Say goodnight, Ally

Now this one has got to be a shocker: Ally McBeal has officially been cancelled.

Love it or hate it, you gotta admit the last five years were entertaining.

But, really now, though: I didn't particularly love the show itself; I mean, there were times when it was really good (ie. Robert Downey Jr.) but (except for a few circumstances) I knew more people who watched Ally McBeal more as a force of habit - and I could count the people I know who actually love the show on the fingers of my typing hand.

(And I have to admit, I thought Law and Order had better "lawyer" scenes than Ally ever did.)

Comments

Hmmm...I guess from the lack of responses that no one really cares one way or the other. :) I admit to watching the first episode but not getting "hooked" on it. I don't know why. Maybe it was her peppiness, her strange forays into fantasy...I agree though. People seemed to watch it just because it was something to watch, not because of the storylines.

Never was a fan of Ally (except for a brief and unexplainable attraction to the Ooga Chaka dancing baby), but I'm surprised by the cancellation. I just assumed that, like Friends, Ally McBeal was one of those shows that everyone was watching. Just not me.

Still, Stella, comparing Ally courtroom drama to Law & Order courtroom drama is like... like comparing CHiPS to NYPD Blue. I don't think "law" was ever a priority with McBeal & Co.

The first year or so was interesting and I watched as regularly as I could. Somewhere along the way, the novelty wore off and I haven't watched it since. Yes, I am a fickle TV viewer. I admit it. The show was in pain and cancellation was the humane thing to do.

The show was in pain and cancellation was the humane thing to do.

Now that I think of it, that's the best way of looking at the situation. When a show stops being a show - characters, stories, etc. - and becomes a series of gimmicks, there's just no use keeping it on.

(Though think about all the other mopey antiheroines who could not have made it on TV without the Ally McGimmick... then again, considering how shows like Buffy and Sex and the City have blazed further trails, maybe not)

In the meantime... bring on the Law and Order and Crime Scene Investigation spinoffs!

Well, just so long as Jesse L. Martin stays somewhere on the air. I really wish Garrett Wang would find another show soon.

Stella's gimmick spiral made me think of "The Practice." That show was fab, until they gave up and had the firm just adopt the reputation as law freaks. Now they're just surprise-twist caricatures.

I watched "The Practice" all through the first year, but gave it up when the writers decided that Bobby's relationship with what's-her-name was more critical than legal stories (which may be unfair, but if you recall the promos for the second season, they were all shower scenes, from which I inferred...well, guess).

Ahhh, The Practice. As much as I love Dylan McDermott (swoon...), I still can't help but thinking of it as The Lawyer Show That Goes On Right After Alias. Considering that it's a David E. Kelley show (like Ally), I'm not surprised that it has gotten pretty gimmicky as well. Plus all of the previews, when they weren't showing anything sexy or trippy, featured way too much yelling and pretentious dialogue - big turnoff.

I was a huge fan of Ally, up until the car wash episode. That was just too over the top for me.

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