@@Tarryk "A little poke"?! The Fourth Wall in Boston Legal filed suit for emotional distress, psychological abuse, gas-lighting and attempted murder! Alan counter-argued that, since this was a case of actual "exceptio probat regulam" (the exception that confirms the rule), the constant FWB:ing actually bought _attention_ to The Fourth Wall, something that otherwise never happens, all attention always being given to its three colleagues with no screen-time at all being given to the fourth. Now, with all the Fouth Wall Breaking, the show in fact _elevated_ The Fourth Wall to star status, giving it _unprecedented_ attention and screen-time! The Fourth Wall was consequently adviced by its lawyer to drop the suit in return for a substantial pay raise. Details of the final settlement remain undisclosed, as agreed upon by all parties.
Having an actual soapbox to open the speech was such a genius move, its saying "I know how you will perceive this and the point you will raise to dismiss me, and I am here to assure you that i am entirley aware of it and embrace it."
Do you remember the time he spent an entire minute stretching his arm and when questioned, said he was "limbering up"? When he finally reached the dramatic moment in his speech, he thrust his arm out in a very sudden and theatrical gesture to point at someone and proclaim "it was you!"
Now that I think about it... if you go back over his filmography, he has always landed roles with huge monologues. With a voice like his, not really surprising. But I'll bet it's like second nature to him now, just memorize real quick and go. LOL
He has a photographic memory, and has said the only time he really trips up is when there are two similar-looking words next to each other, like "is" and "it".
You do realize there are cuts and stuff right? He is not doing it all in one breath. Any cut you see from the camera could be a cut from the director...
@@richardoakley8800 ...or he might've thrown in a new version of one of the darlings of yesteryear...a multi-speed Oster blender. You remember how great those were, and by some opinions are still considered to be?
Honestly, the judge is a really good actress. She doesn't have a lot of lines but watching her expression shift from annoyed, to interested, to understanding and finally approval is honestly some pretty good work.
Whilst I admire Mr Spader's deliverance of this speech cudos must be given to the writer(s). It was brilliant. That blender bit at the end just perfect.
@@mujiescomedy279I think you may have misinterpreted that but. The point was that if something was treatable, pharmaceutical companies would already be profiting off of treating it. The fact that there is no pharmaceutical solution to homosexuality was leveraged as evidence that homosexuality is not a disease.
@@mujiescomedy279 They are real. But they are frequently medicated without proper diagnostics by general practitioners, with no consultation from a specialist. "Feeling down and lethargic for the past few months? I'll put you on Zoloft."
@@kflowers8276 he put ADD in the same camp as restless leg syndrome and he was definitely trying to say restless leg syndrome wasn’t bad. Maybe it was just badly worded cause the first line sets the tone, and in that first tone he’s saying “this thing isn’t as bad as you think and doesn’t need any drugs for it”. Which you’re right he probably doesn’t mean it like that for the rest, but it accidentally gives that impression.
@@franzhaas5597 I can understand that, it is very leftist-preachy for a court dramedy, but that doesn't detract from the brilliant chemistry between Spader and Shatner. I admit it helps that I tend to agree with 99% of that preachy content, but that's not usually why I watch the show. It's just got that chewable dialog between two loveable characters that I cannot get enough of. :)
The chemistry between Denny and Alan is great. To show two men who are not homosexuals, but simply love each other and have each others backs no matter what is awesome.
What does this mean? That they are two straight men who love and support each other? Or is this a weird permutation of policing how gay characters can act in media?
@@jrayv in a Season Two episode, "Witches of Mass Destruction," Alan and Denny have decided to go to the firm's big Halloween bash as flamingos, due to the belief that they mate for life (in reality, while serially monogamous, they don't have one partner for life). This plan is jeopardized when Denny is deeply upset by Alan taking on a wrongful death action against the government over an associate's brother who died in the Persian Gulf. At first Denny says that their friendship has been irreparably damaged and he won't wear his costume but at the end shows up in it, claiming that he tried it on and thought he looked good in it, or some such excuse, but it's clear he doesn't want to lose Alan as a friend. In the final 'balcony chat' they're still wearing their costumes while smoking cigars. On a number of later episodes they refer to themselves as "flamingos," an affirmation of their bond.
“Shame on you, couldn’t you have at least included a money back guarantee, and thrown in a blender“ Alan don’t be ridiculous, How many rackets do you know that included a decent blender?
@@Tarryk It’s implied. I mean usually schemes that include a blender give you the blender to compensate the lack of a moneyback guarantee before you sign the dotted line.
And now it’s getting far worse with over 40 states introducing nearly 500 bills into their congresses to allow schools, hospitals, states, and even entire state governments to discriminate against them based on sexual orientation or gender, citing religious beliefs as an okay reason to do so.
@pacifca nonook Marriage can also be a civil ceremony. And, how do you know most gays are atheist? By the way, we aren't. Also, if you want the government out of marriage then eliminate all the perks that the government gives to married couples like marital tax deduction, social security benefits, inheritance and health benefits, among many others.
@pacifca nonook You are wrong on so many levels. The definition of marriage is the following: a formal union and social and legal contract between two individuals that unites their lives legally, economically, and emotionally. Marriage is not just a religious ceremony. Why do you think you have to get a marriage license from the government to even get married? I have been married to my husband for five years and we got the same marriage license that you had to get, if you are married. So now my husband and I are going out to eat. Have a nice evening and a good life. Goodbye!
@pacifca nonook Literally every single religion on the planet has a form of marriage associated with it, and they don't all jive with what you consider to be your particular version stated by your particular religion. So if you really want to devolve into semantics about it, marriage was a secular term from the get-go, whether or not it originated from a religious context. To be clear, the concept of crime also originated from a religious context. Should all crime then be dictated by one's particular religion? I think not. Marriage is, and has always been, a civil union between two life partners that can be translated in infinite ways. That makes it definable under law, separate from your precious church. Claim the word all you want. We all know what we're really talking about, here.
