Patriot Acts (21 May 2008)

The town of Concord wishes to secede from the United States, and Alan and Denny act as opposing counsel in the case--a case that could cost them their friendship because their opposing views on patriotism and dissent.

Director:

Bill D'Elia

Writers:

David E. Kelley (creator), David E. Kelley,

Stars:

James Spader, John Larroquette, Christian Clemenson

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
James Spader	...	Alan Shore
John Larroquette	...	Carl Sack
Christian Clemenson	...	Jerry Espenson
Gary Anthony Williams	...	Clarence / Clarice Bell
Tara Summers	...	Katie Lloyd
Saffron Burrows	...	Lorraine Weller
Taraji P. Henson	...	Whitney Rome
Candice Bergen	...	Shirley Schmidt
William Shatner	...	Denny Crane
Henry Gibson	...	Judge Clark Brown
Richard McGonagle	...	A.A.G. Norman Wood
Michael Mantell	...	Mayor Thomas Steinbrenner
Jude Ciccolella	...	General Robert Seagram
Anthony Heald	...	Judge Harvey Cooper
Ted Garcia	...	Reporter

Storyline

Alan and Denny jump for joy when they find out they've both been accepted as members of the Auxillary Coast Guard, but neither are very comforted when they end up on opposites sides of an issue where a town in the Commonwealth wishes to secede from the Union.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 May 2008 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

David E. Kelley Productions, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 51 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Patriot Acts were passed by the United States' Congress after the 9/11 events and many of the acts have been voided since because they went too far violating the rights of American citizens and visiting citizens from other countries.

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Quotes

Alan Shore: [Denny and Carl enter the courtroom] You must be joking
A.A.G. Norman Wood: Commonwealth has waived conflict
Judge Clark Brown: Wait a sec. The same firm for both sides?
Denny Crane: Saves on guest casting

User Reviews

Government For Or Against Its People

The concept for the plot to this one as as high as you can get, for the United States of America is put on trial by the two most high profile lawyers of this series- Crane & Shore. Though the results fall a little short for the viewer, it is a very good effort. That is because this show often challenges the normal views which we are supposed to accept as fact.

Here in one episode is the Lincoln view of this country which is that the Union remaining together versus the threat that a town in Massachusetts leaves that Union. Predictably, the Union represented by Crane wins. In fact the producers of this series set this script as a last show of the series. They were not expecting to do another season.

While the court sequences are well done, in order to get both sides messages into one episode, the main message is a bit too short & sometimes wanders off into a dismal point of being futile. Still, the show manages to do some comedy & challenge the issue of friendship as well. We the people still win here.

The show pulls the classic retirement ending- with the message intact as Denny & Alan leave the balcony for what some folks thought was the last time.