With the hype surrounding Sorkin's new show and the fact that Haggis and Moresco won Oscars for best original screenplay and picture I thought it would be worth a start.

The Irish Sopranos?


Heavy Cast:


Im quite excited. Sounds better than the Unit!

I'll definitely give it a watch, but shows about organised crime are better suited to cable. Network TV can only push the boundaries so far...

I have no idea who these people in the cast are except for Kirk Acevedo. I'll probably give it a try since Haggis is involved. But why exactly is this show called The Black Donnellys? I don't get it.

I'll be watching, and praying that Dean Winters gets at least an one episode guest-starring appearence, because this show? Perfect for him.

And praying that it doesn't get cancelled, because a weekly dose of Kirk Acevedo would be awesome.

Billy Lush played the vet who killed himself in the next to last episode of Six Feet Under, if anyone remembers.

Hippo's right. A crime drama on NBC is gonna be pretty tame.

I think I can take a stab at that for you Nikki125. Paul Haggis is Canadian and I'm not sure but I think he is from Ontario. As a result, there is a good chance he is familiar with the Black Donnellys. They were an infamous family in Southern Ontario who were massacred in 1880. No one was ever found guilty of the crime. The story has proved fascinating to many for over 100 years. There have been books written about them, documentaries trying to determine the guilty parties and apparently you can visit their homestead. If you Google them the first link is what looks like a pretty comprehensive website about the family.

Apparently NBC handed out DVD's this week of the pilot to The Black Donnellys - wouldn't be surprised if it leaked onto the web sometime soon.

Thanks for the info, Shant. I did a quick scan of the Donnelly page on Wikipedia. If this is the reason the show is titled The Black Donnellys, then I still don't get it. This show is about four brothers who are involved in organized crime and not about an immigrant family who was massacred over 100 years ago. I don't see the correlation, other than the fact that the fictional brothers and the Donnelly family are both Irish. Maybe they should think about changing the name.

I'm guessing he just thought the name was cool, plus the Donnelly men had a reputation for being rough and rowdy. Should have mentioned that last bit in my first post since that was my first thought when I heard the name. Have no idea how I managed to space out on that completely when I wrote the post!

I'm from southern Ontario and the original 'Black Donnellys' were what I though of as soon as I saw this thread.

I don't want to make a blanket statement about most Americans, but I will anyway. I have a feeling that most (many?) Americans aren't familiar with the Donnellys' story and won't get the title. And yes, I know the world doesn't revolve around the U.S., but this is an American production, no? The correlation between this show and that family of old just seems to be a bit too abstract (for lack of a better word) to me. But that's just my opinion and I will now shut up about the title. I promise.

I don't think knowing about the Black Donnellys from Ontario is particularly important. It's nice if you get the reference, but if not then it still works as a title.

I assume it's "Black" as in "Black Irish."

Oh, and? KirkAcevedoKirkAcevedoKirkAcevedoKirkAcevedo!!!!

That is all.

I also thought of the Ontario Black Donellys when I heard the name (WNY native here) and am sort of disappointed that the show won't be linked to that. And, yeah, I'm guessing "black" means Black Irish but also black in a badguy sense.

I am not a Paul Haggis fan, like, at all, but I just saw this pilot yesterday, and it was really, really good. And I agree with the "Kirk, EEEEE!" sentiment, of course.

I'm an American from nowhere near Canada and I've never heard of them. I was also confused by the title, so I came here knowing someone would have figured it out. I agree they should change it. First of all, most people are going to assume "black" means skin color, so they'll assume the Donnellys are black (unless they realize that can't be it because if they were all black that wouldn't be a politically correct title and would get them into trouble.) Now that I know the origin of the name . . . I'm still confused as to the connection or how they are expecting everyone to understand it. I can see "black" being used in the connotation of "bad guy" but wonder if that won't get them into trouble with the PC police as well. Maybe as a Canadian Haggis isn't aware of how touchy many down here are about those kinds of things, but you'd think at least one of of the many Americans involved would bring it up. I'm not saying I'm offended, but I know there are many who will be.

I trust any invested fan of VM, so the pilot must be good. Give us the scoop, CB!

Do you know when it'll be on again, Couch Baron? I checked the TV listings, but it's not coming up.

It won't be on TV until January (midseason replacement for ER). Couch Baron might have seen one of the DVD's sent to advertisers by NBC recently.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who saw this title and went "What!".
I live in the area where some of the lead-up to the killings happened and
that was the first thing I thought of. I'm also familiar with the "Black
Irish" concept, but agree that it's going to be a hard sell to a large part
of America.

No concepts need to be sold. I just watch the pilot, and echoing CB's statements above: wow. I cannot wait for this show.

I'll definitely be watching for Olivia Wilde.

Yiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiiiiiiiiiiii!

Heh. I had no idea Kirk was going to be in this show... I was going to watch it anyway, but it's definitely on my must-see list now. :)

Yeah, that was basically it. But, without giving anything away, the acting was excellent and the story way more compelling than I expected. And Kirk has a great role that's only going to get better, I think.

Couch Baron, not to be annoying, but how was Olivia Wilde in it? I'm a big fan of hers.

She was great. Really enjoyable. I think her character is going to be a challenge to write, but her performance was terrific.

Thanks!