@pacifca nonook That's patently false. Your refusal to study history or recognize the existence of other religions is not my problem. Nor is your desire to make a semantic argument out of a debate on civil behavior. Bubye.
@pacifca nonook I'm inferring from context. I explained exactly why the fact that religion has a basis of origin for nearly every single concept of civil behavior clearly makes particular widespread activities inherently secular. You're the one too lazy to read. Also just get the fuck off my channel, you're an annoying homophobe.
I am a educated, professional, hispanic man who happens to be married to the love of my life, who also happens to be an educated, professional, hispanic man. Been together for 29 years and I couldn't survive without him. I was discriminated in the workplace due to my sex orientation and decided, with my husband's total support, that to do nothing made no better, in fact made me as complicate as the bigots who attempted to rob me of my identity, my basic humanity. After 3 years of gut-wrenching litigation and the loss of my 17 year career, I was successful in a court of law. I have no regrets and walk a little taller each day because I took a principled stand. What is my point? For anyone who is the subject of wrongful discrimination, I suggest you listen to the short masterclass James Spader taught on this little television show and be open to reassessing whether you want to remain a victim or perhaps be something more. RESPECT
Congrats on your win! And congrats on your long relationship. Good for you for standing up for yourself! Your win is our win. You just made it a bit easier for the next gay person in that company. BTW - I’m also an educated, professional Hispanic man married to yet another educated, professional Hispanic man for 26 years! 🎉
@@markfox1545 And you are no Fox, in any way that word can be used. If its really your last name, how Ironic! Kind of like how the Titanic was called unsinkable, but went down on its first official voyage. Maybe stop being a prick to people and you won't get drug through the mud?
'Literally clapped'? So...clapped, you mean. Cretin. Intelligent people are laughing at you when you add the word literally to everything you say. Seriously, what DO you think that word means when you say it all the time? If you clapped - you clapped! It was somerhing that happened, an actual occurrence. That means by definition it was literal. STOP SAYING LITERALLY. Trust me, one day you'll be publicly humiliated by someone annoyed by it.
brennan lee muligan. let me say again in case you misheard me or were not paying attention: Brennan Lee Muligan. and how about once more for the slow ones in the back who may have not been listening: BRENNAN LEE MULIGAN.
My sister was gay. She only came to terms with this, until it was too late. She lived the majority of her life, under the cloak of ........ trying to be "Normal". All I know is, is that we can't help who we are. We just have the right to be happy. I hope that when her time came, she was at her piece with her "orientation" I miss her and loved her dearly. I hope that, if I ever had to be brave, to face anything that might come my way, I can do it with the same resolve she showed.
I hope you know that nobody has a choice on how they are born, that choice was made for us at conception. It's a shame your sister had to live HER life the way others wanted/expected her to live.
@@pegasusted2504 He's also pretty well known for playing "asshole" roles too. I can't think of the movie or character but I clearly recall him just nailing the role of "guy you really want to punch just for existing."
I have worked with James Spader. This 4 min monologue takes 10-18 hour days probably two days or three days in a row to accomplish with master professional sound engineering and editing and tv editing. I actually counted how many times the camera cuts to a different shot. 99 times is my count. Possibly 97 if I’m 2 off. One awesome monologue nearly impossible for live theater
Sorry, but I definitely do not believe this. I sincerely hope you're not just going around spreading false information without any real basis to your words.
@@sebastianking5271 it's "quick" because that's how Spader delivered it. The camera shots to other people in the room aren't needed. I used this closing as an audition for a community theater production of A Few Good Men (talk about a difference in subject matter) and it was fun pointing at the casting folks about their any number of ailments. I tried to deliver it with the same speed and a similar cadence and pulled it off. I admit, though, I was pretty much our of gas at the end. Got the part, though.
See Martin Sheen's fiery monologues in the also-brilliant "West Wing", including _his_ skewering of some religious zealot anti-gay bigots using bible passages against them.
Never missed one episode. The scripts were brilliant. The acting was superb. The way James Spader and William Shatner played off of each other was amazing. Everything and everyone in the program were OUT-freaking-STANDING!!!!!
God I miss this show. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. As a grown man I'd watch this sometimes with my Dad - rather different takes on life (!), but something we could thoroughly enjoy together.
They gave him the best speeches to give, and give them he did, oh so well...It was always a pleasure to see him stand up and just level the playing field every time
Those are some of the best parts of the show because they do it just infrequently enough to keep it surprising and funny. There was one scene with Denny talking to several others about the show's time slot moving to Wednesday nights but in a way that they were discussing the weekly board meetings, for like 3 minutes lol
Bold episode, back when this aired most people strongly opposed gay marriage rights, and being gay was enough to be thrown out of the military despite your service to the country. In some states, consensual relations between two gay lovers was punishable by prison time until 2003, a year before this show aired.
When he lowered his voice to say "Same sex attraction disorder... it's a very good name", I could hear Ultron's sarcasm. And when he said "Big religion is very concerned with marriage" - that was full-on Ultron ominousness.
I've heard of this show, maybe it aired in the UK one time over, I vaguely recall seeing a couple of episodes. THIS here, this oration was absolutely incredible, I actually applauded when he'd finished. He had everyone enthralled, including the judge ...... and me.
It ran weekly for a few years in the UK. (I think it was on Sky One) in the mid-00s. If you want to catch it and have Disney+ then it's available through that now 😉
Yes there are a TON of courtroom arguments like this one throughout the series, if you liked this there's a lot more in there, worth finding & binging.
