Season 1 In "An Eye for an Eye," a frustrated Alan Shore states that "I want to be on cable. That's where all the best work is being done." Later in the season, in "A Greater Good," Paul Lewiston threatens Alan Shore by saying "If you attempt to undermine our case in any way, your employment will be terminated", to which Alan replies sarcastically "In that event I will go to cable". Season 2 In "Schadenfreude", Alan finds Denny on the balcony where they typically have their cigars at the episode's end. Denny asks, "Is the show over already?" In "Finding Nimmo", Alan remarks, after a particularly nonsensical comment made by Denny, "all reality, none of it's scripted." In "A Whiff and a Prayer", Denny remarks, "I always wanted to go out with my pride. Failing that, at least my old time slot." In "Live Big," Denny says, "I'm tired of my Alzheimer's being a story point." In "Gone," Denny says to Alan, "I wish you had let me in on the game. I can act, you know. I won an Emmy." In "Race Ipsa", Chelina says, "God, the last time I saw you...," to which Alan replies, " I believe it was a Sunday, then I was taken off the air, you went off to do movies, I got switched to Tuesdays and... " and Chelina responds, "Here we are... with old footage." Later Melissa, refering to Chelina, says, "Don't fall for her, Alan, she's just a guest star". At the end of "Squid Pro Quo," when Denny and Alan anticipate what to expect from Marlene Stanger, a sexy new attorney, Denny sums up the situation by saying, "I can't wait to see her next week," referring the next week's episode. In "BL Los Angeles," Denny asks Shirley to kiss him, saying, "It's the sweeps episode." At the end of "Too Much Information,"on Denny's balcony, Alan walks in remarking "There you are, hardly seen you this episode. It saddens me! " In the season finale, Alan remarks to Denny, "To next season, my friend," to which Denny asks, "Same night?" Alan responds, "I hope." Season 3 In "Can't We All Get A Lung?," Alan says to Joanna (Jane Lynch), "These past few years I've felt this inexlicable compulsion to be somewhat redeeming..as if I were some.. series regular on a television show." In "New Kids on the Block," when he is told there are new lawyers in the firm, Denny responds, "Oh, please! If there were new guys, they'd have shown up in the season premiere." Then he welcomed them by saying "Welcome to Boston Legal," acknowledging the name of the show rather than the name of the fictional firm. Denny further breaks the fourth wall by saying, "Cue the music." None of the other characters seem to perceive this as unusual, except for Jeffrey Coho, who seems surprised to hear the show's theme music and looks around, seemingly for its source. In "Angel of Death," Denny plays the first few notes of the show's theme song on his "trombone-kazoo," in tune with the real song playing over the opening credits. In "Fat Burner," Denny turns to Alan after the prosecution's summation and asks, "Why is the other side's closing argument always so short?", referring to how the show's writers only focus on the main characters' summations. In "Lincoln," Lincoln Meyer (David Dean Bottrell) pulls a gun on Shirley and says, "oh dear. I bet if this were a movie they'd have one of those ominous chords play right about now", and as he speaks an ominous tune starts to play.. At the end of "Dumping Bella," Denny (dressed as Dick Cheney) is dancing with Alan (dressed as Shirley Schmidt). Denny comments that the neighbors would be puzzled if they saw Dick Cheney dancing with Shirley Schmidt on their balcony. Alan replies, "Well, if they're regular viewers, they know by now [that] anything goes." The episode "Guantanamo by the Bay" begins with Jerry returning to ask for his old job back, telling Schmidt that the thought of coming back makes him so happy that it brings a song to his mind. Schmidt asks him to "hum a few bars" of the song, and Jerry breaks into the Boston Legal theme song, as the theme song actually starts playing with the opening credits. He continues to hum along enthusiastically throughout the entire opening credit sequence. In episode 24 "Trial of the Century" Denny Crane again says, "To next season, my friend", Alan Shore responds, "I can’t wait to see what we do next!" and Denny Crane states, "I’m just getting started!" During the third season finale, Denny mentions he once captained his own spaceship, referring to the USS Enterprise. Season 4 In "The Mighty Rogues", Jerry announces, "During the strike, I fell in