From ‘L.A. Law’ to ‘Big Sky,’ David E. Kelley Continues to Leave His Prolific Imprint on TV
variety.comMichael Schneider Variety Editor at Large David E. Kelley has heard it for most of his career — that he has a knack for writing compelling female leads.
Case in point: “Ally McBeal,” written at a time when there weren’t many strong leading women on television. “I usually duck for cover,” Kelley says about the mention of this part of his TV legacy. “More times than not I feign ignorance and just go, ‘Look, I just try to write characters as interestingly, and with as much dimension as possible.’ I’ve not ever felt that I’ve got an inside track on female characters or the feminine mystique in any way.
I just try to write characters. I’m always a bit confused [when people say], ‘you write your females just as strong as the men.’ And I’m like, why wouldn’t I?” Kelley is modest when asked about the impact of his work on both television and the greater society.
But he has been a part of this nation’s pop culture DNA since the early 1990s — when, as a young Boston-based lawyer, he was tapped by mega-producer Steven Bochco to try his hand at writing for “L.A.
Read more on variety.com