Won't consider banning guns after multiple deaths from shootings because it's "unconstitutional"; but will consider banning gay marriage because it "makes people uncomfortable". Welcome to America.
@@siobhannoble8545 in a country 1/5th the size that didnt have 350 million guns already legally owned. People like you cant get that part. Theres 350 million guns already legally out there not counting the illegal one yet you think magically you can make them all dissappear. Fairy land much?
@@Whocares66672 We did exactly that in 1997. Just because something will be hard doesn't mean you should dismiss it as impossible. There's a difference between cynicism and laziness.
@@siobhannoble8545 you guys had 350 million guns not counting illegal firearms? Oh wait not even fucking close... thats the difference between reality and your fairy world. So if they ban guns how do they collect guns that were legally bought and paid for already? People are just going to hand over things they paid 100s and sometimes 1000s of dollars for? A market so saturated with guns that you can buy one illegally for 1/1000th the price of thd black market in the UK and Australia? Thanks for the ignorance
There is only one James Spader. I don't know how he does what he does. And to think he was just another handsome face in cheesy '80s films. What other actor who was making goofy teen movies in the 1980s has come as far as James Spader?
anyone who saw less than zero knew that he had the sinister in him. Spader has consistently crushed every scene he has ever been in. The problem is that there is never enough.
@@scrappymom7881 I hope there are more. Because the actors you mentioned aren't in the same league as Spader in terms of acting chops. Mind you Downey Jr. is Iron Man and Fox is Marty McFly, and for this they are famous.
Why have Conservative Christians not yet developed conversion therapies for people afflicted with the disease of racism? I'd give money to that cause. Prayers.
I was married to a lawyer and believe me many love their time in the sun like this. They become actors in the courtroom. Mine used to get a hotel room and practice his delivery in front of the mirror in order to fully prepare during trial.
As someone with restless leg syndrome whose movements do actually prevent me from sleeping, I am irked. I want sleeeep sirrrr. However, as a gay man, A+ for pointing out that if it were an illness you BET capitalism would've found a cure by now.
I realize this is a case of Randall Munroe’s, “Someone is *wrong* on the internet!” That said, this is *not* Alan Shore on homosexuality. He’s a character. No, this is Corinne Brinkerhoff and Andrew Kreisberg’s wonderful script (for S3E14, “Selling Sickness,” if you want to find it), brought to life by James Spader. At this time of the Writers’ Guild and the Screen Actors’ Guild on strike, that’s an important distinction. Applied Statistics (sometimes wrongly called Artificial Intelligence - the process has no innate intelligence) may scrape this speech, and produce something *like* it. But it won’t ever write something *better*, from scratch. Do I channel Brinkerhoff & Kreisberg? Perhaps I do. But this “Alan Shore on Homosexuality” thing drives me crazy. It’s wrong. On the internet. *{sigh}*
I'm not entirely sure what you're actually implying, here. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the bulk of your statement, but it seems like you're reading far too much into my titling of the clip. It is a clip of the show Boston Legal, in which the character of Alan Shore delivers a closing argument on homosexuality. Ergo, "Alan Shore on Homosexuality". Hardly a stretch of logic, methinks.
I loved Boston Legal and tried not to miss a single episode. James Spader gave us such brilliant performances! BTW: the client in this case didn't `play the role of a judge in some other episodes?
I absolutely loved this show, with each series it got more and more absurd but somehow managed to never quite step over the line. When Alan Shore said to William Shatner that some parasites on salmon were called Cling-ons the look on Shatner's face was just perfect.
I've always hated my fellow Christians stance on anti-gay things. Neither God, Jesus, or the apostles, ever said that we should condemn those who sin, only to try and show them the way. This why we need to separate church from state, not to protect the state and the church but to save our fellow Christian's from the corruption of politics
Oh an actual Christ follower. My friends are Christians and they are embarrassed by the anti gay stance espoused by many Christians. Surely all those condemning gay people for the splinter in their eyes have removed the mote from theirs
I grew up Christian & am a big fan & Believer of JC however, there are a few things in the Book that suspiciously look like they were tacked on later. (Sort of like earmarks in some legislation). A big Higher Power going bananas over Shellfish?, Please...
The very fact that a part of someone's identity that they can't control, which hurts no one, is considered a "sin", is still a huge problem. Maybe not a legal one, but views inform actions, and actions affect the people around us.
Idk the very fact you still consider being gay as a sin and that gay people can be lead from it is both still a very dangerous idea and downright un true
Spader & Shatner will always be my favourite television gay couple. No two men were ever portrayed on the telly to love one another more. When I finally settled on a man, it had to be someone that enjoyed a scotch each evening on my Parisian flat terrace. Found him. Thank you boys for the inspiration.
"Climbing on my soapbox, judge. I do it once a week."
Mind that fourth wall, it's fragile.
I love it, at least once an episode they give the fourth wall a little poke lol
@@Tarryk "A little poke"?! The Fourth Wall in Boston Legal filed suit for emotional distress, psychological abuse, gas-lighting and attempted murder!
Alan counter-argued that, since this was a case of actual "exceptio probat regulam" (the exception that confirms the rule), the constant FWB:ing actually bought _attention_ to The Fourth Wall, something that otherwise never happens, all attention always being given to its three colleagues with no screen-time at all being given to the fourth. Now, with all the Fouth Wall Breaking, the show in fact _elevated_ The Fourth Wall to star status, giving it _unprecedented_ attention and screen-time!
The Fourth Wall was consequently adviced by its lawyer to drop the suit in return for a substantial pay raise.
Details of the final settlement remain undisclosed, as agreed upon by all parties.
“They call me Mello Yellow”. . .🎼
Your name intrigues me.
@@michaelkarnerfors9545 Gotta love the commitment to the art.
