TiVo Community Forums Archives - The Practice 5/16 (Spoilers)

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The Practice 5/16 (Spoilers)
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Posted by: LoadStar

Is there any way that this episode didn't suck horribly? I'm almost at a loss for words.

Dylan McDermott didn't "star" as so much "take up space while emoting less than the chair he was sitting in." I mean really - was that shot of him at the end supposed to engender some emotion in the viewer? Because all it made me think was "Geez, Dylan, you look like I'd look after a week long bender. That is, if I drank. Which I might start doing after watching this."

I suppose the tone was set at the beginning of the episode when they started advertising "Fleet Street," the spinoff featuring James Spader. Nothing like celebrating the death of "The Practice" before it's even completely dead.

It was almost as if this was an episode of "Fleet Street" and the cast of "The Practice" were only featured as a courtesy... and not even much of a courtesy, because it seemed like they were mostly in the way. The A plot was the Denny Crane (Denny Crane!) court case, and the B plot was the associate with the pot thing, not to mention Spader's character two-timing.

There was a little bit featuring Jimmy's new law firm, but in the end, since I knew I wouldn't be seeing any more of it, I couldn't have cared less. It was like I flipped over to The Sopranos, except no one got whacked -- unfortunately, because that might have made the episode at least somewhat interesting.

The only shred of respect that they had for the series was the scene at the very end with them raising a toast to the firm... but it was SO brief, it was like "Cheers. And... we're done. Thanks for coming. Clear out, this set is getting demolished in about 30 seconds to make room for another office for one of the unnamed associates from 'Fleet Street.'"

And to make things worse... I watched this thing live. *sigh*

Posted by: dsmoot

quote:
And to make things worse... I watched this thing live. *sigh*

My point exactly!!!

They took the best part of the episode (the court scenes) and ruined it by preaching how we are all to blame for the abominal acts of a few sickos in Iraq. Why have so many shows changed from following a premise to preaching about politics? If I wanted to hear that speach I should have just turned on the liberal news media and watched them ramble on for the whole hour.

Posted by: rtype

I thought they covered both sides of the politics but I still thought it was oddly placed. Shatner's "Bush bashing" comment was the only thing amusing there. Overall, this was a weak episode and the series went out with a whimper. I'll be glad to not see Eugene again, though. Good riddance angry black man and stupid Italian man. I guess I liked Elanore.

Anyway, "Fleet Street" is a horrible name.

Posted by: Snappa77

I was hoping that Jimmys firm will be part of the new series. Same thing with Eugene.

Why the build up of Jimmy's firm if they are not going to do anything with it?

The law office of Berlutti and Big Puss is just as interesting as Crane and co.

sigh.

Posted by: Nightfall

I really can't say I was disappointed in this episode. The only thing I can say is that they should have had a more fitting send off for the cast of the Practice. After all, this show has been running for years! As it was, it was a good leadin for Fleet Street and the old cast bowed out nicely.

Oh and....

Denny Crane!

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

I suspect they were setting Jimmy up for another spin-off...not that it will happen, but they just wanted the possibility.

And I can't imagine anybody being surprised that the Fleet Street cast had most of the episode; they've been heading that way for several weeks now, and let's face it, most of the old cast had already been pretty much phased out. I think it's a good plan to let the new show roll a little before its premiere, given that it sometimes takes a show a while to find its footing, and that networks tend to cancel poorly-performing shows before the first commercial break.

Posted by: daperlman

It took a while but I finally put together the logic in the wheelchair girl sexual harassment case. The guy kissed his wheelchair bound employee b/c we invaded Iraq (and didn't find WMD).

Seriously I liked Denny Crane's opening statement...
"....when I am done speaking right now, you will find this man much less disgusting, much less repulsive and far less sick than right before this moment..."

I am not sure I understand why Hannah asked for pot and then told everyone in the firm about it? If she was setting up the younger slutty gal, then she forgot to gloat about it.

Posted by: AJRitz

I really wanted to be prepared to like Fleet Street, and I'll give it a shot, but my hopes are not high. Instead of growing on me, Denny Crane is grating on me. He's a one-note character who was cute for a couple of episodes and is already a parody of himself (and the new series hasn't even started). Hannah Rose is a stupid, stupid character. Junior partners, no matter how obnoxious, don't try to run intelligent and capable associates out of the firm without VERY good reasons. It's those associate grunts who make the money that the partners get to go and spend. And taunting Eleanor about going out to buy a $100k car just didn't make any sense at all. The only thing that made less sense was Eleanor hitting her (though I'll admit I liked flipping the coin and I thought Hannah deserved to get decked). Why would Eleanor care if Hannah was going to massage her guilt by throwing away a huge amount of money?

As for the finale - yuck. It wasn't so much of a send off as it was a blow off. As in "let's blow off nine seasons of story/character development and just use the finale to launch new programming without resolving existing issues." Bobby's "cameo" was a total waste of screen and script time. It added nothing of substance or value. Jimmy simply proved how much of an idiot he is by entering into a law partnership with a thug - and then Jamie showed she was even stupider by joining with him as an associate. I should've known better than to waste my time catching up on this show so that I could watch the finale. I'd have been better off just deleting the backlog of unwatched eps and letting it be.

