I'll admit it. I didn't think I'd like The Black Donnellys. Not only was it the big, bad show coming in to take over the Studio 60 slot, but it also seemed like the kind of show a squishy-hearted female like me couldn't possibly enjoy. Gangsters? Guns? Blood? Eww.
But I am here to tell you that I've seen the first four episodes of The Black Donnellys and am absolutely and completely head-over-heels smitten with this show. Yes, it's gripping and edgy and dark, but it's also full of heart and emotion and even humor. It's from Academy Award winner Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby) and has some of the best writing anywhere on television. And, oh yeah, did I mention that it happens to have a leading man by the name of Jonathan Tucker, who just became a fully ordained Future Husband of mine today?
I caught up with Jonathan and his costar Olivia Wilde (Skin, The O.C.) today at—where else?—an Irish pub. And maybe it was the Guinness talking—just kidding; I only had a sip(s)—but they instantly became two of my favorite people. In the video clip on this page, you can see for yourself their playfulness, humor and fantasticness. (Is that a word? Okay, maybe I shouldn't have chugged that last pint with Jonathan.)
On the show, Olivia and Jonathan play Tommy and Jenny, two star-crossed lovers you'll soon know as the next great NBC unrequited romance. (In the third episode, they touched foreheads and I literally squealed out loud.) And funny enough, they're both huge Office fans and tell me they learned everything they know from Jim and Pam. Swoon.
Anyway, the most important thing you know is this (and for the record, I was only kidding about the Guinness and swear to TiVo I am 100 percent sober as I write this): you must check out The Black Donnellys this coming Monday night on NBC after Heroes. It is quality TV—as Tucker puts it, "like a movie every week"—and will totally suck you in within the first four episodes.
And, oh yeah, did I mention that in the second episode, Tucker rocks a pair of tighty-whities (and nothing else) for a good three minutes—before getting hosed down?
We fans are gonna need a few cold showers ourselves watching this one.