The Black Donnellys

It's early to say this but judging by the first two episodes this show is going to be something special. I love this show. Now, granted I was at first interested in it because the main characters are Irish, as I am. But this show is about so much more than just being Irish, or even just the mob/organized crime. It's like the tagline for the show says.. "Family above all" and how far one brother is willing to go to protect his brothers. Will he put himself first? Or will he save his brothers? Some people say this show is like The Departed (Which I loved, so I'm not saying anything bad about the Departed)

It's only like The Departed because 1.) The main characters are Irish. 2.) It features some organized crime (but mostly dis-organized) and violence. This really is an excellent show. Not many shows have the balls to put so much effort into a pilot. Pilot episodes are usually those boring shows that set up the story but have nothing to them. This series pilot was intriguing and actually had a plot and trusted you to keep up, which is something most pilots wouldn't even dream of doing. The second episode just proved how great this show is. Not only is it violent and all - but it has a dark sense of humor. Which is great, I personally find it very entertaining.

So here's what I'll say... Watch the Black Donnellys. Give this show a chance. This is my new favorite TV show, and if NBC does something RIDICULOUS and cancels this amazing show I will forever give up watching TV because this is a great series and I can't wait to see how it unfolds.

The first time I heard about this show was through all the ads on NBC and I just thought "dear God not another stupid TV show coming on the air for me to not watch" without really paying much attention. Then, the day it was set to premiere I heard a little more about it. The whole "brothers fighting for brothers" thing intrigued me. It kind of reminded me of "Four Brothers" (one of my personal favorite movies). So I decided to tune in. And boy, was I glad I did that.

This show is great! Finally, a little action and originality coming to TVs. You can tell that the writers wrote many movies just from the way its written, GREAT! The whole "Joey-Ice Cream telling the story" thing is quite original and with a little humor added into it.

Even though there's only been two episodes I can tell that I am definitely going to be tuning in for all the rest there is to come no matter how many that my be.

To break it all down, if you love movies/shows with action, drama, violence, with a little humor, etc. then you'll love this show. And if not, try to give it a shot, you probably won't regret it!

Going just by the pilot - excellent! I thought the story'd be off to a bit of a slow, boring start, but it took off like a flare, from the first few shots, never flagging, never letting up. The grittiness of the look, the timing, the pace, the story line, the dialogue -- terrific, just what you'd expect from people who made "Crash." They didn't disappoint. The acting is also very good, except Keith Nobbs, who plays Joey Ice Cream: entirely too much of a clichéd motor-mouthed overacting little weasel. If he's going to continue providing the narration, it can be a detriment to the overall quality, as it was in the pilot, hence I gave it only 9 stars out of 10.

I don't know what the problem is with this show.. that everyone seems to hate it, but I watched it, and I thought that it was very very good. The dialogue was good, the premise was dark, and of course, unbelievable. But seriously, what are the hit shows on today... Heroes? Lost? Desperate Housewives?, doesn't TV thrive on the unbelievable? I mean, why else would we watch something that could be going on nextdoor? Its just not that interesting. As for the comment that the good comments were just boosters from the show, the argument could be made that all the bad comments are from people that want to see the show fail. This is just as possible as boosters being on IMDb. Paul Haggis didn't get all of those Oscar noms for nothing. So heres to hoping that it stays on the air.

I eagerly looked forward to the second show, but was somewhat disappointed. It was extremely grisly with very little story line and not the humor that The Sopranos use to get around abject violent acts. I still will give it more time, however, because I liked the premise of the show, it's much more like a cable show than not. I'm sick of most network broadcasts and "reality TV". This series shows promise so I was somewhat taken a back by the gore and the gruesomeness of the body disposal--YIKES!!! There are others who have problems with the fact that they don't use gratuitous foul language on the show as tough guys like these brothers would use in real life, but I never even noticed the 'F' bomb missing from their discourse. The missing profanity never spoiled the gritty reality of the show for me. In fact, movies like the Departed really use too much of it, not that it bothers me, but it can grate on one's "last nerve" after a while hearing it over and over again.

I'll be back next week to check it out.