Armin Shimerman

In its spectacular fifth and final season, Boston Legal tackles some of today's most inflammatory - and sometimes irreverent - social and moral issues, from teen pregnancy and the death penalty to sex surrogates and Alzheimer's. Now, as Crane, Poole & Schmidt faces financial ruin, its brilliant attorneys face chaotic caseloads filled with malpractice, murder, love and lust. There's a surprise engagement - or two - and, of course, the bittersweet final act of this remarkable series.

As in Munchkinland, people seem to come and go so quickly at the law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt. Out the door as Season Four begins are cast members Mark Valley, Julie Bowen, Rene Auberjonois, and Constance Zimmer (a tough loss). But the more things change the more they stay the same. Introduced to sweet, pretty and capable new lawyer Katie Lloyd (Tara Summers), it takes Alan Shore (James Spader) all of one second to come on to her. It takes Denny Crane (William Shatner) five.

In year 3, Boston Legal continues to toggle with ease between comedy and pathos. The season begins on a bittersweet note as Denise (Julie Bowen) gets engaged to the terminally ill Daniel (Michael J. Fox), who disappears to try an experimental treatment. Enter two new litigators, smart-talking associate Claire Sims (Constance Zimmer) and cocky partner Jeffrey Coho (Craig Bierko). Once Daniel exits the picture, Jeffrey and Brad (Mark Valley) compete for Denise's affections.

The classic combination of James Spader and William Shatner is just one of many reasons to savor the inaugural 17-episode season of Boston Legal. Making its highly rated ABC debut on October 3, 2004, this darkly comedic spinoff from The Practice looked like a formulaic reworking of creator David E. Kelley's previously successful series Ally McBeal, with similar plots and quirky characters enmeshed in personal and professional affairs of the heart at the prestigious Boston law firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt.

Impressive in quality and quantity, the 27 episodes of Boston Legal's second season (2005-06) are a dazzling showcase for one of TV's greatest ensembles.

Deep Space Nine's seventh and final season came down to loose ends, tying some existing ones together while allowing others to unravel. Symptomatic of the unwillingness to let DS9 go was the immediate arrival of a replacement Dax, though poor Nichole deBoer as Ezri Dax had to have known she'd already missed the boat. Her appearance encouraged last-minute romances to blossom, with Bashir finally getting some action, Odo finally getting together with Kira, and Sisko finally proposing to Kassidy.

Deep Space Nine's sixth season began ambitiously with a six-part story arc devoted to the Dominion War. This was a brave move in many ways, but a sensible one too. Whereas other sci-fi shows wouldn't commit to showing the impact of war (e.g., Babylon 5), here there were numerous visible sacrifices. Characters were frequently kidnapped and held prisoner, allowing screen time for other members of the ever-growing cast (at its peak there were as many as 18 individuals with speaking roles per episode).

Deep Space Nine's fifth season was a turning point from which there was no going back. Character and information overload took over, and the complicated twists and turns in the build up to war either hooked viewers securely, or sent them away with a headache. The Klingon faction instigated by Worf's arrival was occasionally played for laughs, but mostly their hardheaded personalities made all efforts at diplomacy moot. In the opening episode a chilling possibility is proposed as to what might be: have the Changelings infiltrated already and replaced key personnel?

The fourth series of Deep Space Nine can be summed up in one word: Klingons! The show's producers apparently felt beset from all sides. Babylon 5 was a huge hit, as was Star Trek: Voyager, the flagship of new channel UPN. Stepping up DS9's action quotient seemed to be the answer. Time would tell, however, whether doing so via Trek's tried-and-tested former bad guys was the best solution. Opening with a special two-hour extravaganza, the new year was immediately unfamiliar. Dennis McCarthy's original theme--despite winning an Emmy--had been deemed too subdued.

Deep Space Nine's third season begins eventfully, with Sisko promoted to Captain and being given a prototype warship equipped with a cloaking device, while Odo learns where he came from. In the two-part opening tale, this clever gambit is played to hook viewers into the idea of DS9 becoming an ongoing mystery/conflict show. Why the sudden intense change in format? Mostly it was to ensure the show continued to thrive, when a really rather greedy production hierarchy fast-tracked Voyager onto the air mid-season (cue unnecessary crossover episode with Tuvok).