Zoneboy
06-13-2007, 09:57 PM
Los Angeles (E! Online) - Boston Legal has lined up a little Night Court action.
ABC announced Wednesday that John Larroquette is joining the Emmy-winning dramedy next season, playing a senior partner from the New York branch of Crane Poole & Schmidt who transfers to the much quirkier Boston office.
While Larroquette's character will be new, his will still be a familiar face in Beantown. The former Night Court funnyman scored one of his five Emmys for a 1997 guest spot on Boston Legal's predecessor, The Practice.
The 59-year-old actor was most recently on the small screen as a temporarily awake coma patient on House and in the 10th installment of the Hallmark Channel's McBride mystery series, McBride: Dogged.
To make room for Larroquette, however, four other attorneys are cleaning out their desks. ABC confirmed to E! News that Julie Bowen, Mark Valley, René Auberjonois and Constance Zimmer will not be returning for the show's fourth season after the network chose not to renew their contracts.
Bowen, who had her first child with husband Scott Phillips in April, and Valley played onscreen couple Denise Bauer and Brad Chase, whose off-again, on-again romance enabled the producers to incorporate the actress' real-life pregnancy into the plot. Denise and Brad, under the gun as always, managed to tie the knot just seconds before Denise gave birth.
Auberjonois played managing partner Paul Lewiston, a longtime crony of William Shatner's Denny Crane. Various season three developments, including Paul's daughter's meth addiction, which led him to take charge of his three-year-old granddaughter, has meant less time at the firm for Paul.
Zimmer played Claire Simms, also a transfer from the New York branch, who was only supposed to remain in Boston on a temporary basis but ended up becoming a series regular. Until now, that is.
Also helping to fill the empty chairs will be Dirt's Tara Summers, who's joining Crane Poole & Schmidt as an associate, and former guest star Christian Clemenson, who has already won an Emmy for his role as Alan Shore's ( James Spader) pal Jerry "Hands" Espenson, a lawyer who suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
Both Summers and Clemenson have been tapped as fulltime cast members.
Production on season four of Boston Legal will be called to order June 27
ABC announced Wednesday that John Larroquette is joining the Emmy-winning dramedy next season, playing a senior partner from the New York branch of Crane Poole & Schmidt who transfers to the much quirkier Boston office.
While Larroquette's character will be new, his will still be a familiar face in Beantown. The former Night Court funnyman scored one of his five Emmys for a 1997 guest spot on Boston Legal's predecessor, The Practice.
The 59-year-old actor was most recently on the small screen as a temporarily awake coma patient on House and in the 10th installment of the Hallmark Channel's McBride mystery series, McBride: Dogged.
To make room for Larroquette, however, four other attorneys are cleaning out their desks. ABC confirmed to E! News that Julie Bowen, Mark Valley, René Auberjonois and Constance Zimmer will not be returning for the show's fourth season after the network chose not to renew their contracts.
Bowen, who had her first child with husband Scott Phillips in April, and Valley played onscreen couple Denise Bauer and Brad Chase, whose off-again, on-again romance enabled the producers to incorporate the actress' real-life pregnancy into the plot. Denise and Brad, under the gun as always, managed to tie the knot just seconds before Denise gave birth.
Auberjonois played managing partner Paul Lewiston, a longtime crony of William Shatner's Denny Crane. Various season three developments, including Paul's daughter's meth addiction, which led him to take charge of his three-year-old granddaughter, has meant less time at the firm for Paul.
Zimmer played Claire Simms, also a transfer from the New York branch, who was only supposed to remain in Boston on a temporary basis but ended up becoming a series regular. Until now, that is.
Also helping to fill the empty chairs will be Dirt's Tara Summers, who's joining Crane Poole & Schmidt as an associate, and former guest star Christian Clemenson, who has already won an Emmy for his role as Alan Shore's ( James Spader) pal Jerry "Hands" Espenson, a lawyer who suffers from Asperger's syndrome.
Both Summers and Clemenson have been tapped as fulltime cast members.
Production on season four of Boston Legal will be called to order June 27