TVSquad

Let's face it; Boston Legal has always been a silly show. A show that dealt with serious issues and spun out some seriously stern sermons on the status of the human condition in 21st century America, but always in front of a backdrop of chaos at Crane, Poole and Schmidt.

From cases that even Don Quixote would think were lost causes to the inappropriate behavior of Alan Shore, Denny Crane, and others, to the not-so-subtle references that these lawyers know they're on a TV show, Boston Legal was always was one moment away from drowning in its own silliness.

But last night's series finale descended into more silliness than I think even the show's most ardent fans could handle. There were sincere moments, but most of them barely had time to breathe and linger on people's consciousness before we got even more silliness.

As the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences tries to whittle the submissions down to actual nominees, it's interesting to take a look at who has made it to the semifinals. It's not a nomination, but it's one step away. Today comes word of the finalists for best comedy actress and best supporting drama actor. There are some surprises.

Chief among those for me is Sarah Silverman. I honestly hadn't even considered her in the running. I'm not much of a fan, but I do like that she is being considered for the simple fact that the base the nominees are drawn from can always use some expansion. And if she is the most surprising inclusion, the most surprising snub just might be Teri Hatcher. Eva Longoria, Marcia Cross, and Felicity Huffman all made the cut, but not Hatcher. Ouch. The rest of the finalists, and the supporting actors from a drama, after the jump.

Over the last three seasons Boston Legal has been known as a program with a pretty busy revolving door when it comes to cast members coming and going. Usually, though, it was some of the smaller fish in the pond that came and went like the wind. This time around some of the bigger fish have been given their walking papers instead.

According to TV Guide's Michael Ausiello Constance Zimmer, Julie Bowen, Mark Valley and Rene Auberjonois have been let go from the program. To fill the void, former Night Court actor John Larroquette will be joining the series as a regular, but not as the character he portrayed on The Practice. Instead, he'll be (another) attorney from the New York offices of Crane, Poole and Schmidt. Also joining the cast will be Dirt's Tara Summers, who will play a young associate to the firm. Finally, much to some people's chagrin, Christian Clemenson, who portrays the quirky Jerry Espenson, will be promoted to series regular.

(S03E21) James Spader is the luckiest sonofabitch on the planet! But more on that later.

I think David E. Kelley has been monitoring my thoughts. More Gail O' Grady, more Chris Clemenson and less Constance Zimmer, could I ask for anything more? How about Joey Slotnick in the kind of role he was born to play. I really liked seeing Slotnick playing the arrogant loser character that he's played before on shows like Nip/Tuck. Very few people can play those parts as funny and as sensitively as he.