'Boston Legal': That Catherine Piper's a hoot!

Nothing makes me happier (as I think I've said before) than seeing dear old Catherine Piper on Boston Legal and in the offices of Crane, Poole, and Schmidt. Tonight that fantastic, fantastic woman was back, but rather than having killed someone, she was working at the firm once more. Or, that's what she claimed anyway.

Catherine promptly fired Carl Sack's assistant and installed herself in the role. She did say something about having cancer, and needing to take her mind off it, but that was just to make Carl feel bad for her, she quickly took it back.

You know what she is? She's a hoot, that's what she is. Where was Melvin Palmer this week to say as much? Perhaps he was off with Shirley in Cabo. And, for that matter, why was Shirley in Cabo without her new fiancé, Carl?

In any case, Carl was still all for firing Catherine, but she did manage to get him on tape saying that he wouldn't ever have hired her in the first place because of her age. Carl wasn't happy, but Catherine got to stay on. What did I tell you -- she's a hoot.

And, a hoot she remained as she figured out that she would probably be allowed to stay at the firm indefinitely if she had a court case. So, with some help from Carl Sack, Catherine set out to sue the television networks as they don't care (according to the show) about programming for people over the age of 50.

Now that's just the kind of thing I expected from this show in its final season -- the implication that maybe, just maybe, Boston Legal is heading off the air because the folks who watch it are outside the desired age range. Honestly, I haven't checked out the demos lately for this show, so I can't tell you whether the show's argument held water. At a hearing in court in front of Judge Brown, Carl actually pointed out that the one show which was unafraid to have its stars be over 50 was this one. Funny stuff.

Outside the courtroom, Catherine had a little ex parte discussion with the Judge as he was eating his lunch. Carl caught her, got upset with her, and then sat down himself to have his own ex parte discussion. It may have been the wrong thing to do, but Brown didn't dismiss their claim outright at the end of the episode. Catherine and Carl will go to trial with their claim at some point in the future (probably after the show has gone off the air).

Denny wasn't having nearly as good a night, a test with his doctor early on revealed that he was definitely in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Somehow, someway, Denny did a little research and found out about a drug, not yet FDA approved, that could help his brain. He wanted the drug, even if it meant going to Russia (where it was on sale) to get it.

Alan and Denny opted for the simpler route, going to court to try to get the medication for Denny. They were quickly passed along to the State Supreme Court, who refused to hear the case. As the U.S. Supreme Court had already refused to hear a similar case, they figured they were out of luck and Denny restated his desire to go to Russia. Alan actually seemed semi-convinced, but it might not be necessary -- at the end of the episode we learned that the Massachusetts Supreme Court forwarded the case to the U.S. Supreme Court on their own initiative. Our guys are going to go back to Washington one last time before the final credits roll!

There was actually a third case tonight too. It dealt with a girl, Margie, who had been accepted to Harvard only to have her admission rescinded. Margie had taken some Ritalin and Adderall prior to the SATs as a "study aid" and those little pills had helped her get a perfect score.

What a horrible thing! If I had known that a few pills would have helped me get right those two damn questions I missed, I absolutely would have done it. My life could have been completely different. Why didn't they have that sort of thing going on in my day?

The case also hit home for Jerry who takes tons of medicine (mostly prescribed, he said) in order to be able to function semi-normally. Katie and Alan both tried to explain to Jerry that the meds he takes are to help with his Aspberger's Syndrome, but he wasn't buying it. He kind of figured that a mind-altering drug was a mind-altering drug.

In the end, the judge didn't reinstate Margie's admission -- she had, after all, taken the drugs without a prescription and therefore illegally. Jerry tried to explain to Margie that they way she was approaching the world wasn't the best possible way, that getting into Harvard, that being that competitive, wasn't always a good thing. Margie remained unconvinced, but she's young yet. Maybe when she's over 50 she'll figure it all out.

Odds and ends:

• The only appearance we got of Shirley tonight was the Schmidt-hoe in a wedding dress. And some old clips of Candice Bergen. I know I shouldn't, but I like the Schmidt-hoe. That's horrible of me, isn't it?
• I don't know about you, but I didn't see Carl Sack's statistics and complaining tonight as bitter or petty. I think they did a really good job with that case. What do you think -- was the show simply being bitter or did they have a case?

The TV and Film Guy's Reviews -- we've often been told that we've got a good case (usually right before someone slams the door shut on one of our ideas.

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