Production Year: 1997 - Drama - Director: James Frawley, Jonathan Pontell, Dennie Gordon, Arlene Sanford, Sandy Smolan, Victoria Hochberg, Mel Damski, Michael Schultz, Daniel Attias, Thomas Schlamme, Joe Napolitano, Allan Arkush - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Greg Germann, Lisa Nicole Carson, Jane Krakowski, Peter MacNicol, Gil Bellows, Vonda Shepard more
The professional and personal lives of a group of people who work for a law firm in America. Ally, the central character, adds to the events with her daydreams. Features the... more
of becoming emotionally neurotic. Sounds annoying? It can be. Sounds so-American? It can be. Sounds addictive? It will be... They are young successful lawyers ...
legal dramaLA Law, andThe Practice, the slick thirtysomething seriesAlly McBealhas never been out-and-out comedy but it spikes its exploration of emotional territory with sharp funny lines. Ally (Calista Flockhart) is a kookie cutie, a ditzy, skinny, single lawyer and we are privy to scenes from her overactive imagination (courtesy of CGI), surrounded by larger-than-life peripheral characters--almost grotesques--like outspoken boss Richard Fish (Greg Germann), nervy courtroom wizz John "The Biscuit" Cage (Peter MacNicol) and nosy secretary Elaine Vassal (Jane Krakowski). In later series these characters (including popular newcomers Lucy Lui and Portia de Rossi as frosty law babes Ling and Nelle) would edge towards one-dimensional caricatures as the same ground was retrodden relentlessly, but in this first series there is something compelling about the intrusive dynamics of this group of oddballs. The point is you don't have to like them to find them entertaining. Ally herself can be extremely irritating in a love-to-hate-her kind of a way. She is a curious dichotomy, a 1990s woman witha go-getting career and a penchant for her own way and yet with the romantic ideals of someone from another generation. Basically still hung up on ex-boyfriend Billy (Gil Bellows) who works for same Boston practice, alongside wife Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith), Ally is on the look out for her Prince Charming. The first series and its lead both garnered Golden Globes, a lot of gossip and a healthy audience for the Fox television network in America. Channel 4 snapped it up for British audiences who were intrigued, not least by the unisex toilets and sophisticated afterwork bar soirées where chanteuse Vonda Shepherd was always to be found crooning away in the corner. All in all,Ally McBealleaves you with the conundrum of wanting more but not being able to say why. --Emma Perry
legal dramaLA Law, andThe Practice, the slick thirtysomething seriesAlly McBealhas never been out-and-out comedy but it spikes its exploration of emotional territory with sharp funny lines. Ally (Calista Flockhart) is a kookie cutie, a ditzy, skinny, single lawyer and we are privy to scenes from her overactive imagination (courtesy of CGI), surrounded by larger-than-life peripheral characters--almost grotesques--like outspoken boss Richard Fish (Greg Germann), nervy courtroom wizz John "The Biscuit" Cage (Peter MacNicol) and nosy secretary Elaine Vassal (Jane Krakowski). In later series these characters (including popular newcomers Lucy Lui and Portia de Rossi as frosty law babes Ling and Nelle) would edge towards one-dimensional caricatures as the same ground was retrodden relentlessly, but in this first series there is something compelling about the intrusive dynamics of this group of oddballs. The point is you don't have to like them to find them entertaining. Ally herself can be extremely irritating in a love-to-hate-her kind of a way. She is a curious dichotomy, a 1990s woman witha go-getting career and a penchant for her own way and yet with the romantic ideals of someone from another generation. Basically still hung up on ex-boyfriend Billy (Gil Bellows) who works for same Boston practice, alongside wife Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith), Ally is on the look out for her Prince Charming. The first series and its lead both garnered Golden Globes, a lot of gossip and a healthy audience for the Fox television network in America. Channel 4 snapped it up for British audiences who were intrigued, not least by the unisex toilets and sophisticated afterwork bar soirées where chanteuse Vonda Shepherd was always to be found crooning away in the corner. All in all,Ally McBealleaves you with the conundrum of wanting more but not being able to say why. --Emma Perry
