Ally McBeal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ally McBeal | |
 Ally intertitle in Season 5 |
|
| Format | Comedy-drama Romance Legal drama |
|---|---|
| Created by | David E. Kelley |
| Starring | Calista Flockhart Courtney Thorne Smith Greg Germann Lisa Nicole Carson Jane Krakowski Vonda Shepard Portia de Rossi Lucy Liu Regina Hall James LeGros Josh Hopkins with Peter MacNicol also with Robert Downey Jr. (2000-2001) and Gil Bellows (1997-2002) |
| Opening theme | "Searchin' My Soul" by Vonda Shepard |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 112 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David E. Kelley Bill D'Elia |
| Running time | approx. 45 minutes |
| Production company(s) | 20th Century Fox Television David E. Kelley Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | FOX |
| Original run | September 8, 1997 – May 20, 2002 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Practice |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
Ally McBeal is an American television series which ran on the FOX network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia. The series starred Calista Flockhart in the title role as a young lawyer working in the fictional Boston law firm Cage, Fish and Associates with other young lawyers whose lives and loves were eccentric, humorous and dramatic.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The show focused on the romantic and personal lives of the main characters, often using legal proceedings as plot devices to contrast or reinforce a character's drama. For example, bitter divorce litigation of a client might provide a backdrop for Ally's decision to break up with a boyfriend. Opposing legal arguments were also frequently used to explore multiple sides of various social issues.
Cage & Fish (which becomes Cage/Fish & McBeal or Cage, Fish, & Associates towards the end of the series), the fictional law firm where most of the characters work, is depicted as a highly sexualized environment, symbolized by its unisex public restroom. Lawyers and secretaries in the firm routinely date, flirt with, or have a romantic history with each other, and frequently run into former or potential romantic interests in the courtroom or on the street outside.
The show had many offbeat and frequently surreal running gags and themes, such as Ally's tendency to immediately fall over whenever she met somebody she found attractive, or Richard Fish's wattle fetish and humorous mottos ("Fishisms"), ran through the series. The show used vivid, dramatic fantasy sequences for Ally's and other characters' wishful thinking; particularly notable is the dancing baby.
The show also featured regular visits to a local bar where singer Vonda Shepard regularly performed (though occasionally handing over the microphone to the characters).
In the fourth season, Robert Downey Jr. joined the regular cast as Ally's boyfriend Larry Paul but was written out after the end of the season due to Downey's troubles with drug addiction.
The show was canceled after a significant ratings drop during its fifth season, which saw many regular characters disappear from the series without explanation (also a problem with David E. Kelley's shows Boston Public, Chicago Hope, and The Practice).
[edit] Criticism
Despite its success, Ally McBeal did receive some negative criticism from TV critics and feminists who found the title character annoying and demeaning to women, and specifically professional women,[1] because of her perceived flightiness, lack of demonstrated legal knowledge, and extreme emotional instability. Perhaps the most notorious example of the debate sparked by the show was the 25 June 1998 cover story of Time magazine, which juxtaposed McBeal with three pioneering feminists and asked "Is Feminism Dead?".[2]
[edit] Episode list
[edit] Main cast
- Calista Flockhart - Ally McBeal
- Greg Germann - Richard Fish
- Jane Krakowski - Elaine Vassal
- Peter MacNicol - John Cage (episode 2–103; recurring afterwards)
- Lisa Nicole Carson - Renée Raddick (seasons 1–4; one guest appearance in series finale)
- Portia de Rossi - Nelle Porter (episodes 32–112; recurring previously)
- Lucy Liu - Ling Woo (episodes 32–96; 103; recurring previously)
- Gil Bellows - Billy Allen Thomas (episodes 1–65; recurring afterwards)
- Courtney Thorne-Smith - Georgia Thomas (seasons 1–3; recurring afterwards)
- Robert Downey Jr. - Larry Paul (season 4; uncredited appearances afterwards)
- Hayden Panettiere - Maddie Harrington (episodes 102–112; one guest appearance previously)
- Vonda Shepard - Herself (seasons 2–5; recurring previously)
- James LeGros - Mark Albert (season 4; recurring previously)
- Regina Hall - Corretta Lipp (season 5; recurring previously)
- Julianne Nicholson - Jenny Shaw (episodes 91–103)
- Josh Hopkins - Raymond Millbury (season 5)
- James Marsden - Glenn Foy (episodes 91–103)
[edit] DVD releases
Due to music rights issues, the first complete season of Ally McBeal has not been made available on DVD in the United States (only 6 random episodes can be found on the R1 edition), though it has been available in Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Mexico, Taiwan, Australia, Brazil and the Czech Republic. In the UK and Ireland all seasons are available in a complete boxset.
