Boston Public

Boston Public
Genre	Drama
Created by	David E. Kelley
Starring	Jessalyn Gilsig Chi McBride Anthony Heald Nicky Katt Thomas McCarthy Loretta Devine Joey Slotnick Rashida Jones Sharon Leal Jeri Ryan Jon Abrahams China Jesushita Shavers Joey McIntyre Natalia Baron Michael Rapaport Kathy Baker Fyvush Finkel
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	81 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David E. Kelley (2000–2002) Jonathan Pontell (2000–2004) Jason Katims (2001–2004)
Running time	44 minutes
Production company(s)	David E. Kelley Productions 20th Century Fox Television
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Original run	October 23, 2000 (2000-10-23) – January 30, 2004 (2004-01-30)
Chronology
Related shows	The Practice Ally McBeal Boston Legal

Boston Public is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. It centered on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The show was named for the real public school district in which it takes place. It featured a large ensemble cast and focused on the work and private lives of the various teachers, students, and administrators at the school. It aired from October 2000 to January 2004. Its slogan was "Every day is a fight. For respect. For dignity. For sanity."

History

At the beginning, Boston Public preceded Ally McBeal on Monday nights and received initial popularity and critical acclaim for its drama and ethnically diverse cast. The series had a hard time finding a direction or an audience. It was generally felt that the 18-to-24 year-old demographic would not be interested in a drama about high school teachers, so attempts were made to focus more on the lives of high school students. Fox moved it to the Friday night death slot for its fourth season. Viewers plummeted, and it was canceled after the 13th episode aired on January 30, 2004. Production halted after the 15th episode was completed. The final two episodes aired on March 1 and 2, 2005 later in syndication on TV One. Neither episode wrapped up any character stories.

The title of each episode was a numbered chapter, similar to that in a high school textbook, and each character appeared in a given story arc, with the professional and personal lives often intersecting.

Boston Public was the winner of the 2002 Peabody Award ("Chapter Thirty-Seven") from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Boston Public characters

The first season cast of Boston Public

Actor	Character	Seasons	Role
Chi McBride	Steven Harper	1–4	Principal
Anthony Heald	Scott Guber	1–4	Vice Principal
Jessalyn Gilsig	Lauren Davis	1–2	Social Studies teacher; left Winslow to teach at a private school
Nicky Katt	Harry Senate	1–3 (episodes 1–49)	Teacher of "the Dungeon"; quit in episode 49
Loretta Devine	Marla Hendricks	1–4	Social Studies teacher
Sharon Leal	Marylin Sudor	1–4	English teacher and music instructor
Fyvush Finkel	Harvey Lipschultz	1–4	History teacher
Rashida Jones	Louisa Fenn	1–2	Secretary
Thomas McCarthy	Kevin Riley	1 (episodes 1–13; special guest appearance in episode 18)	Football coach; fired in episode 13
Joey Slotnick	Milton Buttle	1 (episodes 1–13; special guest appearance in episode 15)	English teacher; fired in episode 13
Kathy Baker	Meredith Peters	1–2; recurring in season 1	Teacher
Jeri Ryan	Ronnie Cooke	2–4	Teacher; assistant vice principal (end of season 3); guidance counselor (season 4)
Michael Rapaport	Danny Hanson	2–4	Teacher
China Jesushita Shavers	Brooke Harper	2–3; recurring in season 2	Student
Jon Abrahams	Zach Fischer	3	Physics teacher
Joey McIntyre	Colin Flynn	3	English Teacher
Michelle Monaghan	Kimberly Woods	3 (episodes 49–57; not featured in opening credits but receives "also starring" billing)	Teacher; transferred to a school in another state to avoid a dangerous, obsessed student in episode 57
Cara DeLizia	Marcie Kendall	3 (not featured in opening credits but receives "also starring" billing)	Principal's assistant and student
Natalia Baron	Carmen Torres	4	Physics teacher

Episodes

Main article: List of Boston Public episodes

Boston Public ran for four seasons, consisting of 81 episodes. Each season contained 22 episodes, except the fourth season which had 15 episodes due to cancellation.

Awards and nominations

Boston Public received a total of 31 nominations from various award ceremonies, and won 8 of them.

Awards won

Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Art Direction for a Single Camera Series (2001)

Peabody Awards

• Peabody Award for Episode "Chapter Thirty-Seven"

NAACP Image Awards

• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Loretta Devine (2001, 2003–2004)

Young Artist Awards

• Best Performance in a TV Series – Guest Starring Young Actor – Thomas Dekker (2004)

Awards nominated

Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – Kathy Baker (2001)

NAACP Image Awards

• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Rashida Jones (2002)
• Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series – Loretta Devine (2002)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Vanessa Bell Calloway (2002)
• Outstanding Drama Series (2002–2004)

Television Critics Association Awards

• Individual Achievement in Drama – Chi McBride (2001)

Young Artist Awards

• Best Performance in a TV Drama Series – Guest Starring Young Actress – Ashley Tisdale (2001)
• Best Family TV Drama Series (2002)
• Best Performance in a TV Series – Guest Starring Young Actor – Miko Hughes (2004)

Teen Choice Awards

• Choice TV Breakout Star Female – Tamyra Gray (2003)

External links

• Boston Public at the Internet Movie Database
• Boston Public at TV.com