I don't understand why everyone one complains that TBD were a Godfather/Goodfellas knockoff. I didn't see anyone complaining about the Sopranos being a mob knowoff.

How many stories are there? That's like complaining because West Side Story was a knockoff of Romeo and Julliett.

I liked the show because it wasn't a cop/detective/fbi story. IT's nice to see a show from the point of view of the criminals for a change. I did not like Studio 60. I watched on episode and thought who cares about these people.

I really liked the Black Donnellys. Yes it was a cliche in some parts, but I enjoyed the mixture black humor with violence. And I totally bought that Tommy turned into a killer. He was the only "good" boy and if he had stayed that way he would have been a boring character. I don't care if he was a Michael Corleone copy.

I disagree.
His back was against the wall. It was a fight or flight situation. If you have a sibling then you know that letting the Italians kill your brother/sister would not have been an option. It was either fight back or get the hell out of dodge. And if they had run then they would have been running forever. (the mob is funny that way)
I've never done anything violent but you had better believe that I would kill someone that was about to beat my kid brother to death.
He took the only path available to him.

And studio 60 sucked.

The only reason he was able to get away with what he did to the Italian mob guys was because he is the kid nobody would expect to do it. It makes sense that he would do what he had to do to save his brother's life any way he could. The problem is, I don't know how they're going to go on from here. These brothers certainly don't seem scary enough to be able to keep Tommy (and the rest of them, really) alive after something like that. I'm giving the show a chance and I'll see if the writers can really pull it off. I didn't think the first episode was a train wreck.

It's odd, because I found the music to be quite innappriate. For a show about the rough and tumble world of the mafia and organized crime, the music felt very mellow. The entire show felt like it tried to youth up the topic in order to please the younger fans. The aesthetics didn't seem to match the plot.

As I said in another post several weeks ago, this show looked like a cheap knockoff of Showtime's amazing series "Brotherhood." After tuning in last night, I was right. It's basically trying to be Brotherhood with a gang of brothers rather than just the two brothers (one who is a politician and one who is the neighborhood crime prince!)

Do yourself a favor and pick up Season 1 of Brotherhood on DVD. Jason Isaacs (as the thug brother) and Jason Clarke (as the "good" politician brother) are stellar. The show is also far more gritty and realistic than TBD will ever be given the limits of network television. Brotherhood also returns this summer to Showtime with a second season.

At least Studio 60 waited until after its pilot to become a convoluted mess. Imagine the pay-off of this scene if Haggis and Moresco would have spent a few episodes slowly pulling Tommy toward such a big change. Good writing and great plotting could have hooked people big if Tommy did this at say episode four or five. I guess the creators didn't think they'd even get that much of a chance.

I agree with Chan. Ok so i decided to give it a try. The last thing i remember is the brother and the chick getting beat up, and the crippled brother running off. After that I pretty much zoned out. It just seems like it's already been done. Wait - it has already been done.

Have you ever seen the Godfather?

I completely agree with Elizabeth. They set up Tommy to be a lot like Michael Corleone in the first Godfather movie. His family's a bunch of thugs, but he's the good one, the smart one. But when Michael turns to violence, it's awkward. When he's going to shoot Sollozzo and the police captain, he looks terrified when he goes into the bathroom, and hesitates when it's time to pull the trigger. You get the feeling he was pretty close to throwing up after it's over, too. It felt realistic and honest.

Tommy Donnelly looked calm and confident, and busted into that room like someone out of a John Woo movie. It felt contrived, fake, and wrapped the pilot up in way too neat a package.

http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com

Ok so tommy isnt supposed to be some goody two shoes type of kid. He grew up in the inner city and knew trouble his whole life through the eyes of his brothers. He knows how to get them out of trouble (protect them) and in doing that has made alot of connections along the way. Sort of back dooring his way into a position of power. He is then given two options. Sit back while he watches his brother walk away to be beaten to death by the italians or take action and counterstrike before they get to him. It was in this second that he chose to protect his brothers as he has always done, which meant he had to kill the italian mob dudes. simple as that. life or death. I think you missed the point of the episode.