By Jennifer Larson
Oh how I look forward to watching this brilliantly written and acted show, especially considering how dismal the new programming this past Fall was. Don’t even get me started on some of the mid-season replacements we’re beginning to see flood the TV landscape. I swear, I think my four-year-old nephew could do a better job of coming up with creative and entertaining shows than the people in charge right now. Than again, lazy and unimaginative programming is nothing new in the TV industry. In fact, sometimes I feel more energy is put into the marketing of these shows than the creation of them. But I digress; tonight is about the excellence that can be achieved when talent and effort come together.
With characters like Alan (James Spader) and Shirley (Candice Bergen) you just can’t go wrong, especially when they are played by such gifted and talented people. And tonight we get to see that talent shine, when they end up on opposite sides of the court room in a case involving stolen sperm. Then you have the ever crazy, but irresistibly lovable character, Jerry (Christian Clemenson), who helps his equally crazy ex, who has been fired from her teaching job for inappropriate contact with a student. Hey, that’s actually a step up from her usual paramours. Besides her brief romance with Jerry, this lady has dated strictly in the inanimate object category. If you’ll remember, she met Jerry when he defended her in a case involving her former boyfriend, a metal lockbox. This kind of romantic devotion is actually real and has a name, objectaphelia. I suppose there are stranger things out there, but I’m hard pressed to come up with them.
It turns out that the case of the stolen sperm is more complicated than one might think. Shirley’s client is her ex-husband’s ex-wife! It gets even stranger, because this nut job coaxed said sperm out of the unwilling and unknowing donor through, shall we say, oral coercion. She then took the donation to a fertility clinic and impregnated herself with it. Well, you can see why impending fatherhood isn’t a joyous occasion for this man. That being said, using the legal system to force an abortion is even more repugnant than what she did. However, arguing her case through Broadway show tunes doesn’t do much for her credibility. But this case is about more than just one baby, it’s about the power struggle men and women face all over the world. It’s also about the power of the court, and how much it should have.
It’s pretty serious stuff for such a normally funny show, but it doesn’t stop there. Jerry’s case took a turn for the tragic as well. Agreeing to defend his ex against the school that fired her has stirred up some deep and long held emotions for him. The inappropriate contract turned out to be a simple hug. A hug for a child who was crying uncontrollably; sadly, Jerry can relate because, as he confides in Katie (Tara Summers), he was never hugged as a child, which explains a lot. Thanks to the perverts of the world, teachers can no longer consol a child with a touch or a hug. When you consider the fact that this particular teacher has issues of her own regarding human contact, it seems even more ridiculous. Unfortunately, the school’s no exception to the rule policy held up in court and Jerry lost the case. But, all is not lost because he may have won back the girl.
Back in crazy town with Shirley and Alan, the court found in the defendant’s favor, although that win didn’t come without a serious lecture on the manner in which the baby came about. And it turns out that the father of the child isn’t such a bad guy after all, because once he knew the baby was definitely on the way he decided to do the right thing and be a part of its life. It sounds very sweet, but in the end there were really no winners because aside from sharing custody, he wanted nothing to do with the mother. Besides, it would never work, he doesn’t care too much for the show tunes.