In response to my assertion that, for all its flaws, I thought NBC was making a mistake replacing STUDIO 60 with Paul Haggis' BLACK DONNELLYS, "John" wrote that I couldn't compare the new show (which I hadn't yet seen) to Haggis' previous failed criminally-themed series EZ STREETS, beloved by critics but cancelled by CBS after about six episodes.
My response to John: Um, yes, I can.
Like EZ STREETS, the BLACK DONNELLYS is concerned with men wavering on the dividing line between good and evil, between the straight and narrow and a life of crime. EZ STREETS focused on a frustrated cop tempted by crime (played by Ken Olin), a charismatic gangster with a guilty conscience (Joe Pantoliano) and a neighborhood kid torn between the two worlds (Jason Gedrick, who, if you see him cast in a series, you know it won't be on long). On the other hand THE BLACK DONNELLYS is concerned with three Irish brothers in New York City; Tommy is the "good" one, the aspiring artist who finds himself drawn to commit murder to protect his other brothers--Jimmy, a petty thief and drug addict and Sean, a degenerate gambler with an eye for the ladies. There's a fourth brother, who's name I never caught, who is a fast talker with an eye for trouble--he narrarates from a jail cell with the device being that his "narraration" is really a long interview with two detectives searching for some "bodies".
From the pilot we can already tell that Jimmy might have been rescued from life as a felon by Tommy's selfless action, which was in part motivated by guilt over a childhood incident that changed Jimmy's life. Got it? All the classic themes of fiction are there...sin, guilt, redemption, heroism, envy. Nothing wrong with any of that, it's a constant through all of the great works of fiction.
Except that...well, I didn't find it as engaging as I'd hoped. It's not a good sign that I had hard time keeping all the brothers straight (other than Tommy). There seems to be only one female role of any size on the show and its the quintessential "girlfriend" part, with the twist that she's obviously going to cuckold one brother to be with the one she truly loves. The show looked great (directed by Haggis), filmed with a rich, saturated look with deep shadows that made me wish I had HDTV cable.
But overall I really thought the pilot didn't do enough to transcend the stereotypes that the narraration itself alluded to and was supposedly winking at. And about that narraration...there was too much of it in the pilot. If you must do exposition through narraration, why throw so much of it at us at once? THE BLACK DONNELLYS is not a fresh story (I didn't expect that), but so far it doesn't seem to offer enough future surprises and unique character conflict to make it a destination show for me.
The real question--is it better than STUDIO 60? Yes, but its also safer in a way, even as the advertising makes the show look like the direct, edgy, network-safe descendant of THE SOPRANOS and THE DEPARTED. Shows about the criminal underworld and crackling moral dilemmas should never feel stale or safe if they're done right. It all would have seemed fresher and better before THE SOPRANOS, which may not be fair, but is a fact of television life. One thing is for sure--after the Sweeps ratings STUDIO 60 posted, there's no way that show ever sees the light of day again.
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Afghanistan Bombs Dick Cheney
Late Monday night, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the Army base in Afghanistan where vice president Dick Cheney was meeting with Afghan officials. Sadly, VP Dick was unharmed (just kidding, Secret Service!), but at least 20 people including, possibly, some U.S. servicemen, were feared dead.
Just as tragic from my perspective--at the time the story broke, CNN Headline News refused to break away from their Anna Nicole Smith coverage.
I can see now that I'm gonna need to start drinking more if I'm going to make it a media watchdog.
Peace...
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