The BEST episodes of Ally McBeal season 1

Every episode of Ally McBeal season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Ally McBeal season 1!

Ally McBeal is a young attorney who joins a prestigious law firm with a highly sexual environment and whose staff includes Ally's ex-boyfriend. The series contains fantasy sequences, flashbacks and voiceovers to reveal what Ally is really thinking. Many episodes contain an appearance by singer Vonda Shepard, who performed the show's theme song.

Last Updated: 11/3/2024Network: FOXStatus: Ended
Share:
The Dirty Joke
star
7.52
392 votes

#1 - The Dirty Joke

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/17/1997

The delivery girl sues the firm for sexual harassment; Ally tries to prove she's no goodie-two-shoes by learning how to appreciate, and tell, dirty jokes.

Directors: Daniel Attias
Watch Now:Amazon
Alone Again
star
7.45
370 votes

#2 - Alone Again

Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/11/1998

Cage defends a long-time convict who used a trampoline to break out of prison a month before his release; a woman intends to sue her ex-fiancé for leaving her at the alter.

Directors: Dennis Dugan
Watch Now:Amazon
Boy to the World
star
7.42
420 votes

#3 - Boy to the World

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/1/1997

Ally defends and befriends a young transvestite prostitute; Fish sues for the right to discuss his dead uncle's prejudices in a eulogy; and Cage ponders dating Ally.

Directors: Thomas Schlamme
Watch Now:Amazon
Being There
star
7.27
342 votes

#4 - Being There

Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/4/1998

Cage defends Renee against assault charges; a home pregnancy test reveals that Georgia is pregnant.

Directors: Mel Damski
Watch Now:Amazon
Ally McBeal
star
7.23
864 votes

#5 - Ally McBeal

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/8/1997

Young lawyer Ally McBeal experiences emotional turmoil when she takes a job at a firm where her childhood sweetheart and first love also works.

Directors: James Frawley
Watch Now:Amazon
Silver Bells
star
7.21
399 votes

#6 - Silver Bells

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/15/1997

As Elaine plans the firm's musical Christmas party, a case involving a man with two wives causes Ally, Billy, and Georgia to examine their relationship; Fish deals with Whipper's holiday marriage blues; and Cage asks Ally out.

Directors: Joe Napolitans
Watch Now:Amazon
Body Language
star
7.20
360 votes

#7 - Body Language

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/2/1998

Ally comes up with a "creative" strategy to convince a prison superintendant that an inmate should be allowed to marry; Whipper breaks up with Fish; and Cage undergoes "smile therapy."

Directors: Mel Damski
Watch Now:Amazon
These Are the Days
star
7.17
343 votes

#8 - These Are the Days

Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/18/1998

Bobby Donnell asks for the firm's help when two men seek an operation to switch hearts. Cage's cousin is arrested for assaulting "happy people" with a paddle.

Directors: Jonathan Pontell
Watch Now:Amazon
Once in a Lifetime
star
7.17
415 votes

#9 - Once in a Lifetime

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/23/1998

Representing an artist who can't forget his dead wife conjures up ghosts of once-in-a-lifetime love for Ally and Billy; Cage worries about kissing Ally as their first date looms.

Directors: Elodie Keene
Watch Now:Amazon
Forbidden Fruits
star
7.16
352 votes

#10 - Forbidden Fruits

Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/2/1998

The firm represents a U.S. Senator accused of breaking up his wife's former marriage; Ally's legal arguments about true love get her into trouble with Georgia and Billy.

Directors: Jeremy Kagan
Watch Now:Amazon
The Attitude
star
7.14
284 votes

#11 - The Attitude

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/3/1997

Ally clashes with a client's rabbi and dates a handsome District Attorney while Georgia considers suing her law firm for sex discrimination.

Directors: Michael Schultz
Watch Now:Amazon
Drawing the Lines
star
7.14
373 votes

#12 - Drawing the Lines

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/10/1997

The firm helps the wife of a rich man negate a prenuptial agreement; Elaine's sexual harassment complaint comes to a head; and Ally and Billy negotiate personal boundaries in their still-tenuous friendship.

Directors: Mel Damski
Watch Now:Amazon
Cro-Magnon
star
7.14
330 votes

#13 - Cro-Magnon

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/5/1998

As the firm's men plan to view a big boxing match, Ally dates a male art model with one large attribute, fights a sexual attraction to a 19-year-old client accused of assault... and is haunted by hallucinations of a dancing baby.

Directors: Allan Arkush
Watch Now:Amazon
The Kiss
star
7.11
470 votes

#14 - The Kiss

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/22/1997

Ally has a confusing first date with client Ronald Cheanie... and teams up with Georgia to represent a television anchorwoman fired because of her age and sex.

Directors: Dennie Gordon
Watch Now:Amazon
The Playing Field
star
7.11
323 votes

#15 - The Playing Field

Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/16/1998

Ally faces off against a child prodigy-attorney; a woman claims she is the victim of harassment because, unlike her female co-workers, she refused to use sex as a means of advancing her career.

Directors: Jonathan Pontell
Watch Now:Amazon
Theme of Life
star
7.09
313 votes

#16 - Theme of Life

Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/9/1998

Ally defends a doctor accused of transplanting a pig's liver into a woman without her permission; Ally and Georgia square off in a kickboxing match; and Whipper dumps Fish for toying again with Janet Reno.

Directors: Dennie Gordon
Watch Now:Amazon
The Inmates (1)
star
7.08
344 votes

#17 - The Inmates (1)

Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/27/1998

The firm joins forces with Bobby Donell and his staff when a client is accused of killing her husband; Renee is arrested for assault; a waiter alleges he was fired because he isn't gay. (Crossover event - The Practice - 2x26 - Axe Murderer (2))

Directors: Michael Schultz
Watch Now:Amazon
Compromising Positions
star
7.07
587 votes

#18 - Compromising Positions

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/15/1997

Ally meets the firm's other founding partner when she defends him on charges of soliciting a prostitute, and feels like a prostitute herself when Fish asks her to date a prospective client.

Directors: Jonathan Pontell
Watch Now:Amazon
The Promise
star
7.06
378 votes

#19 - The Promise

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/27/1997

Ally saves an obese man's life, only to become the object of his affection.

Happy Birthday, Baby
star
7.04
343 votes

#20 - Happy Birthday, Baby

Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/6/1998

Ally is mortified when her friends throw her a surprise birthday party. A man with a foot fetish refuses to use insanity as a defense.

Directors: Thomas Schlamme
The Blame Game
star
7.01
369 votes

#21 - The Blame Game

Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/19/1998

As Ally, Cage and Georgia try a case about liability in an airplane crash, Ally is reunited with male model Glenn, her recent one-night-stand, who makes her feel guilty about using him as a sexual object.

Directors: Sandy Smolan
One Hundred Tears Away
star
6.95
365 votes

#22 - One Hundred Tears Away

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/20/1997

Ally is arrested for tripping a woman in a supermarket, then faces a Bar Association hearing on her emotional competence to practice law.

Directors: Sandy Smolan
The Affair
star
6.61
422 votes

#23 - The Affair

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/29/1997

The widow of Ally's former law professor asks Ally to speak at his funeral, not knowing she once had an affair with him.

Directors: Arlene Sanford