Ally McBeal - The Complete DVD Collection

Ally McBeal is one Of the most lovable comedy dramas to bless our TV screens. The series has risen in popularity recently due to Calista Flockhart's role in Brothers and Sisters, but for some reason the first time the show ran was nowhere near as successful as it should've been... probably because, if I remember correctly, it was shown during the week in the middle of the day (long before TiVo caught on). Anyway, Ally McBeal brings together some of the quirkiest and entertaining characters in TV history. Romantic, hilarious and addictive. Many comedies about law firms have been attempted since Ally's 5 year run, but I have yet to see one as great as Ally McBeal, this is probably due to Ally's amazing cast, originality, gripping plot lines and quality writing.

SEASON ONE - The series starts and sets the tone quickly. Fantasist lawyer Ally get's fired from her old job after attempting to sue a co-worker for sexually harassing her. Ally runs into the self absorbed and materialistic Richard Fish (Greg Germann) and is offered a job at `Cage and Fish' only to discover her long lost love Billy Thomas works there... and he's married! We are introduced to Ally's roommate Renee: A sassy lawyer who doesn't take nonsense (Lisa Nicole Carson), John Cage: The lovable little odd bod and partner of Cage and Fish who becomes one of Ally's best friend (Peter MacNicol), Elaine: Ally's assistant and the firm's very own nymphomaniac (Jane Krakowski of '30 Rock') and of course Billy's wife Georgia (Courtney Thorne Smith of `According to Jim')

SEASON TWO - This is the season where things heat up in pretty much every way. Sexual tension between Ally and Billy becomes far too strong to ignore and turbulence rises in the love triangle. Portia DeRossi is introduced as Ice Queen rainmaker, Nelle Porter and her best friend Ling Woo (Lucy Liu) and both of them create some sharp insensitive humour throughout. Emotional strain causes Ally to struggle telling the difference between her fantasies and reality cause friends to worry about her health.

SEASON THREE- The season where everything changes! Billy becomes a sexist pig in response to his difficulties with Georgia. Georgia files for a divorce and kisses Ally's father. Elaine fights for custody of a baby who has been abandoned by its mother. Renee starts her own practice. The entire cast is shocked to the core when a much loved main character suddenly dies in this heartbreaking season that will change the lives of Ally and everyone she works with.

SEASON FOUR- It looks like Ally may have finally found love in the form of Larry Paul (Robert Downey Jr). This season is much more light hearted but still very entertaining. Now that Ally is in a serious relationship, will her neuroses hinder her seemingly finished quest for true love?

SEASON FIVE- The final season of the show. A lot of "new blood" is brought in, Renee is gone with no reason given (until the finale) but other than that, the characters we have loved for four years wave the show goodbye in great fashion. Dame Edna Everage guest stars as Claire Otams throughout which is hilarious. Ally gets the shock of her life when she becomes a mother. Ling is asked to be a judge. Richard may have found a woman to be his wife (Christina Ricci no less). John moves to Mexico to escape feeling unneeded and Ally tries to hunt him down. Also guest starring Hayden Panetierre (Heroes) and Jon Bon Jovi. The finale is a huge tear jerker but finishes in a way that leaves the series in our hearts

Buy it...you'll laugh out loud, you'll cry, you'll gasp, you'll fall in love with the characters...buy it!

I completley agree with another reviewer..you have to be a little bit mad to actually enjoy Ally to the full.
Make no bones, this isn't no Friends, no Sex in The City, nowhere near a 'girly series'. This is an incredible and mindblowing, and possibly life-changing series that is so well written its almost impossible to comprehend the intelligence of the writer.
Ally will make you cry, male or female, because it gets through all your barriers and certain episodes just hit raw nerves that seem so well protected. The comedy is not canned laughter, its sublime, and was never really intended to be a 'laugh a minute series', its a lot more serious than that.
All of the characters are fantastic in their own right but Ally and John Cage steal the show with some dialogue, and closing arguments in court, that will leave you thinking about your life and where you are at for a very long time.
I watched Ally the first time round, maybe 9 years ago, and own all the box sets. Ive just started to watch them again, and ive just started to think again.....
Forget the Sopranos, this is the work of a genius.....

I had forgotten that the early episodes of this series were a bit creaky. and at first Ally seemed
so young, goofy and nervous that she felt more like a teenager than a smart 27 year old lawyer.

But by episode 5 or the show and the character finds it's stride. And if it doesn't quite measure
up to the best 'grown up' TV of today, it still deserves praise for being one of the series that broke
the mold of what a TV show was supposed to be in the US

It had an openness to complicated tones that seamlessly mixed wild, sometimes surreal humor,
more subtle humor and drama, to long story arcs and not easily solved once a week problems,
and to being more about character than event, making TV a more novelistic and sometimes
cinematic medium in the process.

Certainly Ally McBeal wasn't the first show to do any of these things, but it was one of the first
shows that was a big success with these new approaches, and that helped paved the way for
many of the best dramas dramadies and comedies on American TV in the years since.

I'll admit, with years of even braver shows since, Ally McBeal no longer feels quite as special, and
in fact now feels a little limited. Especially with DVDs allowing more than once a week viewing,
a certain sameness to Ally's constantly fearful, broken heart and her funny/sad attempts to overcome
it starts to plague the show.

But there's still a lot to enjoy here. The performances are terrific from top to bottom, and every
'silly' character is given their serious and moving moments, and every 'serious' character is allowed
to be laugh-out-loud funny at times. Special mention has to be made of Peter MacNichol's 'The Biscuit',
one of the oddest, funniest characters to actually work brilliantly in any series.

The writing is sharp and full of wit and pathos. The music is integrated in a way that was rare for
TV before, but much imitated since, with montages to songs played and sung by Vonda Shepard
(a great voice) who often also appears in the series as a singer at the lead characters favorite after
hours watering hole.

I do have to say, some of the music now feels, in retrospect, too on the nose. The songs chosen (or written) almost
always have lyrics that are too spot on, too obvious a commentary on the action, That good and bad
side to the music sort of sums up my perspective on the series looking at it again in 2011. I appreciate and admire
it for what it gave us and TV, I still enjoy it, but I'm no longer just blown away by it ' not in a world of Breaking Bad,
Weeds, Mad Men, Nurse Jackie, Arrested Development, etc. etc.