TV is the New Reading

‘Donnellys’ are kind of dim

Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scrubs” are shows that have found a certain amount of success by building stupid decision-making skills into the plotlines. The argument they use is that the characters are young and under a lot of pressure, so they’re supposed to make mistakes.

Enter “The Black Donnellys,” a show centered on a group of four college-aged brothers whose dad was somehow involved in the Irish Mob in New York and now they are, although it’s not too clear what exactly they contribute.

They run a neighborhood bar, they go to school, they run up debts, they steal trucks, they use drugs, and they run little kidnapping schemes that escalate and backfire in magnificent ways.

All the while, the other aspects of life in the Irish Mob and the Italian Mob and all of the rest of it carry on normally. These four idiots get themselves in and out of scrapes and it’s all wonderfully exciting because it’s all being told from the perspective of an informant friend of theirs – Joey Ice Cream, who is about their age and is cheerfully unreliable, given to embellishments, and talks about all sorts of stuff he has no direct knowledge about.

It makes for an exciting story. Four young guys running around falling in and out of love with each other’s girlfriends and getting in and out of scrapes and being outrageously violent and just generally having a glorious post-adolescent romp.

Oh, except for all of the violence and death, but then they don’t seem to be taking it too seriously so why should I?

After all, it’s just more of that crazy, cuckoo life in the Irish Mob.

Sun sets on ‘Studio 60’?

Meanwhile, Aaron Sorkin’s dramedy about impossibly witty people creating impossibly witty television – I mean, honestly, I’d love to be part of a conversation half as patter-driven as any of the ones they have on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” – so hip, so arch, so terrifically paced and so rehearsed.

But so much fun.

See, one huge difference between “Donnellys” and “Studio 60” is all of the ratings-grabbing excitement, chase scenes and violence in the former. But the reason it works in The Donnellys’ narrative in an even vaguely credible way is that it’s being conducted by people who are ... well, not so bright.

“Studio 60” is effete, intellectual, self-important and decidedly overanalyzed, but that’s because all of its characters spend far too much time living in their own heads. They’re incredibly smart – not wise, certainly, and not entirely in control, but ... witty, and just really fun to listen to.

Which is why it garnered relatively low ratings for network programming, and another reason why it’s now on extended hiatus while “The Black Donnellys” is in its timeslot.

I don’t object to fun, and I’m not even saying that one show is smarter or dumber than the other, because both storylines are pretty complicated.

I’m just saying that while “Donnellys” might be more fun to watch, “Studio 60” is more fun to listen to. That and in my opinion, there’s already plenty of shows on television that are driven by people making bonehead mistakes.

Based on that I’m ... not convinced that “Donnellys” is really worth my time. But it's available online at (nbc.com) and NBC is airing an encore presentation of the pilot today at 9 p.m., so you can judge for yourself.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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