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Title: Ally McBeal: Ally On Sex And The Single Life Two Disc Gift Set
Region: One
Genre: Comedy/Drama (Television Series)
Stars: Calista Flockhart, Courtney Thorn-Smith, Gil Bellows, Jane Krakowski, Greg Germann, Lisa Nicole Carson, Dyan Cannon, and Tracey Ullman with Vonda Shepard
Disc One - Relationships and Dating -Episodes: Pilot, The Attitude, Cro-Magnon, Silver Bells
Disc Two - Therapy - Episodes: Theme Of Life, The Playing Field, Music Video "Searchin' My Soul" By Vonda Shepard, Preview Of Ally McBeal: The Official Guide
Writer: David E. Kelly
Executive Producer: David E. Kelly
Feature length: Approximately 42-45 minutes depending on the Episode
4 hours and 24 minutes total
Extras: Preview Of Ally McBeal: The Official Guide, Music Video for "Searchin' My Soul" By Vonda Shepard
Languages: English and French Dolby Surround 2.0
Subtitles: None
Closed Captions For The Hearing Impaired
Packaging: Double DVD Alpha Keep case
Chapter Stops: Pilot: 14, Silver Bells: 13, Cro-Magnon: 14, The Attitude: 15, Theme Of Life: 16, The Playing Field: 15
Sound: Dolby Stereo Surround Sound
Year of Television Broadcast: 1997/DVD Release: 2000
Television Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Television
Home Video Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: No Rated
FILM/PERFORMANCE - 40 out of 40
VIDEO - 18 out of 20
AUDIO - 20 out of 20
SUPPLEMENTS - 20 out of 20
TOTAL - 98 out of 100 = A
DVD Rating: A
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
One of the Fox Network's most successful one-hour drama series also happens to be one of the best comedies drama fusions on television since "Moonlighting" combined romantic comedy with television sleuthing. That series is "Ally McBeal." Now Fox has released six episodes on home video and DVD from the first season of the hit Fox Television Series just on time for Valentines Day. The DVD Edition is a Two DVD Gift Set that includes introduces the premise and main characters of the show and then presents a selection of relationship themed episodes that include "Cro-Magnon" also known as "The Dancing Baby Episode" and "Theme Of Life," which introduces Tracey Ullman as Ally's eccentric Psychologist.
For those not familiar with the show, Ally McBeal (Calista Flockhart) is a neurotic Lawyer with an active imagination and emotional turmoil as she copes working for her legal firm where her childhood sweetheart and first love (Gil Bellows) also works with his attorney wife, (Courtney Thorn-Smith). The ensemble cast also includes Greg Germann, as the senior law firm partner who dreams of "piles" of money and Jane Krakowski as Elaine, Ally's "unique" legal secretary. Lisa Nicole Carson as Ally's roommate and Peter MacNicol is the firm's other senior partner with a unique approach to courtroom legal aid.
The series has a very loyal following and is now in it's third season on the Fox Network. "Ally McBeal" is also the first television series Fox Home Video has released on DVD. The two disc set packaged in a double DVD Alpha Case features four episodes on one Dual Layered DVD and the other two on a single layer DVD coupled with Vonda Shepard's music video for the show's theme song, "Searchin' For my Soul" and a Preview from the Ally McBeal: The Official Guide Book.
Though the stars do much to make the show a success, it is the writing of "Ally McBeal" Creator and Executive Producer, David E. Kelly that makes the whole show shine. The transfer of all six episodes is very good with hardly any noticeable compression grain. The shows are presented in their 1.33:1 television aspect ratio presentation with a choice of English or French Dolby Surround Tracks. The soundtrack is quite good. Nice volume level and good use of surround audio really make this TV Series on DVD sing. Though there are no subtitles, the DVD does have closed captions for the hearing impaired.
The extras include Vonda Shepard's music video, which actually looks better than the TV Episodes with a nice glossy look and no compression artifacts or noise at all. There is a preview of the Ally McBeal: The Official Guide on disc two gives readers a taste into some of the shows character eccentricities and thankfully does not require a DVD-ROM drive to access. While the menus are stagnant, I felt they were appropriate and well done with a nice use of menu design and photo art.
If you are a fan of the show and own a DVD player, the DVD set is the way to go.
Mark A. Rivera - A