Season 2 of American TV series Ally McBeal aired on FOX television network between September 14 1998 — May 24 1999.
Synopsis
This Season Ally McBeal faces off top attorney Nelle Porter and her growling friend Ling Woo. Co-partner John Cage starts a rocky relationship with Nelle, who dislikes his quirks and intense love for Barry White. Ally continues to date Dr. Greg Butters but conflict arises when she kisses her old flame Billy Thomas. Ally soon loses Greg and is into a mental state of despair.
Crew
The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television and David E. Kelley Productions. The sole executive producer was the creator David E. Kelley, who also wrote all 23 episodes just like the season before, with the exception of co-writing the episode Just Looking with Shelly Landau. Jonathan Pontell and Jeffrey Kramer served as the co-executive producers.
Cast
The second season had ten major roles receive star billing. Calista Flockhart as Ally McBeal, Greg Germann as Richard Fish, Peter MacNicol as John Cage, Jane Krakowski as Elaine Vassal, Lisa Nicole Carson as Renée Raddick, Gil Bellows as Billy Thomas and Courtney Thorne-Smith as Georgia Thomas, all returned to the main cast. Former recurring star Vonda Shepard was upgraded to series regular after appearing in nearly every episode of the previous season.
Lucy Liu and Portia de Rossi premiered as new characters, Ling Woo and Nelle Porter, in the season premiere and appeared on recurring status until episode Making Spirits Bright, when they were also upgraded to series regulars. Lucy Liu originally auditioned for the role of Nelle, but David E. Kelley ended up creating a whole new character for her.[1]
Various supporting characters from Season One returned to reprise their recurring roles, including Dyan Cannon as Judge Whipper Cone; Albert Hall as Judge Seymore Walsh; Jennifer Holliday as Lisa Knowles; Phil Leeds as Judge Dennis 'Happy' Boyle; Jesse L. Martin as Dr. Greg Butters; Harrison Page as Reverend Mark Newman; Tracey Ullman as Dr. Tracy Clark; and Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vatrena King and Sy Smith as the backup singers for Vonda Shepard. The season also included three celebrities: Bruce Willis appearing as a substitute therapist for Ally, Wayne Newton as a radio DJ, and Barry White appearing as himself.
- Starring
- Calista Flockhart as Ally McBeal
- Courtney Thorne-Smith as Georgia Thomas
- Greg Germann as Richard Fish
- Lisa Nicole Carson as Renée Raddick
- Jane Krakowski as Elaine Vassal
- Portia de Rossi as Nelle Porter
- Lucy Liu as Ling Woo (21/23 episodes)
- with Peter MacNicol as John Cage
- and Gil Bellows as Billy Thomas
- Recurring
- Vonda Shepard as Herself (13 episodes)
Episodes
| # | EPISODE |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Real World |
| Ally finds herself attracted to an eighteen-year-old while Cage & Fish considers hiring an attorney whom Cage finds attractive | |
| 2 | They Eat Horses, Don't They? |
| A client sues a radio shock jock for contributing to sexual harassment at her workplace while Cage defends a restaurateur who fed a customer horse meat. | |
| 3 | Fools Night Out |
| Ally plays mediator when a minister breaks up with his church’s choir singer. Ling sues a plastic surgeon’s nurse for misrepresenting her natural breasts as implants. | |
| 4 | It's My Party |
| A judge holds Ally in contempt when she disregards his instructions not to wear short skirts in court. An editor for a feminist magazine is fired for being of the Baptist faith. | |
| 5 | Story of Love |
| Ally defends a woman who threw her best friend into a garbage canister after learning she had stolen away her boyfriend. An accident befalls Cage’s beloved frog. | |
| 6 | Worlds Without Love |
| A nun sues for damages after she is fired for breaking her vow of celibacy. Renée reconnects with someone from her past. Cage’s once-thought-dead frog reappears. | |
| 7 | Happy Trails |
| The attorneys learn that Judge Boyle suddenly drops dead. A woman with orange-colored skin sues her employer for wrongful termination. Elaine urges Ally to give a persistent and unwanted suitor "the dump." More bad luck besets Stephan the frog. | |
| 8 | Just Looking |
| Cage and Fish go undercover at Ling’s mud wrestling club while Ally gets stuck in the unisex toile and Georgia finds herself attracted to a man she once dated. | |
| 9 | You Never Can Tell |
| As Thanksgiving approaches, Ling sues an employee for having sexual thoughts about her. Ally goes to court with her fingers stuck in a bowling ball. | |
| 10 | Making Spirits Bright |
| As Christmas approaches, Fish's biggest client is fired from his job after he sees a unicorn while Renee and Matt's relationship heats up. | |