It has recently been announced that the first season will be released in North America by 20th Century Fox later in 2009. Also, a special complete series edition will also be released on the same day as the first season set.[3] On July 3rd, TVShowsonDVD.com announced that both sets would be released on October 6th, 2009.[4] It has not yet been announced whether or not the original music will be included in these sets.
| DVD Name | Ep# | Region 1 | Region 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 23 | October 6, 2009 | February 21, 2005 |
| The Complete Second Season | 23 | N/A | February 21, 2005 |
| The Complete Third Season | 21 | N/A | February 21, 2005 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 23 | N/A | May 9, 2005 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 22 | N/A | May 9, 2005 |
| The Complete Series | 112 | October 6, 2009 | October 30, 2006 |
[edit] Ally the sitcom
In 1999, at the height of the show's popularity, a half-hour version entitled Ally [5] began being broadcast in parallel to the main program. This version, designed in a sitcom format, used re-edited scenes from the main program, as well as previously unseen footage. The intention was to further develop the plots in the comedy-drama in a sitcom style. It also focused only on Ally's personal life, cutting all the courtroom plots. The repackaged show did not catch on and was canceled partway through its initial run. While 13 episodes of Ally were shot, only 10 were broadcast.
[edit] US Ratings
| Season | U.S. ratings | Network | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997-1998 | 11.4 million | FOX | #59 [1] |
| 2 | 1998-1999 | 13.8 million | FOX | #20 [2] |
| 3 | 1999-2000 | 12.4 million | FOX | #35 [3] |
| 4 | 2000-2001 | 12.0 million | FOX | #40 [4] |
| 5 | 2001-2002 | 9.4 million | FOX | #65 [5] |
[edit] Broadcasters
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] 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)
[edit] Awards nominated
- Outstanding Comedy Series (1998)
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Calista Flockhart (1998–1999, 2001)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Peter MacNicol (1999–2000)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Robert Downey Jr. (2001)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Lucy Liu (1999)
- Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series Bernadette Peters (2001)
- 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)
[edit] References
- '^ Michelle L. Hammers, "Cautionary Tales of Liberation and Female Professionalism: The Case Against Ally McBeal" Western Journal of Communication 69 2, April (2005): 168. "The ease with which McBeals depictions of women are reincorporated into dominant masculinist discourses ... is particularly problematic for professional women. The increased danger that co-optation poses for professional women is due to the complex ways in which the discursive sedimentation that surrounds the female body, particularly as it has been traditionally sexualized and linked to emotionality, operates as a barrier to women's full and effective participation in professional spheres. Thus, McBeal operates as a cautionary tale about the dangers presented by the co-optation of postfeminist and third-wave feminist discourses as they relate to current professional discourses surrounding the female body.
- ^ "Is Feminism Dead? (Chat Transcript)". Time Magazine. June 25, 1998. http://www.time.com/time/community/transcripts/chattr062598.html.
- ^ "Hot Weekend Rumor - Ally McBeal Coming Soon". TVShowsonDVD. June 19, 2009. http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Ally-McBeal-Release-Rumors/12155.
- ^ "Amazon Posts Date for Season 1 & Complete Series". TVShowsonDVD. July 3, 2009. http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Ally-McBeal-Season-1-Complete-Series-Dates/12247.
- ^ "Ally" (1999)
[edit] External links
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ally McBeal |
- Ally McBeal at the Internet Movie Database
- Ally McBeal at TV.com
- Ally at the Internet Movie Database
- Ally McBeal: Woman of the '90s or Retro Airhead
- Ally McBeal on Paramount Comedy
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