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.
| Ally McBeal | |
|---|---|
 Original title card | |
| 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 Julianne Nicholson James Marsden Josh Hopkins Hayden Panettiere with Peter MacNicol also with Robert Downey Jr. and Gil Bellows |
| Opening theme | "Searchin' My Soul" by Vonda Shepard |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 112 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | David E. Kelley Bill D'Elia |
| Running time | approx. 45 minutes |
| Production companies | 20th Century Fox Television David E. Kelley Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox |
| Release | September 8, 1997 – May 20, 2002 |
| Related | |
| The Practice Boston Legal Boston Public | |
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). The series also took place in the same continuity as David E. Kelley's legal drama The Practice (which aired on ABC), as the two shows crossed over with one another on occasion, a very rare occurrence for two shows which aired on different networks.
The show's ratings began to decline in the third season, but stabilized in the fourth season after Robert Downey Jr. joined the regular cast as Ally's boyfriend Larry Paul. However, Downey was written out after the end of the season due to his 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), and the novelty of the show wore off.
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, short skirts,[2] 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 (Susan B. Anthony, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem) and asked "Is Feminism Dead?".[3] In episode 12 of the second season of the show, Ally talks to her co-worker John Cage about a dream she had, saying "You know, I had a dream that they put my face on the cover of Time magazine as 'the face of feminism'."[4]
Episode list
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)
DVD releases
Due to music licensing issues, none of the seasons of Ally McBeal were available on DVD in the United States (only 6 random episodes can be found on the R1 edition) until 2009, though it has been available in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, France, Germany, the UK, Mexico, Taiwan, Australia, Brazil and the Czech Republic with all the show's music intact since 2005. 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 in October 6, 2009. Also, a special complete series edition will also be released on the same day as the first season set.[5] On July 3, 2009 TVShowsonDVD.com announced that both sets would be released on October 6, 2009.[6] There will be no special features included on the first season set however, the second last disc on the complete series set will be composed of special features (including the episode of The Practice that Calista had guest starred in) with the last disc titled "The Best of Ally McBeal Soundtrack". It has been confirmed that all of the original music will remain intact on both releases.[7] Season 2 will be released on April 6, 2010.[8]
| DVD Name | Ep# | Region 1 | Region 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 23 | October 6, 2009 | February 21, 2005 |
| The Complete Second Season | 23 | April 6, 2010 | February 21, 2005 |
| The Complete Third Season | 21 | TBA | February 21, 2005 |
| The Complete Fourth Season | 23 | TBA | May 9, 2005 |
| The Complete Fifth Season | 22 | TBA | May 9, 2005 |
| The Complete Series | 112 | October 6, 2009 | October 30, 2006 |
Music
Ally McBeal was a heavily music-oriented show. Vonda Shepard, a virtually unknown artist at the time, was featured continually on the show. Her song "Searchin' My Soul" became the show's theme song. Many of the songs Vonda recorded for the show were covers of old songs with lyrics that paralleled what was happening in the title character's life onscreen. Old songs recorded for the show include "Both Sides Now", "Hooked on a Feeling", and "Tell Him". Besides recording background music for the show, Vonda would also appear in the show (usually near the end of the episode). Vonda would be seen playing at the local bar in which Ally and her fellow workmates regularly visited after work and would even have dialogue in some episodes. Due to the popularity of the show and Vonda's music, a soundtrack titled Songs from Ally McBeal was released in 1998, as well as a successor soundtrack titled Heart and Soul: New Songs From Ally McBeal in 1999. Two compilation albums from the show featuring Vonda were also released in 2000 and 2001. Other artists featured on the show include Barry White, Al Green, and Tina Turner. Josh Groban played the role of Malcolm Wyatt in the May 2001 season finale, performing "You're Still You." The series creator, David E. Kelley, was impressed with Groban's performance at The Family Celebration event, and based on the audience reaction to Groban's singing, Kelley created a character for Groban in this finale. The background score for the show was composed by Danny Lux.
| Soundtrack Name | Tk# | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Songs from Ally McBeal | 14 | May 5, 1998 |
| Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal | 14 | November 9, 1999 |
| Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas | 14 | November 7, 2000 |
| Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life | 14 | April 24, 2001 |
| The Best of Ally McBeal | 12 | October 6, 2009 |
Ally the sitcom
In 1999, at the height of the show's popularity, a half-hour version entitled Ally [9] began airing 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 of those thirteen were actually broadcast.
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 [10] |
| 3 | 1999-2000 | 12.4 million | Fox | #35 [2] |
| 4 | 2000-2001 | 12.0 million | Fox | #40 [3] |
| 5 | 2001-2002 | 9.4 million | Fox | #65 [4] |
Broadcasters
Awards and nominations
Awards won
- Outstanding Comedy Series (1999)
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Tracey Ullman (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)
- Peabody Award (1999)
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 Actress in a Comedy Series Lucy Liu (1999)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Robert Downey Jr. (2001)
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series John Ritter (1999)
- Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series Bernadette Peters (2001)
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Jami Gertz (2001)
- Best TV Series-Comedy/Musical (2000–2002)
- Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series-Comedy/Musical Calista Flockhart (1999-2002)
- 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)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Lisa Nicole Carson (1999-2000)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Jennifer Linsley (1999)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Lucy Liu (2000)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Jesse L. Martin (2000)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Lisa Nicole Carson (2002)
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Taye Diggs (2002)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Jennifer Holliday (2002)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Regina Hall (2003)
- Best International (Program or Series) David E. Kelley (1999)
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 - Phyllis Chesler)". Time Magazine. June 25, 1998.
- ^ "Is Feminism Dead? (Chat Transcript)". Time Magazine. June 25, 1998.
- ^ "Ally McBeal, episode 12, season 2". 20th Century Fox. August 22, 2009.
- ^ "Hot Weekend Rumor - Ally McBeal Coming Soon". TVShowsonDVD. June 19, 2009.
- ^ "Amazon Posts Date for Season 1 & Complete Series". TVShowsonDVD. July 3, 2009.
- ^ "Fox's Press Release for The Complete Series Confirms ALL ORIGINAL MUSIC!". TVShowsonDVD. August 7, 2009.
- ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Ally-McBeal-Season-2-Press-Release/13235
- ^ "Ally" (1999)
- ^ "Final ratings for the 1998-1999 TV season". Archived from the original on 2009-10-23.
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