Just my 2 cents on the title. I'm from the US and I've never heard of the immigrant family from Canada, so I immediately assumed the title was referring to people who are "Black Irish." I've heard 2 definitions for the term: 1) It's a reference to extremely poor Irish citizens and 2) It's a reference to Irish having a black African type of heritage from way back.

I just assumed that's what the title referred to because it seems silly to have a show for an American TV market with a title that references a historical incident from another country.

But, more importantly, YAY for a weekly dose of Kirk Acevedo!

Here's hoping that the sexy bastards at TWoP pick it up in January.

ETA: Wikipedia explaination of Black Irish.

Jonathan Tucker plays one of the main characters in this show.

It's a long way from his turn as the lead in that cute teen sex comedy a few years back called "100 Girls."

Out of all the pilots I've seen so far, this was the best. The script for the pilot was excellent, if they can keep that type of storytelling up in the episodes it will be a fantastic show to watch. It's very disappointing it won't start airing until next year. Traveler, my second favourite pilot, is also mid-season. Not really looking forward to any new shows this fall, but 2007 is looking great.

Fantastic pilot.

Apparently it was previously known as 'The Truth About Joey Ice Cream'. Not very catchy!

Brilliant pilot. Could be the best pilot I've seen so far (06/07 -- have seen about 6-8 pilots now). Probably better than the Traveler pilot, which I loved, but the two shows are so different that it's difficult to compare.

The acting in TBD is fantastic, production values are great and it's extremely entertaining. Why must my two favourite pilots be midseason replacements?! I want to see them this fall!

I've seen 13 pilots (all dramas) including this one and TBD is by far the best. I haven't been able to get it out of my head all day, I'm actually thinking about watching it again.

Generally I don't even like mobster related movies and tv-shows but this was fantastic.

I think you're underestimating how many Irish Americans there are who will get this title.

I didn't know about the Candian story but I guessed that the "black" referred to "Black Irish" and to their being involved in criminal activites. Moreso the former, honestly.

Yesterday I finally saw the pilot and really liked it - like other posters I think it was the best pilot this season. But I actually had quite high expectations - at some points in my life I loved Haggis's "Due South" and "E.Z. Streets", and even "Crash" ;-) This series has all his "trademarks" - such as good script and great music. So now I'm waiting for January (why, oh why so late?) and hoping that TBD will be spared the fate of "E.Z. Streets".

Does anyone know how many episodes the season will have? I assume that, as a midseason replacement, there won't be 22 eps but maybe I'm wrong?

I'm wondering about the number of episodes too, I know it's replacing ER, but is it for the rest of the season (until summer)?

From what I've read (NBC's press release IIRC) E.R. returns in the spring. That leaves very little space for TBD...

I guess it's not going to be that many episodes this first season and that makes me sad. Maybe it will be a hit and NBC will have to order and air more episodes.

Maybe it will be in the same situation as Grey's Anatomy. It was a midseason replacement and their first season was only 9 episodes.

Seems very likely, but that means we'll have to wait until next fall to get a full season and right now that feels painful. That is if the show even survives, but with a pilot like that, it has to.

By better, you mean naked, right? I was a little iffy on the Paul Haggis issue myself, but it's good to hear from one of my favorite recappers that it's solid. Nobody deserves a break through like Kirk does, the boy turned in Emmy worthy work for years on Oz, he's due.

One can only hope that Dean Winters gets cast at some point as well.

My question is will Haggis serve as EP? Will he be doing more writing for the show? Cos from what I hear, he's pretty busy with big-screen projects.

Saw the pilot and loved it. It is definately, without a doubt, the best new show in 06-07 season!!!

I thought it was an extremely strong pilot from the writing to especially the direction and cinematography. Which begs the question, as wildstah said, how involved will Paul Haggis stay? I think we all remember what happens every time JJ "ADD" Abrams decides to leave one of his shows.

That's why I'm more excited about Studio 60. With Sorkin and Schlamme, you get this level of talent without the concern that they'll ditch the show before the third episode to make a movie.

Man, I want to be cool like you guys and get one of those preview showings.

I got Black Donnellys right away, but I'm all hung up on Irish ancestry. I'm not sure how many people will get it right away, but you could say the same thing about The Sopranos. "What, they're Italian singers?" It sounds like the pilot pretty much makes it memorable.

Also, my wild Irish-American family refers to Black Irish as meaning black-haired, blue-eyed, and with high coloring, like the Kennedys, not dark-eyed and -skinned like the Wikipedia entry. How do they play it with the actors?

Here are pics of the cast: http://www.tv.com/the-black-donnellys/show...g=tabs;pictures.

(Aceveda plays Italian, though.)

I thought this was a really strong Pilot. It was a little shaky in some parts, but overall it set things up really well. I liked that you could tell it was setting up for the "long haul" instead of being a stand alone episode like a lot of other pilots seem to do. Plus, the acting was very strong from the lead actors.

The only thing that I didn't like was the flashback/narration stuff with Joey Ice Cream. I don't like that gimmick and I found the actor pretty grating. IMO, the tone of all those scenes didn't match up with the rest of the series. However, it's not anything that would stop me from watching the show.

(I didn't really give any plot points away, but I used spoiler text just in case.)

BTW, does anyone else know who is on the writing staff besides Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco?

I have a sneaking suspicion that he's going to be available.

Keeping my fingers crossed.