TVSquad

And it's Michael Trucco (Battlestar Galactica). Once this pesky strike gets over with, NBC will start production on its new comedy The Man of Your Dreams, starring the aforementioned Trucco as Larry, a womanizing man who uses the knowledge he's gained to help romantically troubled women. He is joined by Constance Zimmer (Boston Legal) as his sister, who is a single mother running a wedding-planning business. Her business partner is played by Justina Machada (Six Feet Under). Christina Chang (CSI: Miami) is a proud gold-digger while RonReaco Lee (Committed) plays a Star Wars "buff," who is Larry's protégé.

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.

(S3E10) So, after a few murders, missing body parts, incestuous love between a mother and her son, and the kidnapping of Shirley Schmidt, we get back to the normal absurdity that is Boston Legal. This week features a custody case involving two white supremacist singing sensations, a woman who wants to sue God because her husband was struck by lightning, a pro-anorexic girl who is seeking emancipation from her mother, and Shirley in a bunny suit. In other words, just a normal couple of days at the law firm of Crane, Poole and Schmidt.

All that, plus appearances by Clarence, Bethany, Bethany's mom and Jerry (Aaaaarrrrgggghhh!) and yet another alum of Star Trek. So, let's get comfy and press ahead on the last new episode before the holiday break.

(S03E06) Ewwwww! If you watched this week's episode of Boston Legal, then you absolutely know what I'm talking about. If you haven't watched it yet, well, let's just say the reaction is from something that happened at the end of Scott Little's trial. I'll reveal it at the end of the post. So, beware the spoiler alert!

Before we continue with Jeffrey Coho and the trial of Scott Little, I want to talk about the subplot of this week's show, which involved Alan Shore's feelings of sexual insecurity with Sally Heep (guest star Lake Bell). It had absolutely, totally no redeeming value to this week's episode. It just seemed to be filler to what the meat of the episode was about. If they had nothing better than that to fill the remaining time on the show, then they should have taken the subplot out and focused on the secondary characters. Being a fan of the show, and a fan of James Spader's Alan Shore, I was disappointed with the whole thing.

Now that I have that out of the way, let's talk about the trial.

(S03E02) Oh please, if there were new guys they'd have shown up in the season premiere. -- Denny Crane

God bless William Shatner! In his role as Denny Crane he is a man of few words, and the words he does say would make Michael Scott of The Office cringe in embarrassment. However, what he lacks in verbiage he makes up in expressions. Denny can carry a whole conversation with one of his stares. And, he does alot of staring this episode, which could probably be considered the actual start of Boston Legal's third season.

So, since I can't stare at you through the computer screen, let's push on with this week's review.

Reader Jeannie Jacks wants to know the following:

I can't remember the exact name of the show, but I think it was "Justice Denied".  It came on Friday nights, 9:00 on ABC. What happened to it? All of a sudden it was gone!  I loved it because it showed just how screwed up our justice system really can be.

Jeannie, the name of the show was In Justice and it was a mid-season replacement for ABC this past winter. It starred Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks, Sex in the City) as the head of the Oakland, California based National Justice Project. Their job was to revisit cases where they believed that the person found guilty and put and jail was actually innocent.

Perhaps the fears of cancellation that fans of In Justice have addressed may be coming to fruition. Tonight will be the second Friday in a row where the show is not on the schedule. In addition, the next air date listed on ABC's website is the ominous TBD (To Be Determined for the unaware).

Add to that Kyle MacLachlan's recurring role on Desperate Housewives and Constance Zimmer's role in a new ABC comedy pilot called 52 Flights (according to her website) the future of the National Justice Project is not looking too good. Then again, this could just be a ploy to have the remaining episodes air during the May sweeps season, but that doesn't seem likely as the network would release its fall schedule before sweeps period ends.

So, if you are a fan of In Justice, say a prayer to your respective television gods.

This week we focus on The National Justice Project's Sonya Quintano (Marisol Nichols), as a case from her past re-surfaces. We haven't seen much of Sonya except where she is a secondary player, so this is a good chance to explore her character. We also focus on attorney David Swain (Kyle MacLachlan) and investigator Charles Conti (Jason O'Mara).

Okay, I lied; Sonya is not the focus of this episode, unlike Brianna (Constance Zimmer) was last episode. She's there for a few scenes but it's mostly Conti and Swain in this episode. I can't believe TV lies to me like that!

There are a few things going for this show. First, it's not a show about a bunch of attorneys with suits and briefcases (well, accept David Swain) who leave the investigation to others. This show is about a bunch of attorneys in jeans and sneakers who learn how to perform the investigations on their own. In other words, they use their skills. In every episode Conti, or whoever is handling the investigation, asks questions to the other attorneys as to what is amiss about the case they are looking into.

The other thing about this show is that they aren't afraid to learn more about criminal investigation. In one scene Conti learns a little bit about what the criminal scientists call "smears"; fingerprints that smear on a weapon. With the knowledge that Conti gathers you already can see that the client in this episode was actually innocent.

 

I didn't set out to watch In Justice, and the last thing I need is another courtroom drama to love. But it was Sunday, all of my favorite shows were in re-runs or supplanted by tedious TV movies or double-length episodes of Extreme Makeover, my boys were all feverish, and I wanted to do nothing for a while. And so, I didn't change the channel from the very dull Desperate Housewives recap.

And look! There's Kyle MacLachlan, who last played Charlotte's impotent Scottish husband on Sex and the City. And hey! That's Constance Zimmer, who I finally identified as the only reason worth watching the insultingly awful Good Morning Miami. And the criminal who is so grateful to be taken in by the Justice Project - that's one of my faves, she played Sela Ward's sister on the fabulous and much-missed Once and Again. (And if you're still wondering where it is you've seen Marisol Nichols - she played Audrey Griswold on Vegas Vacation. *groan* She's still a hottie, though.)