Information about Ally (television)

Ally McBeal
Ally intertitle in Season 5
Created by	David E. Kelley
Starring	see below
Opening theme	"Searchin' My Soul" by Vonda Shepard
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	112 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	David E. Kelley Bill D'Elia
Running time	approx. 45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Original run	September 8, 1997 – May 20, 2002
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Ally McBeal is an award-winning 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 a fictional Boston law firm (named Cage, Fish and Associates), filled with other young lawyers whose lives and loves were highly melodramatic. The series ran for 5 years, from 1997 to 2002.

Overview

Despite its legal environment, the show paid minimal attention to the actual practice of law. Instead it focused 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 provide a backdrop for Ally's decision to break up with a boyfriend.

Notably, the show frequently used vivid, dramatic fantasy sequences for a character's wishful thinking. The show also featured regular visits to a local 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.

Despite its success, Ally McBeal received much criticism from TV critics and feminists who found the title character annoying and demeaning to women 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 June 25, 1998 cover story of Time magazine, which juxtaposed McBeal with three pioneering women and asked "Is Feminism Dead?".^[1]

Flockhart's visible loss of weight by the second season also caused much media speculation. However, Ally's Quirkyalone 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 Paul, temporarily resurrecting the ratings of a show that had lost its novelty appeal and thus much of its audience. However, when Downey got into legal troubles over his real-life drug addiction, he was forced to leave the show. Shortly thereafter other central cast members also left, and various characters disappeared from the show without an explanation (such as Renee, Mark, Jackson and Jane Wilco), which caused the ratings to sink again. Guest appearances from Matthew Perry, Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Ricci, and Dame Edna Everage in season five were not enough to save the show.

Episode list

Main article: List of Ally McBeal episodes

Ally the sitcom

In 1999, at the height of the show's popularity, a half-hour version entitled Ally[1] began airing in parallel to the main program. This innovative version, designed in a sitcom format, used re-edited scenes from the main program, as well as previously unaired 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. 13 episodes of Ally were shot, but only 10 were aired.

Main cast

The major cast members of the show included:

• Calista Flockhart: Ally McBeal
• Peter MacNicol: John Cage (episode 12–103; recurring otherwise)
• Greg Germann: Richard Fish
• Jane Krakowski: Elaine Vassall
• Lisa Nicole Carson: Renee Raddick (seasons 1–4; one guest appearance in series finale)
• Portia de Rossi: Nelle Porter (episodes 34–112; recurring previously)
• Lucy Liu: Ling Woo (episodes 34–96; 103; recurring otherwise)
• Gil Bellows: Billy Alan Thomas (episodes 1–62; recurring afterwards)
• Courtney Thorne-Smith: Georgia Thomas (seasons 1–3; recurring afterwards)
• Hayden Panettiere: Maddie Harrington (episodes 102–112)
• Vonda Shepard: herself (seasons 2–5; recurring previously)
• Robert Downey Jr.: Larry Paul (season 4; uncredited appearances afterwards)
• 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)

Guest stars

The singers who would perform at the bar (most often Vonda Shepard) were accompanied by a trio of back-up singers often referred to as the Ikettes. The singers/actresses who portrayed the Ikettes were:

• Renee Goldsberry
• Vatrena King
• Sy Smith

Whenever Goldsberry, Smith or King were unavailable, they would be replaced by:

• Cynthia Calhoun
• Melanie Taylor

The show also featured many guest stars, some of whom would return for an extensive number of episodes. Guest stars included:

• Albert Hall – Judge Seymore Walsh: A stern judge with little sense of humor and a general dislike of the Cage & Fish law firm
• Tracey Ullman – Dr. Tracey Clark (Season 1–3 / 6 Ep.): Ally's unusual therapist; Recommended to her by John Cage
• Dyan Cannon – Judge Jennifer 'Whipper' Cone (Season 1–3 / 17 Ep.): Judge who had a relationship with Richard Fish for a while. She later started her own law firm together with Renee Raddick
• Phil Leeds – Judge Dennis 'Happy' Boyle (Season 1–2 / 5 Ep.): A very old judge who was obsessed with dental hygiene
• Jesse L. Martin – Dr. Greg Butters' (Season 1–2 / 11 Ep.): A doctor whom Ally dated for quite a while
• Bruce Willis – Dr. Nickle (Season 2 / 1 Ep.): Filling in for Ally's therapist, Dr. Tracey Clark
• Gina Philips – Sandy Hingle (Season 3 / 13 Ep.): Billy Thomas' secretary whom he briefly dated after his divorce
• Lisa Edelstein – Cindy McCauliff (Season 4 / 5 Ep.): a transsexual whom Mark Albert dated for a while
• Anne Heche – Melanie West (Season 4 / 7 Ep.): A school teacher who had Tourette syndrome. She dated John Cage for a while
• Taye Diggs – Jackson Duper (Season 4 / 10 Ep.): a lawyer who worked at Cage & Fish for a while and was a love interest for Ling Woo
• Jennifer Holliday – Lisa Knowles (Season 1–4 / 6 Ep.): Lead choir singer at the local church who had a history with the reverend
• Harrison Page – Reverend Mark Newman (Season 1–4 / 6 Ep.): The reverend at the local church, who had a history with lead choir singer Lisa Knowles
• Josh Groban – Malcolm Wyatt (Season 4–5 / 2 Ep.): A teenager who hires Ally and ends up taking her to his High School Prom; gets help from Ally with the loss of his mother. (also sings "You're Still You" and "To Where You Are")
• John Michael Higgins – Steven Milter (Season 4–5 / 13 Ep.): An attorney who was also Ally's therapist for a while
• Barry Humphries (credited as Dame Edna Everage) – Claire Otoms (Season 5 / 12 Ep.): A client of Cage & Fish who later started working at the firm as a secretary
• Jon Bon Jovi – Victor Morrison (Season 5 / 10 Ep.): A plumber who was Ally's boyfriend for a short period of time
• Christina Ricci – Debbie 'Liza' Bump (Season 5 / 7 Ep.): a lawyer who worked at Cage & Fish and married Richard Fish in the last episode
• Matthew Perry – Attorney Todd Merrick (Season 5 / 2 Ep.)

