A practical joke on last night's "Boston Legal" had mad cow disease-afflicted lawyer Denny Crane (played by William Shatner) believing the RNC wanted him as the presidential nominee.
And it left "Boston Legal" writers with plenty of opportunities to slam Republicans, like this exchange that suggests former Republican President Ronald Reagan had mad cow disease instead of Alzheimer's:
ALAN SHORE: Do they know you have mad cow?
DENNY CRANE: They're looking for the next Ronald Reagan, and he had it at the very end.
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Or this exchange between Crane and members of the RNC, which at best oversimplifies conservative views and makes Republicans look like buffoons:
COMMITTEE MEMBER: I'd like to play a political Rorschach test, a, uh, word association game.
CRANE: Shoot.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: I'll throw out a word. You say the first word that pops into your head.
CRANE: Shoot.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: Homosexual.
CRANE: Shoot.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: Abortion.
CRANE: Murder.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: The war.
CRANE: 9/11.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: Economy.
CRANE: Democrats.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: John McCain.
CRANE: (Snores)
COMMITTEE MEMBER: immigration.
CRANE: No mas.
COMMITTEE MEMBER: Hillary.
CRANE: (Passes gas) Pull my finger.
The liberal-leaning script writers couldn't resist hinting that Republicans are really sexual deviants or declaring that the Christian political activists are marginalized:
CRANE: I like sex. I like women. I'll hump anything in a dress. I'll even get down on the floor with you right now if they'll turn off the lights. But know this, the American public will find it refreshing to finally get a Republican candidate who's not a moralistic, sexually repressed, crusading hypocrite who cruises airport men's rooms late at night. Denny Crane rides high in the saddle. I'll go into office with my boots on, I'll die with my boots on. Next?
...
COMMITTEE MEMBER: We're prepared to go forward this year without the blessing of the Christian right, but we cannot and will not abandon the values of our most valuable and precious Republican base. I speak, of course, of the N.R.A.
Or the knocks on George W. Bush:
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, RNC MEMBER: Do you know how W. got to be president?
DENNY CRANE: His S.A.T. Scores?
CRUICKSHANK: We picked him, not because of his intelligence...
CRANE: Gee.
CRUICKSHANK: Or that he was a great speaker...
CRANE: No?
CRUICKSHANK: But because he tracks. He was a cowboy. He was somebody we could sell to the American public.
...
SHORE: Denny, you don't think before you speak. You barely speak the English language. You always have to get your way. You'd never get along with other countries. For God sake, what would possess the Republican Party-
CRANE: --heir apparent.
Last night's episode also gave vent to Hollywood's anti-religious bigotry. See the full article on the Culture and Media Institute Web site.
—Colleen Raezler is a research assistant at the Culture and Media Institute
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
It's alright. The Big 3's
May 15, 2008 - 17:21 ET by SchnikeysIt's alright. The Big 3's fall seasons are pathetic to the point where they require tasteless jokes to survive. Nothing new here.
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Grizzly Bear '08
"Survive"? Here I always
May 15, 2008 - 18:23 ET by Cortillaen"Survive"? Here I always thought they were undead zombies. Well, shoot...
www.rhjunior.com Great comics with a hefty dose of Christian and anti-nutjob goodness.
"With your mind as high as Mt. Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things near to you." -Miyamoto Musashi
I used to like this show when it first came out
May 15, 2008 - 17:30 ET by Dee Bunkdespite it's obvious liberal preaching. It went downhill fast and I haven't watched the last two seasons. It used to be funny but it just became more and more stupid every week.
Hallmark Channel is always good
May 15, 2008 - 17:31 ET by DelsaI never watch these shows.
They are written by such idiots.
I've said this before but I now know why my mother watched re-runs of Matlock, Murder She Wrote, and Perry Mason!
Ten years ago she was running from the stupid shows and the MSM
Delsa - Have you tried Lost?
May 15, 2008 - 17:34 ET by Dee BunkIt's a good one. That and Desperate Housewives are the only two I ever watch anymore.
Actually, Dee
May 15, 2008 - 17:41 ET by DelsaMy sister turned me on to Lost. I like it and Medium, Shark, Moonlight, and Woman's Murder Club.
These shows do take me away from all the Stuff.
I have to admit, I have never watched Desperate Housewives. I'll try it one time.
For the same reason I watch
May 16, 2008 - 13:10 ET by misterbee241For the same reason I watch reruns of the Andy Griffith show. Good writing, good acting and no profanity.
There is none so blind as they that won’t see. Jonathan Swift 1667-1745
Even with Alzheimer's ...
May 15, 2008 - 17:34 ET by TschidaEven with Alzheimer's disease, Reagan was smarter than the Obama, and much smarter than the smarmy writers of a pedestrian show not worth watching.
C.
Even with Alzheimer's
May 15, 2008 - 23:49 ET by merlin61These writers for these shows just love to
step in poop! They are not funny, they are
degrading and not worth watching anymore.
Childish jibberish.
So, it turns out Capt. Kirk is a traitor, eh?
May 15, 2008 - 17:49 ET by R D HelmWhy am I not surprised?
As someone who is watching my eighty year-old father slowly waste away from the effects of this hideous and dignity-robbing disease, I can't say I find this funny in the least.
Shame on Willie Shatner.
When they say this country
May 15, 2008 - 18:06 ET by Chris NormanWhen they say this country is getting mean-spirited, we know who's making mean-spiritedness okay for the rest.
