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Season Three - NBC, Sundays, 8 pm
September 2004 - May 2054
Season Premiere - Sunday - Sept. 26, 2004 8 p.m. NBC
September 2004 - May 2054
Season Premiere - Sunday - Sept. 26, 2004 8 p.m. NBC
NBC's American Dreams returns in the
fall for its third season and, never fear,
JJ (Will Estes) will survive his Vietnam
experience. That's no spoiler;
executive producer Jonathan Prince
has always said American Dreams tells
the story of a family that makes it
through the 1960s relatively intact.
If season one was the set-up and
season two was lighting the fuse on
the 1960s, Prince said season three
willbe the explosion. JJ will return from
Vietnam and Meg (Brittany Snow) and
Roxanne (Vanessa Lengies) will move
with American Bandstand to Los
Angeles. But before JJ returns home,
he'll be part of the American forces
fighting in Cambodia.
Jonathan Adams, one of the Dreams
stars, said his character, the widower
Henry, will continue to see his
relationship with a new girlfriend
blossom.
"In Henry's mind, she's not a girlfriend,
just a friend," Adams said. "They've
never held hands or kissed. She's just
a female friend he likes to be with."
In addition, Milo Ventimiglia (Jess on
Gilmore Girls) will have a recurring role
as a high school rebel whose family
moves in next to the Pryor clan,
according to The Hollywood Reporter.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.
dll/article?AID=/20040715/ART18/4071
50391
7/15/04
fall for its third season and, never fear,
JJ (Will Estes) will survive his Vietnam
experience. That's no spoiler;
executive producer Jonathan Prince
has always said American Dreams tells
the story of a family that makes it
through the 1960s relatively intact.
If season one was the set-up and
season two was lighting the fuse on
the 1960s, Prince said season three
willbe the explosion. JJ will return from
Vietnam and Meg (Brittany Snow) and
Roxanne (Vanessa Lengies) will move
with American Bandstand to Los
Angeles. But before JJ returns home,
he'll be part of the American forces
fighting in Cambodia.
Jonathan Adams, one of the Dreams
stars, said his character, the widower
Henry, will continue to see his
relationship with a new girlfriend
blossom.
"In Henry's mind, she's not a girlfriend,
just a friend," Adams said. "They've
never held hands or kissed. She's just
a female friend he likes to be with."
In addition, Milo Ventimiglia (Jess on
Gilmore Girls) will have a recurring role
as a high school rebel whose family
moves in next to the Pryor clan,
according to The Hollywood Reporter.
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.
dll/article?AID=/20040715/ART18/4071
50391
7/15/04
The Next Great American Family
Drama Comes to DVD This Fall
AMERICAN DREAMS is coming to DVD
like you've never seen it -- or heard it
-- before. Universal Studios Home
Video is proud to announce the
release of
the complete first season of the Emmy
Award(R) winning series featuring
extended performances from today's
hottest music superstars appearing as
1960s
music icons. Packed with
unforgettable rock and roll hits and
exciting bonus
features all presented in digital 5.1
Dolby Surround Sound, AMERICAN
DREAMS --
SEASON 1 EXTENDED MUSIC
EDITION is a must-own for fans of the
critically-
acclaimed series or anyone who just
loves great music. Featured artists
include Usher, Ashanti, Kelly Rowland
(of Destiny's Child), LeAnn Rimes,
Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton,
India.Arie, B2K, Stacie Orrico, Third
Eye
Blind, Duncan Sheik and more. An
evocative drama set against the
memorable,
upbeat sounds of the 1960s,
AMERICAN DREAMS depicts a more
innocent America,
bracing for cultural turbulence ahead,
as seen through the youthful Pryor
family.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori
es.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/
07-10-2004/0002207777&EDATE=
Drama Comes to DVD This Fall
AMERICAN DREAMS is coming to DVD
like you've never seen it -- or heard it
-- before. Universal Studios Home
Video is proud to announce the
release of
the complete first season of the Emmy
Award(R) winning series featuring
extended performances from today's
hottest music superstars appearing as
1960s
music icons. Packed with
unforgettable rock and roll hits and
exciting bonus
features all presented in digital 5.1
Dolby Surround Sound, AMERICAN
DREAMS --
SEASON 1 EXTENDED MUSIC
EDITION is a must-own for fans of the
critically-
acclaimed series or anyone who just
loves great music. Featured artists
include Usher, Ashanti, Kelly Rowland
(of Destiny's Child), LeAnn Rimes,
Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton,
India.Arie, B2K, Stacie Orrico, Third
Eye
Blind, Duncan Sheik and more. An
evocative drama set against the
memorable,
upbeat sounds of the 1960s,
AMERICAN DREAMS depicts a more
innocent America,
bracing for cultural turbulence ahead,
as seen through the youthful Pryor
family.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori
es.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/
07-10-2004/0002207777&EDATE=
Posted on Tue, Jul. 13, 2004
TATTLE
Howard Gensler | Play it again, Frank?