Apart from these frequently recurring actors the show also saw a lot of cameo appearances by singers (as themselves), along with numerous other one-off celebrity guest stars:

• Barry White: Appeared for one of John Cage's birthday party
• Al Green: Ally saw him in her hallucinations
• Tina Turner: Ally won a contest to appear as backup singer for her
• Gloria Gaynor: Appears at the bar and in Ally's hallucinations after the death of Billy
• Chubby Checker: Appears at a twist contest
• Anastacia: Appears in a club when Richard and John go to Los Angeles
• Sting: Takes Larry as his lawyer for being sued by man accusing him to break up his marriage
• Elton John: Sung one night at the bar. Ling did not know him.
• Barry Manilow: Appears as a hallucination to Ally when Larry goes to Detroit to visit his son. Also sings at the bar later that night and Ally tries to punch him thinking him to be her hallucination.
• Mariah Carey: Appears as a woman in a trial against a company claiming to find the perfect match for everybody
• Macy Gray: Performs in the bar in one episode ("Hope and Glory", episode 20 of season 3)

Broadcasters

Country	TV network
Arab World	MBC
Australia	Seven Network and FX (Now W. Channel)
Austria	ORF1
Belgium	Kanaal Twee
Brazil	Fox Life (cable)
Bulgaria	BTV and Fox Life
Canada	CTV (English), ARTV (French), TVA (French)
Chile	Canal 13 , Fox Life (cable)
Colombia	Citytv Bogotá, Fox Life (cable)
Croatia	Nova TV
Czech Republic	Česká televize
Denmark	TV2
Estonia	TV3
Finland	MTV3
France	Téva, M6
Germany	VOX, Comedy Central
Hong Kong	ATV world
Hungary	Viasat 3
India	STAR World, Zee Cafe
Ireland	TV3
Israel	Channel 2, Channel 3
Italy	Canale 5, Italia 1, Sky Italia
Japan	NHK
Kenya	Kenya Television Network
Lithuania	TV3
Malaysia	NTV7
Mexico	Fox Life (cable)
Netherlands	RTL 8
New Zealand	TV2
Norway	TV 2
Philippines	RPN-9
Poland	Polsat, TV4, FOX Life
Portugal	TVI, FOX Life
Romania	PRO TV, Pro Cinema
Russia	Ren-TV
Serbia	RTS, RTV BK Telecom
Slovenia	POP TV, Kanal A
South Africa	SABC 3
South Korea	Home CGV
Spain	Telecinco (former broadcaster), Cuatro, FOX
Sweden	TV4
Taiwan
Thailand	True Series
Turkey	CNBC-E
United Kingdom	Channel 4, Paramount Comedy 1, Paramount Comedy 2, TMF, Zone Romantica
Venezuela	Televen, Fox Life (cable)

Ally McBeal in the U.S.

FX has shown Ally McBeal from 2001 to 2005. As a request, the show will return to American television very soon.

DVD

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, France, Germany, the UK, Mexico, Australia and Brazil. In the Netherlands it is not possible to purchase a single season, all the 5 seasons are available in a 'shoebox-set', and are not sold individually. The Brazilian edition doesn't have the "Pilot" episode.

DVD Name	Region 1	Region 2
Ally McBeal The Complete First Season	N/A	February 21, 2005
Ally McBeal The Complete Second Season	N/A	February 21, 2005
Ally McBeal The Complete Third Season	N/A	February 21, 2005
Ally McBeal The Complete Fourth Season	N/A	May 9, 2005
Ally McBeal The Complete Fifth Season	N/A	May 9, 2005

Awards and nominations

Awards won

Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Comedy Series (1999)
• Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Peter MacNicol (2001)

Golden Globe Awards:

• 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)

Screen Actors Guild:

• Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (1999)
• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Robert Downey Jr. (2001)

Preceded by Frasier	Emmy Award - Outstanding Comedy Series 1999	Succeeded by Will & Grace

Awards nominated

Emmy Awards:

• 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 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)

Golden Globe Awards:

• 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)

Screen Actors Guild:

• 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)

References

External links

• Ally McBeal TV Show
• Ally McBeal: Woman of the '90s or Retro Airhead
• Ally McBeal on Paramount Comedy