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When Ally McBeal premiered on the Fox network in 1997, the series was already riding high on critical praise, with its upscale mix of savvy humor and hot-topic legal drama. Created, produced, and written entirely by the amazingly prolific David E. Kelley, the show immediately found an appreciative audience of women drawn to the title character's frank perspectives on dating, sex, and career objectives, and men lured by a cast full of attractive, outspoken women with vibrant personalities and flattering wardrobes. (If you think that's a sexist observation, you haven't tuned in to the show's brilliant balance of male chauvinism, feminist attitude, and hilariously turbulent office politics.)

This two-disc compilation of episodes from the show's first season is aptly titled, because Ally McBeal--a Boston lawyer played by Calista Flockhart--is defined by her seemingly perpetual singlehood, her sexual and emotional yearnings, her professional passions, and--by one of Kelley's creative masterstrokes--her flights of imagination (often visualized via amusing computer-generated effects) that give the series a constant, unpredictable edge of humor and emotional depth.

These well-chosen episodes offer a comprehensive summary of the first season's major developments, including the emotional history shared by Ally and her now-married colleague Billy (Gil Bellows); the notorious "dancing baby" (in "Cro-Magnon") symbolizing the insistent ticking of Ally's biological clock; the amiable quirks of John "the Biscuit" Cage (Peter MacNicol); and the dubious pearls of wisdom known as "Fishisms." Here we witness the sublime chemistry of the ensemble cast, and each member is given ample time in the spotlight. Regular guest star Dyan Cannon is strongly featured in "Silver Bells," prior to the second-season addition of Nelle (Portia DeRossi) and Ling (Lucy Liu). That leaves plenty of room to establish Ally McBeal as the lively focus of the series--confused, opinionated, sexy, neurotic, frustrated, ecstatic, intelligent, emotional... and never, ever boring. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (58)

Do you want every bit of Ally? Come to the UK!!!
Ally McBeal is an American TV show so I do not understand why Americans have only been given this small bundle of episodes when over in my home country England we have ALL the seasons available with special features!

For you hardcore Ally fans I'll give you some handy advice. Save up for a multi-region dvd player or a computer that plays dvds. Go on over to amazon.co.uk and purchase the season box sets!

Good luck!!!

UPSET!
I love the show Ally Mcbeal, and I am upset that there is only one season released here in the US! I ordered three seasons from the UK website only to get them in the mail and find out that they are not compatible with the systems of the U.S. so either way I am still with out any of the episodes!It cost me $32.00 to send it back to the U.K., and I'm not even sure amazon.uk will refund the cost of the sets! So I am out of over $100.00 trying to buy the series of this wonderful show. I am upset at the entire situation!

What an insult!!
While I might be inclined to believe that the seris was a cult fav, it still was extremely popular. This DVD release is an insult to all the faithful followers and just a tease to those who are unfamiliar with the ironic yet hilarious humor. There is a bit of Ally in all of us. Does Fox even know how frustrating it is to know that Ally is available in just about every country but the U.S.? I had to buy season one off a jerk on ebay and it was burnt and it sucked! I did get season four from a fabulous person in another country. Expensive song rights or not, give your loyal fans what they deserve and make it good with deleted scenes and lots of special features!!!!

ally mcbeal boxed set PLEASE
i am a fan of ally mcbeal and would love to be able to buy the entire series of episodes on dvd. i see sex and the city, friends, buffy, etc...there are so many people that love ally mcbeal, i would LOVE to see this set put out.
becky

Where's the rest of the seasons???
I was planning on buying this cd as a gift for an Ally Mcbeal fan but after reading the reviews I changed my mind! This show was great, I cannot believe the entire collection is not out on DVD, I'm going on amazon.co.uk to see what I find? ... Read more

Amazon.com

He's the Wild Blue Yonder, and The Tick is back to show why this outlandishly funny TV series should never have been canceled! After proving his mettle in comic books and animated TV, creator Ben Edlund's blue-insect superhero made his auspicious debut on Fox (in November 2001), portrayed in live action (in a buff-muscled rubber suit) by Patrick Warburton, the popular Seinfeld guest star (as "Puddy"), who instantly perfected the role he was born to play. In his appreciative commentary track, co-executive producer (and Men in Black director) Barry Sonnenfeld calls the pilot episode "the best thing I've ever directed," and it's easy to agree: wide-angle lenses, stylized sets, hilarious dialogue, and a comedically gifted cast make the episode (and the entire series) a perfect summation of Sonnenfeld's wacky style. Edlund concurs, observing that The Tick is "something you get or you don't," and the impatient Fox executives obviously didn't get the show's expert blend of absurdity, stupidity, and good-natured irreverence. They axed the series after eight of these nine episodes aired, only proving that The Tick was too hip for their bean-counting mentalities.

In the title role, Warburton (with highly expressive antennae) hits all the right notes of dimwitted innocence and brute-force gallantry, aided immeasurably by his moth-costumed sidekick Arthur (David Burke), wannabe lothario Batmanuel (Nestor Carbonell), and buxom beauty Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey). Attentive to the more mundane aspects of superheroism, The Tick offers outrageous villains (like the nefarious "Destroyo") and eccentric allies (like Ron Perlman's hilarious "Fiery Blaze") while showing that even crimefighters have everyday problems and desires. Brilliantly conceived and executed, The Tick can now be enjoyed by an audience it never had a proper chance to cultivate. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (57)

You face....The Tick!
"The Tick" was another one of those great, edgy television shows that Fox simply didn't give a chance (along with "The Critic," "Greg The Bunny" and others). The casting was absolutely perfect...Warburton does an excellent job as the Wild Blue Yonder, and Nester Carbonell (of "Suddenly Susan" fame) was the perfect Batmanuel.

