Ally McBeal is an American television series which ran on the FOX network from 1997 to 2002 and was one of the best-known “dramedy” television series of the 1990s winning several awards.
Created by David E. Kelley, the series starred Calista Flockhart in the title role as a young lawyer working in a fictionalBoston law firm (named Cage, Fish and Associates) filled with other young lawyers whose lives and loves were highly melodramatic.

Ally McBeal was hugely successful, but received much criticism from TV critics and feminists who found the title character annoying and demeaning to women because of her perceived flightiness, lack of demonstrated legal knowledge, and extreme emotional instability. Flockhart’s visible loss of weight by the second season also caused much media speculation. The show was also noted for the ever rising hemlines of Ally’s very short mini-skirts, which she wore in the courtroom.
However, Ally’s search for true love struck a chord with young female audiences, and the eccentric characters around her were developed further, giving the show firm footing.