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TV Snapshots: The friendships we tend

Alan (James Spader) realizes that he hasn't really talked with his colleague and friend Jerry (Christian Clemson, above) in quite some time. Jerry tries to shrug it off.

Jerry: Well, you've been really busy, Alan. So have I, with work. Work has . . .

Jerry, who has Asperger's Syndome, abruptly shifts into a cavalier, swaggering tone he often uses to deal with awkward social situations.

Jerry: Hey, that's the beauty of being good friends, isn't it? Relationships with long shelf lives, You can just stick 'em on the shelf, I tell ya.

Alan looks at him thoughtfully. Jerry self-consciously clears his throat.

Jerry: What?

Alan: I never considered myself someone who puts work before friendships.

Alan sighs.

Alan: Seems I do.

Jerry (quietly): We all do, Alan. Friendships are a little like backyard gardens. We plan to tend them . . . We just always seem to put it off till next week.

--from "Patriot Acts," the fourth season finale of Boston Legal


(Image: ABC) miscctgy