Editing Ally McBeal (section)

==Overview==
[[Ally McBeal (character)|Allison Marie "Ally" McBeal]] begins working at the [[Boston]] law firm Cage & Fish, co-owned by her law school classmate Richard Fish ([[Greg Germann]]).  She left her previous firm due to sexual harassment. On her first day, Ally is  dismayed to  discover that she will be working alongside her ex-boyfriend Billy Thomas ([[Gil Bellows]])—whom she has never gotten over. Even worse, Billy is now married to fellow lawyer Georgia ([[Courtney Thorne-Smith]]), who later joins Cage & Fish. The triangle among the three forms the basis for the main plot for the show's first three seasons.

Although ostensibly a legal drama, the main focus of the series is the romantic and personal lives of the main characters, often using legal proceedings as [[plot device]]s to contrast or reinforce a character's drama. For example, bitter divorce litigation of a client might provide a backdrop for Ally's decision to break up with a boyfriend. Legal arguments were also frequently used to explore multiple sides of various social issues.

Cage & Fish (which becomes Cage/Fish & McBeal; Cage, Fish, & Associates towards the end of the series), the law firm where most of the characters work, is depicted as a highly sexualized environment symbolized by its unisex restroom. Lawyers and secretaries in the firm routinely date, flirt with, or have a romantic history with one another and frequently run into former or potential romantic interests in the courtroom or on the street.

The series had many offbeat and frequently surreal [[running gag]]s and themes, such as Ally's tendency to immediately fall over whenever she met somebody she found attractive, Richard Fish's [[Wattle (anatomy)|wattle]] fetish and humorous mottos ("Fishisms" and "Bygones"), John's gymnastic dismounts out of the office's unisex bathroom stalls, or the dancing twins (played by Eric and Steve Cohen) at a frequented bar. The show uses vivid, dramatic fantasy sequences for Ally's and other characters' wishful thinking; of particular note is the early internet sensation, the [[dancing baby]].

The series also featured regular visits to a local bar where singer [[Vonda Shepard]] regularly performed (though occasionally handing over the microphone to the characters). Star contemporary singers also performed in the bar at the end of the shows, including acts such as [[Mariah Carey]], [[Barry White]] and [[Anastacia]]. The series also took place in the same continuity as David E. Kelley's legal drama ''[[The Practice]]'' (which aired on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]), as the two shows crossed over with one another on occasion, a rare occurrence for two shows that aired on different networks.

Ultimately, in the series finale "Bygones", Ally leaves Cage & Fish and relocates to New York City.