How was the 8th season?

Nope, no good. They canned Bobby, Lindsay, Rebecca and Helen - they gutted it, although Steve Harris is eminently watchable.

I thought it was very good. It seemed to me that they were doing the same things over and over throughout the first 7 seasons. Season 8 introduced a new dynamic with Alan Shore and his lack of ethical behavior introduced a kind of conflict we hadn't seen before. My favorite cases taken by Alan were when he attempted to keep the 12 year old girl from being forced to go back home to Europe where she would be forced to be married and have sex when she didn't want to, as well as the guy who beat himself unrecognizable because he was caught gratifying himself in public restrooms.

Those are the kinds of cases we didn't see in the first 7 seasons, and the point of view that Alan Shore brought was also completely different from all the other characters over the previous seasons. I thought it was very well done, and a great lead in to Boston Legal. I wish they'd hurry up and put out Season 8 on DVD.

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"She flattened a Dear John with a John Deere." - Douglas Wambaugh

I didn't like Season 8 of of The Practice the first time I saw it. It had a whole different tone. It was so focused on Spader, with the other characters being minor players. Unlike the previous 7 seasons where all characters did receive a fair amount of time. Yes, there were main characters, but Eleanor, Jimmy and Eugene got a lot of time, too. In Season 8 they were all reacting to Alan, everything he did caused controversy.

I liked the character of Alan Shore a lot, especially his relationhips with Tara. But It was kind of a different show.

Also, some of the later episodes seemed pretty corny, especially the ones dealing with (spoilers ahead) Jimmy's new law firm. That was pretty ridiculous.

Also, introducing Denny Crane into the serious world of The Practice didn't quite jibe.

But out of the ashes of The Practice, Boston Legal was born.



She's not naked. She's holding a gun...strategically.

I've just started watching season 8, I stopped watching after season 7 when it aired originally.. My criticism for this show actually starts back around season 4, when they started focusing more on the personal lives instead of the Professional lives, particularly with Kelli Williams (Lindsay)... I'm not sure if it was the writers or Producers but they really screwed up her character.. She was beginning to make a name for herself in Civil Law, winning against Big Tobacco and others... Anyway, they started keeping Lindsay out of the courtroom far too much and doing more personal story-lines, what a waste... Kelli Williams should have been brought back to the Firm for season 8 as their Civil Lawyer, Period...
Bobby, his role was reduced to feuding with the rest of the Firm far too often.. One week he'd be yelling that the Firm for not backing his decision to take a case, even though the Firm considered the case a "Dog".. Then the next week he was yelling at his Firm for taking on a "Dog" case that the Firm all believed had real merit.. Week-in, week-out, it was the same story with Bobby, fighting over the merits of a case... Writers only changed which side Bobby would take, but either way, his opinion was always the opposite of the Firm... I found it very sickening... By the end of season 5, I was ready for Bobby to go...
Rebecca's role was still good and still used fairly regularly in court, I was shocked she left the show.. And Lucy's role had a lot of Potential but they stopped writing her into the show, especially in season 7... In the beginning she had good parts but by the end she was just part of the backdrop.. That was a huge waste because Marla is a good actress and her character (Lucy) added to the show.. Lucy was smart, funny, witty, outspoken, and they should have kept developing her character as a Rape Crisis Counselor, and maybe add Paralegal to her resume, rather than under-utilizing her character.. Bad Move....
As I said, I'm not sure where to lay the blame, writers or producers but... This show could have been even bigger and longer lasting, had they kept the writing fresh, the stories from becoming redundant and attempting to make it romantic, which usually kills off Characters and/or Shows..

Bill Steward

James Spader's Alan Shore was a great addition to the cast. I enjoyed S8, and I went on to enjoy Boston Legal.

haven't seen it but it sounds to me like they should'nt have done the season since they had to fire half the cast due to budget cuts. Was it any good?

[deleted]

Season 8 was essentially a season long backdoor pilot to Boston Legal.