ALLY McBEAL Slides Off The Bubble!!

Aint It Cool News ^ | Thursday, April 18, 2002 | I am – Hercules!!

[Behind Liberal Lines]

“Ally McBeal” is gone, cancelled, a half-decade memory of a soured relationship.

Two funny seasons were followed by three not-so-funny ones. And Christina Ricci and Matthew Perry could not keep Monday’s episode from pulling in the show’s lowest 18-49 demo ever.

Creator David E. Kelley hasn't yet penned the series finale, which airs May 20

[Behind Liberal Lines]

You think maybe the network suits will stop and think: maybe the shows' ratings went down as it became increasingly smutty?

nah...

[martin_fierro]

There was a funny piece posted around here to the effect that Flockhart was protesting the show's cancellation by going on an EATING strike! lol

[Stentor]

The show is so 90's. I could never find much humor in the portrayal of self-absorbed rat bastard lawyers.

[detsaoT]

Heh, too funny. I am GLAD that show finally bit the dust. Even the commercials were too stupid for me to watch.

(The amount of ABSOLUTE trash there is on even the BROADCAST networks is indicitive of a very vast divide between the "media hubs" in this nation [New York and Los Angeles, mostly] and "flyover country"... When will the REAL America stand up and demand that trash like this be taken off the air? Will we ever?)

Heck, I'm not _that_ old, but I don't remember shows (in the 80's) being ANYWHERE near as bad as the trash we've got on ALL shows (the language is bad enough without the incessant sexual innuendo) these days. Hell, I can barely watch "Greg the Bunny" without getting the urge to change the channel.

It's sick. Someone NEEDS to start a national network, based outside of "flyto" land, so we can have something to watch...

:) ttt

[realpatriot71]

I didn't realize it was still on the air . . .

[frmrda]

What do you consider "Real America"? And why do you say people should "demand" some shows be taken off the air. There is no need to "demand" anything, just don't watch. That's what happened to this idiotic show. (I watched it twice and it was the stupidest thing ever).

And what you in "real America" consider "smut" I may like. A few examples are NYPD Blue" (something "Real America" protested like crazy 9 years ago), "The Simpsons", "The Shield", and "The Osbournes".

What you may not realize, or like, is that "real America" has lots of people who like these shows. "Smut" is in the eye of the beholder - but if you look at it objectively, few shows that offer nothing but "smut" last. You have to have good writing and compelling storylines to do something besides just fade away after the initital shock.

[detsaoT]

Part of "demanding" would be to stop watching, which is obviously what happened here.

And when comparing television fare of today to that of the 80's there are vast differences which can be found without considering levels of "smut." Linguistically, the characters in many new television shows use coarse language ("kick your ass", etc), the storylines revolve around sex sex sex, all conservatives are shown in a negative light. These are the kind of thing that I have a problem with.

I'm not saying that all of this programming should be banned or anything rediculous like that. I just find it hard to believe that anyone outside of New York and LA watches this crap.

(My biggest objection to "shock" programming is that it is always aired at a time when parents watch television with their children (6 pm - 9 pm). I have no problems whatsoever with airing more coarse programming beyond this time (I personally enjoy watching "Just Shoot Me" on occasion, and while I find some of the storylines distasteful, I've got no intentions of allowing my children to watch it for a good while, due to the nature of most of the storylines).

I'm not demanding that "coarse" programming go away. I'm begging for more "wholesome" programming.

Good storylines don't require sexual innuendo nor foul language.

:) ttt

[Tuor]

When will the REAL America stand up and demand that trash like this be taken off the air?

Maybe when they stop watching Jerry Springer, et al.

Tuor

[Clemenza]

Good. Here's hoping we never hear of Calista Flockheart, Lucy Liu or the weasely guy from the show who also played Pee Wee in Porky's ever again.

Will Sex in the City be next? The 90s truly are over, my friend.

[retiredtexan]

I didn't realize it was still on the air . . .

I thought it went off after the first episode.

[Clemenza]

When will the REAL America stand up and demand that trash like this be taken off the air?

Maybe when they stop watching Jerry Springer, et al.

Tuor

Touche, Tuor! The same people who made Hee Haw a syndicated favorite all these years are many of the same people who watch Springer.

Personally, I H8 Rosie O'Donut and Katie Couric, but if you want to watch them, go ahead. Its your brain to numb.

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Wow, and up until last night i had never seen an episode.I think it was a rerun and Ally broke Rosie O'Donnel's toe during a therapy session.Gosh, if I had been the screen writer i would have had Ally punching O'Donnel's character in the nose, but hey.So long to meaningless TV fare.BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

[xp38]

I never watched the show but was aware of it. I watch a lot less tv these days than I used to. Question for those who watched...was it better or worse than LA Law?

[Rodney King]

the weasely guy from the show who also played Pee Wee in Porky's ever again.

Wow, I didn't realize that was pee-wee. Anyway, Ally McBeal was just a bad show. All they did to keep people watching was to try to have a celebrity guest every show.

[Paul Atreides]

I have only seen two episodes of Alleycat McBeal. It reminds me of that comic strip Cathy and those silly female columnists who write column after column after column droning on about their day. I would say that I am surprised that it stayed on as long as it did but, just look at the people women (flyover country excluded) favor in politics.

[KSCITYBOY]

Ally McSqueal, man that chick needs to eat a burger or two. The few times I watched it all the guys on it seem to act like teen aged girls.

[frmrda]

If there is a demand for "wholesome" programming then someone will take advantage of it. There is one reason for that - Money. So long as the money can be made with shows like Ally McBeal (not anymore obviously) then that will be the type of shows that get made. No major network is going to produce wholesome TV if they could make more doing other shows. That is capitalism, and while it may be distasteful sometimes, it makes the world go round

I absolutlely think there is a big demand for "wholesome" programming. However, there is one reason it will never make as much money than "adult" programming - Demographics. The group with the most disposable income is the 18-34 year olds, who for the most part go for adult programming. When they mature and start having kids to worry about they care more about what's on TV and look for lighter fare, but because they have kids, other responsibilites, and start caring more about saving moeny for retirement than on the latest gadgets they don't have the same level of disposable income and are not as attracted to advertisers.

[Phantom Lord]

I dont know about the "smutty" aspects of the shows decline in ratings. My wife loves the show and I would watch it with her when it first came out. It was pretty funny the first year, but has since lost all humor and edge.

I call it Ally McBoring.

[Clemenza]

The group with the most disposable income is the 18-34 year olds, who for the most part go for adult programming.

You got it! My parents (who are in their 50s) always complain about how all the shows on television are geared toward my age group (I'm about to turn 26). I simply shoot back that its a small price to pay for the fact that the boomers control everything else.

Funny thing is, the only show I watch with them when I visit is The Sopranos.

[Clemenza]

The 80s were the apogee of the dumb family sitcom (Who's the Boss, Growing Pains, Mr. Belvedere, etc.). The 90s had good yuppie shows (Seinfeld) and bad yuppie shows (Ally Mcbeal). In the whatever-the-hell-this-decade-is-called, we have reality sheep shows like Survivor and Big Brother.

Me, I'll stick with the HBO shows (Sex and the City excluded, as I am a prig)and reruns of Seinfeld and All in the Family.

Hell, I found Brian Lamb more appealing that Calista Flockheart.