While recovering from hip surgery, I have had the opportunity to unearth a gem I missed when it aired: The Practice. David E. Kelley’s work for television is genius.

Steve Bochco dominated TV in the ’80s, but I had no idea how prolific Kelley was. Until recently, the only TV writer who sprang to my mind was Aaron Sorkin. However, Kelley has been steadily writing and producing for a very long time.

Consider David E. Kelley’s TV history:

Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Legal (my favorite), The Lincoln Lawyer, Big Little Lies, Picket Fences, Boston Public, Goliath, Chicago Hope, Mr. Mercedes, among many others. All these, plus multiple film credits? The man is a powerhouse of productivity. And he’s married to Michelle Pfieffer. Winner.

I’d seen James Spader in plenty of movies, but his performance in The Practice and Boston Legal made me a fan. He is uniquely talented, capable of delivering deep monologues with utter eloquence and passion. His character is a self-destructive good guy who often acts like a bad guy.

From Boston Legal: What kind of lawyer are you, anyway?”

“The damaged, but fun kind.”

I was never a fan of Ally McBeal, but I appreciated the bold tangents into surreality. Watching the evolution of The Practice has been edifying to me as a writer. Bobby Donnel, played by Dylan McDermott, too often hit one-note. The hub of the show’s wheel, his character lacked depth. That was, I’m sure, by design. I didn’t care for that tac, but the stories carried me through. The ensemble cast usually compensated for the bang of Bobby Donnel’s triangle with a symphony of compassion, pain, and earnestly trying to do the right thing in a broken judicial system. Actor Steve Harris was especially compelling and convincing as a criminal attorney. I don’t know why we haven’t seen more of him on TV and in films.

Bingeing The Practice all at once, I found the show’s too-frequent forays into “why do we get murderers off?” a bit tiring. Watching week to week, few viewers probably noticed. There were missteps. Besides Bobby Donnel trying to death stare judges into submission, I found the writers relied on the same reactions too often. The tics of “What?” and “Excuse me?” were particularly frequent. There was also a lot of unnecessary yelling over each other. Are these lawyers or stevedores on meth? I kind of wish I was the guy in charge of making the courtroom extras mumble and rabble-rabble in shock as each verdict was announced. Or did they just record it once and leave it to sound editing?

By the time we get to the spin-off of Boston Legal, most of the kinks are ironed out, and the writing rises to its zenith. The interplay between Spader and William Shatner was charming. Even when the characters were creeps, usually a human layer underneath shone through beaming good intentions. Alan Shore’s closing arguments were unfailing erudite. That’s what really sold me.

Takeaways for Writers

Craft develops over time. Be patient.

Watch out for your writing tics.

You will likely be remembered for one work more than others, but some writers build worlds and empires from their collected creations. It’s a great ambition.

Do the work as consistently as you can.

Research, not to beat the reader over the head with facts, but to create verisimilitude.

Vary your tone. If two characters sound too much alike, you probably don’t need both.

Jokes have a place, even in serious scenes. I preferred the dramedy of Boston Legal to the relentlessness of The Practice. Perhaps that’s why I missed The Practice the first time.

Recovering from hip surgery has been made a little easier with David E. Kelley supplying the entertainment.

For more on this, head over to my author site, AllThatChazz.com.

Filed under: writing, writing tips, Boston Legal, David E. Kelley, James Spader, Robert Chazz Chute, The Practice, TV writing, writing, writing dramedy, writing tics