's told "your country thanks you" by a conservative student he represented that sued his school for not allowing Fox News.
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'''''[[SayMyName Denny Crane]]'''''.
