Extra Credit Review - Ally McBeal, Season 4 (2001)

So, for the sake of science and the enjoyment of my readership, I have just finished viewing 23 episodes of Ally McBeal.

Twenty.Three.

I freely admit that it took me, like, 3 weeks to do it. This involved 6 DVDs from Netflix, and when you take into account the fact that they only mail me one at a time, I think I made pretty darned good time.

Ally McBeal was on in the mid-90's to early 00's. I didn't watch it when it was originally on air. In fact, I don't want most things when they are originally aired. I usually wait several years and watch them in syndication. This is regardless of the show's popularity. Because that's how I roll.

So, in the interest of including a pointless list in my blog post, I've compiled a short list of shows that I didn't watch much of, if at all - and some I still don't.

Friends
Seinfeld
Ally McBeal (obviously)
ER
any of the CSI's
Grey's Anatomy
LA Law (okay, I know that's a bit of time travel for some of you, but to me it feels like last week)
Two and a Half Men
Home Improvement
any of the Law and Order's

and the list goes on and on.

What do I watch, you ask?

Reruns of The Golden Girls
Reruns of King of the Hill
Most anything on the Food Network
I used to watch 24, but that was like years ago.

And that's pretty much it. Do with it what you will.

Back to the business at hand. What did I think of Ally McBeal? Well, I can see why it was popular, but I can also see why it was canceled the following year. The season started off well, but by about episode 15 or so, I was ready to quit. Our Hero had to make a rather untimely departure at the end of the season - some minor situation involving a debt to society - and the re-writes were so, frankly, sucky and his character so summarily dismissed as to make me wish he had never agreed to do the show in the first place.

People were slobbering all over themselves when RDJR agreed to do the show (even I, cave dweller, remember that). I think he won a Golden Globe or something for his performance. In my humble opinion, the bestowing of that award was more of a commentary on the sad state of TV than on RDJR's performance. Yes, it was good, notwithstanding how crappily it was written. It's the award show version of saying, "Gee, this burger tastes great, considering how much meat-flavored soy and non-food additives it contains." Hardly a compliment.

Again, I know that Our Hero reads my blog...please accept my apologies for the harsh words. But I am, above all, a scientist. Now that RDJR is an uber-star, I'm sure that a repeat TV performance would be...unlikely, a fact for which I'm grateful. Because some things, like some people, just are not meant to be together.