Boston Legal Son of the Defender (2004–2008) Online

The black and white footage is from the "Studio One" show entitled "The Defender" (hence the "Son of the Defender" title of the Boston Legal).

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0394920/

The father was indeed played by Ralph Bellamy (who would go on to star as Randolph Duke in the Dan Ackroyd/Eddie Murphy comedy Trading Places). The character names are exactly the same as in the "Studio One" episode. The character of Joe Gordon was played by a very young Steve McQueen. The plot of the Boston Legal episode closely parallels the plot of the original Studio One episode and the character names are the same. The only difference is the name of Shatner's character, but everything else, down to the strained relationship between the lawyer and his father are similar.

The black & white flashbacks that Denny Crane experienced had the look of late '50s video rather than film. I'm thinking that these came from a 1957 episode of the Studio One television show entitled "The Defenders":

http://imdb.com/title/tt0394920/

I think the older attorney was Ralph Bellamy, who played the father of Shatner's character:

http://www.nndb.com/people/317/000026239/

The year 1957 fits the BL plot, plus the fact that Bellamy and Shatner played father & son lawyers.

For me, it's interesting to see old Shatner footage: just this past weekend, a local PBS affiliate aired Judgement at Nuremburg (1961), in which Shatner plays a minor supporting role. It's a kick seeing Shatner looking sleek and with a full head of slicked-back Fifties hair. I've always carried the image of him in ST:TOS; by that time he was toupeed and getting a bit paunchy.

k.

This episode is one of my favorite episodes of the series.

As others have mentioned, the story is a sequel of sorts of a totally unrelated show, "The Defenders" from 1957. The flashback scenes were very well done and well placed in the episode. They gave a perfect opportunity to William Shatner to show off his acting ability. Through the flashbacks, reactionary shots and subsequent dialog we were able to witness a little more depth to the character of Denny Crane. For once, he got to admit that even though he won this case AGAIN, and is still undefeated, sometimes his winning comes at a cost.

The scene following the verdict is amazingly well done. Denny could have left... SHOULD have left... but he stayed long enough to use his skills and the compassion he rarely shows in order to save the day.

Chalk another win up for Denny Crane

There is no doubt that i am a fan of Boston Legal, even though it did start to make to much fun of itself and the legal practice by the end of the show 5th season. This episode takes us back to Danny Crane'first trial case, and the emotional stress that it caused not only to the patrons involved in the case, but also the beginning of the incredible career that Danny Crane had.

This episode was an amazing portrayal and evidence of how great of an actor William Shatner really is. The episode took archive footage from "Studio One in Hollywood" from the episode of "The defender Part one & two" it is great to see, how much William Shatner can embark and bring emotion two different characters but make them the same emotional traits with over 50 years of a gap "The Defender" aired 27th of Feb 1957, Boston Legal, Son of the Defender April 3, 2007

The story of the son plotting "Justice"/ revenge on the "killer" and Danny Crane was a brilliant story and executed very dramatically with less humor then usual for Boston Legal. The second story involving Alan Shore was less then exciting premises of a local politician being caught red handed with a prostitute, was not one of my favorite, The politicians was very over the top, but it didn't matter. This was Danny Cranes time to shine, and did he!!

A lot of things are done very well in this episode. The usage of the Studio One footage with Ralph Bellamy as Denny Crane's dad is a master stroke when it is combined with an adult man who is convinced that the guilty party in his mothers murder got off due to Cranes using of court room theatrics is an excellent plot. The fact that he has gone off the deep end and holds a lot of folks at Crane's law office hostage and having Denny strap on explosives is a strong plot.

Not only does this guy realize he is wrong by the end of the episode about who murdered his mom, but Denny's action to solve everyones dilemma is very well done. Shatner is in fine form.

Then there is the sub-plot. Alan Shore has a hooker as a client who is caught with a local politician. The politician worried about his career tries to make this go away by railroading Shore's client to jail. Shore arouses the judges ire and gets everyone tossed into jail. This plot is well written too.

A lot of folks realize Ralph Bellamy played in Trading Places with Murphy & Acroyd, but he also did a lot of other roles including playing FDR in The Winds of War & War & Remembrance on television. Bellamy was a fine character actor and even this footage used in this episode shows that quality.

This episode is one of my favorite episodes of not only the series, but of all shows. Having the ability to take two different TV shows, separate them with over 50 years of acting and still manage to glue them together is amazing! As others have mentioned, the story is a sequel of sorts of a totally unrelated show, "The Defenders" from 1957. The flashback scenes were very well done and well placed in the episode, was really great to see how we get to see Danny be in his prime and what he use to stand for, Justice. They gave a perfect opportunity to William Shatner to show off his acting ability. Through the flashbacks, reactionary shots and subsequent dialog we were able to witness a little more depth to the character of Denny Crane. For once, he got to admit that even though he won this case AGAIN, and is still undefeated, sometimes his winning comes at a cost.

The scene following the verdict is amazingly well done. Denny could have left... SHOULD have left... but he stayed long enough to use his skills and the compassion he rarely shows in order to save the day.

You are right, ktakki. The Studio One episode "The Defender" most recently aired on TV Land several years ago. Ralph Bellamy played the father, William Shatner the son and Steve McQueen was the accused. At the time of the "Boston Legal" episode airing, Shatner gave a online interview to his daughter on his website where he discussed Studio One and the era of live television.

"The Defender" served as the pilot for the early 1960s series "The Defenders" with E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed. According to several members of the cast of "The Brady Bunch," Reed often complained about his role on that show and compared it unfavorably to his work on "The Defenders." that didn't stop him from appearing on several "BB" related guest shots, including "Family Feud."