Ally McBeal: The Complete First Season – DVD Review

By June L. Nov 13, 2009, 13:27 GMT

All 23 episodes from Season 1 on 6 discs – on DVD for the first time ever. ...more

There is joy amongst the Ally McBeal fans with the release of this Complete First Season on DVD.  Up until now, the only things available were scattered episodes, or sets produced in other countries.  Now the full first year can be enjoyed with all the episodes in proper order.

Not since Mary Richards arrived in St. Paul (and if you are too young to know that television reference, think Mary Tyler Moore) to start her career in broadcasting had a young woman’s work-life become such a national interest.  It seemed everyone was watching Ally McBeal and talking about her adventures the next day at work.

Each week viewers followed Ally (Calista Flockheart) as she navigated the tough passages and rough waters of being an attorney, as well as an attractive and eligible young woman.  In flash backs or in some of the most wonderful fantasy scene moments, we learned just what Ally felt or thought about the situations she encountered and these touched the minds and hearts of women everywhere. 

There are favorite moments that still come up in conversations today, people that one meets, or situations that someone will relate to a similar occurrence in Ally McBeal.  We all nod and smile, or laugh in understanding, there ARE people who tell you what has been done only to let you know that they have done it, and YES it does seem like their heads expand while they are talking. 

Sometimes uproariously funny, and at other times so touching as to bring tears to the eyes, Ally McBeal made her way through life in triumph and with some tragedies, like all of us, human and loveable.

In the pilot, Ally introduced herself in reminiscences of her first love, a young man she followed to law school before they split to pursue individual careers.  This style of storytelling caught the attention of audiences, as it was so honest and was the perfect set up for the action to come. 

Ally had a job which she liked, but which she lost when one of the senior partners behaved inappropriately towards her, and she complained.  Out of work only a few minutes, she ran into a former law school classmate who offered her a position in his new firm.  Ally hesitated for a moment, as Richard Fish (Greg Germann) had a slightly different philosophy in his choice to practice law. 

However, it seemed fated, and so she agreed to the position.  To complicate matters further, she discovered that her lost love Billy Thomas (Gil Bellows) was also a partner in the firm with his wife Georgia (Courtney Thorne-Smith.)  Complicated?  Yes, it was, but part of the interest and fun was in seeing how Ally would handle the problems that arose from this odd combination of characters. 

Ally McBeal The Complete First Season is presented on six discs, containing the pilot and all 22 episodes.  The episodes are presented in full frame, and the running time for the complete season is 969 minutes.  The episodes are available in English, French or Spanish audio tracks and in English or Spanish subtitles. 

It is great fun to revisit this series, which is timeless in both subject and appeal.

Ally McBeal: The Complete First Season is now available at Amazon. Visit the DVD database for more information.