Watching Season Eight again... - The Practice (1997) Discussion

[–] SilentDues 14 years ago

I want to see this last season on DVD so I can finally have the complete story of the Boston Legal crew.

"You hear what happened to me last night?"
"You got lucky?"
"They put a tracer on me!"

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[–] juviejay 14 years ago

Well, I won't spoil it for you, but Alan definitely deserves a beating.

Have you seen any of The Practice?

I condemn you for your fear...I condemn you!

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[–] SilentDues 14 years ago

Have you seen any of The Practice?

Only one, maybe two eps and some clips of the last season.

"You hear what happened to me last night?"
"You got lucky?"
"They put a tracer on me!"

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[–] plkcsk 14 years ago

The "last season" (Season 8) of The Practice, wasn't really 'The Practice' at all!

There were almost NONE of the principal characters left.

The few that did remain were changed completely, to become less capable at their jobs, to enable the new Boston Legal (to be) cast members to "win battles" and look better than The Practice cast memebers!!

It was bizarre . . . but one thing it certainly wasn't, was 'The Practice'.

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[–] Lakemystery3 14 years ago

What do you mean the remaining characters were changed completely? How did Eugene or Elleanor become less capable at their jobs? I didn't see any change. Even Jimmy seemed the same, if not a little more sure of himself.

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

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[–] juviejay 14 years ago

Yeah, I didn't see a lot of change in the characters, either. Eugene got a bit power hungry, but that's the only real change I noticed in the characters.

But plkcsk does have a point. Season 8 was a big departure from the first 7 seasons. SPOILERS AHEAD. The whole Jimmy getting his own law firm was ridiculous, I thought. And adding Shatner kind of sucked the credibility out of the show. It became more of a satire, than a real drama. And I love Spader, and liked him at the time, but he definitely changed the tone of the show. The show could be pretty dark before season 8, but the early episodes of the last season seemed even darker to me. And what was worse, there seemed to be no balance. Previously, the show strained (sometimes severly) the moral limits of the characters, but I always knew what the limits were. With Spader now the main character, there didn't seem to be any limits. It made it hard for me to like him. And I didn't like him making fun of Jimmy, either. He was a real prick.

And, I don't know, the whole lack of seriousness was weird, too. It was like putting Andy Kaufman on SNL. Maybe it was brilliant, but it also totally destroyed the previous format of the show. The other characters became (for the most part) marginalized as Spader's "wild man" took center stage. I wonder if there was any resentment among the other actors who had been doing the show for 7 years to have to play second fiddle to him, especially since their show ended and his went on.

Comprehension is not a prerequisite of cooperation.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] juviejay 14 years ago

Yeah, all shows have to end, but do they have to take a sudden departure from what they had been for 7 years? Do they have to serve as a set up for a new show? Do they have to axe the three main characters and bring in a new one who was different from anyone that had previously appeared?

I realize Kelley was being squeezed by the network because of sagging ratings and had to make some tough choices, but I'm not sure he made the right ones. I know Lara Flynn Boyle, in particular, wasn't at all thrilled with his choices.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he did Boston Legal, but I don't think it was vital to sabotage The Practice in order to set it up. At least he brought back Dylan McDermott for the final episodes, but it still kind of felt like a betrayal.

Comprehension is not a prerequisite of cooperation.

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[–] Lakemystery3 14 years ago

I'm glad what he did when he had to fire three actors. He brought in a new character who was completely different. I get tired of showed who replace characters with the same kind of character. That kind of limits the creativity needs to keep a show interesting, just doing the same old stuff that's been done for the last 7 years. Alan Shore was completely different than any other The Practice characters, and that was refreshing.

It created a new kind of conflict that we haven't seen before, and brought up ethical issues that we may have seen before, but we never saw a lawyer who showed no remorse for skirting ethical boundaries. Why replace Bobby Donnell with a Bobby Donnell-type? Why not bring in someone new with different ideals and agendas?

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

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[–] juviejay 14 years ago

Why not, when MASH was about to end, get rid of Hawkeye, Honeycut and Hot Lips and replace them with Steve Martin?

