Amazon.co.uk Review
Ally McBeal, the hit TV series, has become a pop-culture sensation. A hip blend of romance, fantasy and realism the programme has inspired much debate and discussion among critics, feminists and fans. (Perhaps the main interest in the show has centred on the fact that all the main characters are grappling with the very 1990s question: can any of us really "have it all"?).
The Complete Guide is an indispensable source-book to accompany the award-winning series. The book contains a full profile on star Calista Flockhart from the media's fixation with her weight to the low-down on her other acting roles. There are biographies of the other cast members, an episode guide to both series, a small number of colour photographs and details of the numerous websites.
Ally McBeal is a perplexing series that splits viewers into two camps: those who love and those who loathe the show. It fuels such passions because the programme itself refuses to answer the questions it raises about what it means to be a modern woman, what a modern woman's role-model should or could be, and what a show aimed at modern women should be like. Is an emotionally overcharged weight-obsessed neurotic a parody of, or a sympathetic take on, modern women? The Complete Guide is a great companion piece and an informed look at the controversies the Ally McBeal phenomenon engenders. --Nicola Hollins
Synopsis
The American television series "Ally McBeal" is an aggressively female chronicle of an emotionally overcharged modern woman and her quest for love, happiness and career fulfilment. This guide to the series includes photographs of the cast and set, and material from the show and its creators.