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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Ally McBeal, Calista Flockhart, and Vonda Shepard fans are finally being given the entire first season of the groundbreaking, and wildly entertaining, show--all 23 episodes and original music collected and presented as originally broadcast. What a treat! David E. Kelley presents a legal series set in Boston (two of his favorite subjects) with a believable heroine reportedly loosely based on his lovely actress wife, Michelle Pfeiffer. As played by Flockhart, Ally is an intellectual, a brilliant legal mind--and one of the most neurotic young heroines ever to grace TV screens. It's not that Ally isn't confident--given a thorny legal issue or complex case, she's one of the best. But Ally's rocky love life, and vivid imaginations that materialize right in the middle of a scene, make her believable, slightly annoying, and altogether endearing.
Ally McBeal rocketed Flockhart to stardom when it first aired in 1997, and rightly so. Her Ally is nervous, hard on herself, yearning, vulnerable, a girl's girl still secretly (and not so secretly) hoping for Mr. Right. As a young associate at the law firm of Cage & Fish (Peter MacNicol and Greg Germann), Ally has to navigate around working with her first true love, Billy Campbell (Gil Bellows), who's now married to yet another associate, Georgia Thomas (Courtney Thorne-Smith). The entire cast throw themselves into their comic/serious/absurd roles and stemwinders--many of which take place in the now-infamous single-sex restroom.
Ally McBeal also launched the careers of Jane Krakowski (30 Rock), Lucy Liu (Charlie's Angels), and Portia de Rossi (Arrested Development). Additionally, it shone the spotlight on a crazy-talented singer-songwriter named Vonda Shepard, whose music provides the theme song ("Searchin' My Soul") and who anchors most of the episodes as a local bar singer reinterpreting '60s soul through a late-'90s prism--brilliantly. The boxed set has not only every episode, but every memorable Shepherd song from the first season for the true fan. Bring on the dancing babies! --A.T. Hurley
Stills from Ally McBeal: The Complete First Season (Click for larger image)
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Product Description
All 23 episodes from Season 1 on 6 discs – on DVD for the first time ever.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
I just watched the Ally McBeal pilot again. David Kelley and Calista Flockhart were born for each other like Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick.
Calista is radiant. She is not quite beautiful, not exactly pretty, no raging sex-pot; but the total combination is irresistible. You can't keep your eyes off her. She can be a waif, then a courtroom shark, with no time and no transition. And she pulls it off. She is Ally McBeal, and she changed the culture in the process.
The show is outrageous. The music, the graphics illustrating hilariously how Ally feels from moment to moment; Cage, Fish, the sexiest woman ever on television--roommate Renee, played to mouthwatering perfect by Lisa Nicole Carson; Elaine--a whole new category of character. It was such a high-wire act that only pure genius could have kept it up for five seasons.
I loved every minute of it. I miss it. I can't wait to own it.
If you haven't seen it, see it. If you have, it's time to get reacquainted with these quirky old friends.
Now, pardon me, please. I'm going to watch Episode 2.
Calista is radiant. She is not quite beautiful, not exactly pretty, no raging sex-pot; but the total combination is irresistible. You can't keep your eyes off her. She can be a waif, then a courtroom shark, with no time and no transition. And she pulls it off. She is Ally McBeal, and she changed the culture in the process.
The show is outrageous. The music, the graphics illustrating hilariously how Ally feels from moment to moment; Cage, Fish, the sexiest woman ever on television--roommate Renee, played to mouthwatering perfect by Lisa Nicole Carson; Elaine--a whole new category of character. It was such a high-wire act that only pure genius could have kept it up for five seasons.
I loved every minute of it. I miss it. I can't wait to own it.
If you haven't seen it, see it. If you have, it's time to get reacquainted with these quirky old friends.
Now, pardon me, please. I'm going to watch Episode 2.
23 of 29 people found the following review helpful
(Warning: Some minor spoilers on later seasons or boyfriends-of-the-week!)
Ally McBeal is a well put-together show, shinily produced, and the actors are all terrific, but going back and revisiting the show years later was definitely a shock. I'd remembered thoroughly enjoying some episodes, while becoming increasingly dissatisfied as it went along, so it's interesting to go back and re-view the pilot and early episodes and wow, everything I disliked is right there up front after all.