one Ally has been waiting for from day one: "Ally will you... move in with me?". As always Ally's romantic dreams never quite become a reality and the series continues within the Grimm Fairy Tale world of Ally's love (and quirky work) life. The most important twist this season occurs in the first episode "Sex, Lies and Second Thoughts"--the departure of Tracy Ullman and Ally's current beau, Brian, to be replaced by the series' new heart-throb Larry (Robert Downey Jr). Initially dating both father and son ("Two's a Crowd") Ally cannot help but become besotted by Larry's charisma; he being a fellow lawyer further seals their bond, that is until Larry's past comes back to haunt him.Other highlights include a quirky romance for John ("Reason to Belive"), a charity auction leading to an all male fan-club for John ("Love on Holiday") and a romantic connection for Mark--though the recipient of his affection may have hidden more than he bargained for. Unfortunately the series was outshone by the real-life drama of Calista Flockhart's and Downey's rocky relationship along with Downey's drugs convictions. Even though he won a Golden Globe for his performance, he ultimately had to be dropped from the series.On the DVD:Not much on offer here for Ally's début into the DVD market. The individual episode menu does offer a language selection of French and English and the subtitles for the Netherlands and French. You also have the option to select chapters from the specific episodes, along with a "previously onAlly McBeal..." for that little reminder of whom Ally is dating now. Although standard for a TV DVD release, the 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 2.0 Dolby sound is disappointing for a television series which offers ground-breaking use of special effects. --Nikki Disney
always inextricably linked. Nobody does anything in the "Cage and Fish" firm without their colleagues knowing about it, including going to the toilet. Kelley is as willing as always to embrace implausible coincidence in his storylines for the pay-off of maintaining the high pace and dramatic neatness.Our anti-heroine Ally McBeal starts her third season with a wet, wordless fling in a car wash with Jason Gedrick, and it's no surprise that Ally ends up facing Gedrick at the altar when a client asks her to be bridesmaid. With the entire firm invited along as guests, can she keep quiet about the groom? Well, you know Ally--she may not have any lasting success in the romance department but it's a subject she feels very strongly about. The third season sees fewer CGI expressions of Ally's thoughts and imagination, but the drama is just as colourful. Billy's increasing concerns over the balance of male and female power manifests itself in his newly dyed blond hair and his hiring of six PVC-clad women to follow him around boosting his testosterone. Other highlights include Ally exploring her lesbian side with Ling, Elaine posing as John's "fluffer" to banish his sexual insecurities and an explosive Thanksgiving party at Ally's. There are plotlines within Series 3 which stretch plausibility, such as finding out that Ally's dad is the man Georgia's been snogging to forget her husband's metamorphosis into a blonde-haired, sexist egomaniac.Ally McBealdoes have the tendency to descend into sickening sentimental tosh, like all the "child inside" nonsense in Episode 11, but that aside, it continues to provide escapist entertainment of the first order. --Emma Perry
Richard Fish's rather kooky establishment. Ally (Calista Flockhart) was still a skinny, whimsical woman-child looking for Mr Right. Billy (Gil Bellows) was still married to Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith), John Cage (Peter McNicol) was still too eccentric to be considered for romantic involvement, Elaine (Jane Krakowski) was still a nosey meddler and Fish (Greg Germann) himself was still looking for ways to make money. Lots of it. Greed prompts him to hire new litigator Nelle (Portia DiRossi), a tall, blonde power-dresser who leaves the other women bristling in her wake. But their antipathy towards their new colleague is nothing compared to the forces of hatred spiky Ling (Lucy Liu) inspires. Before long John (The Biscuit) and Nelle are embarking on a tempestuous romance, Ally is stealing Elaine's new boyfriend before going out with one of Georgia's exes and Billy begins to show the signs of instability which lead to him to bleach his hair blonde in the following season. Ally's outspoken flatmate Renee (Lisa Nicole Carson) got a welcome increase in her time on screen in this second season. Despite the sheer number of episodes David E Kelley and his team turn around each year, this second series consistently provided entertaining viewing to the last, despite--or perhaps because of--some of the characters being so unlikable. The inter-office banter reached new heights of inventive bitchiness, the comic CGI illustrations of Ally's imagination still felt reasonably fresh and the court cases managed to combine oddity with emotional involvement. All in all this group of dysfunctional and rather incestuous workaholics proved curiously engaging yet again. --Emma Perry
now-married-to-someone-else childhood sweetheart, and an incredibly overactive imagination that's working overtime!The Complete Season One On 6 DiscsDisc 1;- Pilot- Compromising Positions- The Kiss- The AffairDisc 2;- One Hundred Tears Away- The Promise- The Attitude- Drawing The LinesDisc 3;- The Dirty Joke- Boy To The World- Silver Bells- Cro-MagnonDisc 4;- The Blame- Body Language- Once In A Lifetime- Forbidden FruitsDisc 5;- Theme Of Life- The Playing Field- Happy Birthday, Baby- The InmatesDisc 6;- Being There- Alone Again- These Are The Days.
