Ally McBeal: The Complete Series
Starring: Calista FlockhartStudio: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Running Time: 5175 minutes
DVD Release: October 6th 2009
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DVD Review
The Complete Series collection includes all five seasons of this groundbreaking show on 32 discs, including all the original music from the broadcast episodes.
User Reviews
Piki-Piki- Piki- Pikipsi! Ally has arrived! - Rating: 5/5
I love this show. I love it so much that when it was released on DVD in the UK I got copies imported to me and bought myself a region free player. It has been so wonderful having these shows when no one else in America does at the moment. It feels like my little secret. But I am worried over the state of the DVD's.
This set will be 32 discs. Originally I thought they'd just be rencoded versions of the British DVDs... That would have been more comforting. But here we get 5 seasons on 30 discs. The first season is full frame and the rest widescreen. Then disc 31 has a new retrospective featurette, and 5 or 6 vintage featurettes. Also an episode of "The Practice" when Ally crossed over and a music video.
The 32nd disc is curious. Fox has announced the set but has not stated if the music has been left intact. I can't see it being changed as a majority of the stories Need the specific songs chosen. They are not random. Also the characters mostly sing them live. It be practically impossible to change the music. Yet I am still concerned as this is fox and you would think they'd advertise the fact no music was changed... But disc 32 offers hope as it is a "Best of Ally McBeal" soundtrack. I am hoping these will be new songs not incorporated on the previous 4 albums released for the show.
The album included seems to be Fox's way of saying they too believe that the music was pivotal too the show. Quite recently Fox confirmed- that Yes= ALL OF THE MUSIC IS INTACT!This makes this a most have for anyone who loved this neurotic, short skirt wearing lawyer and her zany friends.
I myself will be rebuying this for the bonus disc and the new C.D. Hopefully the C.D. has something new to offer fans. I would kill for Vonda's "Rainbow Connection. This is a release that is truly worth celebrating! Pre- Order it while it is still cheap!!!!!
I'm rating the show itself here... - Rating: 5/5
...not the product since that relies entirely upon the issue of the music that originally aired with the episodes. Special excerpts and clip collections are all we in the U.S.A. have seen of Ally McBeal on DVD up to now due to the large incorporation of popular music in the show. Many episodes of Ally had the closing ten minutes or so set in the bar where Vonda Shepard and guests such as Barry White would belt out popular, and unfortunately, copyrighted music. Also, the various characters would express themselves by dancing to popular tunes in a way that I just don't think would come across with muzak.
This has made DVD sets of entire seasons a licensing nightmare. Since Ally was in production from 1997 until 2002, just prior and a little bit after the advent of TV on DVD, this probably did not figure into the calculation of Fox as to how this would turn into a legal quagmire that could not be overcome. The same was true for "WKRP in Cincinatti" - the original masters of those shows with the music have been destroyed from what I hear - and then there also is "Daria".
Fox has been very tight-lipped about the status of the music that was woven irreplaceably into this show. Do you really think we could get this show for this price if the music was there? Based on Fox's past record of deleting music from TV shows and not telling anyone until after they collected their money, and given the state of the economy and the DVD market right now, I'd think they'd be telling the world if the music was intact. I also think they'd be telling noone if it was missing. So far their silence has been deafening. My opinion is to either wait until some definitive word comes out on the condition of these sets or maybe a compromise would be to buy Ally McBeal: The Complete First Season and see what was done there as indication of what was done with the other four seasons.
One of the best cancelled shows ever. - Rating: 5/5
For those of us that have been waiting for this show to be released on DVD, we say THANK YOU! It's been way too long. The last I heard the release date is set for October 6th. This show is so much fun, that seeing it again is well worth the time. David E. Kelley's brilliant writing and ensemble cast put so much life into the characters that you're laughing so hard in one scene and crying in another. Break out roles were given to Calista Flockhart, Jane Krakowski, Courtney Thorne-Smith, and Lucy Liu that certainly broadened their careers. Not to mention Vonda Shepard for her singing appearances and theme song, who was discovered by David E. Kelley and his wife Michelle Pfeiffer, or so I read somewhere. All performances are pretty flawless and this is one DVD set worth having in your collection. Now... for the next David E. Kelley (high school based) cancelled show on DVD... Boston Public???
Response to Dee Garey "Dee" - Rating: 5/5
NTSC is the video format for North American DVD players, so this set will be fine. The format to look out for is PAL. DVD's in that format will not play in most North American DVD players. Of course, it also needs to be either region 1 or 0 (unless you have a region-free player), but that's not an issue in this case. Hope this helps.
Does anyone know about music edit of the show? - Rating: 5/5
I thought this show was pretty clever and very funny. My only problem is that I have not seen how much of the music will be replaced in the entire series. No sites have reported that the episodes are as originally aired. I am guessing that some music will be replaced but how much? I will most likely get the series regardless of this issue but it would be nice to know more on this issue.