| 11 | In Dreams |
| An ailing woman who prefers living in her dreams seeks a court order that would force a hospital to place her in a coma. Ling informs Fish that Nelle has tired of Cage’s lack of sexual aggressiveness. | |
| 12 | Love Unlimited |
| Ally represents a woman whose husband wishes to annul their marriage on the grounds that he is a 'sexaholic' and was incompetent when he agreed to go through with the wedding. Meanwhile, Nelle goes to the extremes to convince John to make love to her. | |
| 13 | Angels and Blimps |
| A young leukemia sufferer wishes to sue God. Fish and Cage defend a client accused of attempted murder. | |
| 14 | Pyramids on the Nile |
| A company fires two employees for breaking its 'date and tell' office policy. Billy grows jealous when he sees Greg and Ally kissing. Ling asks Fish to hire her as a counsel for Fish & Cage. | |
| 15 | Sideshow |
| Ally consults Tracy for advice now that she and Billy have kissed. | |
| 16 | Sex, Lies and Politics |
| Cage and Ling represent a bookstore owner who was driven out of business by a politician who claimed that the store sold pornography. Ally and Billy deal with the aftermath of their kiss. | |
| 17 | Civil War |
| Ally and Cage face off against Fish and Georgia when the firm represents both sides of a date rape case. Nelle represents a sweaty client in trouble with the IRS. | |
| 18 | Those Lips, That Hand |
| Ally defends a man accused of murdering his wife by cutting off her hand. Billy and Georgia represent a life insurance salesman who lost his job because of his bad comb-over. | |
| 19 | Let's Dance |
| Cage, Fish and Nelle defend a law firm that allegedly withheld a female employee’s partnership offer after she became pregnant. Ling substitutes for Elaine’s partner in a dance contest and Billy and Georgia attend therapy. | |
| 20 | Only the Lonely |
| A slightly overweight woman claims her employer’s policy of allowing workers to wear bathing suits to work amounts to sexual harassment. Elaine is accused of stealing the idea for the face bra from a dead cousin. | |
| 21 | The Green Monster |
| Ally hires a male escort in hopes of making Greg jealous. Fish and Cage represent a woman who destroyed her husband’s most cherished possessions after she discovered he was having an affair while Billy objects to Georgia’s revealing attire. | |
| 22 | Love's Illusions |
| Ally’s fantasies interfere with her lawyering, prompting fears that she may be losing her mind. A man who believes his wife never loved him sues for fraud. Fish experiences impotency as he and Ling are about to make love. | |
| 23 | I Know Him by Heart |
| Ally decides to take a more aggressive approach in her search for a mate, a lesbian who wants to have a baby sues her insurance company when it refuses to cover the fertilization process and Nelle feels threatened by the relationship Cage shares with Ally. | |
Trivia
- The Life and Trials of Ally McBeal was a series special air on March 22 1999 during Season 2, chronicling the the many zany situations of the law firm and it's characters. Bill Maher hosted this fun special that took audience into the deep psyche of the series' characters, as revealed through the interpretations of the the actors who play them.
- The entire season originally aired Mondays at 9pm, just like Season One.
- It was released on DVD as a six disc boxed set under the title of Ally McBeal: Season Two on October 7, 2002.[2][3] and the U.S. on April 6, 2010.
- It had an average rating of 13.8 million viewers in the United States and was ranked #20 on the complete ranking sheet of all the year's shows.[4] This was the highest rated season of Ally McBeal.
- On the 51st Primetime Emmy Awards, the show won three Emmy Awards in the categories of Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special for the episode Love's Illusions, and the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Tracey Ullman's portrayal of Dr. Tracey Clark on the episode Sideshow. On the 56th Golden Globe Awards, the show won in the category of Best Series second year in a row.[5]
Media
- ‘Ally’ Returns to All That Attention (LA TIMES • SEPTEMBER 1998)
References
- ↑ Lucy Liu trivia. celebritywonder.com.
- ↑ Ally McBeal: Season Two, Part One. Amazon.com.
- ↑ Ally McBeal: Season Two, Part Two. Amazon.com.
- ↑ TV Winners & Losers: Numbers Racket a Final Tally of the Season's Shows. EW.com.
- ↑ Awards for Ally McBeal. IMDB.com.
| v - e - d Seasons of Ally McBeal |
|---|
| ● Season One ● Season Two ● Season Three ● Season Four ● Season Five |
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