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Episode Summary

"New Kids on the Block" / Season 3 Episode 02
Broadcast: September 26, 2006

Jeffrey Coho (Craig Bierko) takes on a new client, Scott Little (Ashton Holmes), who has been accused of murdering a judge. Handling this high profile case his first day at the office, Coho immediately makes a splash at Crane Poole & Schmidt. Meanwhile, Crane’s online date threatens to sue the firm, and Shore takes on a cross-dressing client fired for taking maternity leave.

Episode Credits

Directed by .... Bill D'Elia
Written by .... David E. Kelly

Katey Sagal .... Barbara Little
Constance Zimmer .... Claire Simms
Anthony Heald .... Judge Harvey Cooper
Tyler Labine .... Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Winant
Ashton Holmes .... Scott Little
Robert Narita .... Dr. Kerry Woo
Vic Polizos .... Detective Harry Long
Meredith Eaton-Gilden .... Bethany Horowitz

Image credit: © 2006 ABC / Scott Garfield
Images taken August 30, Sept. 6 & 8, 2006; abcmedianet.com

>> More information on the guest stars in our forum

 

Episode Dialogue


Claire Simms: This is abusive. Making me leave New York, I’m going to call my parents and tell them I’m being abused.

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Denny Crane, To Claire: Well, well, well.  If you’re a client, I’ll get you off. If you’re not, the offer is still good.
Claire Simms: Okay. Ick. And double ick.
Jeffrey Coho: We’re the new guys.
Denny Crane: Please, if there were new guys, they would’ve shown up in the season premiere.
Jeffrey Coho: We like to make ‘em wait.

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Denny Crane: I’m deposing a midget. ‘Little person', whatever, she wants to be vicious with me. I can be vicious right back and I need you.
Alan Shore: Well, I’m taken.
Denny Crane: Alan, I need a lawyer, for God’s sake we’ve slept together, we’ve fished together.

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Alan Shore: How’s that cigar working for you?
Claire Simms: I’ve had better.

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Denny Crane: I’ve always thought of myself as a tolerant man. And with midgets… truth is. I like them. They’re sexy.
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Clarice Bell: So I started the process, told my employer I planned to take maternity down the road, and that’s when he gave me the steel-toe. That ain’t legal, is it? Is it?
Alan Shore: I’m sorry, I’m still getting over you being lumped into the category with Angelina Jolie.




Coho: Hello?
Dr. Woo: Who you?
Coho: Jeffrey Coho. Wow, I love a man who loves his work. Can you see from where you are standing - just a couple of questions, I'll be out of your hair....
Dr. Woo: Who hell you?
Coho: Jeffrey Coho. God, she's a beautiful woman. I don't need to tell you that.
Dr. Woo: You District Attorney Office?
Coho: I can see you're not a fan of verbs and, yes, I am an attorney. I'll really get out of your private business so you can dive back into hers. I just need a confirmation of time of death.
Dr. Woo: Who hell you?
Coho: Jeffrey Coho. Obviously, there's a language gap. Are you a verb bigot?



Claire: So I have to be nice to this person?
Denny: And if you're very nice, you get to sit on Santa's lap.
Claire: Okay. The gross man is fondling me.



Did You Know... ?


Sue's Six Degrees of the Guest Star
Boston Legal forum moderator makes it a practice to discover interesting connections between guest stars. A selection of connections are below.  For more of her guest biographies, see her work on "New Kids on the Block" in our forum. >> more

Katey Sagal as Barbara Little - Sagal became a household name - at least as her character 'Peg Bundy' - during her long tenure on the sitcom 'Married With Children' (1987-1997). After that series ended, Sagal spent several years as the voice of 'Turanga Leela' on the animated show 'Futurama', before landing another plum lead role on the sitcom '8 Simple Rules' (2002-5). Her recent work includes appearances on 'Shield', 'Ghost Whisperer', and two episodes of 'Lost'.

Constance Zimmer as Claire Simms - The Seattle-born Zimmer has had regular or recurring roles in several series, including 'Good Morning, Miami', 'Joan of Arcadia', and most recently appeared in 'Entourage' (as 'Dana') and 'In Justice'. Zimmer also appeared in one episode of 'Jake in Progress', with Julie Bowen, as well as in an episode of David E. Kelley's 'Chicago Hope' (also as a character named 'Dana').

