Ally McBeal World, 10pm David E Kelley's shows are getting increasingly risque. We have had a sex-hungry Judge Kittleson in The Practice. Dr Austin's libido ran wild when she encountered her ex-husband in Chicago Hope, and last week's season opener sought attention by choosing a priest's sexual organ for the centre of the medical drama. Sex is dominating so much of Kelley's TV dramas that it is hard to keep it out of this column.
Of Kelley's many raunchy women, they don't come much raunchier than his neurotic attorney Ally McBeal (Calista Flockhart, above), who returns tonight for her much feted third season: the series won an Emmy Award for best comedy in 1999, among many other prizes. Ally has never been bashful but even by its own standards this opener goes further in exploring the nature of lust - and there is more to come in the following weeks. The season has been so risque that the Television Corporation of Singapore opted not to air one of the episodes (scheduled to be shown next week in Hong Kong) which centres on Ally's lesbian sexual explorations.
This opening episode survived in Singapore, with Ally overcome by more traditional raw passion when a hunky stranger climbs into her car in a car wash. She is but one of many with one thing on her mind. One of her wealthiest clients has been caught by her minister in a compromising position with another man, on the eve of her wedding, and Nelle too fantasises about having sex with a stranger. When Renee and Whipper decide to branch out into private practice, potential male partners are to be judged by their physical attributes, not their legal brains.
Unlike many of the episodes made by his production company, Kelley penned this one himself. In lesser hands, overdoing the sex could easily become a lame attempt to attract audience attention, as has been the case in the troubled Chicago Hope. But Ally fans will not be disappointed. There are some glorious twists and turns in this story of a wedding from hell. What doesn't work well for The Practice and Chicago Hope does have its place in the surreal Ally McBeal.
Moby Dick World, 11.15pm Star Trek's Patrick Stewart (above) takes on Herman Melville's fearsome white whale in this four-part television adaptation of the classic novel. Captain Ahab's vengeful quest is seen through the eyes of the survivor Ishmael (Henry Thomas), a young man who joins the crew. Digital special effects heighten the drama, which was nominated for five Emmy Awards. Executive-produced by Francis Ford Coppola.
