When " Boston Legal " premiered in 2004, it didn't just offer another courtroom drama; it delivered a flamboyant, satirical, and deeply human look at the American legal system. Created by David E. Kelley, the show served as a spin-off to "The Practice," shifting the focus from gritty street-level defense to the high-priced, eccentric world of civil litigation at Crane, Poole & Schmidt. The Dynamic Duo: Crane and Shore
Alan Shore was the voice of the modern liberal conscience—neurotic, politically correct to a fault, and terrified of intimacy. Denny Crane, the founding partner, was his foil: a conservative, gun-toting, womanizing relic of the "Mad Men" era who was slowly losing his mind to Mad Cow disease (or "Mad Cow," as he famously announced to the court whenever he made a mistake). boston legal