Ally McBeal season 4: Difference between revisions

*Ally McBeal*
Ally McBeal
Season 4
	DVD cover
No. of episodes	23
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	October 12, 2000 –; May 21, 2001
Season chronology
	← Previous; Season 3 Next →; Season 5
	List of episodes

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Revision as of 15:17, 10 April 2021

The fourth season of the television series Ally McBeal commenced airing in the United States on October 12, 2000, concluded on May 21, 2001, and consisted of 23 episodes. The entire season originally aired Mondays at 9pm, just like the seasons before.

It was released on DVD as a six disc boxed set under the title of Ally McBeal: Season Four on February 10, 2002,^[1]^[2] and this was the very first season of Ally McBeal to be released on DVD.

The fourth season had an average rating of 12.0 million viewers in the United States and was ranked #40 on the complete ranking sheet of all the year's shows.^[3] This was the third highest rated season of Ally McBeal.

On the 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards, the show won its final two Emmys in the categories of Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series for the work of Nikki Valko and Ken Miller, and in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, for Peter MacNicol's portrayal of John Cage. On the 58th Golden Globe Awards, Robert Downey, Jr. won an award for his portrayal of Larry Paul and got a standing ovation as he approached the stage.^[4]

Crew

The season was produced by 20th Television and David E. Kelley Productions. The executive producers were Bill D'Elia and the creator David E. Kelley, who also wrote all 23 episodes just like the seasons before.^[5] Staff writers Alicia Martin, Barb Mackintosh, Melissa Rosenberg, Kerry Lenhart and John J. Sakmar each co-wrote one episode with Kelley. Alice West served as the co-executive producer.

Cast

The fourth season had nine 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, Vonda Shepard as herself, Portia de Rossi as Nelle Porter and Lucy Liu as Ling Woo all returned to the main cast.

Robert Downey, Jr. was added as a new character named Larry Paul and served as Ally's love interest during the season, but due to the actor's problem with drug addiction, he was written out. The show's season finale was titled The Wedding and was originally going to include Ally's and Larry's wedding.^[6] The fifth season had already been planned out, revolving around the characters' married life, and had to be rewritten.^[7]

Former castmember Courtney Thorne-Smith returned to guest star on episode Girls' Night Out, where she reunited with Marcia Cross, with whom she worked together on Melrose Place. James LeGros was upgraded to contract status after recurring the previous season, but his character was slowly phased out during the season and written out by the end of it.^[8] Lisa Nicole Carson, an original cast member, announced in June 2001 that she would not return for the next season either.^[8]

Various supporting characters from the previous seasons returned to reprise their recurring roles, including Albert Hall as Judge Seymore Walsh, Jennifer Holliday as Lisa Knowles, Harrison Page as Reverend Mark Newman, and Renée Elise Goldsberry, Vatrena King and Sy Smith as the backup singers for Vonda Shepard. Taye Diggs appeared as recurring character Jackson Duper and was intended to return as a regular in the following season, but he wasn't picked up.^[8] Anne Heche signed on to play John's love interest Melanie; Lisa Edelstein appeared as Mark's love interest Cindy; Josh Groban appeared as a troubled teenager, Malcolm Wyatt; John Michael Higgins appeared as Steven Miler, Ally's therapist.

This season also featured special guest stars Chubby Checker, Sting and Anastacia.