Anthony Heald as Judge Harvey Cooper - Heald makes his fourth BL appearance in the role of Judge Harvey Cooper, notable for his eccentric pronunciation of the word "Massachusetts". Previously, he had a recurring role as Judge Wallace Cooper in 'The Practice' (2000). Heald is probably best-known for his role as Scott Guber, the stern vice principal with a heart of gold, in another David E. Kelley series, 'Boston Public'. He also appeared once as Guber in a cross-over episode of 'The Practice'.

Tyler Labine as A.D.A. Jonathan Winant - Labine is best-known for his role in last season's 'Invasion', but the Canadian-born actor has been appearing on film and TV since the early '90s. One of his more interesting roles was as John Belushi in the 2005 made-for-TV movie 'Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Mork & Mindy'. That film also included former BL guest-star Daniel Roebuck playing the role of Garry Marshall.

Ashton Holmes as Scott Little - Holmes starred in the 2005 film 'A History of Violence', directed by David Cronenberg, who also wrote and directed James Spader's most controversial film, 'Crash' (1996). Holmes' TV career began with a recurring role on the daytime drama 'One Life to Live' (2002-3). Since then, he's appeared on episodes of 'SVU', 'Cold Case', and 'Ghost Whisperer'.


Written by David E. Kelley - this is BL creator Kelley's 27th episode writing credit for the show, and it is the 15th time he has been credited as the sole writer.

Directed by Bill D'Elia - this is executive producer D'Elia's seventh directing credit for the show.



Thanks to Sue for this research and writing. For more acting Six Degrees for every guest star in this episode, see our forum episode page


Trek in the Courtroom
3x2: New Kids on the Block
Themes
Notable Shorts
Boston Legal's Little People
Look-alikes
Star Trek Alumni: Armin Shimerman (Judge Brian Hooper)
>> Details and images [pdf]


Episode News


Ratings  [101 by Nielsen]
Thanks to SueB and TopDog for gathering and post the ratings for this site.

September 26, 2006 "New Kids on the Block"

Fast Overnights from Sept. 27:
Sept. 26, 2006, 3x2 "New Kids on the Block?"
9.97 million viewers and 7.4/12, #2 for the timeslot in viewers and overall share, third-place for adults 18-49: 2.9/ 8. BL was #8 in all shows for the night. BL didn't do quite as well compared to one year ago (9/27/05): 8.6/14, #4; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T8. BL is currently sitting at #14 in the TIVO seasons pass rankings, one spot ahead of SVU.

>> More ratings information in our Forum


Craig Bierko Joining Boston Legal
Source: Variety
August 30, 2006

Craig Bierko (Scary Movie 4, Cinderella Man) is joining the cast of David E. Kelley's "Boston Legal," one of several cast additions that will coincide with a major story arc planned for the early part of the season.

Bierko will play Jeffrey Coho, an "intense, grandiose" criminal defense lawyer. The deal represents a reunion for Bierko and Kelley, who last worked together when Bierko guested on "Ally McBeal."

First case for Bierko's character will set off a multi-episode storyline -- penned by Kelley -- about a client (Ashton Holmes) accused of murdering a judge.

Katey Sagal, most recently a recurring actress on "Lost," will guest in several episodes as Holmes' mother. Tyler Labine ("Invasion") will play an assistant D.A., while Anthony Heald ("Boston Public") will play the judge in the case.

Bierko's first appearance comes on the second episode of "Legal's" third season, currently slated to air September 26.

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'Boston Legal' attorneys speak of their lives as television characters in what's called breaking the fourth wall. Timing is everything.
By Maria Elena Fernandez
Times Staff Writer

September 26, 2006  -  "Cue the music," says the affable mad-cow-deranged legal eagle Denny Crane in the opening of tonight's episode of "Boston Legal." But to whom is he talking — the other zany lawyers at Crane, Poole & Schmidt?

No. He's speaking to you, the viewer. Again.

Since last season, "Boston Legal" has been breaking the fourth wall, allowing its attorneys to speak of their lives as television characters.

The second season ended with one of the show's Alan Shore-Denny Crane balcony moments (played by James Spader and William Shatner respectively) with Shore toasting "To next season, my friend." To which Crane responded, "Same night?" and Shore replied, "God, I hope."

Well, Shore got his wish, and now ABC's Tuesday night drama seems to have upped the outrageousness ante even more for its third season.

In tonight's episode, Jeffrey Coho (Craig Bierko) and Claire Simms (Constance Zimmer) join the firm. But when they introduce themselves to Crane as the "new guys," Crane quips: "Oh, please, if there were new guys, they would have shown up in the season premiere."