Spader could read the phone book and rivet us all.
He could rivet me and I'm straight. I think.
A few of you anyway, apparently.
@@gayled3059 You must be fun at get-together. Especially funerals.
Spader is a god damn treasure! His performance in the Blacklist is mind boggling.
@@juliemcneely-kirwan9314 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣...
Having an actual soapbox to open the speech was such a genius move, its saying "I know how you will perceive this and the point you will raise to dismiss me, and I am here to assure you that i am entirley aware of it and embrace it."
...as well as a classic Boston Legal Forth Wall Break. 😁
And he just leaves the soap box there in the middle of the stage at the end.
Do you remember the time he spent an entire minute stretching his arm and when questioned, said he was "limbering up"?
When he finally reached the dramatic moment in his speech, he thrust his arm out in a very sudden and theatrical gesture to point at someone and proclaim "it was you!"
It says to me "I'm going to sell you a used copy of The Phantom Menace and convince you of its worthiness"
@@jonnobloggs1139😂
Never ceases to amaze me how Spader can memorize and spout all this dialogue without so much as blinking.
Now that I think about it... if you go back over his filmography, he has always landed roles with huge monologues. With a voice like his, not really surprising. But I'll bet it's like second nature to him now, just memorize real quick and go. LOL
He has a photographic memory, and has said the only time he really trips up is when there are two similar-looking words next to each other, like "is" and "it".
@@nevermorenovelist no, it's called acting. All actors do it. This is a 5min scene. Remember 2hrs of lines and cues, live, on stage.
@@oooCoffeeboyooo No, He actually has an Eidetic Memory (Photograhic) and he's made no secret of it. Look it up.
You do realize there are cuts and stuff right? He is not doing it all in one breath. Any cut you see from the camera could be a cut from the director...
Apparently I have to go binge Boston legal now
Doing it right now. It's amazing😂
Me too. 😂
I've never watched Boston Legal but HOT DAMN! I'd hire that man as my lawyer in a second!
It is an amazing show, surprisingly underrated. Highly recommend
As is The Practice, the show it spun off of.
DL the last season of the practice and all of Boston Legal. The show was a triple threat.
Watch the show he just gets better and better BUT Denny Craine can just walk in say his name and win so he's my lawyer.
If you could afford him 😂
"... and thrown in a blender?"
Gets me every freaking time.
I mean he's not wrong, I freakin love blenders 🤣
What kind of blender is it?
Its all about the closing. And by that I mean, the closing line.. of the closing😘😘😘😘😘😘
@@richardoakley8800 ...or he might've thrown in a new version of one of the darlings of yesteryear...a multi-speed Oster blender. You remember how great those were, and by some opinions are still considered to be?
So funny.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you snatch someone’s wig.
Facts!
James Spader was fire in this role.
That's the only kind of snatch I like!
Lmao that’s hilarious
I've never heard that euphemism before, but it checks out 😂
I love the look on Alan's face when he finishes one of his speeches, sits down then throws his brain back in nuetral from overdrive.
I always got that same impression.
And thrown in a blender
“Throws brain back in neutral”😂 That’s such a great way of putting it!
@@gusoleary5244 😁
Honestly, the judge is a really good actress. She doesn't have a lot of lines but watching her expression shift from annoyed, to interested, to understanding and finally approval is honestly some pretty good work.
That's Gail O'Grady. She's a Hollywood vet. She's amazing.
I'm not sure about approval. Looked more like she was about to call recess and request to see him in chambers.
She's a national treasure. She's been in so many shows. And she's one actress who can act with just her facial muscles and tell you how she's feeling.
Forget the judge, James Spader delivered an excellent performance.
@@rcslyman8929 A connoisseur of female body language, I see.
Whilst I admire Mr Spader's deliverance of this speech cudos must be given to the writer(s). It was brilliant. That blender bit at the end just perfect.
Don’t think it was cool of them to imply ADHD/ADD wasn’t real though. And depression
@@mujiescomedy279I think you may have misinterpreted that but. The point was that if something was treatable, pharmaceutical companies would already be profiting off of treating it. The fact that there is no pharmaceutical solution to homosexuality was leveraged as evidence that homosexuality is not a disease.
@@mujiescomedy279 They are real. But they are frequently medicated without proper diagnostics by general practitioners, with no consultation from a specialist. "Feeling down and lethargic for the past few months? I'll put you on Zoloft."
Don't think they implied that at all, just that big pharma has a drug for everything, real or imagined.
@@kflowers8276 he put ADD in the same camp as restless leg syndrome and he was definitely trying to say restless leg syndrome wasn’t bad. Maybe it was just badly worded cause the first line sets the tone, and in that first tone he’s saying “this thing isn’t as bad as you think and doesn’t need any drugs for it”. Which you’re right he probably doesn’t mean it like that for the rest, but it accidentally gives that impression.
Spader is a national treasure, and the writing on this show was immaculate.
On one of the best written and acted TV legal shows of all time - the chemistry between Shatner and Spader is magical
Two underrated actors.
@@franzhaas5597 I can understand that, it is very leftist-preachy for a court dramedy, but that doesn't detract from the brilliant chemistry between Spader and Shatner. I admit it helps that I tend to agree with 99% of that preachy content, but that's not usually why I watch the show. It's just got that chewable dialog between two loveable characters that I cannot get enough of. :)
Brilliant show
My favorite Bromance ever
But the gotcha looks and the porn music really ruin an otherwise good monologue
The chemistry between Denny and Alan is great. To show two men who are not homosexuals, but simply love each other and have each others backs no matter what is awesome.
What does this mean? That they are two straight men who love and support each other? Or is this a weird permutation of policing how gay characters can act in media?