Mean spirited projections...
May 15, 2008 - 19:31 ET by TschidaThe mean spirited behavior in the nation is almost in my opinion an attitude or 'mood' we see from the left. That being said, it is projected on the right by the leftists and it is becoming culturally accepted normalcy. Look at the behavior of the left virtually at all levels, from the regular Joe democrat who blogs on the left to the mainstream media, (we can see this especially from people like Olberman) to the leadership of the left, like Dean, Clinton, the Obama, and so on.
They are angry, they loathe America and what it stands for, they work day and night to remake this nation into the socialist democracy they idolize like the golden calf, at the expense of anyone who gets in the way of their agenda. Nothing is sacred, or beyond attack, unless it furthers their rehashed leftist ideals from generations past.
It is pathetic and sickening, but also it is becoming or even an argument could be made it has already become a culturally/socially accepted norm.
C.
Mmm, I think things have
May 15, 2008 - 19:41 ET by CortillaenMmm, I think things have actually calmed down compared to the caricatures of, say, Abe Lincoln.
www.rhjunior.com Great comics with a hefty dose of Christian and anti-nutjob goodness.
"With your mind as high as Mt. Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things near to you." -
Oh, to be sure, there have
May 15, 2008 - 20:11 ET by Chris NormanOh, to be sure, there have always been meaness around. However, I think it's been much more mainstreamed and celebrated as humor by television. You think we would have evolved upward from the nastiness back in Lincoln's time - but, if anything, we have embraced it as "everyday humor".
You misunderstand me. I
May 15, 2008 - 20:31 ET by CortillaenYou misunderstand me. I simply think the field of politics is somewhat more civil now than then. The difference may not even be vast, but I think it exists. As for the mainstreaming of the incivility still present, I agree inasmuch as it has been incorporated into supposed "news" shows. We've come to simply expect bias and meanness mixed in with the news to such an extent that it seems normal to us.
The attempt to pass bile off as humor is closely related to the unwillingness of many people today to take responsibility for their actions. People like Olby understand full well that they're being unmitigated [insert favorite epithet noun here]s; they simply don't care because their superiors and the public seem to have accepted the "It's humor" line as a sufficient excuse. Our society as a whole has apparently deemed disingenuity acceptable, and this is just one of the results.
www.rhjunior.com Great comics with a hefty dose of Christian and anti-nutjob goodness.
"With your mind as high as Mt. Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things near to you." -Miyamoto Musashi
Oh god where to start. For
May 15, 2008 - 19:49 ET by Dave DOh god where to start. For one umm for people that are supposed to be big into science and bitch about scare tactics shouldn't they have at least the least idea how common Mad Cow Disease actually is? (Here's a hint, there's never been a recorded case of vCJD from American beef and only 3 people who have spent any time in the US have ever gotten it.) Second why bring up the SAT score? Bush got about 1200 on it which is actually a very good score. (Probably in the 90th percentile.)
Their sneering condescension
May 15, 2008 - 20:02 ET by rammingspeedTheir sneering condescension and absolute hatred for those who dare disagree with them, marks them. They are marginalized, for all their belief that they are on the cutting edge. Only the choir can't see through this crap.
This show sucks now. Being
May 15, 2008 - 20:53 ET by mostlymoderateThis show sucks now. Being a lawyer myself, I always enjoyed the light-hearted antics in the first season and James Spader is a great actor. Unfortunately, the producers got rid of all the good looking girls and replaced them with cross-dressers. Plus, the storyline as become much to political and is too one-sided.
A decent show has gone once again gone down in flames.
This show took a Left turn before Murphy Brown.......
May 15, 2008 - 22:59 ET by connmansigned on. The show is unwatchable. I don't mind poking fun but be fair about it. It's one lib swipe after another. As ridiculous as this episode was, the show a couple of weeks ago where Alan dressed down the SCOTUS, was wayyyyy out there. Screaming at Justice Thomas to quit reading a magazine among other things was just shameful. I like how Alan and Capt. Kirk drink Scotch and smoke a cigar at the end of every episode, as if!
This town needs an enema! - The Joker
I am done with this show
May 15, 2008 - 23:25 ET by Tom PaineThe episode also took a series of potshots at the Catholic Church. I would love to see the day they would dare to make fun of Islam. The show is really losing me at this point. The characters are far too outlandish and constant and oppressive liberal talking points are getting tiresome. The character of Denny Craine exists only to play the buffoon to be bested by all of the clever and witty liberals around him. I would love to see one of these shows actually have a character who is an intelligent conservative. The West Wing actually did it with a conservative character played by Emily Proctor, but otherwise conservative characters only exist in prime time so they can either "learn" something or feel conflicted about one of their postions. Liberals, of course, never feel conflicted..
William Shatner Was On Dennis Miller's Show Today
May 15, 2008 - 23:32 ET by The7SticksIt's interesting that this is brought up, because today Dennis Miller had William Shatner on his radio show, and they even discussed how "wonderful" the show is and how David E. Kelly wrote forty-four scripts for Boston Legal. Apparently, either Dennis hasn't been watching the show lately or he really is a liberal in disguise.
This is why I stopped
May 16, 2008 - 13:07 ET by misterbee241This is why I stopped watching network crap - I got tired of being insulted. It's too bad the writer's strike had to end.
There is none so blind as they that won’t see. Jonathan Swift 1667-1745