The Black Donnellys is an American television drama that debuted on NBC on February 26, 2007. BTM loves it!!!
Wikipedia says: The show follows four young Catholic Irish-American brothers in New York’s infamous Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood and their involvement with organized crime.[1]Although the show is set in the present day, it draws heavily upon Irish-American history and iconic themes. Their story is narrated by a childhood friend, Joey “Ice Cream”, whom the show depicts as an unreliable narrator. As the pilot episode indicates, there is a clear tension and rivalry between the Irish and the Italians.
The show was created by Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco. The show’s cast includes Jonathan Tucker, Olivia Wilde, Billy Lush, Tom Guiry and Kirk Acevedo with relative newcomers Michael Stahl-David and Keith Nobbs.
In creating the show, Haggis, a native of London, Ontario, has strongly referenced his hometown’s local history about the real-life Black Donnellys and the massacre associated with their name.
Kate Mulgrew, best known as Captain Janeway from Star Trek Voyager, plays the mother.
I tried watching it just to see her, but it was very dark and bloody. In one scene from the second episode, one of the brothers is trying to fit a dead body into a 50 gallon drum or something, but can’t do it. So he strips down to his shorts and takes a sledge hammer to the corpse. The other brother watching chucks up his big mac.
I once heard Bart Simpson tell Lisa she really should watch Izzy and Snappy violent cartoons, to desensitize herself to it.
I know the first episode was VERY packed, cuz they introduced about 19 characters, including both the Italian and Irish crime syndicates. And there was a big shooting that left a young guy the new leader of the Irish, and indebted the Irish to the Italians, cuz the Irish killed a bookie that had been paying $5000.00 to the Italian leader.
It was barely comprehensible, and I prolly even conveyed it slightly wrong.
But I like the acting, the characters, the protrayal of the Irish gang culture–rarely seen.
It’s a great show. The first episode was a bit tough to get through, but after that it gets much easier to follow. I agree that it is very violent, but much less so then many ‘R’ rated movies that come out these days.
Also, I don’t know if BTM mentioned this earlier but Paul Haggis (the creator) also did Crash and Walker: Texas Ranger.
Some of these relationships are too much, and kind of sweet but confusing: Tommy and the wife of the guy who got killed (with the child). Tommy borrowed $ from her to give to the girl he likes, whose Alzheimer’s father will otherwise lose his restaurant.
Too much stuff, having nothing to do with violence. Pretty cool.
Yeah, I just saw it. For some reason I kept predicting stuff was going to happen, like Tommy would bet on the right horse and his brother would turn out to be the guy who owed them money. Not much violence at all, just a good plot…