Meet Tommy Donnelly

Lately, we have been focused on the campaign and the buzz around it but now we would like to take some time to reintroduce the Donnelly brothers. Yesterday, you were introduced to Kevin Donnelly portrayed by Billy Lush. Today we will introduce you to Tommy Donnelly.

Tommy Donnelly, the second oldest of the four Donnellys brothers, is portrayed by Jonathan Tucker . Tommy’s dream is to become an artist and he is the one brother who clearly has the talent and ability to be more than just another neighborhood thug. Unfortunately, Tommy is burdened by the fact that an impulsive decision made during his youth resulted in serious injury and a lasting disability for his older brother, Jimmy. Tommy’s guilt over his childhood mistake prevents him from escaping from Hell’s Kitchen and the crime and dangers that have become a way of life there. Instead, Tommy shoulders the burdens of those around him in vain effort to right the wrong that he has done.

Tommy bails out his brothers time and time again. Sometimes that means taking care of unpaid gambling debts and other times it means disposing of bodies. But Tommy’s responsibilities don’t end there. Tommy also looks out for his brothers’ tag-a-long friends and the other Irish families in the neighborhood and he makes a special effort to protect Jenny Reilly, his childhood sweetheart.

Throughout it all, Tommy demonstrates that he is a capable (though somewhat reluctant) leader adept at handling even the toughest problems. While this earns him the respect of both the Irish and Italians in the neighborhood (positioning him as the next leader of the Irish mafia), it creates a number of problems for Tommy personally. For instance, Tommy is forced to give up his dream of becoming an artist in order to look out for his brothers. In addition, Tommy’s relationships with his older brother and the woman he loves are seriously damaged as he becomes more and more involved in the life he tried to leave behind.

At the end of the day, Tommy’s intentions are good. His only goal is to make sure that the people around him are safe and happy. Unfortunately, Tommy is forced to do things that no one would want to do in order to protect those that he loves. As he encounters one impossible dilemma after another, Tommy is forced to choose the lesser of two evils in an often futile attempt to make the right choice and help someone else.

As Kevin, his younger brother, states, “Tommy, you got to stop helping people. It’s a bad thing.” While Tommy tries to do “right,” he quickly finds out that sometimes the “right” thing may turn out ‘wrong”.

Kevin Donnelly/Billy Lush

Kevin Donnelly is portrayed by Billy Lush . He is the second youngest Donnelly brother. Kevin won his dad a bet once when he was young and ever since then he thought he was lucky; however, he hasn’t won anything since then. If Kevin goes with his gut though, he is usually right and would probably be a millionaire. Thankfully his brothers are there to help him out! In the first episode Kevin’s gambling debt initiates a series of events that will forever change the lives of the Donnelly brothers.

Kevin is also a very loyal person and would do anything for his brothers, at any cost. His loyalty is first displayed in the pilot episode when he answers Tommy is about to step into the unimaginable to save his brother Jimmy from his demise. Tommy asks, “Where are you going?” and Kevin responds, “Wherever you are.” You knew that Kevin would put family above all and not let Tommy walk into anything without Kevin by his side.

Kevin’s character brings a comedic side to this dark drama with his famous one liners, which seem to be a fan favorite. He can be depended on to always have the best lines of the show that add a great deal of humor and color to The Black Donnellys.

Some Perspective From The Creators

A single web search for “The Black Donnellys” reveals the many websites, articles, and blogs devoted to discussions of The Black Donnellys. On these sites one can find both praise and criticism of the various artistic choices made by the show’s creators. Some viewers are drawn to TBD’s theme of “Family Above All” and understand that adherence to that principle requires their favorite characters to make choices and take actions that are hard to stomach. Other viewers can’t get past the fact that the Donnelly brothers make mistakes that would land real-life criminals in jail fast. And everybody has an opinion about the usefulness of the show’s narrator, Joey Ice Cream. But there’s more to come on Joey later. For now, we’d like to share some of insight we’ve gained over the course of The Black Donnellys’ 13 episodes and, more importantly, from reading comprehensive interviews with The Black Donnellys’ co-creators, Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco.

While both Haggis and Moresco are well-known for their Oscar-winning screenplay for the film Crash and their work on the Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby, they previously worked together on the television series, EZ Streets , a 1996 CBS crime drama. In fact, The Black Donnellys began as a follow-up to EZ Streets and is loosely based on real-life events from Moresco’s childhood growing up in the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen in New York City. As a result, although The Black Donnellys is not biographical and takes place in a fictional neighborhood, each of the characters, situations, and personal dilemmas have elements of truth drawn from Moresco’s own experiences.

For instance, in a March 2007 interview with PBS’s Tavis Smiley, Moresco compared the Donnelly brothers to members of the Irish mob group the Westies, many of whom were Moresco’s family members and friends. Moresco explained that The Black Donnellys is about four Irish kids who end up in that world of the Irish mafia and “just don’t know how to exist there. They’re incapable of surviving except by counting on each other”.

