*By Me
*The Premise*
*The Twists*
*The Characters*
Produced by: David E. Kelley Productions, in association with 20th Century Fox.
~The CAST~
Calista Flockhart as Ally McBeal
Courtney Thorne-Smith as Georgia Thomas
Peter MacNicol as John "The Biscuit" Cage
Greg Germann as Richard Fish
Portia de Rossi as "Sub-Zero" Nelle Porter
Gil Bellows as Billy Alan Thomas
Jane Krakowski as Elaine Vassal
Lucy Liu as Ling Woo
Lisa Nicole Carson as Renee Radick
Vonda Shepard as herself ("The Singer in the Bar")
Dyan Cannon as Judge Jennifer "Whipper" Cone
Jesse L. Martin as Dr. Greg Butters
Tracy Ullman as Dr. Tracey Clark
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Executive Producer: David E. Kelley Co-Executive Producer: Jeffrey Kramer Producers (various episodes): Mike Listo, Jonathan Pontell Supervising Producer: Jonathan Pontell Co-Producers: Steve Robin, Robert Breech, Pamela Wisne Coordinating Producers (various episodes): Gary M. Strangis, Peter Politanoff, Robert Breech Director of Photography: Billy Dickson Main Title Theme & Additional Music: Vonda Shepard Score: Danny Lux Production Designers: Lee C. Fischer, Peter Politanoff Editing (various episodes): Jonathan Pontell, Charles McClelland, Philip Neel, Thomas R. Moore, Bill Johnson Casting: Jeanie Bacharach, Sharon Jetton Original Casting: Judith Weiner Unit Production Manager: Robert Del Valle, Peter Burrell First Assistant Director (various episodes): Allen DiGioia, Robert Vannetti Second Assistant Director: Alisa Statman Set Decorator: Diane O'Connell Set Designer: Suzanne Feller-Otto Lead Person: David Lombard Construction Coordinator: John G. Heath Jr. Property Master: Douglas M. Keenan Camera Operator (various episodes): Michael Frediani, David Harp Production Sound Mixer: Paul Lewis Women's Costume Supervisor: Loree Parral Men's Costume Supervisor: Shelly Levine Key Costumer: Michelle Roth Location Manager: Gary DeGalla Gaffer: Myron Hyman Key Grip: J. David Ahuna Choreography: Joe Malone Transportation Coordinator: Wayne Morris Production Accountant: Susan Stern Production Coordinator: Pam Jackson Assistant Production Coordinators: Jennifer Meyer, Evan Rabins Head Makeup Artist: Joyce Westmore |
Head Hair Stylists: Ora Green, Robin Jacobs, Daphne Lawson, Gloria Ponce, Jeffrey Sacino, Lana Sharpe Second Assistant Directors: Scott Harris, Joel DeLoach Assistant Editor: Jean Crupper, Michael Hathaway Script Supervisor: Mary C. Wright Post-Production Supervisor: Kim Hamberg Supervising Sound Editor: David Rawlinson Re-recording Mixers (various episodes): Harry Andronis, Thomas Gerard, Kurt Kassulke, Peter R. Kelsey, Nello Torri, Douglas E. Turner, David J. West Music Editor: Micdi Productions/Sharyn Tylk Colorist: Dexter P. Visual EFX Supervisor (various episodes): Richard Kerrigan, Michael D. Most Apprentice Editor: Diane Holm Post-Production Assistant: Noah Pontell Script Coordinator: David Ransil Production Assistants: Leo Bauer, Kristin Means, Anne M. Uemura Supervising Associate: Roseann M. Bonora-Keris Executive Assistant: Cindy Lichtman Assistant to Jeffrey Kramer: Mindy Farabee Associate to Jeffrey Kramer: Maggie Murphy Assistant to Jonathan Pontell: Cindy Kerber Assistant to Mike Listo: Jennifer Menchaca Assistant to Pamela Wisne (various episodes): Barb Mackintosh, Neely Swanson Casting Associate: Sharon Jetton Filmed @: Ren-Mar Studios, Hollywood, California; Fox Studios Lot Filmed with: Panavision (cameras & lenses) Telecine, Electronic Assembly & Visual Effects Supervision: Encore Video Main Title Sequence created by: Imaginary Forces Post-Production Sound Editorial: West Productions, Inc. Dancing Baby provided courtesy of: Kinetix Law books by: West Publishing Production Accountants: Oberman, Tivioli & Miller, Ltd. Location equipment: Cinelease, Inc. Color: CFI Labs |
Second of all, practically all Ally-haters assume Ally is intended to be, or is seen as, a role model - a woman to emulate and a life towards which to aspire...
