Brooklyn Bridge is a show that I missed in 1st run, just now catching it on a binge watch, apparently most people missed its first run. What was a personal project of creator Gary David Goldberg of Family Ties fame, this was based on Goldbergs family and stories.
With the 30 minute format, not quite the Comedy one would expect, but more family Drama, it was a well crafted show, with great actors and characters that really brought you into the stories. While I've seen a review critical of the lack of Italian American characters, I would say this isn't as much a show not being true to the time as much as how life was in the eyes of the creator as HE HIMSELF grew up in 1956 Brooklyn.
Many of the characters are so well written, that many viewers say they felt they could see themselves in this family. One never needed to be Jewish or from New York to feel the stories speak to them. How many of us had grandparents who wanted to spoil us. Parents who worked hard, yet still could come home and build the children's confidence with late night talks.
Marion Ross deserves a special shout out. After 11 years as Mrs Cunningham on Happy Days, as America's mom of the 50s, she shows up here about 6 years later on a role as different as Mrs C as possible. She actually looks 20 years older than when on Happy Days, and with her extreme Jewish centric views, she played grandma Sophie, a far different character.
I honestly found her character hard to be empathetic towards during the 1 hour pilot, who softened, a bit, later. Her skills as an actress shined here as you never once remembered her previous characters. This was the sign of an incredible actress who deserved an Emmy or 2 for her role. As time went on, most viewers could easily see their own mothers or grandmother's in her character.
A weak point of the show was actually the.main character of Alan. Danny Gerard as an actor was probably perfect for the role, the issue was how he was written. Alan was way too wise for his age. Always able to fix any problem with wisdom that came up. There were a few times where Alan needed his father or grandmother to show him the way, but way too often he played Yoda and just willed the solutions to work. Great examples were when he got his family to meet his girlfriends family to get them all to back his relationship. Even as it fell apart, his words suddenly got the dinner back on track to eventually work out. Another story was when he had to mend his relationship with his best friend Benny after a misunderstanding over who was dating who. His solution in the end was one a wise OLD man would get too, not a 14 year old child. Alan would of made Richie Cunningham (or even Opie Taylor) look like 50s rebels to his nice guy, boy next door persona.
This clearly isn't your Happy Days, but just a show about life back in the day, back home with friends and family.
With the 30 minute format, not quite the Comedy one would expect, but more family Drama, it was a well crafted show, with great actors and characters that really brought you into the stories. While I've seen a review critical of the lack of Italian American characters, I would say this isn't as much a show not being true to the time as much as how life was in the eyes of the creator as HE HIMSELF grew up in 1956 Brooklyn.
Many of the characters are so well written, that many viewers say they felt they could see themselves in this family. One never needed to be Jewish or from New York to feel the stories speak to them. How many of us had grandparents who wanted to spoil us. Parents who worked hard, yet still could come home and build the children's confidence with late night talks.
Marion Ross deserves a special shout out. After 11 years as Mrs Cunningham on Happy Days, as America's mom of the 50s, she shows up here about 6 years later on a role as different as Mrs C as possible. She actually looks 20 years older than when on Happy Days, and with her extreme Jewish centric views, she played grandma Sophie, a far different character.
I honestly found her character hard to be empathetic towards during the 1 hour pilot, who softened, a bit, later. Her skills as an actress shined here as you never once remembered her previous characters. This was the sign of an incredible actress who deserved an Emmy or 2 for her role. As time went on, most viewers could easily see their own mothers or grandmother's in her character.
A weak point of the show was actually the.main character of Alan. Danny Gerard as an actor was probably perfect for the role, the issue was how he was written. Alan was way too wise for his age. Always able to fix any problem with wisdom that came up. There were a few times where Alan needed his father or grandmother to show him the way, but way too often he played Yoda and just willed the solutions to work. Great examples were when he got his family to meet his girlfriends family to get them all to back his relationship. Even as it fell apart, his words suddenly got the dinner back on track to eventually work out. Another story was when he had to mend his relationship with his best friend Benny after a misunderstanding over who was dating who. His solution in the end was one a wise OLD man would get too, not a 14 year old child. Alan would of made Richie Cunningham (or even Opie Taylor) look like 50s rebels to his nice guy, boy next door persona.
This clearly isn't your Happy Days, but just a show about life back in the day, back home with friends and family.