Ally McBeal
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Template:Infobox television Image:Timeallymcbeal.jpg Ally McBeal was an American television dramedy created by David E. Kelley, with Calista Flockhart in the title role as a young lawyer working in a fictional Boston law firm named Cage & Fish, filled with similarly young lawyers whose lives and loves are highly melodramatic. The show ran on the FOX network from 1997 to 2002.
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Nature Of The Show
Despite its legal environment, the show pays minimal attention to the actual practice of law. Instead it focuses on the romantic and personal lives of the main characters, though sometimes using legal proceedings as plot devices to contrast or reinforce a character's drama. For example, bitter divorce litigation of a client might backdrop Ally's decision to break up with a boyfriend.
Particularly notable, the show frequently used vivid, dramatic fantasy visuals for a character's wishful thinking. Also, regular visits to a local, idealized bar where singer and cast member Vonda Shepard regularly performed (though occasionally handing over the microphone to the characters). Each episode generally concluded on an upbeat, hopeful note with energetic music.
Ally McBeal was hugely successful, but received much criticism from TV critics and feminists who found the title character annoying and demeaning to women because of her excessive flightiness, lack of demonstrated legal knowledge, and extreme emotional instability. Flockhart's visible loss of weight by the second season also caused much media speculation.
However, Ally's search for true love struck a chord with young female audiences, and the eccentric characters around her were developed further, giving the show firm footing.
In the fourth season, Robert Downey Jr. joined the regular cast as Ally's boyfriend Larry, resurrecting the ratings of a show that had lost its novelty and thus much of its audience. However, when Downey was forced to leave as his (real life) drug addiction caused him legal troubles, plus other central cast members such as Lucy Liu also left, the ratings sank again. Not even guest appearances from Matthew Perry and singer Jon Bon Jovi and Christina Ricci in season five were enough to save the show.
Main Cast
The major cast members of the show included:
- Calista Flockhart- Ally McBeal
- Greg Germann - Richard Fish
- Jane Krakowski - Elaine Vassal
- Gil Bellows - Billy Thomas (1997-2000)
- Lisa Nicole Carson - Renée Radick (1997-2001)
- Courtney Thorne-Smith - Georgia Thomas (1997-2000)
- Peter MacNicol - John Cage (Character)
- Vonda Shepard - Herself
- Lucy Liu - Ling Woo (1998-2001)
- Portia de Rossi - Nelle Porter (1998-2002)
- Robert Downey Jr. - Larry Paul (2000-2001)
- James LeGros - Mark Albert (2000-2001)
- Regina Hall - Corretta Lipp (2001-2002)
- Josh Hopkins - Raymond Milbury (2001-2002)
- James Marsden - Glenn Foy (2001-2002)
- Julianne Nicholson - Jenny Shaw (2001-2002)
- Barry Humphries (as Dame Edna Everage, uncredited) - (2002)
Notable guest stars on the show included comedian Tracey Ullman as Ally's unusual therapist, and singers Barry White, Al Green, Sting, Tina Turner, and Barry Manilow as themselves. Special musical guests included KC and the Sunshine Band, Elton John and Josh Groban.
Trivia
Barry White's music was frequently showcased on the show as a sexual stimulant; when one of the characters mentally "heard" the music, other characters would be attracted. This action was often accompanied by dancing and took place in the unisex bathroom.
At the height of its popularity, re-edited half-hour versions of the show ran under the name Ally.
The show is also noted by many for introducing the 'dancing baby' computer-generated image (CGI) to mainstream American pop culture.
Known for controversial topics, the show was well-known for the infamous Cro-Magnon episode, whereby a well-endowed male model becomes the focus of the Ally's attentions. Some critics have claimed that this penis size obsessed view of female sexuality is distorted and reflects more of a male point of view, as the show was written by David E. Kelley. Others have charged that the ridiculing of modestly endowed men is sexist and harmful, contributing to body issues for men similar to that of young women over their weight. On that note as well, the show has been criticized for the "anorexic" main character as being a bad role model for girls.
DVD Releases
Due to music rights issues, Ally McBeal has not been made available on DVD in the United States, though it has been available in Italy, Japan and UK. However tvshowsondvd.com announced that Fox Home Entertainment had plans to release box sets of Ally Mcbeal on DVD in North America along with a number of other David E Kelley shows such as Boston Legal and The Practice. [1]
| DVD Name | Region 1 | Region 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Ally McBeal Season 1 | TBA | February 21 2005 |
| Ally McBeal Season 2 | TBA | February 21 2005 |
| Ally McBeal Season 3 | TBA | February 21 2005 |
| Ally Mcbeal Season 4 | TBA | May 9 2005 |
| Ally McBeal Season 5 | TBA | May 9 2005 |
Awards & Nominations
Awards Won
- Outstanding Comedy Series (1999)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Peter MacNicol (2001)
- Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical (1998-1999)
- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical Calista Flockhart (1998)
- Best Supporting Actor in a TV Series Robert Downey Jr. (2001)
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1999)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Robert Downey Jr. (2001)
Awards Nominated
- Outstanding Comedy Series (1998)
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1998-1999, 2001)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Peter MacNicol (1999-2000)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Lucy Liu (1999)
- Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical (2000-2002)
- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical Calista Flockhart
- Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series Jane Krakowski (1999)
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1998, 2000-2001)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Calista Flockhart (1998-2001)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series Lucy Liu (2000)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Peter MacNicol (1999-2001)
External links
de:Ally McBeal et:Ally McBeal es:Ally McBeal fr:Ally McBeal gd:Alli Nic a' Bheoil it:Ally McBeal he:אלי מקביל nl:Ally McBeal ja:アリーmyラブ pl:Ally McBeal pt:Ally McBeal sk:Ally McBealová sv:Ally McBeal