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code	Viewers (millions)
68	1	"Sex, Lies and Second Thoughts"	Bill D'Elia	David E. Kelley	October 23, 2000 (2000-10-23)	4M01	13.23^[9]
69	2	"Girls' Night Out"	Jeannot Szwarc	David E. Kelley	October 30, 2000 (2000-10-30)	4M02	13.38^[10]
70	3	"Two's a Crowd"	Rachel Talalay	David E. Kelley	November 6, 2000 (2000-11-06)	4M03	12.62^[11]
71	4	"Without a Net"	Mel Damski	David E. Kelley	November 13, 2000 (2000-11-13)	4M04	12.86^[12]
72	5	"The Last Virgin"	Bill D'Elia	David E. Kelley	November 20, 2000 (2000-11-20)	4M05	12.34^[13]
73	6	"'Tis the Season"	Arlene Sanford	David E. Kelley	November 27, 2000 (2000-11-27)	4M06	14.03^[14]
74	7	"Love on Holiday"	Bethany Rooney	Story by : David E. Kelley & Alicia Martin & Barb Mackintosh Teleplay by : David E. Kelley	December 4, 2000 (2000-12-04)	4M07	13.03^[15]
75	8	"The Man with the Bag"	Billy Dickson	David E. Kelley	December 11, 2000 (2000-12-11)	4M08	14.09^[16]
76	9	"Reason to Believe"	Ron Lagomarsino	David E. Kelley	January 8, 2001 (2001-01-08)	4M09	12.56^[17]
77	10	"The Ex-Files"	Jack Bender	David E. Kelley	January 15, 2001 (2001-01-15)	4M10	N/A
78	11	"Mr. Bo"	Michael Schultz	David E. Kelley	January 22, 2001 (2001-01-22)	4M11	N/A
79	12	"Hats Off to Larry"	Jeannot Szwarc	Story by : David E. Kelley & Melissa Rosenberg & Barb Mackintosh Teleplay by : David E. Kelley	February 5, 2001 (2001-02-05)	4M12	N/A
80	13	"Reach Out And Touch"	Kenny Ortega	David E. Kelley	February 12, 2001 (2001-02-12)	4M13	N/A
81	14	"Boys Town"	David Grossman	David E. Kelley	February 19, 2001 (2001-02-19)	4M14	N/A
82	15	"Falling Up"	Oz Scott	David E. Kelley	February 26, 2001 (2001-02-26)	4M15	N/A
83	16	"The Getaway"	Bill D'Elia	David E. Kelley	March 19, 2001 (2001-03-19)	4M16	N/A
84	17	"The Pursuit of Unhappiness"	Kenny Ortega	Story by : David E. Kelley & Kerry Lenhart & John J. Sakmar Teleplay by : David E. Kelley	March 26, 2001 (2001-03-26)	4M17	N/A
85	18	"The Obstacle Course"	Joanna Kerns	David E. Kelley & Kayla Alpert	April 16, 2001 (2001-04-16)	4M18	N/A
86	19	"In Search of Barry White"	Adam Arkin	David E. Kelley	April 23, 2001 (2001-04-23)	4M19	N/A
87	20	"Cloudy Skies, Chance of Parade"	Billy Dickson	David E. Kelley	April 30, 2001 (2001-04-30)	4M20	N/A
88	21	"Queen Bee"	Bethany Rooney	David E. Kelley	May 7, 2001 (2001-05-07)	4M21	N/A
89	22	"Home Again"	Michael Schultz	David E. Kelley	May 14, 2001 (2001-05-14)	4M22	N/A
90	23	"The Wedding"	Bill D'Elia	David E. Kelley	May 21, 2001 (2001-05-21)	4M23	N/A

References

^ "Ally McBeal: Season Four, Part One". Retrieved 2009-06-19.
^ "Ally McBeal: Season Four, Part Two". Retrieved 2009-06-19.
^ "TV Winners & Losers: The Bitter End". EW.com. 2001-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
^ "Awards for Ally McBeal". IMDB.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
^ "David E. Kelley (I) - Filmography by TV series". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
^ "Ally McBeal will finish season without Downey". CNN.com. 2001-04-24. Retrieved 2009-06-20. ^{[dead link‍]}
^ Tomashoff, Craig. "'Ally McBeal' at 20: Calista Flockhart, David E. Kelley and More on Dancing Babies, Feminism and Robert Downey Jr". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Ally McBeal news". tktv.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-20.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 23–29)". The Los Angeles Times. November 1, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 30–Nov. 5)". The Los Angeles Times. November 8, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 6–12)". The Los Angeles Times. November 15, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 13–19)". The Los Angeles Times. November 22, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. December 1, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 27–Dec. 3)". The Los Angeles Times. December 6, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 4–10)". The Los Angeles Times. December 13, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 11–17)". The Los Angeles Times. December 20, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 1–7)". The Los Angeles Times. January 19, 2001. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Ally McBeal Episode List at IMDb.com
Ally McBeal Episode Guide at TV.com

[fourth_season,_part_one-1] "Ally McBeal: Season Four, Part One". Retrieved 2009-06-19.

[fourth_season,_part_two-2] "Ally McBeal: Season Four, Part Two". Retrieved 2009-06-19.

[ratings-3] "TV Winners & Losers: The Bitter End". EW.com. 2001-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-20.

[Awards-4] "Awards for Ally McBeal". IMDB.com. Archived from the original on 6 June 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-20.

[David_E._Kelley-5] "David E. Kelley (I) - Filmography by TV series". IMDB.com. Retrieved 2009-06-19.

[Robert_Downey_Jr.-6] "Ally McBeal will finish season without Downey". CNN.com. 2001-04-24. Retrieved 2009-06-20. ^{[dead link‍]}

[7] Tomashoff, Craig. "'Ally McBeal' at 20: Calista Flockhart, David E. Kelley and More on Dancing Babies, Feminism and Robert Downey Jr". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 5 September 2017.

[tktv-8] "Ally McBeal news". tktv.com. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008. Retrieved 2009-06-20.

