Fucking A

I missed the first half of the "Boston Legal" season finale tonight, because I either didn't know or had forgotten it was a special two-hour episode. Fortunately, the last half offered plenty of laugh-worthy moments, not the least of them the spectacle of Captain Kirk lusting after Seven of Nine (guest star Jeri Ryan).

I note with incipient geekdom this makes three representatives of three different "Star Trek" series who have appeared on "Legal;" besides Shatner and now Ryan, Rene Auberjonois of "Deep Space Nine" is a regular.

"Huff," "Gilmore Girls" and "Veronica Mars" all got a bit dusty this season. "Boston Legal" may be one of the only favorite series that didn't disappoint me this year, "24" being the other. Meaningless observation: Both series feature a character named Bauer.

One could argue that I expected more from those other shows than I do from this one. I'm a fan because of the Shatner & Spader dynamic, the way they always seem to be running the risk of becoming cartoony.

Some would say they've crossed that line. But for me the witty scripts still kept it one of the most enjoyable hours on television. I'll miss it until next year...