# Black Donnellys cancelled! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639 "2007-04-11T14:16:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/1 "2007-04-11T14:16:18Z")
Okay, so I mentioned this in another thread, but DAMMIT! There finally is a show with interesting (albeit dark) and complicated characters that I enjoy watching, and the schmucks at NBC cancel it! WTF? They give it 5 episodes to work, then yank it. Dear NBC. We don’t need another reality show. We don’t need another sketch comedy show. Some drama, some intrigue, some conflict. That’s what made Hill Street Blues a hit. That’s what made NYPD Blue a hit. Just because the characters are shady, doesn’t mean the audience can’t absorb them. I say we send Jimmy down to NBC HQ to shake things up. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/2 "2007-04-11T14:34:52Z")
Perhaps things got better since the pilot episode (which I hated), but I found the characters neither complicated nor interesting. It was just another Paul Haggis indulgance into ethnic stereotypes. That’s not necessarily a show-stopper, but you need a pretty strong story to make up for it. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/3 "2007-04-11T14:37:11Z")
Since I never acknowledged the existence of the series that replaced Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I need not now acknowledge its impending non-existence. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/4 "2007-04-11T15:45:11Z")
It seemed to me that it could have been a good show, but I happened to be watching a crap episode every time it was on. Kind of like _Studio 60_. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/5 "2007-04-11T15:46:43Z")
I will miss it too! I happen to like cliches and accents and stereotypes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/6 "2007-04-11T15:54:31Z")
I liked the pilot a lot, but found the later episodes to be too over the top. We’ve got “The Shield” back on now for anyone interested in a good, dark drama series. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/7 "2007-04-11T17:08:00Z")
[QUOTE=jacquilynne] Since I never acknowledged the existence of the series that replaced Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I need not now acknowledge its impending non-existence. [/QUOTE] _Lifts head up, wipes eyes, dares to hope Studio 60 will be returning…_ ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/8 "2007-04-11T18:01:16Z")
If it was anything like Crash, then I totally understand the lack of audience. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/9 "2007-04-11T18:09:55Z")
It looks like you can watch the rest of the episodes [online](http://www.nbc.com/Video/rewind/full_episodes/blackdonnellys.shtml), as they list 8 episodes and I don’t recall that many being aired. I, for one, want to know how Jenny will repay Tommy for the $13k loan… hopefully scantilly clad… ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/10 "2007-04-11T20:12:45Z")
I watched the show, but I have to say, probably the most unlikeable group of characters I’ve seen in a long time. While I agree that The Shield and The Sopranos also are comprised of an array of scumbags and morally bankrupt characters, I think the writing is good enough in both cases to make me actually like some of them despite myself. I don’t like any of the Donnelly brothers. They are stupid, venal, and wrong-headedly self-righteous. I hope all 4 of them wind up in a shallow grave in Jersey, after Dokey cuts their toes off. Hell, I hope their mother goes with them, for that matter. Whew, needed to get THAT off my chest. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/11 "2007-04-11T20:35:52Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] _Lifts head up, wipes eyes, dares to hope Studio 60 will be returning…_ [/QUOTE] [Not so much](http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-realweddingcrasherspremieredate,0,692816.story?track=rss), ivylass. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/12 "2007-04-11T20:47:29Z")
Both the Black Donnellys and Studio 60 had creator/writers with serious pedigrees, so it’s a little sad that neither made it (although both were unappealing in their own way), and that the timeslot is being given over to a crappy comedy/reality series which will probably run for years. ---
**Author:** ![guppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@guppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guppy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/13 "2007-04-11T21:07:03Z")
As much as I didn’t like both the Donnellys and Studio 60 it sucks that yet another shit reality TV show is going on the air. They should have revamped Studio 60 or moved something there. Anyway, Heroes returns on the 23rd. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2007, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-donnellys-cancelled/399639/14 "2007-04-11T21:52:30Z")
“I try to get out… and they let me.”