Shark Bytes

I love this TV series but it had the biggest number of turns and "shark's jumping". First when Billy died (they made us believe he is one of the main characters and will be with the crew till the end), then Georgia left, then Larry's departure, and at the end unexplained disappearance of Jackson, Mark and Meddie's appearence... When I look back at the season 1... this is totally different TV series and it's not the one I fell in love with.

When Billy died, I thought the show was over. But they managed to bring the phenomenal Robert Downey Jr.
Then, when he was gone, it totally jumped the shark. First show in my opinion to have a great chance to recover from jumping the shark, only to do it again.

Jumped in season 3 for a variety of reasons, the Billy and his sexist behaviour/dying storyline. Georgia leaving, Lisa Nicole-Carson might as well have left, Dyan Cannon stopped appearing in the show.

I lost interest before the season finished.

I'd say that the show jumped when it became obvious that Ally was clinically insane.

She was hallucinating on a regular basis - her grip on reality was tenuous at best. Granted as a lawyer that might not be SO noticeable ... but as the basis for entertainment?

I loved this show right up until she had sex in the car wash with a stranger and then felt compelled to reveal this to his bride at the alter. I just couldn't like her anymore, that's when I stopped watching, it went from silly fun weirdness, to mean ugly and stupid.

no the show jumped when billy died and georgia left. notice in season 4 how guest stars were starting to appear for more than 4 episodes like jackson dupar, melane, kimmy and so on. That was damaging. Characters like renee, elaine and nelle barely got a look in. And who cares about mark albert? Yeah Downey was good but Billy didn't have to die to bring larry in. It wold have been interesting to see the chemistry & conflict between the two. When Whipper left for good i had a slight incline the show had jumped but i knew it for sure at the start of season 4 when larry announced that tracey had gone. By that time the only thing that made it watchable was Ling. Georgia and Billy should have stayed on with larry added to the cast. A missed opportunity there. And they need to give Renee better story lines. Georgia was neglected fir a bit too.

How on Earth did Ally McBeal end up marrying Indiana Jones? Sorry- back to posting about the show. Ahem. Honestly, I only watched the show just to look at Lisa Nicole Carson every week. Then they added Lucy Liu, which I love them for. My favorite non-female character on the show would have to be John "The Biscuit" Cage, played brilliantly by Peter MacNicol (indifferent about his character in the Mr. Bean movie; hated him as Tom Lennox in Season 6 of 24). Good show while it lasted.

This show did a slight shark-jump toward the end, but wow, it looks like Mike Is Lame's comments struck a nerve with Mike Nelson's ankle-biting little fan-geeks. And if saying this show "sucked" is the most articulate thing he could come up with I guess this show is just another thing men, er, little boys who like puppet shows just don't get. Oh, I forgot. The second Mike Nelson fan-geek pretended he didn't know who Mike and the puppets were. Riiiiight. Nice try by the little boy. His mommy must have told him to say something to the person who gave a nice hard slap-down to the first Mike Nelson fan-geek. And that's assuming it really was two different people. Mike's fan-geeks have a well-earned reputation for being cyber-stalkers and for using sock puppets. It must be sad to be hung up on some long-canceled Sci Fi Channel puppet show.

Ally McBeal was a wonderful nationwide sensation for awhile and deservedly so, even if it did jump the shark late in its run.

"McBeal fans don't go to your show's listing and bash it so why not show us the same courtesy?"

MikeIsLame,

This is Jump the Shark, not the Ally McBeal fan club site. This is not 'your' private clubhouse. If people want to bash the show then the kind people at JTS have provided them a forum to do it in, the same one you can use to defend it. I don't know who Mike and the Bots are and I don't care, but Ally McBeal SUCKED! From DAY ONE! Of course that's HATE SPEECH and I should be thrown in jail, right?
Yup, that's what I thought...

This show rocked and it never jumped the shark! As for the previous poster they seem like just another of those Misty dorks who try to make fun of every other show at this site but who become crybabies when people point out how lame Mumbling Mike Nelson and that stupid Sci Fi Channel puppet show were. And making fun of Robert Downey Jr? At least he still has a real career in the real entertainment industry unlike Mike Nelson and Mary Jo Pehl who have nothing but a canceled puppet show. And what was up with the stupid songs on that show and the guy in the ape suit? McBeal fans don't go to your show's listing and bash it so why not show us the same courtesy?

This show jumped from day one! Mike and the bots from MST3K would have riffed on this show so badly all of you would see how horrible it was and never watch it again? And Robert Downey Jr? he might as well be Ted McGinley!

EQBBsc

kiTDJq

Ally McBeal jumped the Shark when Robert Downey Jr. was fired from the show due to drug problems and David E. Kelly was furious to rewrite the final episode of Season 4 entitled "The Wedding," which was intended to have Ally and Larry married. Some people complain that Season 3 was too happy of a time because Robert Downey Jr. was in it and provided stability after Billy died in Season 3. Others argue that Ally jumped the shark when Billy died. While I believe that Billy had some crazy antics, becoming sexist, dying his hair, and walking around with models, I don't think this was when the series jumped the shark. Season 5 was completely inconsistent with Season 4. The series finale also isn't clear on why Ally's roommate, Renee left to run off with ex-boyfriend Greg. The disappearance of Mark, Jackson (Taye Diggs), and sporadic appearances by John Cage and Ling Woo (Lucy Liu) also are unexplained or vague. The love triangle with the youngsters for a few episodes of Season 5 is frustrating and the show gets more insane when Maddie comes on as Ally's daughter. I also wanted to skip the 9/11 episode (this is because I'm watching in a post-9/11 period 6 years later and I think it's wack). The first four seasons were good, until Larry died. Season 5 hung on but not wasn't strong enough despite all the guest appearances/stars like Jon Bon Jovi, Matthew Perry, Christina Ricci, and other singers coming on like Josh Groban, Mariah Carey, and Barry White. It was like they were trying too hard in Season 5. If Robert Downey Jr. stayed on, I don't think Season 5 would have necessarily been boring, but definitely a lot different.

When Robert Downey Jr. walked out, the show was gone. I agree. This was the saddest moment ever. And even in the final season, you keep watching as you hope they will end up together or at least confront eachother one more time. What a disappointment. Not everythin should be a happy ending but the reason people are watching these type of series is for hope and the fact that they relate to the character - no doubt Larry was meant for her and it was heartbreaking to see that she ends up alone. How depressing is that?