There are a lot of initial discrepancies about NBC's The Black Donnellys from the moment you watch the show. If you are a born and raised New Yorker, you might find it initially hard to relate to the creators insistence on piecing together different but real geographical areas and their claim that it's one fictional neighborhood, unlike other shows using a New York backdrop such as The Sopranos, Law and Order or even Sex and the City.
If you are Canadian, you might be even more confused by the creators choice of the title, which until recently has been a famous historical reference to one of the most gruesome murders in Canadian history.
Bobby Moresco and Paul Haggis, the Oscar winning team behind Crash and the creators of The Black Donnellys implore you to throw pre-conceived notions out the window when you watch the premiere Monday night and want to remind us that although the show is heavily based on their personal experiences growing up in New York City's Hell Kitchen, the story and places are indeed fictional and should feel timeless.
"It's a mistake to think someone wanted to write a mob story, you know what you write about is people you care about and situations that attracts them emotionally and you dig your way out of that. These kids did that for us, being on the surface of the mob," says Bobby Moresco.
Keeping that in mind, The Black Donnellys is certainly not your mom and pop's mob story, although the storyline is closely based on the creators childhood, the script was originally penned in 1996 as a follow up to the short lived series EZ Streets but initially rejected. Networks and audiences were not interested in the script or its continuing episodic drama. According to Paul Haggis, "At the time we were told, 'Don't you guys get it? No one wants to see a continuing story over 24 episodes', and now people say 'Don't you get it that's all people want,'" in reference to the television shows more favored today such as Lost and 24.
In terms of the adopting the title, the creators also have an explanation for that which is pretty much lost to any American who doesn't have a major in Canadian history, although a historical faux pas, turns out to be a way better choice than the original title The Truth According to Joey Ice Cream, a reference to the show's flighty narrator 
Joey Ice Cream.
In explaining the choice of the title, "There was an emotional truth that we wanted to use, when I told Bobby the story of the Black Donnelly's we both thought it was intriguing. There was something about the level of intolerance in that community, that the bad folk were easily pointed to and theys aid these are the bad people and we are the good people, and then the good people then massacre the bad people. We said this speaks to what we are doing here, we are asking you to empathize with the murders, drug dealers [and] that these characters are trying to save someone, obviously the community is part of that, but will the community turn against them, lets find out, " says Haggis.
If you are setting your Tivo's in hope that the Donnellys will be something like The Sopranos you might be in for a lot of disappointment, says Haggis, "I think there's a journey that these boys face, a coming of age story in this world where crime is the easiest way to make a living, that's what appealed to us."
The Black Donnellys makes it's network premiere on Monday, February 26 at 10PM following Heroes.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-26-2007 @ 11:50AM
Michael said...
You used the same quote twice:
"It's a mistake to think that [we] wanted to write a mob story, you know what you write about is people you care about and situations that attract them emotionally and you dig your way out of that"
And the quote explaining the choice of title is confusing, possibly mistyped, specifically:
"There was something about the level of intolerance in that community, that the bad folk were easily pointed to and theys aid these are the bad people and we are teh good people, and then the good people then massacre the bad people."
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2-26-2007 @ 2:18PM
McGone said...
I was wondering when someone would point out the fact that they were appropriating the title from an actual historical clan. And I'm not sure if Haggis' explanation really works for me. My guess is they wanted to call it something like the "Brothers Donnelly," but after Edward Burns did "The Brothers McMullen" it was just one Irish stereotype too many.
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2-26-2007 @ 12:52PM
Gig said...
Those of you who live in NYC need to remember that the majority of the TV audience isn't from there and couldn't care less where the location shots are done.
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2-26-2007 @ 1:03PM
Tim UF said...
Its cool they shoot on location, but i still think they are going to get worse ratings than studio 60.
i'll be watching something else.
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2-26-2007 @ 2:55PM
innamorata said...
Whatever the explanation of the title is I don't care. I'm French so the whole American or Canadian thing is lost on me. And honestly it doesn't matter at all to me either way.
What does however is what the pilot episode accomplishes and the answer is: not much.
*warning: slight spoilers below*
There are only two things I liked: Joey Ice Cream's narration bits and the use of "Rebellion (lies)" by Arcade Fire.
Otherwise? Meh. I didn't connect with any of the brothers and the one that is bound to be the hero is played by an actor who has appeared on CSI and did such a good job there imo that to this day I still think of him as the guy who tried to kill his parents so he could go to college.
My point is that one way or another (casting, writing) I didn't care for the Donnellys at the end of the show.
Still by biggest gripe is the girl, whatever her name is, whose declaration of love is so god damned stupid I wanted her to die on the spot.
I suppose I'll give this show the basic trial treatment of 3 episodes to see if the characters grab me.
*shrugs*
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2-26-2007 @ 3:42PM
ac said...
Umm Sopranos is a NJ backdrop. Also most of the continuing stories that premired this year failed. I will still watch this because I like mob movies, but I dont expect it to last long.
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2-26-2007 @ 3:30PM
Curt said...
This show is doomed for failure.
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2-26-2007 @ 5:50PM
TomB said...
