Tonight's (May 8) episode of ABC's “Boston Legal,” the 10pm EDT/PDT drama set in an unorthodox Boston law firm, will seemingly take up the topic of a man “tortured” by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay. The ABC.com summary of the plot relays that attorney “Alan Shore,” played by James Spader, “sues the United States on behalf of a client who was tortured for two years at a detention camp.” The title of the episode: “Guantanamo by the Bay.”
This will hardly be the first time the ABC show, starring William Shatner and Candice Bergen, has centered episodes around advancing liberal causes. See the January 17 NewsBusters posting: “ABC's 'Boston Legal' Takes Cheap Shots to the Right.” Also check a NewsBusters posting from March of 2006, “ABC's 'Boston Legal' Airs Anti-Bush Tirade, Takes Shot at FNC & Raises McCarthy Era,” which features two video clips.
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Damn you, David E. Kelley! Da
May 8, 2007 - 18:30 ET by balboaDamn you, David E. Kelley! Damn you!!! You and your...gorgeous, smokin' wife!!!
Video
May 8, 2007 - 23:20 ET by Amanda JusticeHi...I have the video from Boston Legal... do you want it?
Wrong Bay
May 8, 2007 - 18:40 ET by acumenWater torture? Is this a documentary about Mary Jo Kopechne? Oh, sorry, wrong Bay....
Wish they could show an edite
May 8, 2007 - 19:06 ET by dodecahedronWish they could show an edited version of that show without the left-wing crap. I've seen it a couple times and William Shatner is hilarious. I just can't sit through the segments where Murphy Brown tells us all what a horrible country America is and how we are all such evil people. If Kelly kills off Murphy's character, I might try watching again. It'd need to be a horrible, gruesome death. Maybe she could get bitch-slapped to death by George W. Bush. That'd be worth an Emmy.
dodecahedron - I used to pu
May 8, 2007 - 19:57 ET by Dee Bunkdodecahedron - I used to put up with the Left wing preaching because it was so funny. Now it has become really stupid. In every single show Spader goes off on a left wing lecture that totally misrepresents the conservative view. They do it on purpose. One show they even had Spader stand on a box and when the Judge asked him what he was doing he said he was getting on his soap box like he did at the end of every show. That was one of the things I liked about it because they would break the third wall or what ever you call it.
The Spader lectures started to get really old and predictable and they started making more stupid and bizarre character stories. I've lost all interest now and I'm glad because I hated giving my support to their left wing rants. Even some of my liberal friends agree that it's no good any more
You'd think the sponsors of K
May 8, 2007 - 23:11 ET by dodecahedronYou'd think the sponsors of Kelley's shows would see how he sabotages his own ratings by using them to push his political agenda. This certainly isn't the first time he's done it, but they keep putting him on the air.
A more logical script
May 8, 2007 - 19:15 ET by Gary HallA more logical script would have had Alan Shore, representing unfortunate dead people and their families over the blatantly false story on the supposed mistreatment of the Koran and suing Newsweek. The resulting riots (I'm sorry, ridiculous staged riots) around the world resulted in many unnecessary deaths - not to mention wasted time, emotion and sanity for millions of people the world over. The combined global cost of the effects of the story may have been in the billions of dollars.
BL Not The News
May 8, 2007 - 19:33 ET by BlameTheMediaIt's a sitcom. If you don't like it, don't watch it. It is NOT A NEWS SHOW.
Ok. I won't. Thanks for the a
May 8, 2007 - 19:36 ET by dodecahedronOk. I won't. Thanks for the advice!
blame - they are just point
May 8, 2007 - 20:03 ET by Dee Bunkblame - they are just pointing it out because the left are so sneaky that they have to indoctrinate people this way. Their arguments don't hold up to debate so they have to take both sides and mis-represent the conservative viewpoint to get people on their side. It's really underhanded.
We won't watch it, but a bunch of unsuspecting people will and we like to complain about how they brainwash. If you don't like it you don't have to come here and listen to it
Dee, right you are.They pul
May 8, 2007 - 20:33 ET by Free StinkerDee, right you are.
They pull that same BS with CSI and Law & Order. Sneaking in the Lib talking points as a part of the plot . . .
Free - it's really sad beca
May 8, 2007 - 21:17 ET by Dee BunkFree - it's really sad because they truly don't have the ability to see that there are different well meaning points of view. They have to always make the conservative position sinister. I have given up almost completely on T.V. The only shows I watch with any regularity are Lost and Desperate Housewives and neither of those shows put obvious liberal talking points.
Actually, blame, last I check
May 9, 2007 - 06:24 ET by UnsaneActually, blame, last I checked, it was a drama. No worries, I am taking your advice much farther than you can imagine by not watching ANY television, unless it is a sports event I care about. Why? Because, Leftism or not, It Is All Totally Unimpressive To Me.
I'd rather be reading my Andrew Jackson bio or We The Living.