Posted by: daperlman

Oh yeah... I almost forgot. Crane's cross of the wheelchair lady. He told her 10 minutes worth of stories and then asked her 10 seconds of question...

Why didn't the people object

Posted by: Rcrew

Only watched once.

Technical question. IIRC, Denny Crane said of the Harassment suit "We settled out of court". Correct?

Wasn't this a criminal case? If so, shouldn't he have said " We negotiated a plea."

Posted by: daperlman

quote:
Originally posted by Rcrew
Only watched once.

Technical question. IIRC, Denny Crane said of the Harassment suit "We settled out of court". Correct?

Wasn't this a criminal case? If so, shouldn't he have said " We negotiated a plea."

Not if he killed her.

Posted by: HTH

Eleanor regurgitated her daughter, intact?

Posted by: omnibus

quote:
Originally posted by AJRitz
The only thing that made less sense was Eleanor hitting her (though I'll admit I liked flipping the coin and I thought Hannah deserved to get decked).

Set's Eleanore (Camryn Manheim) up for a guest shot on Fleet street when she get's sued.

Posted by: dssdbs

quote:
Originally posted by HTH
Eleanor regurgitated her daughter, intact?

What is this supposed to mean????

Posted by: HoosierFan

I just watched Millionaire, and there was a 30 second preview for the Practice finale that was a more appropriate send-off for the show than the entire episode was. It showed some old scenes, and just showed more of what I would expect in 30 seconds than I saw in that very disappointing episode. It wasn't a finale, it was a preview for Fleet Street.

Posted by: daperlman

quote:
Originally posted by dssdbs
What is this supposed to mean????

I am guessing it is a joke with the presupposition that Eleanor ate her.

Made me laugh

Posted by: LoadStar

quote:
Originally posted by dssdbs
What is this supposed to mean????

The show hasn't featured the daughter in so long, it was joked that Eleanor may have eaten the daughter (it's a thinly veiled fat joke).

Posted by: tms317

I didn't like that they ended the series with Bobby, since he wasn't even in the final season. Took away from the rest of the cast

Posted by: rtype

quote:
Originally posted by tms317
I didn't like that they ended the series with Bobby, since he wasn't even in the final season. Took away from the rest of the cast

Seemed silly to can him from the final season, then use him in the last three episodes anyway. I guess I just don't have the mind of a tv producer.

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
Seemed silly to can him from the final season, then use him in the last three episodes anyway. I guess I just don't have the mind of a tv producer.

They canned him from the season because the condiition for bringing the show back was cutting the budget by a lot--half, I think. That's why they had the big cast purge, to eliminate senior cast with high salaries for new cast with low salaries.

Posted by: efilippi

I don't understand why Eleanor isn't in jail, or at least out on bond.

Posted by: rtype

quote:
Originally posted by Medieval Guy
They canned him from the season because the condiition for bringing the show back was cutting the budget by a lot--half, I think. That's why they had the big cast purge, to eliminate senior cast with high salaries for new cast with low salaries.

James Spader and William Shatner came cheap?

Posted by: MacThor

OK - the last ep I've watched was the one that ended with Alan winning the wrongful termination suit, and telling YF&B he didn't want the money -- working with them was great....

So I have the last 3 or 4 in Now Playing. Are they even worth watching??? or Delete/Delete/Delete?

Posted by: Rob Helmerichs

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
James Spader and William Shatner came cheap?

Well, yeah--Spader's career never took off despite a promising start 20 years ago, and Shatner is basically just camp appeal these days. Neither was really a proven commodity, and Shatner was only brought in when the spin-off had been arranged.

I suspect they'll both be making a hell of a lot more on the new show...

Posted by: cwoody222

quote:
Originally posted by rtype
Anyway, "Fleet Street" is a horrible name.

With a worse logo!

Looks like Return of the Jedi. (good movie, good logo... but not fit for this TV show)

http://www.abcmedianet.com/specials/upfront04/new_shows/images/FleetStreet.jpg

Posted by: Maniacal1

When I first heard the new series would be called "Fleet Street," I wondered what it would have to do with British journalism. What an awful title. And what an awful concluding episode.

Posted by: HTH

quote:
Originally posted by LoadStar
The show hasn't featured the daughter in so long, it was joked that Eleanor may have eaten the daughter (it's a thinly veiled fat joke).

Fat joke? That frankly never occurred to me. For me, it was sourced as a complaint that the producers seemed to just drop the fact she had a child not long after Gideon's Crossing got cancelled (where the birth took place).

So then, what happened to the presumed babysitter, Helen Gamble? Is she out of another job?

Posted by: mitchb2

"Fleet Street" looks alot like Alley McBeal (SP?).
Eccentric lawyer, sexual tension, crazy cases. Blah.

Posted by: JTAnderson

I noticed that Rebecca De Mornay wasn't listed among the cast of "Fleet Street" (at least in The Futon Critic article). Too bad, IMO.