By Howard Gensler
gensleh@phillynews.com
FRANK RIZZO will live again in NBC's
"American Dreams."
As Ellen Gray reports from L.A., the
show, set in 1960s Philly, will deal with
1965-66 in the coming season and
with Jack Pryor (Tom Verica) running
for City Council, the
then-up-and-coming Bambino will play
a part, says show creator Jonathan
Prince.
"We haven't cast Rizzo yet," Prince
said. "He has to be very tall," he said,
adding, "You have to be careful in
casting Rizzo because you cannot cast
him as a villain. At the time, he was a
hero...he unified a city in the face of
the riots," he said.
Many Philadelphians hold a different
view of the former mayor, but Prince
seems to see Rizzo through the Patriot
Act prism of a post-9/11 world.
"It's up to us to play Rizzo as a man
who comes into a city that's divided, a
man who comes into a city that's on
fire...he's a law-and-order guy. I think
those issues of law and order speak
very loudly to today's audience and it
would be a lie to not own up to the fact
that [there was] heroism in a politician
who stands up and says, 'I stand for
safer homes, I stand for safer
neighborhoods. Perhaps I'm not that
vested in civil rights.' Well, that would
not be an unpopular stand among
many people today," said the
producer, whose show has explored
civil rights extensively as well as the
Vietnam War.
Prince, who visited Philadelphia to
scout the Penn campus - where more
and more of the show is taking place -
said he did see the Rizzo statue across
from City Hall.
"Yes, it's amazing," he said.
"Awesome."
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/914
0948.htm?ERIGHTS=-5685984847149
074865philly::akiba1708@yahoo.com&
KRD_RM=0jmkllphggjggggggggijlhhpg|
Sharon|N&is_rd=Y
TATTLE
Howard Gensler | Play it again, Frank?
By Howard Gensler
gensleh@phillynews.com
FRANK RIZZO will live again in NBC's
"American Dreams."
As Ellen Gray reports from L.A., the
show, set in 1960s Philly, will deal with
1965-66 in the coming season and
with Jack Pryor (Tom Verica) running
for City Council, the
then-up-and-coming Bambino will play
a part, says show creator Jonathan
Prince.
"We haven't cast Rizzo yet," Prince
said. "He has to be very tall," he said,
adding, "You have to be careful in
casting Rizzo because you cannot cast
him as a villain. At the time, he was a
hero...he unified a city in the face of
the riots," he said.
Many Philadelphians hold a different
view of the former mayor, but Prince
seems to see Rizzo through the Patriot
Act prism of a post-9/11 world.
"It's up to us to play Rizzo as a man
who comes into a city that's divided, a
man who comes into a city that's on
fire...he's a law-and-order guy. I think
those issues of law and order speak
very loudly to today's audience and it
would be a lie to not own up to the fact
that [there was] heroism in a politician
who stands up and says, 'I stand for
safer homes, I stand for safer
neighborhoods. Perhaps I'm not that
vested in civil rights.' Well, that would
not be an unpopular stand among
many people today," said the
producer, whose show has explored
civil rights extensively as well as the
Vietnam War.
