Promising Pilot Alert: The Black Donnellys

NBC's midseason replacement is from Paul Haggis and writing partner Robert Moresco. A lot of people (especially in Los Angeles) had a very strong (and not necessarily positive) reaction to Crash. I saw it as an allegory and not as a reflection of actual life in LA. None of that matters as far as The Black Donnellys is concerned.

Set in New York, the show is about the Donnellys brothers, four Black Irish boys living just to the left of the law. Pictured from left: Sean (Michael Stahl-David) is the baby and a big hit with the ladies. Kevin (Billy Lush) is unlucky, but fiercely loyal. Jimmy (Tom Guiry, Smalls from The Sandlot!) is a hotheaded smalltime crook with a substance abuse problem and a pub called the Firecracker Lounge. Tommy (Jonathan Tucker) is the responsible (and super duper dreamy) one with a shot at life outside the confines of the old neighborhood; he's heartbreaking.

Our story is told to a couple of detectives by unreliable narrator, Joey Ice Cream (Keith Nobbs), and the pilot stretches from the day when, as a child, Jimmy was crippled by a hit and run driver to the series of events that drive the boys far outside the realm of legal activity. Says Little Lady, "They're like Labrador puppies running a crime ring."

Without giving too much away, The Black Donnellys is part Godfather, part Sleepers. The characters, including the boys' childhood friend Jenny Reilly (a subdued Olivia Wilde) and Italian heavy Nicky Cottero (Kirk Acevedo of Oz) are well-drawn and distinct without being Quirky. The photography is beautiful, the pace is taut and the music is perfect (Arcade Fire's "Rebellion Lies" is so achingly perfect in the final montage).

It was the best pilot I've seen in a long time and I'm looking forward to seeing where the series takes us next.