At the same time he was on "Spin City", Boatman played the role of Stanley Babson, the anal-retentive chief financial officer on the HBO original series "Arliss" and starred on both series simultaneously until they were canceled in 2002. For his work on "Arliss" Boatman was nominated for four Image Awards, also for Best Supporting Actor. He played the lead role in the critically acclaimed Charles Burnett drama, "The Glass Shield". Later, he appeared in the feature films "The Peacemaker", with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, and "Woman Thou Art Loosed", and in several made-for-TV movies. Michael Boatman also narrated in the WPA slave narratives in the HBO film "Unchained Memories", in 2003.