Wait a second! Emulate a woman who knocks people down to catch a wedding bouquet?
Who wants to sleep with a guy just b/c he has a giant schlong?
Who is so annoyed at another woman in a supermarket over a can of chips that she intentionally trips her?
Who compensates for depression by showing off her legs?
Who is deeply offended because a date doesn't "paw" her?
They take her to be the next Murphy Brown, and don't realise that she's not... We Ally fans don't see her as a realistic role model, an ideal feminist (that idea would be preposterous!), we simply wee her as a little part of US, of the real people who go through the same tough times as she does. Even though we love her, we still feel appalled or even embarassed by her actions (and not only HER actions... To this day I shudder to think about the last couple of scenes at the bar in "The Green Monster"! LOL:)). But don't we feel that exact same towards the real people in our lives? We don't see her as totally real, yet there are many things that we can relate to... And THAT'S why we love her...
Third of all is many people's overriding awareness at the fact that "Ally McBeal" was written by a man... For some reason, feminists feel less objected if a series, no matter the quality, is written by a woman... I'm sure no one would be submitting articles to "Time" about how it degrades womankind if the last scene of each episode would be followed by a woman's name after the words "Executive Producer"... And surely she wouldn't make the cover of the "Feminist Debate" issue of "Time", alongside Susan B. Anthony, if there weren't enough feminists who would be the potential readers of such issues... What they can't manage to percieve is that it's necessary to see past David's gender and pay more attention to the wonderful writing of each episode... But I'm sure if it would've been "Darlene" E. Kelley, most feminists would be glued to the TV set on Monday nights, shooing the football-starved stronger sex away from the remote. No one would even think of the word "degraded" or "offended"... The idea that "Ally McBeal" degrades women is simply preposterous! Not only do the "feminists" not see that, they also manage to look over the fact that the whole cast is doing a brilliant job of bringing David's scripts to life... Now, I'm sure that if the lead were a male, no chauvinists would be objecting, either, but feminists would still ramble on and on about how always the leads are males and never females. Well, they got a female-leaded show, and they're still not satisfied! What is wrong with these people? I'm under the impression that feminists are actually lost right now, and that they still can't decide on what they want to see and what they don't... They particularly seem mad at David for creating a female character (which underneath it all reminds of themselves), while being a male himself... Well, who said that was against the rules???
And probably my last point would be that no one really recognizes Ally as a comedy... Of course, it doesn't follow the sitcom rule of broad, repetitive and sometimes unsensitive humor, but isn't it better to see some fresh humore being injected into the comedy world? Or are we just afraid of losing that sitcom addiction we have? Either way, it's probably better to sit down once and, without that you hate her, try to actually watch it... Really, just sit down and try to see past all of the "rules" that the show is "breaking"... All of those comments about people hating it because it's so "wrong" are simply stupid! Recently, the Parent's Television Council named "Ally" an "offensive show", "garbage of primetime" and said people who watch it have "perverted, wrong thoughts"... Oh, thanks, we've always felt loved, especially by you guys... and besides, who decides what's wrong and what's not? [And if you don't my saying so, how come "primetime garbage" won "best comedy" and "best lead(s)" awards at Oh-So Many ceremonies?]What degrades women and what doesn't? Why, where and how female characters act? My guess would be the writer/creator/producer/whatever, who in this case just happens to be a (and I won't be afraid to say this) man... David Kelley. And he's chosen to let Ally do whatever she wants: dance in court, date guys for the sizes of their penises, have an inflatable man at home and even kiss her ex-boyfriend... Yet none of the Ally-haters understand that Ally's outrageous behaviour is INTENDED to be outrageous, it's INTENDED to make us laugh and as the same time gasp "How could she do that?"... Ally's not afraid of being who she is, she's not afraid to let her selfishness (which I know all of us have in HUGE amounts) bloom like a garden, she's not afraid to express her thoughts and act like a brat... I think that what Ally-haters find most intimidating (and yes, I think they're more INTIMIDATED by her rather than just hate her) is that Ally, in general, is that part of every person that isn't being allowed to come out... I mean, seriously: raise your hands those of you who'd agree to dance on a Boston street in the wintertime in your pj's!? Yet Ally can do it, because that's her and she's not afraid of the real 'her'... Most people seem to think that that part is awful and scary, and that's why they try to keep a distance from Ally, hoping to never find similarities to themselves in her again... THOSE people are the ones with the "wrong" thoughts about primetime's leading piece of "garbage"... (pun intended) That, IMO, is why so many people hate, or think they hate, or are simply afraid of liking, Ally....
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*Also note: this article was written by me and I would really appreciate if before you used it anywhere, you asked me... Thank you.*