The Best TV Show I'm Currently Watching...Twenty Four Years Later

 

I guess I will eventually get around to most TV shows.   I'm one of those folks who jumps on the band wagon a little later than most.  For instance, I've never watched the likes of "Breaking Bad" or "Game of Thrones."  Zero interest.   But, as this blog entry will tell you, there's always hope I will catch up to them at some point.

This is a long preamble to announcing that I am currently having a binge watch of "Ally McBeal."   Historians will note that it first went on the air in September of 1997.

Welcome aboard, Len.

My route to Ally was a simple one.   Via Hulu, I had completed a revisit of "Picket Fences," which I did watch on its original run in the 90s.   But when I rewatched it, all of the content felt new to me.  More importantly, I became completely enamored with the writing of David E. Kelley.  When Picket was done, I craved more.

So when I noticed that Hulu also had Ally, I decided to sample it.

I was immediately hooked.   The show was groundbreaking that it was an hour but classified in the comedy category.   Part sitcom, part drama, and part Bugs Bunny cartoon complete with animation.   It was clearly the most unique program I had seen in years.

Now, during its original airing, I knew from afar that there were some elements of the show that had gone...I guess...viral.   The dancing baby.   The unisex bathroom.  The cartoon sound effects that often accompanied the innermost thoughts of characters.  The bar singer who peppered each episode with a standard from the 70s or 80s.   And the many Barry White shout outs which morphed into the cast doing choreography that was apparently copied by people at weddings and parties years later.   But now I was seeing this all for the first time from my own perspective.  Here's a clip of what became a viral dance.   And the introduction of "knee pit."  Love it.

And loving it to the point that I watch one Ally episode every night.   I should be done with all five seasons by the end of June.

What intrigues me about the wacky doings of the Cage and Fish law firm is how deliciously flawed every character is in both their professional and personal lives.  It is truly life in itself.  And the way music is woven into each episode is almost mystical.   And then suddenly there in front of you are the likes of Tina Turner, Sting, Barry Manilow, and Al Green.   Indeed, one episode is entitled "Ally McBeal: The Musical" with original songs by Randy Newman.  This kind of cleverness is missing from television in 2022.

Watching years later, I can also do some research on the show's history as I watch it unfold.  For instance, Season 4 features a wonderful romance between Ally and another lawyer played by Robert Downey Jr. that was supposed to end with their ultimate marriage.   But, unfortunately, this was around the time that Downey Jr. started to have his celebrated drug issues.  Rewriting was done and ultimately the actor was fired.

Every one in the cast is wonderful.   There's an odd quirk where, for a short while, the show features Ellen DeGeneres' ex Anne Heche side-by-side with Ellen's future partner Portia deRossi.   And Peter McNichol is a comic revelation as "The Biscuit."

But my ultimate realization was the performance of Calista Flockhart as Ally.  She truly is the glue that holds it all together even when her character, in Season 2, essentially has a mental breakdown.  She is marvelous and this prompted to see her recently in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" at the Geffen.  Please count me now as one of her biggest fans.

Along with the entire show.   It only took me 24 years to find it.

Watch out "West Wing."  I might be coming for you next.

Dinner last night:  Leftover tortellini.