Times certainly have changed. There’s no longer much need for that voice of dissent as the country readies to transition to the Barack Obama era.

After four years spent rallying against the Bush administration through the various court cases of “Legal,” which also showcased some of the wackier characters in primetime, Kelley’s ABC show leaves the air for good tonight with a two-hour series finale.

“Legal” never drew huge ratings or received quite the attention of Kelley’s other shows, including “Ally McBeal” or “The Practice,” the show that spawned “Legal.”

But it was beloved by Emmy voters, who rewarded James Spader and William Shatner for their hambone acting year after year. And it spotlighted deserving though aging talent like Candice Bergen, Betty White and John Larroquette by giving them often over-the-top storylines that allowed Kelley to espouse his liberal political views.

“Legal” has averaged just a 2.4 adults 18-49 rating this season, ranking 55th on broadcast, and it never got the lift from longtime lead-in “Dancing with the Stars” that ABC would have liked.

The network agreed to one final 13-episode season mostly in deference to Kelley, giving him time to wrap up the series’ sometimes-meandering plots and allowing viewers, a small but dedicated cadre who’ve remained loyal through several timeslot changes, some closure.

“Legal’s” exit will mean that Kelley, one of the most prolific television producers of his era, will be left without a show on television for the first time in two decades. After the failure of his Fox show “Wedding Bells” last year and his exit from ABC’s “Life on Mars” early in the development process, Kelley is now developing yet another lawyer-focused show for NBC.

Here’s what writers around the country are saying about the series, whose finale begins at 9 p.m. tonight:

Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Already this fall, the series has addressed legal cases involving the tobacco industry, the USDA, pharmaceutical advertising, the presidential campaign and the election of Barack Obama.

"'We can give thanks for a lot of things today, but the defeat of racism is not one of them, especially at white-collar law firms like Crane, Poole & Schmidt,' said liberal lawyer Alan Shore (James Spader) in the recent Thanksgiving episode. 'Just look around the table.'

"Crane, Poole & Schmidt is the law firm at the center of the series, filled with eccentric lawyers, most of them Caucasian. Through the years the firm's attorneys have included a former madam, a cross-dresser and a man with Asperger's syndrome."

USA Today's Bill Keveney
"'Legal's' bizarre world has featured the firm defending a cannibal; a client suing God for the death of her husband; and a woman alleging that a company promising to turn her mother's ashes into a diamond gave her a cubic zirconium instead."

United Media's Kevin McDonough
"Like the oldies soundtrack that Kelley too often used as an emotional shortcut and a narrative crutch, his work began to seem antique. A recent effort, 'The Wedding Bells' (2007), employed Kelley's usual bag of tricks. It was unwatchable and, for the most part, unwatched.

"Still, you don't have to be a fan of Kelley's shows to recognize them and appreciate his singular voice and vision. No history of television, or of the baby-boomer era of pop culture, can afford to ignore his body of work."

Alex Strachan, Canwest News Service
"Boston Legal rests its case as one of TV's most clever -- and maddening -- courtroom dramas tonight with a two-hour series finale. ...

"Both episodes were written by Boston Legal's creator and self-described 'recovering attorney' David E. Kelley. And both episodes are likely to have the wry, underhanded humour and occasionally cutting commentary on social concerns that became Boston Legal's calling card over its five seasons."

Newsday
"Hard to believe, but in one week's time there will not be a show produced by David E. Kelley on network television, and none on the horizon. For 20 years - going back to 'L.A. Law' and 'Doogie Howser, M.D.' - Kelley was often king of prime time, on four major broadcast networks. Time and space don't permit a full accounting of the many gifts he has conferred on this medium (and a few forgotten misfires, too). But let's just say that he was a truly brilliant TV writer whose shows were usually about something - ideas that circulated, often crankily and without resolution, in the national psyche.

"He was -- or rather is -- a pot-stirring troublemaker in the best sense of the phrase. But this isn't an obit or even appreciation, although on the eve of 'Boston Legal's' exit, it's difficult not to appreciate."