The Good

A very good law show that examines the day to day goings on of the legal profession.

The Bad

I wish that Dylan McDermott and some of the other cast members had done commentary tracks. Not released as a full season.

Dylan McDermott plays Bobby Donnell on The Practice, Vol. 1. He is an idealistic lawyer who is trying to keep his firm in business. However, it is quickly dawning on him that defending the innocent and working to preserve people's rights is much harder in practice than he had ever imagined. With client's slow ways of paying him a constant source of aggravation, Donnell and his partners Lindsay (Kelli Williams), Ellenor (Camryn Manheim), Eugene (Steve Harris), Jimmy (Michael Badalucco) and Rebecca (Lisa Gay Hamilton) often find themselves having to do a lot more with less. Making everybody's life a bit tougher is smart and sassy prosecutor Helen Gamble (Lara Flynn Boyle).

The "Pilot" episode finds Donnell and his team dealing with cases of drug trafficking and big tobacco. "Reasonable Doubts" pits Donnell against his staff when he's defending a beautiful woman who he's also attracted to. The people on his team think she's probably guilty. Lastly, "First Degree" was probably the best episode as it examines the effects of police work on somebody. Considering the kind of work that these officers have to do, is it any wonder that certain ideals could be corrupted?

Features

Setting Up The Practice

Creator David E. Kelley said that he made this show to make people realize that the legal profession isn't always as glamorous as it seems on TV and in movies. In fact, it seems as if this show was sort of the antithesis of L.A. Law. Showing us the nuts and bolts of the legal field, it was his goal to make things more real. Also, Kelley decided to set the show in Boston because that was an area that he knew. Then we hear from the actors (in interviews that I believe were recorded while the show was going on) as they talk about their roles, their character's motivations and why they are how they are.

Video

Full Frame - 1.33:1. These shows looked awesome. In fact even though they are almost 10 years old, they could play on TV today and I don't think that anybody would feel like they were dated. This show moves at a pretty fair pace but it doesn't work to make the viewers keep up. In addition to this, there are a lot of blacks, whites and grays and all of this seems to have been compressed nicely for this release. Also, I didn't notice any real change between the exterior and interior shots.

Audio

Dolby Digital. Subtitled in English and Spanish. English and Spanish Dolby Surround. French Stereo. Close Captioned. The audio was good. I think that Kelley and some of the other creative people on this film might have messed up, because I think a show like this is ripe to utilize sound to get into its character's heads. Considering the type of work they are doing, the people they are dealing with and how messed up some of their personal lives are, I feel that certain music could have really could helped flesh out these characters even more.

Package

Dylan McDermott is shown on the front of this slipcase cover with bluer than blue eyes. Behind him is a shot of the judges bench and below him are small pictures of the rest of the cast. The back cover contains a collage of images from various episodes, as well as a judges gavel striking down. There is a description of what this show is about, a Special Features listing and technical specs. They have stored all four discs that house these 13 episode in two slim cases.

Final Word

What makes The Practice so great is ho engaging the stories are. They are written so that one can simply sit in front of the TV, with no legal knowledge whatsoever, and they can easily follow the goings on of this show. In addition to that, while it is quite apparent that Dylan McDermott is running the show, I never felt like I was watching something that was exclusively a vehicle for him. I liked getting to see episodes that focused on Eugene, or Ellenor or Rebecca, etc. I felt this opened up the show and it also made it very easy for viewers to care about and understand all of the characters being put across.

Considering that this show ran for 8 seasons, I think that tells you all you need to know about people's hunger for these characters and their situations. The Practice, Vol. 1 should satisfy your legal appetite even though I wish this release was a complete season.

The Practice was released .