Boston Legal: Season 4 [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

 

 

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Being a fan of good writing and the ever amusing Bill shatner ,a man who has re-invented himself so well in this series,i have enjoyed,with reservations this fourth season.
The scenarios are often challenging and always ride the gauntlet between thought provoking and simply entertaining.
The characters have continued to grow into people that we care about BUT,and here is the big BUT,the over political emphasis is starting to annoy and infuriate.When we the viewers can quite easily see the bias from the team of writers towards a particular party in an election year ,it makes us uncomfortable and cynical.The emphasis has moved away from barely hidden support for the Democrats to issue based programmes that are practically party political broadcasts!!I think that the average BL viewer is intelligent(notwithstanding the present writer !)and thoughtful and does not expect to be shouted at from the screen by someone elses desire to elect a democrat to the white house.
The term "this present administration" is used so often on the prog that it is nearly becoming a cliche in itself.
I guess what I am saying is don't be sooo didactic!we get it!entertain us and make us think by all means but don't preach at us Please!
Apart from that ,LOVE IT!

I must disagree with the previous reviewers regarding the political bias. There is political bias, but they do attack both Republican and Democrat candidates fairly equally; and George W more than ever.

They attack the hypocrisy of the American election system, rather than just the Republicans. The series has always stood up for the individual against the system / big business / whatever, and continues to do so.

I found it as entertaining as the three previous series.

I also found the following quote in Simon Schama's "Dead Certainties" -
from the New York Sunday Morning News of 1850:

"Abraham Oakley Hall found the trial "unmistakably Bostonian" in its complacent contempt for hard evidence and its preference for melodrama over due process."

The more things change...

The idea of giving BL less than 5 stars is *unthinkable*, and yet I'm not sure season 4 even deserves 3.

Season 4 is a political propaganda machine, and an American one at that. It's overtly, staunchly and evangelically pro-Democrat, and to a Brit who watches BL for its genius, humour and absurdity, there are no words to describe the degree of disappointment.

Boston Legal has become increasingly political over the years: Boston Legal: Season 3 was fairly heavily weighted, but season 4 starts and stops with pro-Democrat evangelising. It is literally a season-long running advert for Barack Obama and a few episodes in, I grew weary of it. By the end of the season, the episodes were barely holding my attention.

There was one beautiful moment post-strike, when the strike is commented on and slyly lambasted - wonderful 4th wall breakage that is such a large part of BL's charm - but that is almost it. Can you imagine? An entire season of Boston Legal with less than a handful of moments that stand out? Genuinely unthinkable.

We're introduced to 2 new English birds, both of whom are fair enough. We also meet Carl Sack, played deftly by John Larroquette. He's such a welcome addition and a genuine joy to watch. However, the wonderful, wonderful Jerry is still making use of, and being ruined by, the *woeful* wooden cigarette that turns him into an arse. Further, Denny Crane has become simply unpleasant. He always straddled a line, but we knew he was actually a decent guy underneath all the Republican-gun-toting lunacy. In season 4, he's become a bit of a monster and seems to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He's now a flat-out bigot, presumably to hammer home the point that "Republican r BAD". Alan Shore is still a magical, wonderful character, but they've created a trend where he weeps a little during his closing arguments. The first time it happened, so powerful was the performance, I cried along with him. But when it happens again the week after, the effect is ruined, and it feels manipulative rather than moving - emotional pornography. Equally, he is given no opportunity to flex his comedy muscles, such is the incessant political content. And it really is incessant. His tears, incidentally, are always a result of a powerful, doubtless persuasive, political closing.

Ultimately, that's what it comes down to. This is election year and the writers of BL have taken the opportunity to wax Democrat extensively. Continually. Well... ok: as I said in the season 3 review, it's their show so they can do what they want with it. But they've now done it to the detriment of everything else: it's wiped out the humour, the warmth and the fun. It seems to have become a cruel show. The vicious swipes are no longer tempered by laughter and kindness, and it's fundamentally changed.

The special features of season 2 have an interview with Janet Leahy, one of BL's writers and executive producers. In it, she stated that if the audience see the show to be preaching, we "become ma-a-ad." So I can only surmise that somewhere along the way, the writers stopped caring what we think. BL is an intelligent show, and attracts an intelligent audience, so it's intellectually insulting when it feels the need to continually bash the audience over the head with its own particular brand of politics. After all, American BL fans are capable of deciding who to vote for without being harangued into it by the writers of the show. Fans from other countries, meanwhile, are left out in the cold altogether.

I know this review is almost entirely negative, and yet I've given it 3 stars. The 3 stars is because Alan and Jerry are still in it, Carl Sack is excellent and the post-strike jab really was a good one... mostly, I am still head over heels in love with what Boston Legal used to be. As things stand, Boston Legal only has another 13 episodes until it ends for good, and I pray that season 5 post-election BL rediscovers its soul. If it doesn't, it will have lost a die-hard fan.

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5.0 out of 5 stars boston legal season 4
Boston Legal is enjoyable entertainment - there is a good combination of humour and serious stuff with some strong characters . Read more

Published 4 months ago by judithg

5.0 out of 5 stars Great characters, mostly well written and immersive.
Very good show, loved seasons 1 to 3, so will be watching till the end.
Try Arrested Development and Curb Your enthusiasm if like wacky and well played comedy. Read more

Published 11 months ago by Pat dublin

4.0 out of 5 stars Way too Much Jerry and Political Preaching
I never thought I'd say it, but Boston Legal is slipping. The first three series were superb, probably the cleverest and funniest thing I've seen for a long time, but the crown... Read more

Published 14 months ago by E. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Hit for 4!
Season 4 of Boston Legal seems to be somewhat controversial. I can see why and I'll deal with the political aspects momentarily but let us deal with the season over all first... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Ronnie Bradley

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Got It!
Boston Legal never fails to entertain. David E Kellys characters are so convincing I know that if I ever need legal representation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts I will... Read more

Published 19 months ago by Mr. B. Pearce

3.0 out of 5 stars Boston Legal Season 4
I once remarked to a lawyer from Boston that my faith in America had revived after watching Team America and Boston Legal. Read more

Published 22 months ago by Terence Louis Lane

5.0 out of 5 stars DVD Set
Very pleased with purchase as this was for a present. Very quick delivery. Thank you.

Published 23 months ago by R. Cable

5.0 out of 5 stars Still on top...
Ignore some of the negative reviews, I thought this was as strong as the first 3 seasons. There is one scene that's the funniest ever! Read more

Published on 3 Oct 2009 by A. D. Hayward

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny as usual
We are very satisfied with this season. Unfortunately the german tv didn't show this one, so we were glad to get it in english. Read more

Published on 16 July 2009 by Martina Flügge

4.0 out of 5 stars Good - but disappointing compared to what has gone before
As usual, a box set of Boston legal that is very enjoyable - so easy to rattle through loads of episodes in a weekend! Read more

Published on 3 Jun 2009 by Steven Brown

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