then I must have seen it as a rerun because I had been watching for at least a full season before I saw that episode
or did he do it more than once?

The gun thing was only the one time, though I remember it was mentioned or joked about in later episodes.

In the final episodes, there was a troubled punk rock goth chick named Rainy. She was played by the same actress that played the hot cheerleader in Freaks and Geeks.

That's when the show went downhill. They should have let her be the hot cheerleader again!

I don't understand why David E. Kelly made the cast changes that he did, but it's obvious that many TV shows that are going downhill often introduce new characters to reverse the decline in ratings and story quality.

And despite being a Jeri Ryan fan and enjoying Michael Rapaport's addition, I felt their addition to the show was perhaps unnecessary since I felt that Jessalyn Gilsig and Nicky Katt were both fine.

Two weeks ago on Women's Entertainment the last episodes of Boston Public aired. Then the network started the loop again with the first season. It's funny watching the series again, especially noticing people you didn't before. Like the episode where a student is holding a class hostage after a bank robbery. The student is none other than Chris Evans (a.k.a. FF's Human Torch).

Do any of you think that Harry Senate was the best character in Boston Public?

And do any of think Boston Public stopped being an ensembled cast once Jeri Ryan and Michael Rapaport joined the cast?

I couldn't stand the character and was happy when he departed, which coincidentally is when the show started to rebound.

Ronnie Cook was the chick that was a lawyer and quit to become a teacher, right? If so, that's what I picked. It wasn't doing as good anyway with all the crappy singing every damn episode, but when that Star Trek chick joined it became almost completely unwatchable.

I liked Michael Rappaport.

Not a great show at all. But it was entertaining.

who was the teacher that got fired for sleeping with a student?

It's always a bad sign when David E. Kelly introduces new characters, since the show has "Jumped the Shark" and he tries to "fix it" by having a cast turnover and failing horribly.

I thought Ronnie Cooke was a badly written and contrived character, despite the fact Jeri Ryan was smoking hot and a decent enough actress. I liked Michael Rapaport as well, but he did get very annoying on occasion and I thought Nicky Katt was far better.

And Amel, why are using Jeri Ryan as a scapegoat? You said it yourself that the series was going downhill anyway, just before she signed up. I found her as entertaining as Nicky Katt and Chi McBride and it was not her fault that Boston Public became awful in the second and third season.

Why did you dislike Harry Senate, Red Dog? I thought he was an amazing character and once he left in Season Three, I felt Boston Public spectacularly imploded at this point and never really rebounded properly until the Fouth Season.

And it is intersting to note that quite alot of people voted "When Harry Senate Left", which indicates that he was a popular character and that Nicky Katt was a piller of the cast line up and once he was gone, cast members like Jeri Ryan and Michael Rapaport were not enough to replace him.

And Amel, prey tell me how Ronnie Cooke made the show "unwatchable"? Sure the whole high priced lawyer converting into a teacher was goofy and typical David E. Kelly trash, but how could a fine piece of ass like the delectible Jeri Ryan make a show "unwatchable"?!

Anyway different strokes for different folks I guess.

Because he was a constant do-gooder (from the first episode) - to the point where it was sickening. I remember the weekly threads on BP well here - I was one of the few hating Harry.

What initially got me hooked on BP was the student-teacher affair.

And why do people like Amel dislike another popular character, Ronnie Cooke, even though only two voters deemed her as the main reason for Boston Public going down hill?

I had no problem with any of the cast members since they all did a good job, despite the overall poor writing quality for the show.

What did people think of the characters Steven Harper and Gruber (forget his first name)? I thought Harper was the best thing about the show and was the glue that held it together. I also liked Gruber's character as he was this lonely guy yet strict disciplinarian.

Guber was myfavorite character. Harper had his moments.

Principle Harper and Scott Guber were the strongest characters by far in Boston Public, plus they were played by excellent actors; Chi McBride and Anthony Heald, alongside Michael Rapaport and the unfairly maligned Jeri Ryan, made Season Two and Three watchable, despite the increasingly goofy plot lines involving hand amputations, dwarfs hiding in lockers, Shitney Houston and court cases involving bum fights.

Why was Boston Public moved to Friday nights, even though it still had high ratings (over 10 million viewers) in it's Third Season?

Yeah, the show was slacking a little by the time she joined but it was still watchable for me. I couldn't stand her character and I don't think she's attractive so I got really tired of seeing her crammed into every second of the show. I still watched for a little while. But the reason I stopped watching completely was because of her.

Harper & Gruber were fantastic, but no one was better than my man Harvey.

I'm sorry, Amel, but I can't really take your opinions that seriously when you say that Jeri Ryan is "unattractive", when you claim that Ronnie Cooke "killed" Boston Public for you and in another thread you claim that FireFly is "shit", even though I saw Serenity, enjoyed it, and reasonably assumed that FireFly could easily be just as good as well. I just can't take your opinions seriously, Amel, since you are in the clear minority on all three counts. Not that holding these fringe opinions are wrong, Amel, since you are not breaking any laws as such and remember the old saying: "opinions are like assholes, everyone has them" or "different strokes for different folks".

Funny to suggest that you thought Jeri Ryan/Ronnie Cooke "ruined" Boston Public, since it has been a debate in another thread a few months back: http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?p=6361138#post6361138

After reading that thread, it seems that far more people are more willing to blame David E. Kelly, his writers or FOX network rather than pin all the main failings of Boston Public onto the essentially blameless Jeri Ryan, like you seem to do, Amel...

You are in the minority, Amel, but you are not alone in your opinion concerning Jeri Ryan and her Ronnie Cooke character; other Boston Public fans disliked Jeri Ryan as well, but in some ways the hostilty displayed by you, Amel, and these other fans is to be expected. You and the others needed a easy scapegoat to lash out against and blame for the decline of Boston Public, so Jeri Ryan and even Michael Rapaport both fitted the bill quite nicely.

But this is not an isolated case, Amel, since virtually any series on a downward slide (in this case Boston Public) prompts TPTB to introduce new characters (in this case Ronnie Cooke and Danny Hanson) in a vain attempt to reverse the decline of the failing series. When this is not enough and the series crashes and burns anyway (and boy did Boston Public crash and burn), the demise of the series is invariably pinned on the new characters wether they deserved to be blamed or not (Ted McGinley anyone?).

I don't think Jeri Ryan has anything to do with making BP a remotely negative viewing experience (I don't give a rat's ass about how a character rates physically- I just like good quality characters), but enough with the overpraising! We get it- you are a huge Ryan fan...We don't need any further reminders of that.

IIRC, Senate fired another gun in Season 3 which promted him to leave...maybe im forgetting. I have the whole series on DVD tapes from 'WE' and havn't watched it in a few months.