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Ally McBeal
| Ally McBeal | |
 | |
| Premiere | September 8, 1997 |
| Finale | May 20, 2002 |
| Creator | David E. Kelley |
| Network/Provider | FOX |
| Style | 60-minute drama / comedy |
| Company | David E. Kelley Productions, 20th Century Fox Television |
| Seasons | 5 |
| Episodes | 112 + 1 special |
| Origin | USA |
Ally McBeal is a program about a young female attorney who gets hired by the law firm in which her childhood boyfriend works and finds out he is now married. This show differs from the other law firm centric show produced by David E. Kelley during the same time The Practice in that it focuses more on the characters' lives and relationships and is less realistic, which leaves the writers much more freedom.
The show is set in Boston MA on the two last floors of a building on 14 Beacon Street. It is a law firm called Cage & Fish, started by John Cage and Richard Fish whose main goal in life is earning as much money as possible.
Ally McBeal is a young and a little crazy lawyer. Right after being fired from her previous employer she gets hired at Cage & Fish and meets her ex-boyfriend and first love ever Billy Thomas. She soon meets Billy's wife Georgia Thomas and discovers she still has strong feelings for Billy. This triangular relationship is the center of the plot until the middle of the third season, where Billy dies.
Besides that main story, each episode has a theme regarding Ally's or the other characters' lives or the cases they defend in court. Themes vary from fun and lighthearted (first date/kiss, loosing the spirit of Christmas, size of men's penises) to grave ones (death, mental illness or handicap).
The show received many famous guests during its five years on air, like Barry White, Al Green, Tina Turner, Barry Manilow and Sting. Music plays an important part in the show, as Ally often hears some in her head and John Cage uses Barry White's music to motivate himself in court and in bed.
In the fourth season, Robert Downey, Jr. was brought in to play Larry Paul, Ally's new love of life, to revamp the ratings but got fired before the end of the season. A lot of new characters were introduced during the fifth and last season in the hope of rescueing the audience but the Fox eventually decided to discontinue the show, which lead to a beautiful finale, Bygones.
Contents |
Cast
Seasons
| Season | Premiere | Finale | # | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOX | ||||||
| Season One | September 8, 1997 | May 18, 1998 | 23 | |||
| Season Two | September 14, 1998 | May 24, 1999 | 23 + 1 | |||
| Season Three | October 25, 1999 | May 15, 2000 | 21 | |||
| Season Four | October 23, 2000 | May 21, 2001 | 23 | |||
| Season Five | October 29, 2001 | May 20, 2002 | 22 | |||
In-Depth
- At a Glance: Additional information about the series
DVD Releases
| Title | Release | Discs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complete Series (Region 1) | ||||||
| The Complete Series | October 6, 2009 | purchase | 31 + 1 | |||
| Season Sets (Region 1) | ||||||
| The Complete First Season | October 6, 2009 | purchase | 6 | |||
| The Complete Second Season | April 6, 2010 | purchase | 6 | |||
| The Complete Third Season | October 5, 2010 | purchase | 6 | |||
| The Complete Fourth Season | October 5, 2010 | purchase | 6 | |||
| The Complete Fifth Season | October 5, 2010 | purchase | 6 | |||
| 'Best Of' Collections (Region 1) | ||||||
| Ally on Sex and the Single Life | January 11, 2000 | 2 | ||||
External Sites
- Ally McBeal on IMDb
- Ally McBeal transcripts at TWIZ TV.com