The DVD is, sadly, not perfect. The extras are pretty worthless, and I'm at a loss as to why it needed to be a 2-DVD set with three episodes on one disc and six on the other. They all easily could have fit on one disc and left the annoying "extras" out.

I cannot criticize the content, however; the show is just as hilarious as I remember it. The episodes "The Funeral," "Couples" and the wonderful pilot (with Christopher Lloyd in an uncredited role as Mr. Fishladder, Arthur's former boss) are the shining points of the series. And from the viewpoint of a hearing-impaired person, it's a joy to watch a DVD that is properly closed-captioned, with no spelling mistakes, few omissions and without the annoying all-caps some DVDs insist upon.

This show was funny, edgy and irreverant...completely different from anything else on TV at the time. In the words of the Tick himself: "When the world says jump, we say pass the salt!"

The Wild Blue Yonder
He has melted viewers' hearts, and from this day forth, he will spread his buttery justice over their DVD players' every nook and cranny. He is the Tick, the mysterious and insane crime fighter who will teach the forces of evil the Lesson... of Metcalfe. (Don't ask, it's a series in-joke)

Mild-mannered accountant Arthur (David Burke) quits his job in order to don a spandex moth suit and fight crime. When he's attacked by inept Communist agents, he's suddenly rescued by... the Tick (Patrick Warburton), a dimwitted innocent who lives in a world of his own. Reluctantly recruited by the Tick as a sidekick, Arthur accompanies his bizarre, superhuman friend through a strange array of crime-fighting scenarios

With the wannabe Latin lover Batmanuel (Nestor Carbonell) and patriotic amazon Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey), the Tick attacks the eccentric evil of the world: fire-spewing Apocalypse Cow, 112-year-old supervillain The Terror, formerly pudgy ballerina Destroyo, Arthur's relatives, and robots who are trying to kill Jimmy Carter. In the meantime, Our Heroes have to deal with dogs, mixed dating (superhero/ordinary person), porn shoots, Captain Liberty accidently killing the poorly-named celebrity-superhero Immortal (in the sack, no less!), the snobby League of Heroes, and the Tick's search for his true identity.

It doesn't get much goofier than "Tick," which spoofs the sort of comic book heroes like Superman and Batman. The villains are over-the-top (check out Destroyo's tanklike exoskeleton), the heroes are more often insane than not, and sidekicks form little clubs to complain about how their heroes treat them. The writing is full of tortured metaphors and strange scenarios (the scene where Captain Liberty and Batmanuel try to explain the Facts of Life to the Tick is priceless -- "blah blah blah").

He's the tiny diamond in a sea of rhinestones, a peach in a barrel of bad apples; Patrick Warburton is outrageously funny as he rolls off the corniest and dumbest dialogue imaginable ("A secret message... from my teeth!") without cracking the tiniest smile. Burke serves as the hapless brain Arthur; Carbonell is quite entertaining as the womanizing Batmanuel, who only fights crime once in the whole series. And Vassey is fantastic as a frustrated 21st-century Wonder Woman who sometimes seems to be the only really sane one there.

All too short and all too sweet, "The Tick" wasn't given the long life on television that it deserved. However, fans can now enjoy the nine hysterical episodes of madness, mayhem, Metcalfe, and steaming hot cups of justice. Long live the Big Blue Lug.

an amazing comic made into an amazing show
I was a fan of The Tick comic books ( all, what, 13 of them?) and they are amongst my most prized posessions. I was very nervous when I heard a live action show was being made of the The Tick. However, I absolutely loved the show and the DVD set. I've already watched them through three times. A great buy!

Terrific Tick
I never watched the series when it was on the air, or watched the cartoon, comic book...but I was always told they were funny and be something that I would enjoy. I have to admit that I thouroughly enjoyed this series. The episodes got better as the season went on. My favorites are "Arthur, Interrupted", "The Funeral", "The Big Leagues", & "The Tick vs. Justice", although they were all pretty good! Patrick Warburton did an incredible job as the Tick. Many actors who portray comic heroes fall flat but Patrick was utterly convincing as the Wild Blue Yonder. David Burke, Nestor Carbonell, & Liz Vassey were all hillarious in their portrayals. It is sad that this series did not continue, one could only imagine what heights of levity could have been wrought if only this brilliant show was not terminated!
I wished this DVD could have had more extras...I couldn't find the DVD rom link either, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places...and deleted scenes or TV spots would have been nice!
It would be great if a MOVIE gets produced...I would definitely Watch it!

"A secret message from my teeth!"
Ben Edlund's oft-licensed, off-beat creation was never in finer form than Patrick Warburton's jut-jawed portrayal of The Wild Blue Yonder himself. Matching the goofy heights reached by the excellent cartoon in a measly nine half-hour episodes, there's no telling what Sonnenfeld and company could have done with this series. Unfortunately, it looks like there never will be any telling, as the show was unceremoniously canned before the last episode even aired. Still, there's mirth aplenty in this strangely sparse 2-DVD set; Christopher Lloyd guest stars in an episode, as do Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and John de Lancie (Star Trek: TNG's Q). Warburton's Tick seems right at home alongside David Burke's Arthur, as well as new Edlund creations Batmanuel and Captain Liberty (ably acted by the hilariously oversexed Nestor Carbonell and the ever-serious Liz Vassey, respectively). Commentary tracks with Barry Sonnenfeld (who produced the series and directed the first episode) and Ben Edlund (who wrote the comic book back when it was an underground sensation) are available for nearly every episode, and a few poorly-selected trailers are on the second disc. Buy it for the show, chum. ... Read more