I realize I'm one of the few, so feel free to click "not helpful" and I will totally understand.
But hear me out.
The show is cute on the surface but the farther down you go, the meaner its spirit and less deep it becomes (a real paradox). Dig deep and there's no "there" there.
The show's premise is that Ally is this sweet, hapless waif who just wants love (specifically, the guy who dumped her), and who also wants to be seen as a good person -- while consistently making a neverending series of questionable, shallow, egotistical or downright disturbing choices. The law firm is supposed to be cool, edgy and awesome, but eight hours at that firm and the harrassment suits would be flying. Most of the men are not conventionally handsome, which is fine, except that they're also generally painted as massive entitled jerks who are nevertheless incessantly desired and/or pursued by the firm's females, almost all of whom are gorgeous ice-queen types. The more imperfect the man on this show? The more perfect the actress playing his love interest is guaranteed to be. The show's supposed to be be this single-girl fantasy comedy but in fact is much more a man's fantasy at heart (which is unfortunately where too many of Kelley's shows seem to end up).
Yet of course these same women are ALSO willing to make out with each other on a moment's notice (especially for sweeps) -- but of course, never in a way that implies actual homosexuality or bisexuality (because that would mean they had actual depth, feelings or character progression), so it's mostly just staged in a prurient "Look! Hot chicks making out!" kind of way. This is never clearer than in the storyline where Ally falls for a coffehouse owner played by a terrific Mark Feuerstein, and the entire episode is really charming until Ally -- who has actively explored her sexual feelings for another woman on the show (forget that it was obviously a sweeps stunt, it counts) -- dumps the guy because she is unwilling to tolerate the fact that he has a same-sex relationship in his past and she is grossed out at her mental image of him kissing another guy. (The total stunning hypocrisy of this episode was, for me, the one where my dislike for the show blazed into white-hot hatred.)
Back in the day, the show tried to position its not-so-candy center as "daring" -- like it's speaking from the id all those secrets people don't typically share -- but really it's just all really kind of shallow and disturbing. Ally's ex continues to flirt with her incessantly right in front of his current wife. The same guy hires supermodels to accompany him music-video-style from meeting to meeting so he'll look virile. Ally is asked why her problems are more important than anyone else's and she coolly responds, "They're mine." A secretary smugly tells a heartbroken lawyer at the firm he can "use her [for sex]" anytime. Various geeks, losers, and unnattractive clients are paraded through court with their cases constantly hinging on characters ostensibly revealing the hidden truth of reality -- that they deserve to lose love, jobs, opportunities, etc., because they're ugly/geeky/losers and life is cruel. It's all oh so edgy.
The show has moments of real cuteness, but every time, manages to ruin a sweet moment. The show really seems out to show us that there are no truly good people, that imperfect (or God for bid, ugly) people are secretly not loved, only tolerated, and that Ally's inability to find love has nothing to do with her utter narcissism, self-centered smugness, her shrill whining when her perfect life is only 98% perfect, her terrible choices, or her blatant egotism... she's just painted over and over again as this cute plucky girl with bad luck, still wishing on a star. When time and again, her own behavior is what directly leads to her unhappiness. For instance, Ally sees a gorgeous guy and actually hits him with her car in order to get his number. The guy (Craig Bierko) is handsome, successful, caring and generous, and goes out with her even after she admits she ran into him on purpose. With her car. (Gah!) Then what does she do? Dumps him almost immediately because of a minor character quirk (he has an annoying laugh). Multiply this times twenty or thirty and that's Ally McBeal in a nutshell. Ally's quirks are to be cherished, but not those of anyone else. (Speaking of which, the fantasy scenes are cute but get old fast, and the special effects are often really shoddy -- and don't even get me started on the freaking dancing baby). Most episodes end with plucky little lonely/wistful Ally, still determined to find love, usually after crushing someone else's dreams in the previous 55 minutes, of course. Then cue the appropriate utterly interchangeable Vonda Shepard tune just in time for closing credits.
It's interesting that watching on digital video, in close sequence, actually exacerbates the show's flaws. We don't have a week to forget how shallow or inexcusably selfish Ally was last week -- instead, she's at it again, just moments later.
