The Blacklist features arguably James Spader’s most iconic role, fugitive-turned-informant Raymond "Red" Reddington. Red is quick-witted, straight-talking and knows the criminal underworld inside out. His unique position as an FBI agent who’s switched sides not once, but twice, after spells as a naval intelligence officer and criminal mastermind, offers a spin on the crime genre that was entirely fresh when the show first aired. Yet The Blacklist is far from the first law enforcement drama that Spader has acted in. In fact, Boston Legal had already made him a legend of the genre five years before he became Red.

While Spader is an outspoken triple agent in NBC's 10-season show The Blacklist, he plays a different kind of maverick in Boston Legal. His character, Alan Shore, is a skilled but unorthodox lawyer who’s lost faith in the United States and isn’t above using illicit practices to get the evidence he needs. Although Shore works in a very different legal context from Red, fans of The Blacklist will be happy to find James Spader’s trademark dry delivery and explosive rants speaking truth power very much part of Boston Legal, too. Anyone who enjoys one show will almost certainly enjoy the other.

The Blacklist Fans Should Check Out Boston Legal

Boston Legal Features Another Brilliant James Spader Lead Character

James Spader might front Boston Legal's cast while speaking in a slightly higher and pitch than he does in The Blacklist, given his courtroom surroundings and slightly younger age, but he otherwise carries the same onscreen magnetism playing Alan Shore as in his role as Raymond Reddington. What’s more, Alan is very open to using whatever means necessary to ensure that justice prevails, just as Red himself is the FBI’s most underhand weapon against wanted criminals in The Blacklist.

Alan Shore is actually a character spun off from another ABC legal show, The Practice, in 2004. He was always the most interesting character in the show, and displayed his tendency towards trickery in episodes such as “Avenging Angels”, in The Practice season 8, in which his team won a case via blackmail. Because of his methods, Alan’s superiors at his law firm Crane, Poole & Schmidt never entirely trust him, and aren’t willing to promote him.

Then again, Alan doesn’t trust the system they work with, either, and isn’t willing to give up his unusual approach to building a legal case simply to get ahead. His uncompromising way of handling others is highly reminiscent of Raymond Reddington in The Blacklist. Both characters are the best in the business at what they do, but will never get recognition for it due to their criminal methods. More importantly, both characters suit James Spader’s strengths as an actor down to the ground.

How Boston Legal Is Different From The Blacklist

The Show’s Premise Is Very Different, And Alan Shore Is Ultimately No Raymond Reddington

Despite Alan Shore’s similarities to Raymond Reddington, however, Boston Legal is generally quite different from The Blacklist as a crime drama series. The show helped establish the conventions of legal procedural dramas that we see in shows like The Lincoln Lawyer today, and its storylines largely take place within the confines of the criminal cases in which Alan’s firm plays a role. By contrast, The Blacklist is, of course, fully immersed in the world where high-level, often large-scale crimes of national importance are taking place.

Moreover, regardless of how brilliant he is at his job and his maverick approach to the law, Alan Shore is no Raymond Reddington as a TV crime character. Alan is work-obsessed and almost entirely dysfunctional outside his job, living in hotels while suffering from night terrors and a phobia of clowns. Although he routinely breaks the law to win a case, Alan is certainly not the hardened criminal that Red is. The two characters have many similar qualities, but Alan Shore is definitely more humane and less frightening than Red.

20 Years Later, Alan Shore Remains One Of Spader’s Greatest Characters

If Red Will Go Down As His Defining Role, Alan Is Surely In 2nd Place

Still, the humor and the eccentricity that Alan Shore brings to his work makes him one of the best TV lawyers in history, ever a joy to watch in full flow in the courtroom, and one of James Spader’s greatest characters. It’s impossible to imagine anyone but Spader playing Shore, and the actor has clearly had a hand in the character’s development from a ing character in season 8 of The Practice to the force of nature he is in Boston Legal.

While Raymond Reddington will probably be the character Spader is best ed for, Alan Shore isn’t far behind. Shore’s flashes of genius in the courtroom and refusal to stick to legal protocols mark him out from almost every other lead character in a TV legal drama. He arrived on the scene almost 20 years before Mickey Haller first appeared on Netflix, and it was Boston Legal more than any other show that pointed the way forward for The Lincoln Lawyer.