My Article at Silver Bullet: Boston Legal v. She-Hulk

[Beastbone]

Hey all-- I'm new here, but a big fan of Dan's. Please enjoy this article I've written for Silver Bullet called "Boston Legal v. She-Hulk: Heritage and Metafiction on Trial" Read it here: http://www.silverbulletcomics.com/news/story.php?a=2353

[el_abuelo]

Welcome to the board!

Great article! I recently discovered Boston Legal(watched the last 3 episodes of the second season) and loved it. Maybe it reminded me of She-Hulk in the subconscious level

[Miss Kitty Fantastico]

Good article, and very true points regarding She-Hulk and Boston Legal, especially the way they meta - I can't think of anything quite as unexpectedly funny in the last decade of TV as Alan saying he hadn't seen Denny 'all episode' at the end of a show.

One question though... 24 is 'hyper-serious'? I know the first season was, but I just finished watching the fourth, and if it's not a self-aware parody of itself, I don't know what is. I don't know if the producers and attached executives are aware of it (and apparently the Emmys haven't caught on either), but I'd wager good money that the writers know they're beyond the point of drama, and are intentionally turning out a kind of 'stealth black comedy,' making deadpan fun of their own show. Surely nothing can be that darkly funny by accident?

[tom daylight]

I don't know that it's intentional - it ventured into the ridiculous territory from the first season (remember Teri's temporary amnesia storyline?) and never looked back. And of course the storylines tend to get regurgitated... Jack/(insert regular here) would break CTU command and get in serious trouble for a couple of hours, until they decide that actually he's pretty good at his job and he's not going to be in any trouble for it. That sort of thing. It's still awesome and I'm gripped to my seat every time.

[Beastbone]

That's an excellent point about 24, Miss Kitty. I suppose when I do the directors cut of this for my book/porfolio/obituary, I should modify it. Really you could make the same argument about The Ultimates.

[Beastbone]

Tom, me too. Gripped.

It's fun making believe that Keafer can get over a heroin addiction in 4 hours without treatment because he is just that much of a badass.