Finally, it is too bad that a Leftist such as yourself whines about us cussing and discussing a fictional television program...yet it is the Left that wants to shut down and censor everything that at least treats conservative viewpoints as if they might have something to say on the national stage.
"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???." - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)
If that sports event you care
May 9, 2007 - 07:11 ET by CaringwhiteguyIf that sports event you care about is on ESPN chances are you will get a dose or two of liberal pablum commentary tossed in with your strike outs, touchdown passes and fast breaks. Primarily you'll hear about race, but you'll also get a little on the war and how Bush doesn't care about the poor just for good measure. "Monday Night Football Returns to New Orleans" was an excellent example that tied all these liberal canards together.
Escape!!!
May 9, 2007 - 07:41 ET by UnsaneOr how about their "endorsement" of Obama on the "bump" for Monday Night Football for a Chicago game last winter?
Memo to ESPN: Can I PLEASE escape politics when indulging in some football??? Or baseball, or basketball???
"HAV3 TH3 BRIDG3S OF INSANITY B33N CROSS3D AND FOR3V3R R3TRACT3D???." - Meshuggah, "3ntrapm3nt", from Catch Thirty Thr33 (2005)
Seems to be a lot of trolls o
May 8, 2007 - 20:32 ET by ahusserSeems to be a lot of trolls on the site today. Must have got their marching orders from the DNC.
"A mind is a terrible thing." - A comic I forgot the name of.
ahusser,Pathetic bunch of chi
May 8, 2007 - 20:38 ET by Blondeahusser,
Pathetic bunch of children, yes?
One invites them to debate, and they beat feet, leaving skidmarks.
The only thing torturous abou
May 9, 2007 - 02:34 ET by jdhawkThe only thing torturous about Boston Legal is having to watch it.
Thre three network wonder why
May 9, 2007 - 08:42 ET by a12iggymomThre three network wonder why they are loosing viewers? Prime example. We think your leftist thinking stinks! Stop it!
The problem with shows like B
May 9, 2007 - 08:45 ET by Tom PaineThe problem with shows like Boston Legal and Brothers and Sisters is that the so-called “conservative” characters are portrayed as little more than punching bags for liberal zingers. They spout liberals' ideas of conservative talking points with a lack of substance that guarantees the liberal character will always get the last word. William Shatner’s character of Denny Crane is presented as a conservative who is a total buffoon and who only recognizes the Second Amendment to the constitution. The other characters take repeated cheap shots at the Bush Administration, conservatism and people of faith with no effective rebuttal to their over the top accusations.
I’d like to see one of these shows have an Ann Coulter type conservative (and not their caricature of her either) who would stand up for themselves and give a coherent and factual representation of conservatives. To their credit, The West Wing tried this a few years ago when Emily Proctor played a conservative attorney on the White House staff. Her character was not a doormat
I still think Boston Legal is funny despite the liberal indoctrination. Every once in a while they do something that makes me smile for a reason they didn’t intend. A few weeks ago James Spader slipped up on a key liberal article of faith by inadvertently blurting out the truth. Alan’s client was suing a company that failed to cure him of being gay. In his closing argument Alan said “There are 10 million gay people in the United States…” Wait a minute, haven’t we been told for years that 10% of the population is gay. Let’s see, 10 million divided by 300 million equals a little over 3%. Gee, why do they have so much political clout? Probably in no small measure because of the liberal view that dominates popular entertainment.
Entertainment as Propaganda
May 9, 2007 - 11:44 ET by KopykingLet me first state that I am a fan of this show. It makes me laugh, which I enjoy doing. As I watched last night knowing full well what was coming, I couldn't help think the following:
First, Kelley writes the liberal talking points quite well. But I can recognize the blatant propaganda; I know others can't, which is bothersome.
Second, Shore is well-spoken. His opposing counsel's arguments were simplistic yet overblown. More propaganda. And the colonol was, in my mind, a dolt.
Third, the "rest of the story" does not matter to Kelley. The argument about the Geneva Convention failed to point out that it only pertains to uniformed combatants. In reality, al-Queada or Taliban fighters, who wear civilian clothes, could be shot on site as spies.
Fourth, treatment at Gitmo includes three Muslim-friendly meals every day, each prisoner is given a copy of the Koran which is only handled by a Muslim Army chaplain wearing latex gloves. It does not include being forced to blather on in front of a camera prior to being decapitated for all the world to see.
Fifth, the British Muslim character states that he was beaten and sexually abused, but would not give details. I half expect him to turn up in a later show ridiculing the gullable American lawyers who took his case. Anyway, is there anyone who can truly say without a doubt that if Gitmo prisoners were being abused in this way that it wouldn't be on the front cover of every newspaper in the world? For YEARS??? I'm sure Time Magazine or Keith Olberman could bribe a former guard to spill his guts.
The danger with entertainment as propaganda is that it is much more effective than anything the government could ever devise. It harms the country and our citizens because it twists the real truth, presents partial truth, and does them so well that partially educated viewers accept it as fact rather than fiction.