NBC Finally Scores with The Black Donnellys: A TV Review

NBC has been struggling since the start of the season to pair the hit show “Heroes” with a decent show that people would wan to stick around for. They made an attempt with “Studio 60” but it was certainly not effective. Whatever it is Aaron Sorkin may have had during his heyday with “The West Wing” he apparently lost this time around. How is it he could spend so much time creating crackling and sparkling dialogue but forget to create characters or stories that would make us care about any of it? I didn’t like a single character on the show. I could care less about the actors because if the character that actor is playing I can’t care about it could be the best actors in the world.

Well, the executives at NBC made a decent decision and got rid of Sorkin’s latest let’s-all-move-an-talk-really-quickly-and-show-how-smart-we-are-but-let’s-not-make-characters-the-viewers-can-invest-in attempt. The show is called “The Black Donnellys” and it debuted February 26. It’s worth checking out and that’s a good thing. I like to keep the same channel on when I watch television instead of having to flip around and it’s nice to move from one of the best written shows on television (Heroes) with a show that manages to be smart and compelling and create three dimensional characters that you can sympathize with.

The show is potentially very complex. The plot of the series debut was complex and introduced characters so fast you had to be paying attention to keep up with them. A few times I admit I got a little lost. These characters speak very quickly and considering the series appears to be narrated by some fast-talking shyster who happens to be in jail it can be a challenge. There are also a large number of characters. The Donnelly family is a large one with a large number of brothers and the casting people managed to find actors who actually do sort of resemble each other and look like brothers so there’s another challenge.

The pedigree for this show is at least as impressive as “Studio 60.” The director of the very powerful and multi-storied movie “Crash” Paul Haggis created these characters along with Bobby Moresco and also wrote and directed the pilot. He is adept, in short, in creating a lot of characters and giving them actual weight. He creates a family of brothers from New York who are “Black Irish.” The Black Irish are a group of Irish folks who have dark black or brown hair as opposed to the red or blonde we usually see. There are legends of them being descended from gypsies and such.

The list of the Donnelly brothers is impressive. I was reviewing the show so I had to take notes. For those of you just trying to casually watch I suggest you grab yourself a notebook because it may be the only way to keep up with these guys. The Donnelly brothers are Tommy, Kevin, Jimmy and Sean. All of them grow up in an Irish neighborhood controlled by Irish gangsters who are constantly battling for control of the neighborhood against the Italians who keep wanting to move into their territory.

We learn that Jimmy is really the biggest troublemaker of them all. Tommy has talent as an artist and is attending art school but he is also the one who, throughout their history, manages to get his brothers out of trouble whenever they get into it and they are always getting into it. Kevin and Sean follow Jimmy no matter what stupid scheme he has cooked up. Jimmy was injured by a car when he was young and he walks with a limp.

Jimmy was also in a car while his father, an Irish union leader, was in a restaurant having a meeting. Italian mobsters approached the car and asked Jimmy where his father was. Jimmy casually stated he was in the restaurant. So, while Jimmy was in the car listening to music two Italian mobsters were beating his father to death behind him. This guilt has lead Jimmy into all kinds of self-destructive behavior. Jimmy is an alcoholic and a drug addict and in the opening show he has stolen a truck full of shirts and intends to fence them for a huge score.

Jimmy also owes Sal, a bookie, near $5,000. What does Jimmy do to try to make this better? He kidnaps Sal’s nephew and holds him hostage in the basement of the bar Jimmy owns. Needless to say Tommy doesn’t think this is such a good idea and has to try to work things out before things go completely out of control.

Also thrown in is Jenny who is a lifelong friend of all of the Donnelly brothers. She is in love with Tommy and Tommy loves her but she is married so she is off limits. There is also a guy named Huey who is kind of an Irish mobster who controls the neighborhood but exactly how he does that wasn’t entirely clear to me. There is also Nicky who is related to Sal and is trying to take over from Sal. To be honest it got a little muddled there.

So, is the show any good? Well, it is hard to say in those first episodes when you have so many characters. It is all introduction. However, Haggis seems very capable. What is going to happen once Haggis is no longer directing episodes, however? That could be a problem. The problem is can this be sustained? Television shows with people who are thieves and criminals very rarely work. The only one I can really think of is “The Sopranos.”

That being said, the first episode I thought was very compelling. It was tough to keep up with the entire plot and who all of the characters were and how they related but I managed to stay awake and follow it. I found myself feeling for Tommy who just wants to stay out of trouble and how he is slowly pulled into the life his brothers have chosen. I ached when Jenny talked to him in the hallway of the hospital and was shocked when Jimmy makes a decision that will change the lives of everyone around him. Jimmy is a guy who acts out without thinking and reacts with emotion rather than intelligence.

In short, I thought these characters were compelling and interesting. I cared about them. I thought the writing was intense and the plotting excellent. This has the potential to be a very complex and intense story. Haggis is a very good director adept at juggling a lot of different stories at once. I just have my doubts all of this is sustainable over a full season and during times when Haggis wants to step away from directing and just be a producer. Still, I think you should give “The Black Donnellys” a chance and check it out.