'Practice' gets the ax: Spader will spin off

You want irony? We got irony. ABC announced this week it's dumping "The Practice," even after new star James Spader brought a ratings resurgence. The last show will air May 16.

But Spader, hired last year to save the show after the network fired most of the cast, their families and their pets, did a good enough job to earn a spinoff series.

Show creator David E. Kelley is working with ABC for the new show to debut next fall. Rumors are swirling that, if negotiations with Spader work out, his wormy character Alan Shore will be the centerpiece.

Watch for Shore, who in less than a season has managed to sleep with his best friend's mother, solicit a prostitute with a colleague's name and out a priest friend, to get fired. Then (here comes the best part) Shore hires a lawyer played by William Shatner to file suit against his old firm. ("Your HON-or ... I ... must object!!")

Reports also have cast members Rhona Mitra and Jessica Capshaw possibly following Spader to the new firm next fall.

© 2004 source (Thank you, Sulena)