What Ally McBeal needs is a good talking to.
Ally is the heroine of Fox’s new comedy-drama “Ally McBeal,” which premieres at 8 p.m. Monday on WFLD-Ch. 32.
Ally, played by Calista Flockhart (“The Birdcage”) has what is known as a “love jones,” or a serious case of the head-over-heels. The object of her affection? Billy Alan Thomas (Gil Bellows), a guy Ally has known since childhood.
Ally even went to law school primarily to follow Billy, a stronger motivation than the long hours she spent sitting in courtrooms listening to her lawyer father argue cases. When Billy decided to take his career into another direction — and another state — it took Ally three years to get over the heartbreak.
Or so she thought.
Circumstances — leaving her job at a law firm after a partner squeezed her bottom (he claimed he had a compulsive disorder) — forced Ally to join the Boston firm owned by an old law school enemy (Greg Germann of “Ned & Stacey”). Who should she find working there? A now-married Billy (“Melrose Place’s” Courtney Thorne-Smith is his wife), whom Ally still loves.
When you love someone, no one can tell you anything negative about that person. But it’s really hard to figure out what Ally sees in this mope.
Billy looks soft and weak. He’s got that George Clooney/Roman gladiator/bangs-hiding-a-receding-hairline style. He’s a wimp who can’t tell his wife that he and Ally did more than date a few times.
“Why does he have to be so cute?” Ally moans in the premiere. Listen here, girlfriend: Billy may be cute to you, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy you should hold a torch for.
It can only be hoped that Ally will, if not stop completely, tone down the “love jones” for this knothead, get out and meet other people.
Introducing us to “Ally McBeal” is talented writer-producer David E. Kelley, who proves again what a master of disguise he is.
“Picket Fences,” arguably Kelley’s best series, was about small-town life and how strange and wonderful it sometimes can be. But the premise became a means to examine how ethical dilemmas related to the law.
Kelley’s “Chicago Hope” surrounds the exploits of doctors at a big-time hospital. But that is also something of a mask; the show is more about morality and the ways a diverse group of individuals deal with it.
“Ally McBeal” may be about a young lawyer, but that’s just another of Kelley’s carefully planned disguises. There is some litigation going on in the pilot, but it seems as if Kelley will leave most of the lawyering to his ABC series “The Practice.”
“Ally McBeal” isn’t as much about the law, as it is about love and how it hurts, confuses and uplifts us.
Kelley, who wrote the premiere episode, weaves words and scenes of a quiet, sad, lyrical quality, which should please romantics. The feisty Ally nonetheless mopes around hopelessly for Billy, while moody alternative music plays in the background.
Besides Ally’s running commentary on her life through constant voiceovers, some of her thoughts are manifested through imaginary scenes, a fantasy storytelling technique that has been employed in such shows as “Sisters” and “Life Goes On.”
When Billy tells Ally he’s glad she’s around as a “talented addition to the firm,” Ally imagines getting shot with several arrows in the chest. When Billy asks Ally if she wants to grab a cup of coffee, Ally envisions the couple making out in a huge cup of cappuccino.
That bit of visual eye candy adds a fun element to “Ally McBeal.” In fact, the show’s romantic look, feel and tone make it a nice little companion to “Melrose Place.”
– “Melrose” A Go-Go: Speaking of “Melrose Place,” one of TV’s campiest shows returns for a sixth season at 7 p.m. Monday on WFLD-Ch. 32, to find that Sydney Andrews (Laura Leighton) is still dead. She was hit by a car moments after getting married to Craig Field (David Charvet), who in the premiere blames Samantha (Brooke Langton) because her father, who kidnapped Sam and took her on a high-speed ride, was the one to ram his beloved.
Joining “Melrose” on Monday is Linden Ashby (“Spy Game”) as a new doctor working with nutty Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro). Coming a few weeks later is Jamie Luner (“Savannah”) as Ashby’s ex-wife.
– Where’s the remote: Hot on the heels of Tim Roth’s giddy performance as murderous Prohibition era gangster Dutch Schultz in “Hoodlum,” is a “Biography” on the real Dutchman. “Dutch Schultz: Menace to Society” airs at 7 p.m. Monday on A&E.
– Looks like WMAQ-Ch. 5 has high hopes for “Arthel & Fred,” the new celebrity magazine show starring ex-“Extra!” anchor Arthel Neville and Los Angeles sportscaster and video clips ringleader Fred Roggin (“Roggin’s Heroes”). It’s in that high-profile 1:05 a.m. time slot, starting Monday.