They're flamingos
@@jrayv in a Season Two episode, "Witches of Mass Destruction," Alan and Denny have decided to go to the firm's big Halloween bash as flamingos, due to the belief that they mate for life (in reality, while serially monogamous, they don't have one partner for life). This plan is jeopardized when Denny is deeply upset by Alan taking on a wrongful death action against the government over an associate's brother who died in the Persian Gulf. At first Denny says that their friendship has been irreparably damaged and he won't wear his costume but at the end shows up in it, claiming that he tried it on and thought he looked good in it, or some such excuse, but it's clear he doesn't want to lose Alan as a friend. In the final 'balcony chat' they're still wearing their costumes while smoking cigars. On a number of later episodes they refer to themselves as "flamingos," an affirmation of their bond.
@@TudorQueenwell…..love is…..LOVE!🌈👏🏿🌈👏🏿
they are both without any other life partner atm and have 'sleep-overs' like teenagers.
How I absolutely love the way James Spader speaks. He is just so goddamn interesting lol.
Yeah he does this on the Blacklist too. He’s very good at it. Not to mention the script writers must have had fun with this one.
I grew up with his movies, he's even darker in his younger stuff from the 80s and 90s
For being a crazy ai robot and a ceo of saber his voice is hypnotic
“Shame on you, couldn’t you have at least included a money back guarantee, and thrown in a blender“
Alan don’t be ridiculous, How many rackets do you know that included a decent blender?
LOL! To be fair, he didn't say it should be a 'decent' blender. :D
@@Tarryk It’s implied. I mean usually schemes that include a blender give you the blender to compensate the lack of a moneyback guarantee before you sign the dotted line.
He is an excellent actor.
"Couldn't you have offered a money-back guarantee? And thrown in a blender"?!?
LOL!! 😅😂🤣😅😂🤣😅😂🤣
Nothing in life as satisfying as an Alan Shore close.
This was the most amazingly tart and biting shows on television in it's time. Spader and Shatner were so fun to watch.
And now it’s getting far worse with over 40 states introducing nearly 500 bills into their congresses to allow schools, hospitals, states, and even entire state governments to discriminate against them based on sexual orientation or gender, citing religious beliefs as an okay reason to do so.
Magascum needs to be stopped
Those bills are almost exclusively anti Trans bills.
@@alexanderangelo7284
Have you been to Florida lately?
@@sjenkins91812 I said ALMOST exclusively.
@@alexanderangelo7284
You also said sexual orientation wasn't targeted at all. A violation of human rights is still a violation, no matter how small.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Why this man has not win awards, I don't know.
Raymond Reddington I love you.
Spader has 3 Emmy awards.
This is the most brilliant pro-gay speech I have ever heard of in my life. Why isn't it used more often?!
@pacifca nonook Marriage can also be a civil ceremony. And, how do you know most gays are atheist? By the way, we aren't. Also, if you want the government out of marriage then eliminate all the perks that the government gives to married couples like marital tax deduction, social security benefits, inheritance and health benefits, among many others.
@pacifca nonook You are wrong on so many levels. The definition of marriage is the following: a formal union and social and legal contract between two individuals that unites their lives legally, economically, and emotionally. Marriage is not just a religious ceremony. Why do you think you have to get a marriage license from the government to even get married? I have been married to my husband for five years and we got the same marriage license that you had to get, if you are married. So now my husband and I are going out to eat. Have a nice evening and a good life. Goodbye!
@pacifca nonook Literally every single religion on the planet has a form of marriage associated with it, and they don't all jive with what you consider to be your particular version stated by your particular religion. So if you really want to devolve into semantics about it, marriage was a secular term from the get-go, whether or not it originated from a religious context. To be clear, the concept of crime also originated from a religious context. Should all crime then be dictated by one's particular religion? I think not. Marriage is, and has always been, a civil union between two life partners that can be translated in infinite ways. That makes it definable under law, separate from your precious church. Claim the word all you want. We all know what we're really talking about, here.
@pacifca nonook That's patently false. Your refusal to study history or recognize the existence of other religions is not my problem. Nor is your desire to make a semantic argument out of a debate on civil behavior. Bubye.
@pacifca nonook I'm inferring from context. I explained exactly why the fact that religion has a basis of origin for nearly every single concept of civil behavior clearly makes particular widespread activities inherently secular. You're the one too lazy to read. Also just get the fuck off my channel, you're an annoying homophobe.
Brilliantly crafted, this scene never gets old. It’s as valid today as ever.
I always loved Spader's speeches. So well written and performed. And then, there is Shatner. His best role ever.
I am a educated, professional, hispanic man who happens to be married to the love of my life, who also happens to be an educated, professional, hispanic man. Been together for 29 years and I couldn't survive without him. I was discriminated in the workplace due to my sex orientation and decided, with my husband's total support, that to do nothing made no better, in fact made me as complicate as the bigots who attempted to rob me of my identity, my basic humanity. After 3 years of gut-wrenching litigation and the loss of my 17 year career, I was successful in a court of law. I have no regrets and walk a little taller each day because I took a principled stand.
What is my point? For anyone who is the subject of wrongful discrimination, I suggest you listen to the short masterclass James Spader taught on this little television show and be open to reassessing whether you want to remain a victim or perhaps be something more.
RESPECT
Well said, sir! Congratulations on your fabulous husband!
You're going to hell, repent while you still can.
Brought so much shame to your ancestors, ridiculous
Congrats on your win! And congrats on your long relationship. Good for you for standing up for yourself! Your win is our win. You just made it a bit easier for the next gay person in that company.
BTW - I’m also an educated, professional Hispanic man married to yet another educated, professional Hispanic man for 26 years! 🎉
Respect to you as well, good sir!
