The Practice: Volume 1

 

 

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David E. Kelley created "The Practice" to be the flip side of "L.A. Law," the show for which he wrote 67 episodes and won his first Emmys. Bobby Donell and his partners are not a prestigious law firm in Hollywood, they are scrambling to stay solvent in Bean Town and do it defending clients who are so obviously guilty it is painful. The series lasted eight episodes before it morphed into "Boston Legal," and the keystone for the series was how both sides were always passionate about their positions, and somtimes too passionate. Cold logic is rarely the key to courtroom success in this series, which is just as well because you have clients that run the spectrum from "Free Willy," who likes to expose himself in public, to Gerald Braun, who murders his daughter's killer with the approval of his rabbi. Not surprisingly, these cases take multiple episodes to resolve.

Pay attention to the fact that this is "The Practice: Volume One" and not "The Practice: Season One." The show was a replacement series that first aired on March 4, 1997, and the first season was just six episodes. The second season was a whopping 28 episodes, so the first seven are included in this set of 4-discs. That still leaves 21 episodes from the second season to make up "Volume Two" down the road. This line of demarcation strikes me as strange because 20 episodes on five discs would seem to make more sense, but once we see the next volume the rationale should become clear.

Watching these early episodes again it was interesting to see how Kelley takes advantage of what is a large cast for a "small" law firm. Having a favorite is problematic because they might not have a case go to trial for a while (Eleanor always seems to be second chair early on). But everybody pretty gets their chance to shine: Bobby defending Rachel Reynolds in the "Pilot," Lindsey takes on the tobacco company defended by her law professor ("Part IV"), Eugene making a bet with a prosecutor on the case of Steven Frenault arrested for armed robbery ("Part V"), Jimmy with a little girl bit by a dog ("Dog Bite"), and Eleanor sued by George Vogleman ("Sex, Lies, and Monkeys").

This is a show where the judges matter, with Linda Hunt as Judge Zoey Hiller clearly standing out along with Ed Asner as Judge Matlin Pratt in "The Blessing." One of the fun things is seeing familiar faces as judges, from Ron Glass to Armin Shimerman, but what the judges have to say about the lawyers (on both sides) is part of the equation. Sometimes the clients take over the show, of which there is no better example than John Larroquette as Joey Heric in "Betrayal," although I also remember John Carroll Lynch as Dr. Robert Larson in "Search and Seizure," the final episode in this collection. Obviously, those who caught all eight seasons watch these early ones knowing what is going to happen with Vogleman, Heric, and other memorable clients as well as with the lawyers who defend them. Kelley made sure his shows were always watchable, but I have a slight preference for these early episodes when the cases were smaller and not always at the nexus of a whole bunch of issues.

After having viewed all of the 'Boston Legal' episodes and loving them (one of the BEST shows I've seen), I decided to check out David Kelly's 'The Practice'. It's the forerunner to 'Boston Legal'.
While they both deal with legal issues, 'The Practice' does so from a diametrically opposed stance, in that it showcases a struggling "in the trenches" small time law firm.
The ramp up for the characters takes about the same amount of time as 'Boston Legal' and certainly works as the actors flesh out their respective roles. The subtle and at times, not so subtle humour is one of the things I truly enjoy in these shows. It helps remove the edge from the truth of the genuine issues people face everyday as is dramatically portrayed.
I look forward to viewing the other seasons as they become available.

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