The landmark comedy-drama Boston Legal's. A spinoff from Vince Gilligan's Gilligan’s earlier groundbreaking crime drama Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul struck a lighter tone than its forerunner, while existing in the same universe and featuring several of the same major characters, foremost among whom was Bob Odenkirk’s fraudulent lawyer Saul Goodman. But Breaking Bad wasn’t the first hit TV show to spawn a darkly funny law-themed spinoff. A decade earlier, legal drama specialist David E. Kelley did the same thing, with similarly superlative results.

Just as Gilligan took Saul from James Spader as the greatest TV character he played before becoming Robert California in The Office and Raymond Reddington in The Blacklist. Applying the comedy-drama blueprint of crime shows like Monk to the legal-procedural subgenre, Boston Legal laid the foundations for what Better Call Saul achieved the following decade.

The Practice's Spinoff Boston Legal Was The Best Legal Drama On TV For 4 Years

Boston Legal Was The Outstanding Courtroom Series Of The Mid-2000s

Between 2004 and 2008, Boston Legal was quite simply the best legal drama show on television. James Spader’s character Alan Shore had only appeared in one season of its parent series The Practice, during its final 22 episodes, but Spader stole the show to such an extent that David E. Kelley decided he deserved top billing himself. Shore was an unorthodox legal practitioner with an unconventional lifestyle, and a proclivity for breaking the rules to win cases. His various neuroses, including a phobia of clowns, often affected his work in ways perhaps only private investigator Adrian Monk could relate to.

James Spader as Raymond Reddington in The Blacklist looking thoughtful

Everybody Loves The Blacklist, But James Spader's Other Long-Running Show Is Even Better

James Spader made Raymond Reddington a small screen icon, but The Blacklist isn't the first time he cemented as character as unforgettable.

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As a maverick defense attorney, however, Shore snatched victories from the jaws of defeat throughout Boston Legal’s five seasons, frequently mounting powerful cases for defendants who’d ordinarily be chewed up and spat out by the justice system. At his best, he could articulate ionate arguments in the cause of issues such as women’s rights and climate change, all while captivating a courtroom with clever turns of phrase and bringing a smile to our faces.

Alan Shore’s arrogance and indifference to legal protocols might not have won him many friends in his profession, but his eccentric brilliance as a TV character meant that Boston Legal delivered both big laughs and compelling storylines. What’s more, his Odd Couple-esque camaraderie with law firm superior Denny Crane, who was played by William Shatner, gave Boston Legal more heart and depth than most legal dramas could dream of.

Like Better Call Saul, Boston Legal Was Just As Good As Its Parent Show If Not Better

Just As Better Call Saul Rivaled Breaking Bad, Boston Legal Sured The Practice

Within fan communities, debate continues to rage about whether Better Call Saul actually sured Breaking Bad as the better series of the two. There’s no question that between them, they constitute one of the greatest TV franchises of all time, with perhaps only The Sopranos even comparable within the crime genre. Similarly, Boston Legal is generally considered to have exceeded its longer-running parent show in of quality. While The Practice largely stuck to tried-and-tested formulas for legal dramas, its spinoff changed the game with its more in-depth character development and tragicomic overtones.

By the time it ended, Boston Legal had won legions of viewers outside of The Practice’s regular audience, and redefined James Spader’s career. Better Call Saul would likewise attract newcomers to the Breaking Bad universe several years later, and turn Bob Odenkirk from a comedian with a supprting role in a crime show into one of the small screen’s most celebrated actors. Both shows are rare cases of spinoffs that can claim bragging rights over the series that spawned them.