New Episode: Son of the Defender
Apr 4, 2007 1:26:18 GMT -5
Post by Girl Power on Apr 4, 2007 1:26:18 GMT -5
Kudos to David E. Kelley!
I know that using the old footage from a 1957 TV episode called the Defender with William Shatner playing Ralph Bellamy's son was a major gimmick, but what a cool gimmick!
I mean, Shatner has a huge body of work dating back over 50 years. This TV episode was exactly 50 years old, which is pretty freaky in and of itself. The Shat must have been 25 in it, because he's 75 now. I really loved how they morphed today's Denny Crane into that much younger, thinner Shatner of a half century ago. Too bad he didn't lay off the fried foods, huh? Kids, let that be a cautionary tale to you of how badly you can age without the proper diet, exercise and skin care!
This episode was uncharacteristically dramatic, even more so than the dramatic episodes of this season. Denny was struggling with his memories (black and white real footage flashbacks) of trying a case in which his father did not believe in their client and lost respect for Denny for trying to get the client acquitted. I could certainly see a resemblance between the bloated, wrinkly Ralph Bellamy in the "flashbacks" and Denny Crane/Shatner of today. While young Shatner looked too hot to be Bellamy's son, present day Shatner looks like he could definitely be related to Bellamy of the past. I hope that makes sense.
I thought Kelley did a good job of finding some old footage of Shatner playing a lawyer and writing an episode around it. To have a legend like Ralph Bellamy play Denny's dad just added to the fun. Calling the episode "Son of the Defender" was cool, because that old episode was called The Defender and presumably Ralph Bellamy was the Defender of the title. I've never seen the episode or any episode of Studio One, but it was a smart use of young Shatner footage. Plus, it goes to Denny's assertion that he used to be "the real thing."
The funniest part of the episode was when Denny's little person girlfriend claimed that after 29 years of therapy she had finally started growing again three months ago, but this trauma was going to condemn her to being a little person for the rest of her life. She's just a spitfire. I love that David Kelley has made a little person a semi-regular character on TV.
I know that using the old footage from a 1957 TV episode called the Defender with William Shatner playing Ralph Bellamy's son was a major gimmick, but what a cool gimmick!
I mean, Shatner has a huge body of work dating back over 50 years. This TV episode was exactly 50 years old, which is pretty freaky in and of itself. The Shat must have been 25 in it, because he's 75 now. I really loved how they morphed today's Denny Crane into that much younger, thinner Shatner of a half century ago. Too bad he didn't lay off the fried foods, huh? Kids, let that be a cautionary tale to you of how badly you can age without the proper diet, exercise and skin care!
This episode was uncharacteristically dramatic, even more so than the dramatic episodes of this season. Denny was struggling with his memories (black and white real footage flashbacks) of trying a case in which his father did not believe in their client and lost respect for Denny for trying to get the client acquitted. I could certainly see a resemblance between the bloated, wrinkly Ralph Bellamy in the "flashbacks" and Denny Crane/Shatner of today. While young Shatner looked too hot to be Bellamy's son, present day Shatner looks like he could definitely be related to Bellamy of the past. I hope that makes sense.
I thought Kelley did a good job of finding some old footage of Shatner playing a lawyer and writing an episode around it. To have a legend like Ralph Bellamy play Denny's dad just added to the fun. Calling the episode "Son of the Defender" was cool, because that old episode was called The Defender and presumably Ralph Bellamy was the Defender of the title. I've never seen the episode or any episode of Studio One, but it was a smart use of young Shatner footage. Plus, it goes to Denny's assertion that he used to be "the real thing."
The funniest part of the episode was when Denny's little person girlfriend claimed that after 29 years of therapy she had finally started growing again three months ago, but this trauma was going to condemn her to being a little person for the rest of her life. She's just a spitfire. I love that David Kelley has made a little person a semi-regular character on TV.