And that's all before the incomprehensibly bad final season. As with most of David E. Kelley's shows -- he consistently seems to become bored with his own shows by the last one or two seasons, often completely rewriting characters or 'retconning' them (see also "Chicago Hope" and its horrible final episode, etc.) Here, the final season -- after a rare bright spot with Robert Downey Jr., who miraculously makes everyone sort of bearable again for a brief moment -- means the show is finally as bad on the outside as it had seemed already on the inside. If that makes sense.
I know I'm in a minority, so I just want to close by saying that those who enjoy the show, more power to you. And truly, I have no problem with grayscale or unlikeable characters -- I loved "Arrested Development," for instance. But I do mind that a show that seems to think that it is "cute" adorable empowering candy-coated awesomeness, when it's actually kind of troublingly shallow, nihilistic, sexist and cringeworthy at heart. But maybe it's all just me. (Bygones!)
Ally McBeal is a well put-together show, shinily produced, and the actors are all terrific, but going back and revisiting the show years later was definitely a shock. I'd remembered thoroughly enjoying some episodes, while becoming increasingly dissatisfied as it went along, so it's interesting to go back and re-view the pilot and early episodes and wow, everything I disliked is right there up front after all.
I realize I'm one of the few, so feel free to click "not helpful" and I will totally understand.
But hear me out.
The show is cute on the surface but the farther down you go, the meaner its spirit and less deep it becomes (a real paradox). Dig deep and there's no "there" there.
The show's premise is that Ally is this sweet, hapless waif who just wants love (specifically, the guy who dumped her), and who also wants to be seen as a good person -- while consistently making a neverending series of questionable, shallow, egotistical or downright disturbing choices. The law firm is supposed to be cool, edgy and awesome, but eight hours at that firm and the harrassment suits would be flying. Most of the men are not conventionally handsome, which is fine, except that they're also generally painted as massive entitled jerks who are nevertheless incessantly desired and/or pursued by the firm's females, almost all of whom are gorgeous ice-queen types. The more imperfect the man on this show? The more perfect the actress playing his love interest is guaranteed to be. The show's supposed to be be this single-girl fantasy comedy but in fact is much more a man's fantasy at heart (which is unfortunately where too many of Kelley's shows seem to end up).
Yet of course these same women are ALSO willing to make out with each other on a moment's notice (especially for sweeps) -- but of course, never in a way that implies actual homosexuality or bisexuality (because that would mean they had actual depth, feelings or character progression), so it's mostly just staged in a prurient "Look! Hot chicks making out!" kind of way. This is never clearer than in the storyline where Ally falls for a coffehouse owner played by a terrific Mark Feuerstein, and the entire episode is really charming until Ally -- who has actively explored her sexual feelings for another woman on the show (forget that it was obviously a sweeps stunt, it counts) -- dumps the guy because she is unwilling to tolerate the fact that he has a same-sex relationship in his past and she is grossed out at her mental image of him kissing another guy. (The total stunning hypocrisy of this episode was, for me, the one where my dislike for the show blazed into white-hot hatred.)
Back in the day, the show tried to position its not-so-candy center as "daring" -- like it's speaking from the id all those secrets people don't typically share -- but really it's just all really kind of shallow and disturbing. Ally's ex continues to flirt with her incessantly right in front of his current wife. The same guy hires supermodels to accompany him music-video-style from meeting to meeting so he'll look virile. Ally is asked why her problems are more important than anyone else's and she coolly responds, "They're mine." A secretary smugly tells a heartbroken lawyer at the firm he can "use her [for sex]" anytime. Various geeks, losers, and unnattractive clients are paraded through court with their cases constantly hinging on characters ostensibly revealing the hidden truth of reality -- that they deserve to lose love, jobs, opportunities, etc., because they're ugly/geeky/losers and life is cruel. It's all oh so edgy.
