This show was a fine example of successfully mixing torts with the titillating with a good balance that has eluded so many other courtroom dramas over the years. The premise of the show is that Bobby Donnell is the head of a law firm that is barely managing to keep itself financially afloat due to the kinds of cases that the firm takes and the fact that they have trouble collecting their fees from more than a few of their clients. However, these lawyers are the kind of people you would always want on your side. They have a can-do attitude and seem to relish an uphill fight. In fact, at several points in the show, they remind one another that the reason they took on the uncertainty and lesser remuneration of starting their own law firm was so that they could choose their battles rather than work for a big firm where the price of financial safety would be representing big corporate clients, right or wrong. Although this show has a large sexual component, it has several average looking and even outright plain looking folk as regular castmembers. Furthermore, these average looking people, with more than their share of physical flaws, are actually given meaningful personal lives. Creator David E. Kelley actually wrote five of the first six episodes of the first season, and it shows in the performances. Unlike many shows where the characters struggle to figure out who they are, these actors and actresses have their personalities down pat with their opening lines.
Review of The Practice
