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I first watched this movie in the theater when it came out and have wanted to see it again ever since. When I saw that it was available on DVD I rushed my order in and have watched it four times since receiving it. Burl Ives is perfect as the Genie FakRash Alamash, and Tony Randall makes the perfect foil for his chicanery.

Barbara Eden is beautiful, and as others have noted, this movie was no doubt her passport to her role in "My Favorite Genie." Edward Andrews gave one of his usual great performances as the father of her character.

My favorite scene was the dinner party that Randall gave for his fiancé and her parents when the Genie FakRash converted his home into an Arabian Nights style magical palace, complete with exotic foods and slaves, and featuring the incredible belly dancing of Lulu Porter. I still laugh out loud every time I see Edward Andrews reaction to the eyes of lamb roasted in honey.

This is a movie that everyone should see and enjoy. It came out about the same time as "Bell, Book and Candle," a comedy about witchcraft featuring James Stewart and Kim Novak. Maybe themes of magic and spells were reflective of the mood of America in that post war time of ease and a booming economy.

What did you expect to see, Anna Karenina? It's a comedy. It isn't supposed to contain any great revelations into the human spirit. It's just a movie meant to entertain you, and it entertained me. I loved all the characters. How about Kim Shaw as Nurse Kelly who was also the waitress in the towns only restaurant and the assistant Fire Chief? She played the dumb blond to perfection. Then there were Elizabeth Moss and Jesse Liebman as the assistants to SJP and HG. I had to laugh at the scene where Elizabeth said "he's just leaving" as she practically threw Jesse out of her office, and the scene where they were dining and she said "my God, you're a scared little man" and ended up tasering him.

I guess I'm just not sophisticated enough to appreciate how bad it all was.

Mary Steenbergen is one of my all time favorite actresses, and Sam Elliot is never disappointing. They were made for their roles as a Marshall and deputy Sheriff, or whatever Mary was a deputy of. I got a kick out of the scene where she is splitting logs that have been pre-split and at one time when she picked one of them up it wobbled, clearly showing that it was already split, and it was equally clear from watching Sam milking the cow that he had never done that before. A real milker can keep a steady flow of milk pouring into the bucket.

I thought Sarah Parker played her role as a sweet and lovable career woman with marital problems exactly right. That's what actors do, they play roles, ones that are realistic and ones that are not. Hugh Grant just played his usual quirky Englishman that has endeared him to millions of fans all over the world. I thought the bear scene was the funniest part of the movie. I didn't try to see it as real drama any more than I ever thought the Keystone cops were authentic.

If you just want to be entertained by a light and funny romantic comedy, go see it, or rent it, or even do what I did; buy it in Bluray HD. It will lift your spirits for a while and might help you rid yourself of the cynicism that so many others have brought to their reviews.

I think I'll put it back in my DVD player and watch it again.

Somehow or other I missed this series when it aired and I came across a good deal on the DVD"s of the entire five season series and took advantage of it, only to discover that it wasn't that good a deal after all. I don't enjoy shows with "messages," and Ally McBeal spent too much of it's energy trying to indoctrinate the audience with political correctness and liberal politics.

Jokes are often truly funny the first time you hear them, but after that they lose their humor and cease to amuse, that is the story of "Ally McBeal." It is a continuous repetition of the same one or two jokes, over and over again, and after the first few episodes it gets sillier and sillier and ceases to be funny. It is the story of a group of lawyers made up of two or three certifiable schizophrenics, assorted oddballs, and Courtney Thorne-Smith and Jane Krakowski. Albert Hall is great as a long suffering judge.

After watching the first season episodes I found myself fast forwarding to those scenes featuring Courtney Thorne-Smith who played the part of "Georgia," the wife of Ally's former boyfriend and lover, who has to deal with his continuing romantic interest in Ally who in turn makes no secret of her desire to rekindle their old affair. Georgia is the only lawyer in the group who can be described as "normal" and her bemused reaction to the oft repeated foul-ups, combined with her incredible beauty, makes watching worth while.

I was impressed with Jane Krakowski. She is a very talented singer and dancer and her acting skills are much in evidence as she portrays "Elaine," the office busybody and slut who manages to dominate every scene that she is in. Contrary to what another reviewer wrote I love the singing of Vonda Shepard. I was really unaware of her before watching the series but have since purchased one of her albums and enjoy it immensely.

In closing let me say that I have watched the first three seasons of Ally McBeal but have left the last two sealed and unopened. I think I have seen all that is worth seeing of this series, and too much of what is not. The actors all did their jobs well, but the writing was deplorable. I'm sure they were all happy to see the end of it after five seasons.