The Black Donnellys

This show has not been on the air yet, but as a critic, I am able to get advanced copies of shows. Okay, I’m full of it. I got it from Netflix. It’s available on DVD with a mid-season recap of the show Heroes.

NBC doesn’t seem to be fully behind this show. The Netflix DVD gives Heroes top billing and it only features a recap of the season so far. You would think that the full length pilot would be the focus. Heroes is already successful, while a new show with a cast of unknowns could benefit from some extra marketing / promotion. NBC‘s website doesn’t give nearly as much info on this new series as TV.com does. And aside from the names of the cast members, probably not as much as I provide here.

The Black Donnellys is a show about four Irish brothers in a New York neighborhood who get caught up in the world of organized crime. There is nothing these siblings would not do for each other – as long as it involves gratuitous violence.

I don’t mind a little darkness in a story, but there’s got to be a glimmer of hope. This show just has characters that make one bad choice after another, sinking themselves deeper into a violent abyss. At the end of my day I want a slightly sunnier picture of the world than this show offers. The performances and the writing are fine and this may be someone else’s cup of tea, just not mine. I should also mention that the pilot is co-written by Paul Haggis (Million Dollar Baby, Crash).

I didn’t see any schedule info on the official web site, but I read on TV.com that NBC will air The Black Donnellys on Mondays starting March 5th in the timeslot that Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip now occupies (10:00 / 9:00 pm Central). After a trial period – length unknown, Studio 60 will return for the season’s final four episodes (God-willing).