Upfront: Boston Legal to Exit with Two-Hour Finale

Two-Hour Finale to End Series' Run on ABC

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 5/13/2008 4:04:00 PM

Look for Boston Legal to exit the ABC schedule in December with a two-hour finale, according to a source familiar with the series' pickup by ABC. The network has not yet announced the date for the series finale.

The drama, which will be going into its fifth season, is moving to Mondays at 10 p.m. for what will be its final season on the air. That December date will have to be in pencil, though, since if there is a strike by actors, delivery dates would almost certainly change.

Boston Legal had been on the bubble, with ABC moving it out of its Tuesday 10 p.m. slot to Wednesday nights to make room for Women's Murder Club.

Boston Legal creator David E. Kelley made sure the network would promote that move by working it into the opening of a recent episode in which the characters talked at length about moving from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Kelley will also have a new drama on ABC, Life on Mars, which is actually about a time-traveling cop who winds up in the 1970s. But while he will be executive producer on that show, he will reportedly leave day-to-day oversight to others as he shepherds the last season of a show insiders said is particularly special to him.

For complete coverage of the upfronts, click here.