love." Katie asks, "What strike?" Jerry responds, "It doesn't matter, the point is..." This episode aired on April 15, 2008, shortly after the conclusion of the 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike, which had held up the production of Boston Legal for over two months. In "The Court Supreme", Alan asks Denny "Maybe we could go to Wednesdays?" The show was then rescheduled to Wednesdays. In "Patriot Acts", when Judge Clark Brown inquired as to why the same firm is representing both sides of a trial, Denny responds "Saves on guest cast." Season 5 At the end of "Guardians and Gatekeepers", Alan begins talking about the pair's mortality, implying that it is their "last year", referring to this season being the last of the series. Denny replies "Really? I can't imagine this is our last year. Aren't there still some time slots we haven't tried?" referring to the numerous time slot changes the show had gone through. In "The Bad Seed", when a client asks to see one of the named partners of the firm, Alan, upset, says, "Why wouldn't he ask for me, am I not the star of this show?" In "Happy Trails", Alan is arguing with other guest characters, and at one point, a character who hadn't had any lines yet starts to speak up. Alan responds, "You're an extra. You don't get to talk." In "Mad Cows", Jerry threatens to leave the firm if Denny is fired: "It's not an ultimatum! It's a fact! If he walks, I walk. Alan Shore might too! Maybe even Carl, who know? We could do a spinoff! Don't think we haven't been approached already. Hell, it's not like you want the bunch of us anyway. The network sure doesn't." The last part refers to ABC's cancellation of the show. In "Roe", Denny urges Alan not to take a new client wanting an abortion. Denny explains that he likes to pretend his life is like a television show where everyone watches him and says "who's going to watch a show about abortion? It's not fun." Alan responds, "Try to look at it as a challenge - consider it your Emmy episode." Denny, annoyed, mumbles that he "can hear them changing the channel". In "Kill, Baby, Kill", Denny again remarks about it being the final season of the show, saying, "Carl, we need to bond. This is our last season!" In "Thanksgiving," Alan comments on how Denny will "live on" long after the rest of the characters "doing Priceline commercials;" referring to William Shatner's role as the "Priceline Negotiator" in Priceline's TV advertisements. In "Juiced", Catherine Piper (Betty White) brings a lawsuit concerning the death of television programming for the elderly, and Carl Sack points out that there is only one show on television that features a cast largely over the age of 50. Says Carl, "... The only show unafraid to have its stars over 50 is Bo..." (Concluding the sentence would require him to say "Boston Legal." Upon his abrupt stop, he looks directly at two cameras and gestures at them) "...Gee, I can't say it, that would be breaking the wall." During the same episode, Catherine's cellphone ringtone is the theme tune from The Practice - in which she also appeared. In the two-part series finale, Shirley Schmidt talks to Alan Shore about the decision of the new Chinese owners of Crane, Poole, & Schmidt to keep them on-board as litigators instead of laying them off as originally planned. Shirley states to Alan that the feeling is "more life from Mars", a subtle reference to another David E. Kelley show. Later in the two-part series finale, when Alan and Denny agree to get married, Denny exclaims, "It'll be great -- like jumping a shark!" A television series is said to have "jumped the shark" when its storyline veers into absurd or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations, and usually indicates that the series is past its prime. The phrase refers to a scene in a three-part episode of the American TV series Happy Days in which Fonzie, wearing swim trunks and his trademark leather jacket, jumps over a confined shark while water skiing. Cast James Spader Alan Shore John Larroquette Carl Sack Christian Clemenson Jerry Espenson Tara Summers Katie Lloyd Candice Bergen Shirley Schmidt William Shatner Denny Crane Rene Auberjonois Paul Lewiston Lake Bell Sally Heep Rhona Mitra Tara Wilson Monica Potter Lori Colson Mark Valley Brad Chase Ryan Michelle Bathe Sara Holt Julie Bowen Denise Bauer Justin Mentell Garrett Wells Constance Zimmer Claire Simms Craig Bierko Jeffrey Coho Gary Anthony Williams Clarence Bell Saffron Burrows Lorraine Weller Taraji P. Henson Whitney Rome