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Ally McBeal (season 4)
Encyclopedia
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, 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. 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.
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. 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.
. 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 before the end of the season. The show's season finale was titled The Wedding and was originally going to include Ally's and Larry's wedding.
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. Lisa Nicole Carson
, an original cast member, announced in June 2001 that she would not return for the next season either.
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 Renee 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. 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
.
It was released on DVD as a six disc boxed set under the title of Ally McBeal: Season Four on February 10, 2002, and this was the very first season of Ally McBeal to be released on DVD.
The fourth season had an average rating
Audience measurement
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites...
of 12.0 million viewers in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and was ranked #40 on the complete ranking sheet of all the year's shows. This was the third highest rated season of Ally McBeal.
On the 53rd Primetime Emmy Awards
53rd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were finally held Sunday, November 4, 2001, seven weeks late. The awards show was hosted by Ellen DeGeneres and was broadcast on CBS. The ceremony was re-scheduled twice from its original date of September 16 at the Shrine Auditorium because of the September...
, 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
Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol is an American actor. He may be best known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean...
's portrayal of John Cage. On the 58th Golden Globe Awards
58th Golden Globe Awards
The 58th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for 2000, were held on January 21, 2001.-Best Actor - Drama:Tom Hanks - Cast Away*Javier Bardem - Before Night Falls*Russell Crowe - Gladiator...
, Robert Downey, Jr. won an award for his portrayal of Larry Paul and got a standing ovation as he approached the stage.
Crew
The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is the home video distribution arm of the 20th Century Fox film studio. It was established in 1976 as Magnetic Video Corporation, and later as 20th Century Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video and FoxVideo, Inc....
and David E. Kelley Productions. The executive producers were Bill D'Elia
Bill D'Elia
Bill D'Elia is an American television screenwriter, producer, and director. He was an executive producer of Boston Legal and Ally McBeal, and is the co-creator and a principal screenwriter for Judging Amy....
and the creator David E. Kelley
David E. Kelley
David Edward Kelley is an American television writer and producer, known as the creator of Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Boston Legal and Harry's Law, as well as several films. Kelley is one of the only screenwriters to have had a show created by him run on...
, who also wrote all 23 episodes just like the seasons before. Staff writers Alicia Martin, Barb Mackintosh, Melissa Rosenberg
Melissa Rosenberg
Melissa Anne Rosenberg is an American screenwriter. She has worked in both film and television and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards, and two Writers Guild of America Awards. She won a Peabody Award...
, 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 billingBilling (film)
Billing is a performing arts term used in referring to the order and other aspects of how credits are presented for plays, films, television, or other creative works...
. Calista Flockhart
Calista Flockhart
Calista Kay Flockhart is an American actress who is primarily recognized for her work in television. She is best known for playing the title character in the Fox comedy-drama series Ally McBeal for which she won a Golden Globe Award...
as Ally McBeal, Greg Germann
Greg Germann
Gregory Andrew "Greg" Germann is an American actor. He played the roles of Richard Fish in the television series Ally McBeal, businessman Mattson from Child's Play 2 and the vet Laurence from Quarantine...
as Richard Fish, Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol is an American actor. He may be best known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean...
as John Cage, Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski
Jane Krakowski is an American actress and singer. She is most well known for her performance of Elaine Vassal on Ally McBeal, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, and for her current role as Jenna Maroney on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, for which she has been nominated for three Emmy...
as Elaine Vassal, Lisa Nicole Carson
Lisa Nicole Carson
Lisa Nicole Carson is an American actress. She is best known for her work on U.S. television, including supporting roles in NBC's ER and Fox's Ally McBeal...
as Renée Raddick, Vonda Shepard
Vonda Shepard
Vonda Shepard is an American pop/rock singer. She appeared as a regular in the television show Ally McBeal from seasons 1-5 in which she played a resident performer at the bar where the show's characters drank after work. She plays piano, guitar, and bass.-Biography:Vonda Shepard was born in New...
as herself, Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi
Portia Lee James DeGeneres , known professionally as Portia de Rossi , is an Australian-American actress, best known for her roles as lawyer Nelle Porter on the television series Ally McBeal and Lindsay Bluth Fünke on the sitcom Arrested Development...
as Nelle Porter and Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
as Ling Woo
Ling Woo
Ling Woo is a fictional character in the US comedy-drama Ally McBeal, portrayed by American actress Lucy Liu. Ling was a cold and ferocious Chinese American lawyer who spoke Mandarin and was knowledgeable in the art of sexual pleasure unknown to the Western world...