Production Year: 1981 - Drama - Director: Franco Zeffirelli - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Brooke Shields, Martin Hewitt, Shirley Knight, Don Murray, Richard Kiley, Penelope Milford, Beatrice Straight
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
A review by Achtel on Ally McBeal - Season 1 (M-Lock Packaging) (DVD) November 14th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Good
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Good
How does it compare to similar films?
Not applicable
Advantages:
sexy, sassy, absolutely crazy and shows that normal people don't really exist
Disadvantages:
addictive, you might abandon your idea of a stable world where everyone acts entirely reasonable
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
After having watched all episodes of Sex and the City and Friends at least twice I had to find a new "addiction". I had watched a few random episodes from Ally McBeal on TV before and quite enjoyed it so when I saw the HMV offer for the complete first season of Ally McBeal for 9.99 I thought it was time to give it a go.
The first season has 22 episodes plus the trailer, all of which you will find on the 6 discs that make up the box set.
*DISC 1* 0. Pilot 1. Compromising positions 2. The kiss 3. The affair
*DISC 2* 4. One hundred tears away 5. The promise 6. The attitude 7. Drawing the lines
*DISC 3* 8. The dirty joke 9. Boy to the world 10. Silver bells 11. Cro-Magnon
*DISC 4* 12. The blame game 13. Body language 14. Once in a lifetime 15. Forbidden fruits
*DISC 5* 16. Theme of life 17. The playing field 18. Happy birthday Baby 19. The inmates
*DISC 6* 20. Being there 21. Alone again 22. These are the days
I will try to introduce you to the main characters of the show, but I won't elaborate every single episode in detail, since I believe that's not what this review is about. If you want to know more details about any individual episode there are several sources on the Internet that will describe it in minute detail. However, from my point of view this will only spoil the fun when actually watching the DVDs because you will already anticipate what's going to happen and one of the many things I like about Ally McBeal is that you could have never guessed what they do or how they'll handle a situation.
*The Characters*
ALLY - our protagonist. She is probably best described as nuts. And don't tell me I'm politically incorrect - here's what she said herself: "I like being a mess. It's who I am."
When we meet Ally she's just left law school and has taken on her first job in a law firm in Boston. After a sexual harassment incident she decides to leave and, still carrying her belongings in a box, she bumbs into Richard Fish, a class mate from law school who convinces her to work in his firm. This is where Ally meets Billy Thompson, whom she once had a very serious and long relationship with in high school and law school. It turns out that Billy got married in the mean time, which basically throws us into Ally's world of chaos and melodrama.
Ally herself is a highly unstable character with "first class" mood swings and a very vivid fantasy. She is single when we meet her and will spend most of season 1 looking for and going on dates.
BILLY - Handsome but married would be quite an accurate summary. He knows Ally since they were 8 and was in a relationship with her until he decided to leave Harvard and advance his career in Massachusetts. Since then, he and Ally have lost touch and it's only when Ally joins Richard's firm that they are to meet again. Meanwhile Billy has married Georgia, who is a lawyer herself. Billy's friendship with Ally will - not surprisingly - cause problems, but these problems are not just related to his marriage but also to his relationship with Ally.
GEORGIA - gorgeous, blond, long legs. But you wouldnt wanna be in her shoes when Billy and Ally meet again. Her character is not really developed in the first season, which changes when she and Ally decide that is probably best to become friends instead of secretly hating each other.
RICHARD - Like Billy and Ally, Richard went to Harvard Law School which is how they know each other. He is depicted as a person with low morale who is only concerned about money. During the whole season you still never have any negative feelings against him and his reactions will usually just cause a "so typical Richard".
JOHN - nicknamed the biscuit (because of his height), John is probably - next to Ally - the most peculiar character of the show. He is co-founder of the law firm and a very successful litigator. John is one of the characters that you will frequently see in court defending the most bizarre cases. He has a thing about Barry White and is nose never stops whistling.