[9] "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 23–29)". The Los Angeles Times. November 1, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[10] "National Nielsen Viewership (Oct. 30–Nov. 5)". The Los Angeles Times. November 8, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[11] "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 6–12)". The Los Angeles Times. November 15, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[12] "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 13–19)". The Los Angeles Times. November 22, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[13] "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 20–26)". The Los Angeles Times. December 1, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[14] "National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 27–Dec. 3)". The Los Angeles Times. December 6, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[15] "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 4–10)". The Los Angeles Times. December 13, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[16] "National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 11–17)". The Los Angeles Times. December 20, 2000. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[17] "National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 1–7)". The Los Angeles Times. January 19, 2001. Retrieved April 10, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

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@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
  |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|11|6}}
  |ProdCode=4M03
- |Viewers= 12.62<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41380347/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 6–Nov. 12)|date=November 15, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
+ |Viewers= 12.62<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41380347/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 6–12)|date=November 15, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
  |ShortSummary=Mark's girlfriend finally reveals her secret; Ling and Nelle represent a woman suing a relationship guru whose advice ruined the woman's marriage. Ally is dating two different men who are related.
  |LineColor=DE87BA
@@ Line 83: / Line 83: @@
  |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|11|13}}
  |ProdCode=4M04
- |Viewers= 12.86<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41382075/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 13–Nov. 19)|date=November 22, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
+ |Viewers= 12.86<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41382075/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 13–19)|date=November 22, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
  |ShortSummary=Ally runs into Kimmie Bishop, an old friend from college.  Ally makes fun of her in front of her friends, and Kimmie sues for defamation.  Ally hires therapist/lawyer Larry Paul as her defense.
  |LineColor=DE87BA
@@ Line 95: / Line 95: @@
  |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|11|20}}
  |ProdCode=4M05
- |Viewers= 12.34<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41381687/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 20–Nov. 26)|date=December 1, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
+ |Viewers= 12.34<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41381687/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 20–26)|date=December 1, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
  |ShortSummary=Kimmie comes to Cage & Fish looking to hire Ally to sue her old firm for [[wrongful termination]].  Ally is nervous about her first kiss with Larry, and seeks advice with Ling.
  |LineColor=DE87BA
@@ Line 107: / Line 107: @@
  |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|11|27}}
  |ProdCode=4M06
+ |Viewers= 14.03<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41308070/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Nov. 27–Dec. 3)|date=December 6, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
- |Viewers=
  |ShortSummary=Christmas season is approaching and while Ally is thrilled, Larry has nothing to celebrate.  He confesses he has a 7-year-old son in [[Detroit]] with his mother.
  |LineColor=DE87BA
@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
  |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|12|4}}
  |ProdCode=4M07
+ |Viewers= 13.03<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41382139/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 4–10)|date=December 13, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
- |Viewers=
  |ShortSummary=Elaine is sued by a former office clerk because she called him "peanut" due his size. Nelle and Ling compete in a charity auction dinner date and Cindy (Mark's ex-girlfriend, a trans woman) has plans for Richard for the charity auction.
  |LineColor=DE87BA
@@ Line 131: / Line 131: @@
  |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2000|12|11}}
  |ProdCode=4M08
+ |Viewers= 14.09<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41379226/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Dec. 11–17)|date=December 20, 2000|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
- |Viewers=
  |ShortSummary=John and Nelle defend her father who was fired from his job as a [[teacher]] because he claims he is Santa Claus. Ally feels threatened when Larry's ex comes to town. Since the episode's original broadcast, Vonda Shephard's version of [[Kay Starr]]’s Christmas song [[(Everybody's Waitin' For) The Man with the Bag]], has become a popular holiday song.<ref>Atkinson, Terry (December 3, 2000) "''TV Shows Breed Christmas Albums''" The Post-Tribune (Gary, Indiana) (Entertainment News Service), page D-5.[https://search.proquest.com/docview/343646798]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
  |LineColor=DE87BA
@@ Line 143: / Line 143: @@
  |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|2001|1|8}}
  |ProdCode=4M09
+ |Viewers= 12.56<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/41489515/the-los-angeles-times/|title=National Nielsen Viewership (Jan. 1–7)|date=January 19, 2001|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=April 10, 2021|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}{{free access}}</ref>
- |Viewers=
  |ShortSummary=Nicholas Engbloom comes to Cage & Fish looking for John to help with a murder case.  Melanie West has [[Tourette syndrome]] and ran over her boyfriend.  Richard teaches Mark how to use a "sex song" to please Elaine in bed.
  |LineColor=DE87BA

v t e Ally McBeal
Characters	Ally McBeal Nelle Porter Ling Woo Mark Albert
Seasons	1 2 3 4 5
Related media	Songs from Ally McBeal Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal