Calista Flockhart plays Ally McBeal, a Boston lawyer who hears songs in her head and has hallucinations, mainly of a dancing baby, because of her biological clock. She also imagines sexual encounters with various men. Those visions are her whole schtick. The show is a drama, a comedy, and something close to a fever dream, and the writers appear to believe all three modes work best when layered on top of each other at once. The show is also about a woman who believes in love, and that belief is the engine the series refuses to stop.
This is a show about Ally McBeal, and it is also a show about Ally McBeal. That difference matters, because the character and the show do not always agree on what they are doing. Ally is a woman who believes in love and is continually looking for her soul mate. The show, by contrast, is continually looking for a reason to extend the plot. The outcome is a series that is often funny, occasionally moving, and frequently baffling.
Trailer, via FoxLife Serbia.
Ally McBeal and the Dancing Baby
A young lawyer named Ally McBeal works at the Boston law firm Cage and Fish. She is a woman devoted to love who is always searching for her soul mate. Songs play inside her head, and she sees visions of a dancing baby because her biological clock is ticking. She also imagines romantic encounters with a series of men. The show centers on her, the people in her life, and the strange, sometimes beautiful, sometimes terrible manner in which people get what they want.
The dancing baby is a recurring visual that becomes a shorthand for Ally’s internal life. It is a metaphor for her anxieties about aging, about love, about having children. The show treats the baby as a joke, and that is fine. The show also treats Ally’s fantasies about men as a joke, and that is less fine. The problem is not that Ally has fantasies. The problem is that the show treats her fantasies as more interesting than she is.
The dancing baby is a visual hook. The fantasies are a way of avoiding the actual work of character development.
The Cast Around Ally
The supporting cast is full of talented actors playing people who are often less interesting than Ally. Greg Germann plays Richard Fish, Ally’s boss and the managing partner of the firm, who is often a source of awkwardness and moral outrage. Jane Krakowski plays Elaine Vassal, Ally’s friend and fellow lawyer, who is often a source of comic relief and emotional grounding. Regina Hall plays Corretta Lipp, a secretary at the firm who is often a source of warmth and practical wisdom. Peter MacNicol plays John Cage, Ally’s boss and the founder of the firm, who is often a source of paternal concern and terrible jokes.
Vonda Shepard plays Vonda Shepard, a musician who is often a source of musical inspiration and sexual tension. Portia De Rossi plays Nelle Porter, a lawyer at the firm and Ally’s former rival, who is often a source of romantic competition and professional tension. Josh Hopkins plays Raymond Millbury, a lawyer at the firm and Ally’s former lover, who is often a source of sexual tension and heartache.
The series frequently treats these characters as tools for advancing the plot rather than as individuals. That is a flaw. The show performs best when it allows the actors to anchor scenes, and falters when it forces the characters into useless conflicts simply to keep the story going. Every one of the actors is capable. The writing is not always.
The Comedy and the Drama
The show is a drama, a comedy, and something close to a fever dream. That is the stated premise. The show’s own description says Ally’s lives and loves are eccentric, humorous, dramatic with an incredibly overactive imagination that’s working overtime.
The humor comes from Ally’s fantasies, from her hallucinations, from the way the show treats her imagination as a character in its own right. The drama comes from Ally’s search for love, from her professional failures, from the way the show treats her work life as a source of conflict and tension. The fever dream comes from the show’s willingness to let Ally’s imagination run wild, to let the hallucinations take over, to let the dancing baby become a symbol of everything she is afraid of.
The show reaches its peak when it keeps these modes in balance. It falls apart when it leans too hard on one and abandons the rest. The show’s own description promises a mix of eccentric, humorous, and dramatic, and the show delivers that mix, though not always in a way that holds together. It is often funny, and it is often moving, and it is often baffling. That bafflement is part of the show’s appeal, and it is also part of its downfall.
The Score
The score captures the friction between the show’s merits and its shortcomings. It is frequently clever, often sincere, and occasionally baffling. That tension is what the figure reflects. It is a show worth watching for its ambition, its talent, and its willingness to take risks.
It is also a show worth watching for its flaws, because those flaws are part of what makes it interesting. The show does not reach masterpiece status, and it does not fall into failure either. It attempts a difficult task and frequently manages to pull it off. Yet it also frequently stumbles.
That is why the score sits where it does. If you are willing to meet it on its own strange terms, it is a show worth your time.
The Cast
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Ally McBeal | Calista Flockhart |
| Richard Fish | Greg Germann |
| Elaine Vassal | Jane Krakowski |
| Corretta Lipp | Regina Hall |
| John Cage | Peter MacNicol |
| Vonda Shepard | Vonda Shepard |
| Nelle Porter | Portia De Rossi |
| Raymond Millbury | Josh Hopkins |
Key Facts
- Premiere: September 8, 1997
- Last aired: May 20, 2002
- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 112
- Network: FOX
- Creator: David E. Kelley
The Verdict
Even with your eyes half-closed, there is much to see in Ally McBeal. It is a show that gets laughs and one that gets tears, and it is a show that is often baffling. It is a product of its time, a product of its medium, and a product of its creator’s imagination. Not every episode lands, but it is not a failure. If you are willing to meet it on its own strange terms, it is a show worth your time.
The grade is a record of where this TV series excels and where it stumbles. The program is frequently witty, and it is frequently heartfelt, and it is frequently perplexing. The grade captures that contradiction. It’s a piece of work that rewards your attention, so long as you are willing to engage it on its own odd terms.
This production is a child of its era, its format, and its creator’s inventive mind. The music mirrors all three of those influences. It is a show that rewards your attention if you are willing to approach it on its own odd terms.
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