RENEE - Ally's room mate is a district attorney and also single. Contrary to Ally though she usually uses her sexuality to make herself noticed. She is confident and outgoing and usually the one Ally runs to when she's in trouble.
ELAINE - Ally's assistant. She knows all the gossip in the office and is quite happy to call herself a slut. A very insecure woman underneath, she usually tries to draw attention to herself to cover those deficiencies.
Now that you know the characters, I would like to briefly outline a few situations that you will encounter during the season. These don't claim to be complete, and shall only spark your curiosity:
- Ally is asked to be pallbearer at the funeral of her ex-law professor when it is revealed that they had an affair when Ally was a student - Ally fights over a last pack of crisps in a supermarket and gets arrested - Ally insults a rabbi while trying to get spiritual release for her client - Elaine starts a sexual harassment case against the law firm - Ally tries to tell a dirty joke in the bar - when his uncle dies, Richard hires a gospel singer to belt out a song about short people after the eulogy in order to commemorate his relative - Ally and John handle the case of three adults seeking legal marriage - Ally, Renee and Georgia sculpt nude males in an art class - Ally sees dancing babies - Ally, following advice from her new therapist, is picking a theme song to help her deal with problems - Ally faces a 10-year old lawyer and makes him cry - Renee is arrested on assault and battery
I hope this gives a good enough insight into how turbulent the first season really is. I found every single episode capturing and often watched a second one straight away to see how situations develop.
The episodes of the DVD first appeared on TV in 1997 and won 4 Golden Globes over time. It's definitely the right show for you if you want to convince yourself that there isn't such a thing as a "normal person" and you can bear Ally's emotional highs and lows and especially the frequently changing nature of these - which, I have to admit, some people could probably describe as annoying. The show isn't for you if you prefer serious and straightforward law shows that focus on cases rather than on the people involved - but even then you might enjoy the change :-)
Except for the option to view the episodes in French (which I never did because I don't speak French) and subtitles in French, Dutch and English for the hearing impaired, you won't find any special features on the DVDs. One reason for this might be the fact that it is a rather old release (1997 as I mentioned) and special features just became somewhat fashionable much later.
Since I'm reviewing the DVD and not just the series, I will only give 4 stars overall - for the lack of extra features. However, if I would only rate the episodes of the first season, I'd definitely award 5 stars!
Advantages: Fantastic comedy, great stories, fantastic cast Disadvantages: None
Only in Ally Mcbeal would you hear people talking about computer sex, showing off face bra's and sniffing each others butts.
From writer David. E. Kelly, (Boston Legal and Chicago Hope) comes this fantastic comedy which is Ally McBeal. Airing between 1997 to 2001, Ally McBeal was a fantastic hit both in the states and here in the UK, (Channel 4).
Season One starts with us meeting Ally (Calista Flockhart) as a child. She sniffed the butt of a boy ... ...went off to law school, Ally simply following Billy there, but Billy decided to end it with Ally. So Ally completed law school on her own.
Many years later, Ally gets fired from her law firm and bumps into an old friend, Richard Fish (Greg Germann) who hires her to work as his law firm. So Ally starts work and then finds out Billy works there with his new wife.
So that's the scene set. What can you expect from the rest of the season? Well without ...
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Plot: The professional and personal lives of a group of people who work for a law firm in America. Ally, the central character, adds to the events with her daydreams. Features the episodes 'Pilot', 'Compromising Positions', 'The Attitude', 'Drawing The Lines', 'One Hundred Tears Away', 'The Promise', 'Silver Bells', 'The Dirty Joke', 'Boy To The World' and 'The Kiss'.
DVD Description
The professional and personal lives of a group of people who work for a law firm in America. Ally, the central character, adds to the events with her daydreams. Features the episodes 'Pilot', 'Compromising Positions', 'The Attitude', 'Drawing The Lines', 'One Hundred Tears Away', 'The Promise', 'Silver Bells', 'The Dirty Joke', 'Boy To The World' and 'The Kiss'.
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Deluxe Video Service - Fox
Release date: 21/02/2005
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: 29197 MDVD
Barcode: 5039036019552
Languages
Main Language: English
Hearing Impaired Language: English
Technical information
Special Features: Interactive Menus, Scene Access
Aspect Ratio: Full Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 English
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Listed on Ciao since : 10/05/2005
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