I didn’t see the show but I heard the promotion about it. Offhand, I can recall at least three other shows that have had a plot where one of the previously heterosexual female characters kisses another woman. At this point, I’m guessing the producers are going to have to raise the stakes and have a female character actually follow through and have a lesbian affair. (I’ll leave the entire Ellen situation out of this.)
I was actually a little annoyed by the episode. It just seemed like a cheap ratings trick, and the dance and kiss did nothing for me. It just all seemed so manipulative: “Oooh, looky! Women dancing! Women kissing! Watch our show NOW!” Please. It’s like the stupid riff they did last season, insinuating that there may be a Melrose-like affair between Ally and Billy. It was out of character for what truly had been an ingenuitive and ::ahem:: intelligent show.
Now the entire series seems to be on its way down, selling out to cheap ratings ploys that insult that same intelligence it initially tickled. The first two episodes for this season irritated the crud out of me–all sex, no substance. (Great for a porno, but I wasn’t in a porno mood.)
The first season had an even artistic tone to it; now it’s just about screaming SEX. Whatever. Seems to be the pattern of most things quality on TV (Law and Order is perhaps the most brilliant show I’ve ever seen in that regard–the most consistantly intellectual, provoking, and non-soap-operaish). Look, I’ll even support “Friends:” it was funny the first season. Then its wildfire success made it as canned and brainless as virtually every other sitcom out there.
Ah, well. It was fun while it lasted.
I used to think the world was against me. Now I know better. Some of the smaller countries are neutral.
I wish I saw it. I’m a big fan of lesbian kissing scenes. There was a good one on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine between Dax and one of her host’s previous lovers.
The best ever, besides “Bitches of Madison County”, was in the movie “Cruel Intentions” I’ve never been turned on by two completely clothed women in my life. HOT.
Ally McBeal looks like a fish.
Next time you see her on TV, imagine her little mouth opening and closing rythmically as she swallows some Hartz Mountain goldfish food.
LauraRae, I kind of agree with you about Ally McBeal. I don’t know if David E. Kelly is stretching himself too thin trying to be involved in at least three shows, but I think Ally has deteriorated a bit this year. It is still one of the few shows I make a point of watching every week, but I’m hoping it gets back up to snuff soon.
I also agree with the poster who said Calista Flockhart didn’t look like she was having any fun. I agree.
When I want to be intellectually entertained, I turn to PBS.
Good Gawd people, unclench your asses and dig the panties out of your cracks! There is nothing wrong with watching mindless, meaningless television once in a while. Must you always feel mentally stimulated when you turn on your set? I don’t know about you all, but at the end of the day I have no objections to planting my ass in front of Ally McBeal and simply being entertained - nothing more, nothing less.
I really miss Melrose Place and Get A Life (remember that one, with Chris Elliot?), so THERE!!
Every once in a while, I will put down Hemmingway (or whomever) and grab an Enquirer or Star or my all-time favorite, World Weekly News. . . .
. . . and this will make you all gasp with disgust, but sometimes I will bypass the subtitled, foreign film section at Blockbusters and head right on over to the Adam Sandler movies!!!
>^,^<
KITTEN
Seven days of sex makes a whole week.
Because it’s the only show that actual explores the meanings and implications of sexual desire, including the moral issues raised. The show’s funny, but the subtext is very serious and insightful, especially about the conflicts between sex and sexual fantasies. A lot of thoughtful issues are raised, and often left for the viewer to make a decision.
Ally is not a bimbo. She’s a woman who’s very confused about sexuality and sex roles in the 90s. If anything, she tends to spend too much time thinking about the subject and coming up with interesting and valid insights. Her problems usually come from the fact she spends too much time thinking and second-guessing, primarily because the rules for sexuality these days are not clear cut.
And all the characters on the show are wonderfully drawn. What’s even better is the way the show makes subtle points. For instance, all last season Ally dated a black man, yet never once was the interracial angle mentioned. Or how everyone thought Nelle was a bit nasty and bitchy despite the fact she never gave anyone the slightest reason to believe it.
Very close to my sentiments (although I don’t watch the half-hour episode). I make a point to watch this show (the only prime-time network show I do watch) not because of Ally but because of the other characters. The Fishisms and strange little Biscuit situations are very clever and well-written.
I do fear it is starting that downhill slide, however. The lesbian kiss was no big deal. I was more interested in the other subplots, anyway.
Oh, boy, do I ever put myself on this line on this message board. Last week I admitted that I’m on AOL. This week I’m admitting that I really enjoy Ally McBeal.
However, the first few times I watched it (flipping through the channels) I thought it was a “chick show”. Being the studly man that I am, I figured it wasn’t for me. But when I actually sat down to watch an entire show, I was enchanted.
I don’t like the main character; she’s a neurotic mess. But that hardly matters. I don’t like Rimmer on <font face=“arial,helvetica” color="#000000">Red Dwarf</font>, but I enjoy watching him.
As for the woman/woman kiss, I thought it was well done, because it occured in a wider context (i.e. what do you do when you’re not gay but feel an strange attraction to somebody of the same sex?).
Watching Ally McBeal probably won’t broaden my horizons significantly or make me more chock full of vitamins, but I watch it anyway – and have a good time.
So sue me.
Afraid to fly? Hey, I’ve been there!