You're in lust, not in "love". Repent! Abandon the destructive vice of homosexuality, stop selling yourself to the enemies of all that is good.
One of the responsibilities of freedom is minding your own business. So many Americans forget that.
Compared to Europeans they remember it better.
No. It is a God-given right for the forces of good to stop, punish and rebuke all kinds of evil - to which, homosexuality belongs.
"You're not sleeping enough." Cuts to Kirk sleeping in court. LOL
Kirk? That's Danny Crane! Never lost, never will.
@@theholk William Shatner, most famous for Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek, but amazing actor in many other things.
This isn't Star Trek, numbnuts.
@@markfox1545 And you are no Fox, in any way that word can be used. If its really your last name, how Ironic! Kind of like how the Titanic was called unsinkable, but went down on its first official voyage. Maybe stop being a prick to people and you won't get drug through the mud?
I literally clapped when he was done. James Spader can rant in character like no one else
'Literally clapped'? So...clapped, you mean. Cretin. Intelligent people are laughing at you when you add the word literally to everything you say. Seriously, what DO you think that word means when you say it all the time? If you clapped - you clapped! It was somerhing that happened, an actual occurrence. That means by definition it was literal. STOP SAYING LITERALLY. Trust me, one day you'll be publicly humiliated by someone annoyed by it.
brennan lee muligan.
let me say again in case you misheard me or were not paying attention: Brennan Lee Muligan.
and how about once more for the slow ones in the back who may have not been listening: BRENNAN LEE MULIGAN.
@@markfox1545 Maybe not. In this "virtualized" world, they may have virtually clapped. But I DO understand where your irritation is born.
Only series I EVER bought on dvd. Just pick a disc at random, pick an episode at random, and…
Pure gold
Every time
This, Futurama, and Married With Children are basically the only box sets I still own and regularly use. Fantastic purchase honestly.
One of the greatest tv characters of all time.
"...and thrown in a blender?"
What a king.
My sister was gay. She only came to terms with this, until it was too late. She lived the majority of her life, under the cloak of ........ trying to be "Normal". All I know is, is that we can't help who we are. We just have the right to be happy. I hope that when her time came, she was at her piece with her "orientation"
I miss her and loved her dearly. I hope that, if I ever had to be brave, to face anything that might come my way, I can do it with the same resolve she showed.
I hope you know that nobody has a choice on how they are born, that choice was made for us at conception. It's a shame your sister had to live HER life the way others wanted/expected her to live.
0:51 "you're not sleeping enough", cutting to Denny who's fast asleep is comedy gold
Love can't be cured. Be you and that's what Alan did. And the guy who played Alan is so great he makes people want to listen to him.
James Spader and he was also in the stargate film and he play Red in The black list, another phenomenal series
@@pegasusted2504 He's also pretty well known for playing "asshole" roles too. I can't think of the movie or character but I clearly recall him just nailing the role of "guy you really want to punch just for existing."
The summations in Boston legal were always so good.
I have worked with James Spader. This 4 min monologue takes 10-18 hour days probably two days or three days in a row to accomplish with master professional sound engineering and editing and tv editing. I actually counted how many times the camera cuts to a different shot. 99 times is my count. Possibly 97 if I’m 2 off. One awesome monologue nearly impossible for live theater
I could only dream of working with the legend. Hats off to you .
Impossible for live theatre how? "To be or not to be" in Hamlet is about 7 straight minutes long.
@@PrimalInfinity the difference is the pace to be or not to be is seven minutes long but it’s not “quick”
Sorry, but I definitely do not believe this. I sincerely hope you're not just going around spreading false information without any real basis to your words.
@@sebastianking5271 it's "quick" because that's how Spader delivered it. The camera shots to other people in the room aren't needed. I used this closing as an audition for a community theater production of A Few Good Men (talk about a difference in subject matter) and it was fun pointing at the casting folks about their any number of ailments.
I tried to deliver it with the same speed and a similar cadence and pulled it off. I admit, though, I was pretty much our of gas at the end. Got the part, though.
I would have gone with the obvious "Thrown in a Grinder."
OMG you read my mind !
Grinder didn't exist
I thought a grinder was a submarine sandwich!
@@EdmxndDantes I had a Sub Marine once...
@@Lemarcus03 did it have its up and downs 😁
Only in America can we claim bigotry as a right, but elsewhere in the world we call it a human rights violation.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and property… except maybe not the first two.
People have a right to like or unlike.
You have a right to be a bigot in the US. But you do not have a right to enact that bigotry on those you hate.
You don't get out of america much do you?
@@jintsfanof course, unlike 1984 there isn't something such as a "thought-crime", at least not yet.
I can't imagine anyone being able to pull off the Alan Shore type closing arguments except for Spader.
I have always thought they should have thrown together a dvd with just Alan Shore's closing arguments. Spader did them brilliantly!
See Martin Sheen's fiery monologues in the also-brilliant "West Wing", including _his_ skewering of some religious zealot anti-gay bigots using bible passages against them.
A great series. The relationship between the two leads was superb. Fabulous writing, obviously. Just one of many memorable rants by Mr. Shore.
Pure brilliance in the writing of the show, always one of my favorites 😎
Gosh do I miss Boston Legal! Please bring this brilliant show back. Writers were second to none! Mr. Spader was a delight!
Never missed one episode. The scripts were brilliant. The acting was superb. The way James Spader and William Shatner played off of each other was amazing. Everything and everyone in the program were OUT-freaking-STANDING!!!!!
Heeeeeeeeavens no. To go without The Bachelor(ette) and Dancing With the (Washed Up) Stars would devalue western civilization.
I bought the entire dvd collection 3 days ago and I have already binge watched the whole of season one. This programme is fantastic and should return.
This series should have gone on for ten more years.