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 before the end of the season. The show's season finale was titled The Wedding and was originally going to include Ally's and Larry's wedding.
Former castmember Courtney Thorne Smith returned to guest star on episode Girls' Night Out, where she reunited with Marcia Cross
Marcia Cross
Marcia Anne Cross is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Bree Van de Kamp on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and as Dr...
, with whom she worked together on Melrose Place. James LeGros
James LeGros
James LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:...
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. Lisa Nicole Carson
Lisa Nicole Carson
Lisa Nicole Carson is an American actress. She is best known for her work on U.S. television, including supporting roles in NBC's ER and Fox's Ally McBeal...
, an original cast member, announced in June 2001 that she would not return for the next season either.
Various supporting characters from the previous seasons returned to reprise their recurring roles, including Albert Hall
Albert Hall
Albert P. Hall is an American actor.Born in Brighton, Alabama, Hall graduated from the Columbia University School of the Arts in 1971. That same year he appeared Off-Broadway in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and on Broadway in the Melvin Van Peebles musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death...
as Judge Seymore Walsh, Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer-Yvette Holliday is an African-American singer and Tony Award-winning actress. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as Dreamgirls, and later became a successful recording artist...
as Lisa Knowles, Harrison Page
Harrison Page
Harrison Page is an American television and film actor who has appeared in many popular shows, including Cold Case, JAG, ER, Ally McBeal, Melrose Place, Quantum Leap, The Wonder Years, 21 Jump Street, Murder She Wrote, Fame, Gimme a Break!, Benson, Hill Street Blues, Webster, The Dukes of Hazzard,...
as Reverend Mark Newman, and Renee Elise Goldsberry
Renee Elise Goldsberry
Renee Elise Goldsberry is an American actress, singer and songwriter.Goldsberry was born in San Jose, California and raised in both Houston, Texas and Detroit, Michigan. After graduating from Cranbrook Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills she went to Carnegie Mellon University where she graduated...
, Vatrena King and Sy Smith
Sy Smith
Sy Olivia Smith is an American Emmy nominated singer-songwriter. Born in New York, New York, Smith rose to fame in the late 1990s when she signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records. Smith released her first studio album Psykosoul in 2000, which spawned the singles "Gladly" and "Good N...
as the backup singers for Vonda Shepard. Taye Diggs
Taye Diggs
Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice...
appeared as recurring character Jackson Duper and was intended to return as a regular in the following season, but he wasn't picked up. Anne Heche
Anne Heche
Anne Celeste Heche is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She started her career on the daytime soap opera Another World, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1991. Heche gradually landed supporting roles in feature films, and in 1997 appeared in I Know What You Did Last Summer,...
signed on to play John's love interest Melanie; Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House.-Early life and education:...
appeared as Mark's love interest Cindy; Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
appeared as a troubled teenager, Malcolm Wyatt; John Michael Higgins
John Michael Higgins
John Michael Higgins is an American actor whose film credits include Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, the role of David Letterman in HBO's The Late Shift, and a starring role in the American version of Kath & Kim....
appeared as Steven Miler, Ally's therapist.
This season also featured special guest stars Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker is an American singer-songwriter. He is widely known for popularizing the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist"...
, Sting and Anastacia
Anastacia
Anastacia is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful in Europe, Asia, South Africa and South America, but has had only minor success in her native United States...
.
Episodes
| Series # | Season # | Title | Director | Writer(s) | Original air date | Ally McBeal Episode List at IMDb.com
TV.com TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan... The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
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