Then you could spin off a new series with Martin aa a wild and crazy surgeon who wears one of those foam arrows on his head when he operates.

Sound good?

Comprehension is not a prerequisite of cooperation.

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[–] Lakemystery3 14 years ago

Wouldn't you need a sidekick for Dr. Steve Martin? Have Two Wild And Crazy Surgeons? But since you bring up MASH, did they replace Frank Burns with another Frank Burns? No. Charles was completely different. BJ was different than Trapper John, and Potter was completely different than Henry Blake. Again, why replace one character with the exact same character?

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

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[–] juviejay 14 years ago

If I remember correctly, Frank, BJ and Henry left in different years. And I don't recall any of them leaving in the last year of the series. Also, if I recall correctly, the tone of the show didn't change. It was still a comedy with dramatic events. The Practice was a drama, with a touch of comedy. But by the end it became more of a comedy than a drama. Or, actually, it just became kind of an absurd drama.

Comprehension is not a prerequisite of cooperation.

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[–] jimmyberluti1 14 years ago

Yes Alan dominated the last season but Eugeen had 2 great story lines. Where he defended a white suporemist who was innocent and the one where the client hied him where the guy was shot on the courthose steps. And Jimmy with Mr. Waltom from the Waltons.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] jimmyberluti1 13 years ago

Yes, to bad that BL became such a farce.

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[–] crazyeugene 13 years ago

The episode Police State barely featured Alan, and it showed truly how much Eugene cares for civil rights

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] Mr_Gordo 13 years ago

Well for me, I loved every season of the Practice up to season 8. Season 8 was a sell out... I loved the darkness of the show... Especially around Lindsey, she always had the psycho's after her... No wonder she cracked it... But anyway, my opinions, I have to share, are this.

I don't believe for a second that they fired the big stars for season 8 due to budgeting for a minute.. I think they were running out of ideas, and thought the best way to overcome it was to create a whole new show "Boston Legal". And it would be so bizarre and risky to get ratings they used The Practice to launch it...

Something that I have never seen discussed before is the stars of season 8. If they had such a low budget they had to cut Dylan, Kelli, Lisa and Marla, how could they afford, James Spader, Sharon Stone, Chris O'Donnell and Rebecca DeMornay to name a few... And as one previous poster mentioned which I didn't know about, was that "Waltons" star...

They sacrificed the falling Practice to create a completely new and fresh show that will last them another 8 seasons. A show that was so risky they needed the platform of the Practice for it to continue past its own first season.

I don't consider season 8 as the Practice. It was just a prequel to Boston Public. And I'm sorry for the remaining defense attorney characters that had to bear the grunt of it.

*´¨)
¸.· ¸.·´¨) Buffy Lives
(¸.·´ (_.·´*

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[–] juviejay 13 years ago

Interesting perspective, but you made a few erros. Last off, the expression is, "bear the brunt of it," not "the grunt of it." Though that is kinda funny. Second, you say, "It was just a prequel to Boston Public." I think you mean Boston Legal. Boston Public was another show created by Kelley about teachers.

Finally, you may not believe it, but the money thing was an issue. Kelley didn't want to fire his biggest stars. Why would he? He could have just ended the show, like he did with some of his others. He didn't spin off Ally McBeal, or Picket Fences, for example. In fact, he wanted to end Picket Fences after season 3, but the network (CBS) wanted it to continue cause it was a hit. So, we got a really crappy season 4 of Picket Fences with Kelley only writing a couple episodes.

My guess is that The Practice was probably the series that was closest to his heart. It lasted the longest, and was arguably the best. It was also the one that was closest to his actual life. He was a lawyer in Boston for three years before writing a movie script. My guess is he was tring to save the show. Spader wasn't a big profile at the time. They probably got him fairly cheap. Demornay and Stone were only in a few episodes. And the Walton's guy, I'm guessing he didn't cost too much. It's like when a business is failing, you cut your expenses, retool, and try to bring out a different (and hopefully better) product.

Anyway, here's a link that talks about Kelley's choices.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-05-20-practice_x.htm

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