Ally Mcbeal 2/25/02 (In HD widescreen to boot!) (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Porter]

I noticed in the opening credits that the show was simulcast in HDTV widescreen. And it's about time. Who loved the ending of this episode as much as I did?

~Kevin

 

[Peter McDonald]

I REALLY doubt it was shown in HD. I REALLY doubt that...

Peter

 

[Peter McDonald]

Just as I thought. It was in "Fox Widescreen" - "High Resolution Digital"... not HDTV! It's the usual 480p from Fox...

Peter

 

[Patrick Sun]

(Note - corrected "Fish" from "Fische")
Recap:
Ally offers Raymond a job, and after thinking about it, he accepts.
Fish handles (badly) a case about some guy who can't trust women because his high pals set him up to take a huge romantic fall. The case is thrown out.
Fish is depressed, and goes into the Hole, but as he leaves, Claire is sitting on the john, and finds out about the Hole. Her line of the lines was "it's been a while since I've been invited into a young boy's hole."
Claire notices that for Fish that the case was personal and Fish recounts his first "true" love of his life, who had sex with him (his first time), and by 3rd period next day she was dating someone else. So Fish grew up not ever wanting to give a woman the power to crush his heart. Later, Claire tracks down Fish's 1st love, and it turns out that she's now a he. Fish is speechless (literally), and Claire is left to apologize for him as Fish just turns around and leaves.
Some demented woman, Helen, comes to Ally's house looking for a guy named Vincent Graves, and that was the guy who own the house that Ally bought in probate after he died, and when Victor shows up, Helen says that Victor is really Vincent, and Victor allows Helen to think this of him, and he basically spends the rest of the day with her, even strumming the guitar and singing to Helen a song from a play (South Pacific) (it's the first time Bon Jovi is shown singing something on the show). Helen thinks that there's something between Ally and Vincent/Victor. Vincent/Victor denies it in Helen's presence which kind of perturbs Ally but she remains quiet at the time. Helen asks why Vincent has returns (but so much younger) and Victor tells her that it's to let Helen know that she shouldn't fear death. After returning Helen to the old folk's home, the home calls, and Helen has a stroke and dies. Victor goes and pays his last respects, and one of the home's personnel gives Victor a small framed photo of Helen and Vincent, and of course Vincent looks like an older version of Victor.
Victor has to be one of the scariest empathetic characters roaming TV nowadays. What is Victor's dark secret past which made him how he is now? Hmmm...
Ally has nightmares of losing Maddy because there's no proof that Maddy is really her biological child. So Ally has both of them take a DNA test. This pisses off Maddy, who's afraid of getting shipped off if she's not Ally's real kid, so she runs away to New York to find Bonnie. Bonnie brings Maddy back. Maddy and Ally argue quite funnily.
Ally has the DNA expedited (paid extra), and Elaine gets the results and brings them to Ally's place, and Elaine tries to stick around to find out, but Ally shoos her away. Ally hesitates for a while before opening the letter. Finally she reads it, and her expressions are raw, pained, very emotional. For a few minutes, we don't know what he results are. Bonnie and Maddy come down from her room and Ally's sitting ont he floor, crying. Maddy wants to know what's wrong, and Ally just looks up and tells Maddy that she's truly her daughter, and they hug and cry.
At the bar, Claire sings a song for Fish, and Elaine and Vonda join in, much to Fishce's shock and embarrassment has he's flanked by Nell and Regina. Haha.
Bonnie leaves, Maddy goes to bed. Victor shows up one more time (for being the babysitter, he's around Ally's place ALOT!) after paying his last respects to Helen. Ally asks Victor how he can love someone that he's only known for a day, and he says it makes things easier. Maddy found Ally's old South Pacific album, and also the CD. She plays the CD as Victor is trying to leave, but Ally tells Victor her good news, and she insist that Victor stays to dance with her. They dance, and embrace rather tightly as the credits roll.
I thought this episode would be too heart-string-tugging, but I found it to be one of the better shows of the season.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Re: Opening credits, Raymond is now a regular, so he stays in the credits, but both Jenny and The Boy (Glenn) are gone. No Lucy Liu, and I can't remember if Bon Jovi made it into the credits, or Peter McNichols (the Biscuit). The rest of the regulars were in the credits. Dame Edna (Claire) is still just "guest starring" - she's spooky.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I can't remember if Bon Jovi made it into the credits, or Peter McNichols (the Biscuit).

Neither.

 

[Craig S]

Who loved the ending of this episode as much as I did?

I'm with you - great ending. I have to admit, I'm really liking Bon Jovi in this role, even if the character as written is a little too perfect.
[NitPick]It's just plain old "Fish", not "Fische".[/NitPick]

 

[Patrick Sun]

Oops, duly noted, and corrected in the above recap (Fish!).

 

[DaveBB]

Repeat after me 10 times over. FOX Widescreen - "High Resolution Digital" (480p) is NOT high defenition/HDTV!!!!

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I watched the first two seasons of this show and was dragged back by an ad for the episode during the credits of something or another. Quite drier than I remember it... Fish in particular lacked his quirky-ness. Still, I liked the kid playing Ally's daughter... talent up there with Haley Joel Osment's, but much more natural feeling. I may or may not keep tuning in. I like Raymond and Becker too and would really hate to start time shifting.

 

[VicRuiz]

This is exactly the purpose of those misleading banners. It's FOX' sleazy way of tricking the uninitiated into thinking that what they show is high definition. It is no accident that they use the term "high resolution" so it sounds very similar to "high definition", and the general public would think that they're the same.

 

[William Ward]

FOX Widescreen - "High Resolution Digital" (480p) is NOT high defenition/HDTV!!!!

When I saw this thread I thought, "Damned FOX, and their misleading advertising."

The picture of any FOX program which says FOX Widescreen High Resolution Digital is no better than 480p or a native progressive DVD. It's a far cry from true HDTV.

Now if it's a live sporting event, it's even worse because it's like an anamorphic DVD(480i in 16/9) with edge enhancement that makes TPM, Tombstone, and Die Hard 3 look film-like.