BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
So you've ignored all the reasons to watch Ally McBeal -- from sexy, vulnerable Calista Flockhart to the unisex bathroom to Vonda Shepard's music to the bizarre law cases in the Fox drama.
RERUN RECOMMENDATIONS
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Summer reruns aren't always a bad thing. Here are five series to catch in repeats that you may have missed last winter:
 Ally McBeal: Charming Calista Flockhart plays TV's most unusual, insecure lawyer. (9 p.m. Monday, Channels 19, 45)
The Practice: Dylan McDermott stars as an underdog Boston attorney in David E. Kelley's drama, TV's best current law series. (10 p.m. Monday, Channels 9, 2)
7th Heaven: A rare TV gem, a family drama in the tradition of Life Goes On and Little House on the Prairie, about a minister (Stephen Collins) and his wife (Catherine Hicks) and five kids. (8 p.m. Monday, Channel 64)
Everybody Loves Raymond: Ray Romano's wacky TV family rivals Frasier for the funniest comedy. (8:30 p.m. Monday, Channels 12, 7. CBS replays four favorite Raymond episodes 8-10 p.m. next Monday)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: For pure escapist fun, catch the hip, high school vampire killer (Sarah Michelle Gellar). The clever scripts, filled with pop culture references for teen-agers and their parents, make it easy to suspend belief an hour each week. (8 p.m. Tuesday, Channel 64).
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Well, here's the best reason to watch: David E. Kelley's Ally McBeal scripts are truly unique television storytelling.
If you haven't caught on to Ally McBeal, discover the unparalleled pleasures during summer reruns (9 p.m. today, Channels 19, 45). All other programs proceed on a linear plane, a logical progression of events from start to finish. There's a crime, pursuit and punishment. Ally McBeal, starring Ms. Flockhart, follows an emotional thread instead. Ally's law office and courtroom scenes simply provide a forum for her impulsive journey of self-discovery.
Each week is a roller-coaster ride unlike anything on TV. And you never know where it will lead or end.
"It's a very weird beast, this show. It's different, and it's not very conventional," admits Mr. Kelley, a former Boston attorney who has given us some very memorable TV (L.A. Law, Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice).
"(On) The Practice, I have a story line and a plot line," he says. "In writing Ally, it's very different. It's taking a subject matter -- almost a theme, if you will -- and mining it."
At his computer, Mr. Kelley explores how Ally and each of her co-workers would react to her peculiar predicaments -- dating a nude model, reviving a fat man, trying to tell a dirty joke, tripping a woman in the supermarket to get the last can of Pringle's or deciding how to eulogize the married law professor with whom she had a romance.
He writes dialogue for the whole gang at Cage - Fish & Associates: Ally's former boyfriend (Gil Bellows).
The ex-boyfriend's gorgeous wife (Courtney Thorne-Smith). The know-it-all secretary (Jane Krakowski).
Their smarmy, money-grubbing boss (Greg Germann).
The boss' pause-plagued partner (Peter MacNicol).
"Sometimes I'll write scenes with characters voices who we don't actually use in the final script . . . but this helps me sort of exfoliate the subject.
"After writing it out this way, (I) then sort of construct it into a more linear story process."
Ms. Flockhart, who appeared in films (The Birdcage) and on Broadway (The Glass Menagerie), eagerly moved cross-country to star in Mr. Kelley's series, her first TV project.
"It's rare that somebody writes an interesting, unusual, smart, funny woman. So I was really turned on by the part," she says.
"I think a lot of times Ally speaks her mind, things we don't say because we censor ourselves. She just says it, without apologizing for it.
"I love playing this part. I love being on an emotional roller-coaster ride. I love not knowing what she's going to do. (She is) constantly evolving and changing."
Mr. MacNicol also knows about Mr. Kelley's extraordinary talent. His Alan Birch character was literally left speechless when Mr. Kelley left Chicago Hope to create The Practice and Ally McBeal. "I was the lone lawyer on a medical show and it made utter sense when he (Mr. Kelley) was there, and it became almost surreal when he was gone," Mr. MacNicol says.
L.A. Law fell apart when Mr. Kelley left. During his five seasons, L.A. Law won four Emmys for outstanding drama series. Then he created Doogie Howser M.D., Picket Fences (which lost its way when he left) and Chicago Hope (which changed from complex legal-ethical issues to another ER after he left).
Ally McBeal already has captured two awards, Golden Globes in January for best musical or comedy series (acing out Seinfeld, Frasier, Friends and Spin City) and best musical or comedy actress (Ms. Flockhart).
Not surprisingly, two other networks have announced Ally McBeal-style series for fall:
WB's Felicity, starring Keri Russell as "Ally McBeal in college" (9 p.m. Tuesdays, Channel 64).
CBS' To Have and To Hold, a romantic comedy starring Moria Kelly (The Cutting Edge) as a young defense attorney in love with a police officer (Jason Beghe from Chicago Hope, G.I. Jane), who often wind up on opposite sides of court cases (9 p.m. Wednesdays, Channels 12, 7).
Chances are both will fail, because they lack one essential ingredient -- brilliant David E. Kelley.
John Kiesewetter is Enquirer TV/radio critic. Write him at 312 Elm St., Cincinnati, 45202.