Similarly, in a separate interview, Haggis described The Black Donnellys as a story “about the journey that [the Donnelly brothers] face and less about the crime involved.” He noted that he and Moresco liked the idea of a coming of age story in a world where crime is the easiest way to make a living and indicated that, in each episode, they tried to put the characters into situations that no one would want to be in and then have them make choices that no one would want to have to make. The result, according to Moresco, is not organized crime, but rather a world of disorganized crime where people you love can do “monstrous things.” Each week, the Donnelly brothers (and the television audience) learn that there is a moral price to pay for each choice made and each action taken in life. Indeed, as Moresco remarked, “[y]ou don’t know what that price is going to be, but you’re going to pay it.” Now that’s a lesson we’d all do well to learn.

For more information about Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, visit:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0353673/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0604263/

For full interviews with Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, visit:

http://entertainment1.sympatico.msn.ca/At+long+last+Paul+Haggis+Black+Donnellys+debuts/TV_Guide/Interviews/Features/Articles/250207_donnellys_JR.htm?isfa=1

http://www.thescifiworld.net/mediaworld/haggis-moresco-01.htm

Who Do You Believe ?

Since the LA Times article was released the Black Donnellys has been getting a lot of buzz; some positive some negative. The Firecrackers believe the negative comments stem from people who have not watched the entire season and/or people that believe that the networks are right. Interestingly, one blogger argues: If the networks believe that the show must be cancelled then it wasn’t worth watching to begin with…… If you believe that, you can ask the Jericho fans, Veronica Mars fans and TBD fans; they will tell you a much different story.

Do you believe NBC? NBC supposedly cancelled The Black Donnellys due to declining ratings. However, what most people don’t know is that TBD was a victim of NBC’s own indecisiveness. Originally, the series was going to air in the Thursday night time slot during ER’s hiatus in November 2006. But because ER was doing well at the time, NBC pushed back the airdate of The Black Donnellys to January 2007. NBC subsequently pushed TBD’s premiere date back even further until late February/early March when it became the Monday night replacement for NBC’s other high-profile series, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which was having ratings difficulties. Not only did NBC anger Studio 60’s viewers, who responded by boycotting The Black Donnellys, it also gambled with the high-budget series by putting it in the dreaded Monday night time slot.

Though The Black Donnellys pilot episode aired after NBC’s hit show Heroes and pulled in nearly 8 million viewers, subsequent episodes followed a game show, Deal or No Deal, and the viewers dropped to 5 million. In addition, The Black Donnellys competed with the NCAA March Madness Finals and CBS’s long-running hit, CSI: Miami. In the end, NBC made poor decisions with respect to marketing, scheduling, and storyline continuity. Regarding the latter, NBC showed an online only episode containing important plot details yet failed to notify The Black Donnellys television audience that such an episode even existed. Then inexplicably, when viewers became confused by the storyline, NBC panicked like they did with Studio 60, and pulled The Black Donnellys off the air after only 5 episodes. The Black Donnellys was replaced with yet another reality TV show, The Real Wedding Crashers. You don’t have to wonder where The Real Wedding Crashers are now. Shuffling shows in and out of the television line-up is not very cost-effective. A new series is a delicate thing and NBC failed The Black Donnellys from the start. NBC clearly did not know what they were doing or what direction they were taking and, unfortunately, The Black Donnellys fans paid the price for NBC’s mistakes.


Do you believe the fans? The Black Donnellys was in the top 10 most downloaded episodes and season passes on ITunes up until the finale aired on May 14, 2007, six weeks after the show was taken off the air. It was the only show that was NOT on the air, but was in the top 10 with hit shows like Lost, Grey's Anatomy, the Office and 24. In addition, following TBD’s cancellation, Mark Cuban immediately picked up the entire first season of the show and it is now airing on HDNet on Wednesday nights. Mr. Cuban noticed the attention TBD was getting in the online community, took note of TBD’s active fan base, and knew The Black Donnellys would be a hit for HDNet!

The petition to save the show has over 37,000 signatures and is climbing everyday! More importantly, the fans have come together to contribute time and money to the Save The Black Donnellys campaign
in order to convince HBO to pick up TBD. Though there are some naysayers, the campaign results so far demonstrate that there are more than just “7” fans out there as some bloggers have incorrectly posted. The fact that these bloggers have taken the time and effort to criticize The Black Donnellys and/or the fan campaign indicates that TBD does appeal to a wider audience. In fact, even the negative posts are assisting the campaign since they are creating a lot more buzz for a show that last aired in April!

So, if you believe the networks, then we will continue to see more reality TV and lackluster shows on the air! If you believe the fans, then we encourage you to watch more than just the pilot, watch the entire season on nbc.com or Itunes.com! Or if you prefer not to watch it on your PC, you can pre-order the DVD from Amazon.com.

Get to know the characters and their story! Fight for the opportunity to see great television!

We look forward to seeing you around the Firecracker Lounge!