Am I the only one loving the look on the judges face when he’s done mopping the floor with the competition?
Nope. I think he got judged later.
And this is the guy that figured out the 7th Chevron
Boston Legals writer’s are brilliant! Every episode takes on our society’s ill’s with a vengeance. Mad respect!
God I miss this show. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. As a grown man I'd watch this sometimes with my Dad - rather different takes on life (!), but something we could thoroughly enjoy together.
Ah I've missed Boston Legal, Alan Shore and Denny Crane! Thanks for the awesome clip!
"There is only Sex, everything is sex. You understand what I'm telling you is a universal truth Toby"
What is this from
@@chloehanna9225 The office. Robert California says it.
@@JD.Knight thanks now I know where I heard it before I love the office
@@JD.Knight You mean Bob… Bob Kazamakis!
the whole sexual stuff in the show was WAY over the top, but my god, when Alan entered a court room, he was fcking amazing
Great speech against prejuidice. Great writing and Amazing acting.
James Spader in The Practice/Boston Legal was flawless and inspiring. Brilliant delivery of brilliant scripts!
JS is a living legend who is in a league of his own !
James Spader is a brilliant actor...highly underrated
Spader's characters are always great wordsmiths. Shatner and Spader, awesome TV duo. Loved Boston Legal. Blacklist is great too.
😺 *Stellar* writing! Astoundingly awesome editing! 😲 And then there's James Spader... 😏 💕 What a plum role...
00:00:52 Was that a sleeping Shatner😮
Yeah, Boston Legal starred Spader and Shatner.
Framing the case as 'services not rendered' was brilliant.
They gave him the best speeches to give, and give them he did, oh so well...It was always a pleasure to see him stand up and just level the playing field every time
I love the 4th wall break...
"What are you doing Mr. Shore?"
"Standing on my soapbox Judge. I do it every week!"
😂
Those are some of the best parts of the show because they do it just infrequently enough to keep it surprising and funny. There was one scene with Denny talking to several others about the show's time slot moving to Wednesday nights but in a way that they were discussing the weekly board meetings, for like 3 minutes lol
Loved Boston Legal. Took on every major issue head on with both wit and smarts! Best show ever!
Bold episode, back when this aired most people strongly opposed gay marriage rights, and being gay was enough to be thrown out of the military despite your service to the country. In some states, consensual relations between two gay lovers was punishable by prison time until 2003, a year before this show aired.
When Ultron shows up and throws the stone.
When he lowered his voice to say "Same sex attraction disorder... it's a very good name", I could hear Ultron's sarcasm. And when he said "Big religion is very concerned with marriage" - that was full-on Ultron ominousness.
And then Reddington shows up
I've heard of this show, maybe it aired in the UK one time over, I vaguely recall seeing a couple of episodes. THIS here, this oration was absolutely incredible, I actually applauded when he'd finished. He had everyone enthralled, including the judge ...... and me.
Worth the watch, then. MANY such closings in Boston Legal, it's great stuff.
It ran weekly for a few years in the UK. (I think it was on Sky One) in the mid-00s. If you want to catch it and have Disney+ then it's available through that now 😉
Yo u just sold this show to me brilliant argument and brilliant acting. Can’t wait to start it if this is just a snippet lol
Yes there are a TON of courtroom arguments like this one throughout the series, if you liked this there's a lot more in there, worth finding & binging.
Alan's speeches throughout this series are brilliant the writers very knowledgeable about legal process and social issues in the US
Won't consider banning guns after multiple deaths from shootings because it's "unconstitutional"; but will consider banning gay marriage because it "makes people uncomfortable". Welcome to America.
Banning guns wont work.....
@@Whocares66672 Guns are illegal here in the UK, and I can't recall a single school shooting incident.
@@siobhannoble8545 in a country 1/5th the size that didnt have 350 million guns already legally owned. People like you cant get that part. Theres 350 million guns already legally out there not counting the illegal one yet you think magically you can make them all dissappear. Fairy land much?
@@Whocares66672 We did exactly that in 1997. Just because something will be hard doesn't mean you should dismiss it as impossible. There's a difference between cynicism and laziness.
@@siobhannoble8545 you guys had 350 million guns not counting illegal firearms? Oh wait not even fucking close... thats the difference between reality and your fairy world. So if they ban guns how do they collect guns that were legally bought and paid for already? People are just going to hand over things they paid 100s and sometimes 1000s of dollars for? A market so saturated with guns that you can buy one illegally for 1/1000th the price of thd black market in the UK and Australia? Thanks for the ignorance
I just want to hear Spencer Reid and Alan Shore discuss things.
"And thrown in a blender!"
Awesome! I would have gone with a toaster, but that's just me.
Reprobate
James Veitch? Is that you?
Can't make mimosas with a toaster. Comment was on point.
And that's why you weren't hired for the script ❤
@@rhiannascureman2185 Tough crowd :)
There is only one James Spader. I don't know how he does what he does. And to think he was just another handsome face in cheesy '80s films. What other actor who was making goofy teen movies in the 1980s has come as far as James Spader?
anyone who saw less than zero knew that he had the sinister in him. Spader has consistently crushed every scene he has ever been in. The problem is that there is never enough.
Wall Street is a cheesy 80's movie?
@@taand4725 If I made the statement that all of the movies Spader was in during the 80s were cheesy, please forgive me.
Patrick Dempsey. Neil Patrick Harris. Robert Downey Jr. Michael J Fox. I'm sure there's more.
@@scrappymom7881 I hope there are more. Because the actors you mentioned aren't in the same league as Spader in terms of acting chops. Mind you Downey Jr. is Iron Man and Fox is Marty McFly, and for this they are famous.