Shatner, for one, says he gets a kick out of the insider dialogue. Twice an Emmy winner for the role (the part evolved from "The Practice") and nominated again last season, Shatner noted that although playwrights have used the device to convey a specific personal message, "Boston Legal" has something else in mind.

Last season, Crane scolded his colleagues by saying: "You should have included me in that conference. I'm a good actor. I won an Emmy."

Creator David E. Kelley "is using it as shock value and entertainment value," Shatner said. "So in that shocking moment of a character looking at the audience and saying 'Cue the music,' the viewer takes a mental step backwards and says, 'Good God, did he really say that? ' "

Kelley said the decision to have his loony lawyers refer to themselves as TV characters from time to time occurred to him when he was writing dialogue last year.

In last week's season premiere, Shore lamented, "These past few years I've felt this inexplicable compulsion to be someone redeeming as if I were some regular on a television show."

"You never want to throw the audience at the wrong time when the story is important," Kelley said. "But at the same time, we don't take ourselves too seriously and particularly the characters don't take themselves too seriously. So it feels somewhat organic."

The writers, Kelley said, never sit down for their story meetings with designated episodes in which they will break from traditional screenwriting.

"It really comes out of the scene, and it's almost a way of us writers flagging things about our series that we know could only happen in television," Kelley said. "The fact that they end up on that balcony at the end of every episode, that's a routine that probably only exists in our fictionalized world. Real lawyers are a little bit too busy to do that at the end of every day."

During one episode last season, the writers placed the balcony scene in the third act instead of at the ending. So when Shore showed up at the usual drinking perch, Crane asked, "Is the episode over already?"

Some fans hope the fun is just beginning.

"I believe there were three erasures of the fourth wall in [the premiere] episode," wrote blogger Kenny Smith on www.kenny+smith.org/blog.html. "Are they going for a record this season? We know from the preview that they removed the fourth wall at least once, and somehow that means I won't get anything done next Tuesday either."

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Why does Boston Legal continue to employ the fine Mark Valley yet steadfastly refuse to use him?
 by Maureen Ryan | Chicago Tribune
Why can't “Boston Legal” fix its Chase situation? In Tuesday's episode, the show even adds a new character who is, for all intents and purposed, a clone of Valley’s Brad Chase. Chase tells the fast-talking new guy, Jeffrey Coho (Craig Bierko), not to chase the women at the firm, because “I’m that guy.” Yes, Chase is that guy - why bring Coho aboard when you already have Chase? I just don’t understand it. Use Valley or set him free, is that too much to ask?

Other than that, “Boston Legal” is its usual loopy self. I wonder if anyone at ABC understands that the show is essentially a comedy - a perverse goof on legal dramas. In the season premiere, Denny Crane meets a woman via online dating who’s not what she seems, and Alan Shore defends a cross-dresser who wants to take maternity leave. Of course these bizarre story lines don’t make much sense - they’re not meant to. They’re just an opportunity for “Legal’s” David E. Kelley to play around with the rules of the hour-long legal drama, which he does through his acerbic, politically incorrect characters and by having lawyers even address the camera at times (Crane cues the theme music in the show’s opening minutes). Say what you want about “Boston Legal,” but I find its twisted take on life more entertaining than most of the season’s new “comedies.”

Source: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2006/09/the_daily_show_.html

 

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Episode Video

Watch the preview for "New Kids on the Block" (:15)


Watch the preview for "New Kids on the Block" (:30)


Watch the opening scene and new main titles for "New Kids on the Block"  September 26, 2006 (1:38)

Boston Illegal Radio
"Race Ipsa" podcast
Special guest co-host Deb Hiett, Cindy, Denny's therapists assistant who walked in on a Denny's felony against Dr. Sydney Field.
Race Ipsa mp3 d/l [86 min; 30mb]

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Transcript
Read the episode, transcribed by Sheri and Imamess: [pdf]  Transcript
 

Episode Ratings
September 26, 2006:
Households: 9.97 million viewers and 7.4/12, #2 for the timeslot in viewers and overall share, third-place for adults 18-49: 2.9/ 8. BL was #8 in all shows for the night. BL didn't do quite as well compared to one year ago (9/27/05): 8.6/14, #4; adults 18-49: 3.4, #T8. BL is currently sitting at #14 in the TIVO seasons pass rankings, one spot ahead of SVU.