Practice doesn’t make perfect

Posted on May 20, 2003 by Gene

After ABC renewed his faltering series The Practice, David Kelley has announced that the stars of the show – Dylan McDermott, Lisagay Hamilton, Lara Flynn Boyle, Kelli Williams, Marla Sokoloff, and Chyler Leigh have all been dropped from the show for “creative and economic differences.”
The Practice dropped scads of viewers this year, and Kelley blames it on ABC’s idiotic schedule move to Monday nights. Partially to blame, no doubt. But this series is in that strange time where Kelley starts to wane in his attentions. Every David Kelley show starts a bit slow then shoots up to the sky. But in the 4th year and beyond, he loses interest and stops giving his baby the care it needs. He brings in new characters for no apparent reason then gives them little to do. His casts balloon out of proportion. The Practice has reached this point, and it’s that more than anything else that causes it to lose viewers – this one included. I didn’t even watch the season finale.
Remember Picket Fences? It suffered the same fate after Kelley lost interest in it. Sad.