Never seen this show, but this was in my recommendations, so...why not....I was dying of laughter by the end...and now I want a blender...
Lots of moments like this in Boston Legal, it's well worth searching out and watching. :)
@@Tarryk thx, I think I will...
Why have Conservative Christians not yet developed conversion therapies for people afflicted with the disease of racism? I'd give money to that cause. Prayers.
He’s a brilliant actor. Imagine many pages of dialogue this soliloquy is.
I was married to a lawyer and believe me many love their time in the sun like this. They become actors in the courtroom. Mine used to get a hotel room and practice his delivery in front of the mirror in order to fully prepare during trial.
2:14 I'm going to destroy your legal defence and the Avengers voice!
HOW have I never seen this show before?! Ultron was absolutely AMAZING
I just found these rants of him pure freaking gold
As someone with restless leg syndrome whose movements do actually prevent me from sleeping, I am irked. I want sleeeep sirrrr. However, as a gay man, A+ for pointing out that if it were an illness you BET capitalism would've found a cure by now.
The evangelical churches did, it's called conversion therapy.
@@scottlaux6934 that crap don't do nothing but traumatized people, doesn't make them less gay. Maybe makes them too afraid to act on it though
@@scottlaux6934 This video you're commenting on is literally talking about (and logically destroying) conversion therapy.
@@Tarryk yes but I'm saying if there were am Actual "cure"
I realize this is a case of Randall Munroe’s, “Someone is *wrong* on the internet!”
That said, this is *not* Alan Shore on homosexuality. He’s a character. No, this is Corinne Brinkerhoff and Andrew Kreisberg’s wonderful script (for S3E14, “Selling Sickness,” if you want to find it), brought to life by James Spader. At this time of the Writers’ Guild and the Screen Actors’ Guild on strike, that’s an important distinction. Applied Statistics (sometimes wrongly called Artificial Intelligence - the process has no innate intelligence) may scrape this speech, and produce something *like* it.
But it won’t ever write something *better*, from scratch.
Do I channel Brinkerhoff & Kreisberg? Perhaps I do.
But this “Alan Shore on Homosexuality” thing drives me crazy.
It’s wrong. On the internet.
*{sigh}*
I'm not entirely sure what you're actually implying, here. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the bulk of your statement, but it seems like you're reading far too much into my titling of the clip. It is a clip of the show Boston Legal, in which the character of Alan Shore delivers a closing argument on homosexuality. Ergo, "Alan Shore on Homosexuality". Hardly a stretch of logic, methinks.
I loved Boston Legal and tried not to miss a single episode. James Spader gave us such brilliant performances!
BTW: the client in this case didn't `play the role of a judge in some other episodes?
Yes he is still the same character, the judge sued his church and got Alan to represent him. Shenanigans ensued.
@@Tarryk Thank you!
I FUCKING LOVE THIS! Super charged point! Although...I have a blender. I really want a red toaster. Not kidding
Yeah, that about sums it all up. There are a lot of thoroughly unpleasant people around in business, religion and politics.
I absolutely loved this show, with each series it got more and more absurd but somehow managed to never quite step over the line. When Alan Shore said to William Shatner that some parasites on salmon were called Cling-ons the look on Shatner's face was just perfect.
"Denny Crane. I once captained my own spaceship."
I've always hated my fellow Christians stance on anti-gay things.
Neither God, Jesus, or the apostles, ever said that we should condemn those who sin, only to try and show them the way.
This why we need to separate church from state, not to protect the state and the church but to save our fellow Christian's from the corruption of politics
Oh an actual Christ follower. My friends are Christians and they are embarrassed by the anti gay stance espoused by many Christians. Surely all those condemning gay people for the splinter in their eyes have removed the mote from theirs
I grew up Christian & am a big fan & Believer of JC however, there are a few things in the Book that suspiciously look like they were tacked on later. (Sort of like earmarks in some legislation). A big Higher Power going bananas over Shellfish?, Please...
The very fact that a part of someone's identity that they can't control, which hurts no one, is considered a "sin", is still a huge problem. Maybe not a legal one, but views inform actions, and actions affect the people around us.
Idk the very fact you still consider being gay as a sin and that gay people can be lead from it is both still a very dangerous idea and downright un true
Brilliant writing and the acting is superb. A great great show, I am planning to watch again. Takes so many issues and lays them bare 🙏
Still one of the best well-written and well-acted scenes.
Wow, how did I miss this? Bravo!
James Spader is one of the best actors ever in my opinion. I have never seen him in a bad role yet.
I love how even though the judge didn’t like Alan’s grandstanding with the soapbox, it sweet the tone and when he was done, she was visibly impressed.
That last part of throwing in a blender, that was the cherry on top hahahahaha
I missed this show when it was on; great scene, thank you, Lan.
God, I forgot how great this show is.
When society isn't based on profit, greed, and corruption, is then and only then, that society can be, worthy of even living
Spader & Shatner will always be my favourite television gay couple. No two men were ever portrayed on the telly to love one another more. When I finally settled on a man, it had to be someone that enjoyed a scotch each evening on my Parisian flat terrace. Found him. Thank you boys for the inspiration.
2:13 "Big religion is very concerned with marriage" using his Ultron voice.
Such a good scene. And the fact that two seasons later Alan Shore got gay married himself just makes it better
we just call it marriage
@@lp4270 agreed lol
Seen bits and pieces of this series. Must get a hold of the entire series.
Have you ever, ever in the history of the world, seen a judge even close to being that ravishing!!
Yes, quite a few...I'll just throw this one out there: Svetlana Tizu, appointed judge in 2015. She's gorgeous.
Yes. Maybe more so.
Well, there's......um, Judge Judy !
don't know why this popped on my rec list, but GOD !!! i can listen to James Spader Speak for hours.