Cancer Man

It's a very bad sign when there are cast changes in a typical David E. Kelly show. Look what happened to The Practice when David E. Kelly made major cast changes for that series, Ally McBeal was partially brought down through needless cast shifts. And who could forget it when David E. Kelly decided to shift the decent enough Jessalyn Gilsig and Nicky Katt out and then suddenly "replaced" them Michael Rapaport and Jeri Ryan?

It seems whenever David E. Kelly has major cast changes, it indicates that the show with new cast members is already in the shit and he his trying to "fix it" and failing horribly. It's quite likely that Boston Legal would meet the same sticky fate as well, if David E. Kelly gets the better of himself and attempts to "fix" (ruin) Legal with pointless cast changes.

maxpower

With the Practice it was a final season cost cutting move as I remember...well, that's how I remember. I don't remember too much about Ally McBeal(I might have lost interest in second or third season). However I have to say, Boston Legal's cast changes are confusing. I was under the impression they cut cast to focus on the main characters. However they end up bringing in more cast members and actually focusing in on some of the oft-ignored original spares.(kudos to kicking white and the little fruity mama's boy).

Michael Corvin

Didn't those changes create a hit spin-off show?

Cancer Man

You mean Boston Legal? Of course, but remember The Practice was cancelled as soon as the cast changes were made.

And why did react so negatively to cast changes with Boston Public?

Red Dog

The Practice sucked by the time of the cast changes - so it was certainly a change for the better.

Michael Corvin

I have to agree with Red Dog. I forget her name but the Practice jumped the shark when they had Bobby's wife kill the supposed stalker. To hell in a hand basket. Hell not even then, the whole stalker thing to begin with was bad. It was just getting stupid. The one guy stealing money from the firm to go gambling? Ugh. It should have been put out of its misery after that season.

Decker

Agreed. The house-sweep at The Practice, while controversial, turned out to be the best thing for the show. Alan Shore is (or rather WAS) one of the most interesting characters on TV in recent years; miles ahead of sullen Bobby Donally. That final season of The Practice is one of the strangest in TV history -- it's as if the whole series became an afterthought for the spin-off. Still, the interplay between Eugene and Alan was pretty good.

As to why all the cast changes on BL, I'm not sure. Two very interesting characters from The Practice (played by Rebecca De Mornay and Gina Gershan) were just vanished in the transition (I'm sure it was financial, but it would have been nice to have a little explanation). The new folks this year add NOTHING, IMO. The two associates are boring as hell and Julie Bowen, while very pretty and a fine actress doesn't really seem like that much of an upgrade over Monica Potter's Lori -- a lateral move at best. They also left Lori's story just hanging there, didn't they?

sjrab16

The cast changes for the Practice were made to save the show. ABC would only renew the series if costs were cut. Plus like everybody has said those changes ultimately created a new spin-off. Now the new spin-ff sucks. I liked it the first season, but two many changes, too much preaching, and unexplained storylines have brought this show down, imho.

Cancer Man

Like Boston Public?

Then that demonstrates that David E. Kelly is one of the most overrated writers and producers of the past decade or so...