Some might say a very good thing: Last season, formerly enamored critics began charging that the show was growing too outlandish, with stuff like the hallucination-drenched death and subsequent ghostly sightings of Billy (the now departed Gil Bellows), or Flockhart's character edging from endearingly neurotic to--uh, how should we put this?--a bit deranged. Viewers were also a tad turned off: The series slipped out of the top 20, losing 13 percent of its audience. A repackaged, half-hour version of the show dudded out on arrival. And another telling sign: After nabbing the best-comedy Emmy in 1999, Ally wasn't even nominated for the award this year. (Cue cartoonish F/X shot of a dozen arrows plunging into the cast's hearts.)
"There's always that line with Ally," concedes creator David E. Kelley. "When you cross the line, it's just a little too crazy. There were a couple of episodes where we had pygmies chasing characters down the street. It was really no different conceptually than things we'd done in previous years as part of Ally's imaginary world, but I think the audience felt that it was a little too much. And they were probably right."
What's this? Mr. All-Powerful TV Guy showing a sign of weakness? Well, here's an even bigger admission from Kelley: The profoundly prolific auteur--who also lords over The Practice and the new Boston Public--has finally hired a writing staff for Ally! At least, we think he has. "I haven't met them, I haven't seen them, so I cannot confirm that for you," deadpans the 35-year-old Flockhart. "But I've been told they exist." All right, David, is this for real? "It's true," he insists, laughing. "I'm getting help."
And the scribes' first clear-cut mission will be to transform the titular emotional Chernobyl into a more confident woman who's less prone to meltdown now that she's hit the big 3-0. Although the show will still proudly fly its freak flag (look for Florence Henderson to drop by as the instructor of the very un-Brady course How to Satisfy Your Man), "the focus of the episodes will be more on their romantic centers than it was last year," hints Kelley. "The stories might be smaller in scope, but I think they're probably ultimately more appealing to the viewers." To that end, Ling (Lucy Liu) and Fish (Greg Germann) heat up their bizarro fling, the Biscuit (Peter MacNicol) acquires a new honey in guest star Anne Heche (hello, is it raining casting coups or what?), and after getting entangled in a Crying Game twist, firm newcomer Mark (James Le Gros) winds up dipping his pen in the company ink with Elaine (Jane Krakowski).
But pity the pairing that tries to match the white-hotness of Flockhart's fusion with Downey. "It just smelled like a real good match," says Kelley. "Robert has this comedic tone that I thought was really organic to our show. We've had a very hard time finding love interests for Ally, and one of the reasons is that when you see Ally with a guy you just sort of [say], 'Uh-oh, he's not going to make it.' I think our audience is extremely protective of Ally--as are we--so whoever she's dating, he'd better be good enough."
You Might Also Like
- TV Review Ally McBeal; Buffy The Vampire Slayer | Ken Tucker
- TV Review ALLY MCBEAL | Ken Tucker
- All About Ally McBeal
- Ask the DVD Critic Why no ''Ally McBeal'' seasons on DVD? | Ken Tucker
- Television News EW's list of TV hangouts | Kirthana Ramisetti
- Casting About Out of 'Practice' | Jennifer Armstrong