The show has moments of real cuteness, but every time, manages to ruin a sweet moment. The show really seems out to show us that there are no truly good people, that imperfect (or God for bid, ugly) people are secretly not loved, only tolerated, and that Ally's inability to find love has nothing to do with her utter narcissism, self-centered smugness, her shrill whining when her perfect life is only 98% perfect, her terrible choices, or her blatant egotism... she's just painted over and over again as this cute plucky girl with bad luck, still wishing on a star. When time and again, her own behavior is what directly leads to her unhappiness. For instance, Ally sees a gorgeous guy and actually hits him with her car in order to get his number. The guy (Craig Bierko) is handsome, successful, caring and generous, and goes out with her even after she admits she ran into him on purpose. With her car. (Gah!) Then what does she do? Dumps him almost immediately because of a minor character quirk (he has an annoying laugh). Multiply this times twenty or thirty and that's Ally McBeal in a nutshell. Ally's quirks are to be cherished, but not those of anyone else. (Speaking of which, the fantasy scenes are cute but get old fast, and the special effects are often really shoddy -- and don't even get me started on the freaking dancing baby). Most episodes end with plucky little lonely/wistful Ally, still determined to find love, usually after crushing someone else's dreams in the previous 55 minutes, of course. Then cue the appropriate utterly interchangeable Vonda Shepard tune just in time for closing credits.
It's interesting that watching on digital video, in close sequence, actually exacerbates the show's flaws. We don't have a week to forget how shallow or inexcusably selfish Ally was last week -- instead, she's at it again, just moments later.
And that's all before the incomprehensibly bad final season. As with most of David E. Kelley's shows -- he consistently seems to become bored with his own shows by the last one or two seasons, often completely rewriting characters or 'retconning' them (see also "Chicago Hope" and its horrible final episode, etc.) Here, the final season -- after a rare bright spot with Robert Downey Jr., who miraculously makes everyone sort of bearable again for a brief moment -- means the show is finally as bad on the outside as it had seemed already on the inside. If that makes sense.
I know I'm in a minority, so I just want to close by saying that those who enjoy the show, more power to you. And truly, I have no problem with grayscale or unlikeable characters -- I loved "Arrested Development," for instance. But I do mind that a show that seems to think that it is "cute" adorable empowering candy-coated awesomeness, when it's actually kind of troublingly shallow, nihilistic, sexist and cringeworthy at heart. But maybe it's all just me. (Bygones!)
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Doobster6
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
When the series first came out I remember thinking how creative the writers all were and being pleasantly surprised by the unexpected complexity and depth of the characters, at least for a sitcom. A decade later it's still funny and at times, even thought provoking. Even though the ground they broke then has since been thoroughly tilled by the many series that followed, the topics and issues are still relevant. My wife and I are enjoying it!!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Never Disappoints
As funny as ever, no matter how many times I watch it. I've been given over to belly laughs more than once.
Published 1 day ago by H. Kim
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great reruns
Great reruns to watch while ironing. Music by Vonda Shephard. Free on Amazon Prime which keeps track of which episode you are on.
Published 1 month ago by Marjorie Watson Ley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent.
Well written. All actors are excellent. Calista Flockhart in particular is wonderful in her characterization. Peter McNichol is also outstanding.
Published 1 month ago by Ron Hollingsworth
4.0 out of 5 stars
good buy
The series is much as I remember, quirky and fun!!!! Vonda Shephard adds significantly to the enjoyability of this season.
T
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Published 1 month ago by PETER TERESHKO
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best ever!
I have never been so mystified and taken in by a TV series in my whole life. I am 59 so I have watched them all. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael C. Colella
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kelley made a good show!
Yeah, this is one of those fluffy fluff tv shows. I haven't watched tv in over a decade, but since this was on Prime, I figured, what the heck! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Grants Book Trade
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky!
I love this show! I didn't realize it was a David E. Kelley production until I started watching it on amazon. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Cheryl Warren
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wicked good!
I never saw the series when it was running. I think it is a riot! They talk about sex alot... but not as crudely as today's sitcoms. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Moesy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great show after 15 years...
After 15 years, I still enjoy and love the show and the cast! Good production stays in trend and vision.
Published 2 months ago by Charlotte Tsou
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyed it the first time around!
I very much enjoyed this show the first time I watched it! My husband and I watch the show weekly. Watching it over, in sequence as it was shown, all those years ago, we get to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by ShelleyD
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