What I Watched - ‘The Black Donnellys’ Starts Off with a Bang
Posted by kittson on 04 Mar 2007 at 6:18 pm | Tagged as: Television, Review, What I Watched
What’s In the Spotlight
The Black Donnellys
The day after The Departed won the Oscar for Best Picture, NBC premiered The Black Donnellys. Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect. A cross between The Brotherhood and One Tree Hill, it’s the story of four young (and good looking) Irish brothers, Jimmy (Tom Guiry), Sean (Michael Stahl-David), Kevin (Billy Lush), and Tommy (Jonathan Tucker), and their involvement in New York City’s world of organized crime. Dark, compelling, and, at times, confusing, the show’s intensity of violence and moral ambiguity is the territory of HBO and Showtime and is completely new to network television.
Narrated by Joey Ice Cream (Keith Nobbs) (who knows intimate details about events he didn’t witness, but this is the kind of problem that tends to get ironed out as a show hits its stride), the pilot introduces us to Tommy Donnelly, an art student who seems destined to avoid a life of crime. Yet in an explosive and completely surprising ending (guaranteeing I’ll tune in next week), he manages to solidify the fate he’s been working to escape. Of course, one good episode doesn’t necessarily equal a successful television series, but if the quality of the pilot is an indication of what’s to come, we may become very acquainted with the Donnelly brothers.
What They Said
The Irish have always been victims of negative stereotypes. People think we’re all drunks and brawlers. Sometimes it gets you so mad, all you want to do is get drunk and punch somebody.”
Joey on The Black Donnellys
What They Played
The soundtrack pick of the week is from Lost: “Shambala” by Three Dog Night is available on iTunes.
Primetime Index
The addition of high scoring series The Black Donnellys offset Scrubs’ disastrous plunge, and the Index Average held steady at 7.0.
