BOSTON LEGAL: ORAL CONTRACTS (TV)

Summary

One in this darkly comic series focusing on a firm of brilliant but emotionally-challenged attorneys in Boston. In this episode, Denny is arrested for solicitation in the courthouse bathroom, having apparently made "quite methodical" signals of interest in sex. He recruits Alan, who declares that they will defend the matter in court rather than accept a disorderly conduct penalty, while elsewhere Shirley's friend Bob Binder tells her that he was fired from his job as a shock-jock for making offensive comments about the elderly and wishes to fight back. Paul privately tells Denny that the managing partners may use the solicitation charge as an opportunity to fire him, but Denny explains that he is willing to risk his job to preserve his reputation. In court with Binder, Shirley finds that she is up against her old nemesis Bethany Horowitz, and Denny asks Lorraine to help him "prove" his heterosexuality in a public fashion, though she declines. At the same time, Katie begins to suspect that she recognizes Lorraine from the past, though Lorraine denies having ever been to England.

Station manager Flanders states that he fired Binder for financial reasons, pointing out that he specifically offended the baby boomers from whom they make the most profit. Alan demands that Judge Brown quash Denny's arraignment, saying that the matter is a "witch hunt," but Brown decides that the trial will proceed as planned. Binder defends his blunt comments, explaining that the federal budget will soon focus disproportionately on retirees, though Bethany argues that his "jihad against the elderly" counts as hate speech. Katie recruits Whitney's help and finds that Lorraine has falsified various records from her past, suggesting that she is not who she claims to be. Alan argues that the "known signals" that Denny allegedly performed were no more than normal bathroom movements, though he later admits to Paul and Carl that he may lose and has no choice but to put Denny on the stand. Denny testifies that his gestures were unintentional, adding that he strongly disapproves of homosexual conduct, though A.D.A. Wilson, who is himself gay, questions him pointedly about his close relationship and nightly "special time" with Alan.

Lorraine confronts Katie about her snooping and reveals that she was formerly married to – and cheated on – a Pakistani man, whom she believes now intends to murder her in an "honor killing," and that she fled London and changed her name for this reason. In closing arguments, Bethany declares that Flanders was right to "clean up the airways" by firing Binder, though Shirley counters that many other shock-jocks have kept their jobs after say far worse things and that Binder, who was hired to be a provocateur, actually had a reasonable point about the budget. Wilson states that Denny is not "above the law" because of his fame as a lawyer, but Alan delivers one of his classic speeches and argues that Denny is being railroaded by homophobic double standards and that many prominent politicians' non-gay crimes are routinely ignored. Binder wins his case, and when Bethany finds herself in contempt after bantering with the judge about their respective sizes, Shirley visits her in her cell and praises her skills as a lawyer. Whitney accuses Lorraine of putting them all in danger from her ex's "fatwa" with her presence, and Denny is found not guilty of solicitation after all. He and Alan happily engage in some "legitimate male bonding" on the balcony, agreeing that they will likely be "soulmates in hell." Includes commercials and promos.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: December 4, 2007 10:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:59:57
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:93201
• GENRE: Comedy
• SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; Drama; Lawyers
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 2004-2008
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - Best Buy stores
  • TV - Commercials - Blu-Ray television and player
  • TV - Commercials - Bristol-Myers Squibb pharmaceuticals
  • TV - Commercials - CVS pharmacies
  • TV - Commercials - Canine Companions for Independence
  • TV - Commercials - Chysler automobiles
  • TV - Commercials - CitiCard credit cards
  • TV - Commercials - DeBeers diamonds
  • TV - Commercials - Discover credit cards
  • TV - Commercials - Ester-C vitamins
  • TV - Commercials - Kohl's stores
  • TV - Commercials - Lowe's stores
  • TV - Commercials - Make-A-Wish Foundation
  • TV - Commercials - MasterCard credit cards
  • TV - Commercials - McDonald's restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Oral-B Triumph electric toothbrushes
  • TV - Commercials - Outback Steakhouse restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Staples stores
  • TV - Commercials - Taco Bell restaurants
  • TV - Commercials - Target stores
  • TV - Commercials - The Home Depot stores
  • TV - Commercials - Verizon Wireless cellular phones
  • TV - Commercials - Zantac heartburn medication
  • TV - PSA - A Better Community volunteering
  • TV - PSA - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star services
  • TV - Promos - "Boston Legal" upcoming episode
  • TV - Promos - "Dirty Sexy Money"
  • TV - Promos - "Duel"
  • TV - Promos - "Grey's Anatomy"
  • TV - Promos - "Mitch Albom's For One More Day"
  • TV - Promos - "Private Practice"
  • TV - Promos - "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town"
  • TV - Promos - "Shrek the Halls"
  • TV - Promos - "The Ten Most Fascinating People of 2007"

CREDITS

• Bill D'Elia … Executive Producer
• David E. Kelley … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
• Lawrence Broch … Co-Executive Producer
• Mike Listo … Co-Executive Producer, Director
• Steve Robin … Supervising Producer
• Janet Knutsen McCann … Producer
• Craig Turk … Producer
• Anne M. Uemura … Co-Producer
• Phoef Sutton … Consulting Producer
• Susan Dickes … Consulting Producer
• Robert Breech … Consulting Producer
• Danny Lux … Music by
• James Spader … Cast, Alan Shore
• John Larroquette … Cast, Carl Sack
• Christian Clemenson … Cast, Jerry Espenson
• Gary Anthony Williams … Cast, Clarence / Clarice Bell
• Tara Summers … Cast, Katie Lloyd
• Saffron Burrows … Cast, Lorraine Weller
• Taraji P. Henson … Cast, Whitney Rome
• Candice Bergen … Cast, Shirley Schmidt
• William Shatner … Cast, Denny Crane
• Rene Auberjonois … Cast, Paul Lewiston
• Loretta Devine … Cast, Judge Victoria Thomson
• Henry Gibson … Cast, Judge Clark Brown
• Meredith Eaton-Gilden … Cast, Bethany Horowitz
• Joel McCrary … Cast, Guy Flanders
• Jill Brennan … Cast, Gracie Jane
• Michael P. McGill … Cast, Officer Brian Whistler
• Steven Culp … Cast, A.D.A. Norman Wilson
• Robert Wuhl … Cast, Bob Binder
• Brad Wilson … Cast, Clerk #1
• Laura Henry … Cast, Clerk #2
• Elizabeth Laird … Cast, Jury Foreperson