"that the bad folk were easily pointed to and theys aid these are the bad people and we are the good people, and then the good people then massacre the bad people"
WTF?
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2-27-2007 @ 10:34AM
sharonlee said...
You had a good show with Studio 60 you just did not give it a chance. Your review was as complicated as the program. Studio 60 had me at day one. Smart, funny & creative. Now we have bad boys, being bad men in a slummy neihgbor wow there is good tv viewing for you!
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3-01-2007 @ 5:32PM
Frankie said...
The explanation is confusing and whatever. But the show did grab me. I remember sitting at the theatre waiting for the movie to start and seeing "First Look" at the Black Donnellys. I was intrigued. I didn't know there was a "Black Donnellys" clan in Canada until now. For me when I watch television I'm not looking for something based on fact (unless I'm watching the History channel or TLC) what I'm watching for is the entertainment value, so if I can sit through the show for an hour then I can continue to watch it for the season.
I can honestly say I enjoy The Black Donnellys. I like the characters and I like the story line. What really captures me is what bodies the police are talking about to Joey Ice Cream, I've only seen the pilot episode so I'm excited to find out what bodies they are. My theories are its the Donnellys themselves. *shrugs* I'm still going to watch it after Heroes, which is my favorite show at the moment. Give it a chance and look at is as entertainment, not "True Crimes".
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3-06-2007 @ 3:19AM
ashley_jean said...
This show is AWESOME. I was skeptical at first but i've been hooked since the first episode!
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3-06-2007 @ 7:07PM
Meg Davis said...
I love it! The characters did grab me. I also think that the bodies they are looking for are the Donnelly's themselves. Maybe not though its a little obvious we woudn't want that even if its the more realistic plot. I kinda hope its not them because then we know there want be a second season.
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3-06-2007 @ 7:59PM
Alex said...
Well so far so good, granted I'm biased because I like Olivia Wilde, but it goes into the politics like where I grew up (though we had Irish, Crips, Bloods, Italians, M13, and a few other well known ones) and hit's home for me, ergo, I like it.
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3-13-2007 @ 12:47AM
Me said...
This show was depressing.
Nothing new for today's tv fare..
Dead bodies, plus murderers trying to explain the "virtues" of why they cause death..
Blood, a few guns, cut to commerical..
Except for some interesting actors, and Kate Mulgrew, nothing really interesting to see..Just some big lipped girl trying to be Angela Jolie(?) And she was not interesting to me..
It is truly sad that this is the best, or most original, stuff that netowrks can come up with these days on tv.
Is it not enough that almost ALL the networks push and promote mayhem, death, and blood, without one more show selling the "virtues" of a life of crime to
Irish (or any race) men?
Everyone in this show was standing at an angle in a dark half light, trying to look cool..
I couldn't figure out one brother from another, except the best one seemed to be a killer (which is pretty bad folks), or the best one was in a coma, or something..
And the Irish mob boys wearing crosses was another thing that really peeved me.
As if people's sprituality is a shame and a joke. Or as if the Irish, in particular, when they have faith, have one that is meaningless.
My Grandmother's crew came off the boat from Galway/Mayo, and I won't claim they were perfect.
But they weren't like this bunch of folks sitting around chewing the fat about murder.
As if normal human beings don't have much better things to do.
Wouldn't it be amazing to have the same cast do a show that is human interest only?
No insane brothers who walk around with guns, like cromagnan apes.
Just simple stories about hardworking people, maybe some with faith, not perfect individuals, but ones who are trying. Except for a stuttering brother, I saw little of that there.
But wait, such decent fare would not be "edgy" enough for today's "too cool for decency" tv "programming"..
The peeing at the cemetary was a fine touch, if you're looking to make little boys watching think that is a normal way to be.
Maybe the Irish boys I grew up around might have done a dumb thing like that.
But most of them actually had a conscience!
I know, not edgy enough for today's tv..
Much less the networks..
You're better off renting My Left Foot, The Quiet Man, or Angela's Ashes, in a pinch, and that one only if you don't like happy endings, but enjoy harship and brutality..
Better yet, John Candy in Only The Lonely, and don't forget to call Ma when you do :^)
Happy Saint Patrick's day!
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3-14-2007 @ 12:17PM
Cody Smoltz said...
From the moment I first watched the Black Donnellys, I can say i was hooked. It relates with a lot of my past life, including Tommy Donnelly. I've actually taped every episode thus far and will continue, not for profit, but for my own entertainment. I'd say quite a few more episodes but, i'm wondering myself who the bodies they are talkin about and being almost fully Irish i get it somehow, not many ppl around my state understand it. But i greatly relate so NBC. Keep up the work and Black Donnelys: To Be Irish Means One Day the world will break your heart.
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4-06-2007 @ 1:42AM
Tiffany said...
I'm not a huge television watcher but for some reason I have been hooked and constantly rewatching what I have on DVR. I don't want to miss any details. The young actors are gorgeous, the plot is interesting, great dialogue and well written. The only thing the Black Donnelly's are missing is sex. Sex sales in primetime drama. The writers need to sex it up if the want to compete with primetime television, which is obviously very different from the big screen.
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