Prince, who visited Philadelphia to
scout the Penn campus - where more
and more of the show is taking place -
said he did see the Rizzo statue across
from City Hall.
"Yes, it's amazing," he said.
"Awesome."
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/914
0948.htm?ERIGHTS=-5685984847149
074865philly::akiba1708@yahoo.com&
KRD_RM=0jmkllphggjggggggggijlhhpg|
Sharon|N&is_rd=Y
In The News: Ashlee, Chad and More!
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Ashlee Simpson
DREAMS SCOOP: Jessica Simpson's
sister, Ashlee, is eyeing a guest-star
gig on NBC's American Dreams this
fall. "She's a good friend of mine,"
series star Brittany Snow tells TV
Guide Online. "I don't know who she'll
play yet. It's up to her. I think she'd
make a great Janis Joplin because
she's got that raspy voice." Snow adds
that Usher and Kelly Clarkson are in
talks to reprise their respective roles
as Marvin Gaye and Brenda Lee. And
speaking of American Idols, Fantasia
Barrino is also considering filling
Aretha Franklin's heels. For more
Dreams dish, read today's Party Boy
column on NBC's all-star bash at the
TCA press tour in L.A.
http://www.tvguide.com/news/entertainm
ent/040713.asp
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Ashlee Simpson
DREAMS SCOOP: Jessica Simpson's
sister, Ashlee, is eyeing a guest-star
gig on NBC's American Dreams this
fall. "She's a good friend of mine,"
series star Brittany Snow tells TV
Guide Online. "I don't know who she'll
play yet. It's up to her. I think she'd
make a great Janis Joplin because
she's got that raspy voice." Snow adds
that Usher and Kelly Clarkson are in
talks to reprise their respective roles
as Marvin Gaye and Brenda Lee. And
speaking of American Idols, Fantasia
Barrino is also considering filling
Aretha Franklin's heels. For more
Dreams dish, read today's Party Boy
column on NBC's all-star bash at the
TCA press tour in L.A.
http://www.tvguide.com/news/entertainm
ent/040713.asp
TV Marketers Working Overtime to
Create Buzz
Wed Sep 1, 2004 03:35 AM ET
By Gail Schiller
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -
With the formal launch of the 2004-05
television season less than four weeks
away, marketing mavens at the six
major broadcast networks are kicking
their fall promotional campaigns into
high gear.
And with the average consumer faced
with more and more options for
entertainment these days, the
networks are forced to turn to an array
of alternative marketing tactics to
generate buzz and awareness for new
and returning shows.
From large-scale events, a la the Walt
Disney Co.'s ABC-themed weekends at
its amusement parks, to guerrilla
marketing efforts to major
cross-promotions with consumer
brands that extend all the way into the
story lines of the shows they're touting,
executives at ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC,
UPN and the WB Network are looking
anywhere and everywhere for
opportunities to tout their fall slates.
The new season officially kicks off
Sept. 20, but numerous shows are set
to get a head start by bowing during
the next two weeks.
"We've got to do anything we can to
help us get our product in front of the
very broad target audience we're
trying to reach," said Mike Benson,
senior vp marketing at ABC. "It's really
critical for us that we're not only getting
a lot of eyeballs but the right eyeballs."
ABC is mounting some of the most
elaborate fall-season launch efforts,
which comes as no surprise to industry
observers given its woes in recent
years. The network finished last
among the Big Four last season, and it
hasn't had much traction this summer
with its repeats and smattering of
original unscripted series.
Among ABC's more creative
promotions is a plan to inundate
hundreds of heavily populated
beaches on both coasts during the
Labor Day weekend with plastic bottles
containing "messages" promoting its
new stranded-on-a-deserted-island
drama "Lost," an expensive gamble for
the network from "Alias"
creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams.
ABC also plans a Sept. 10-12 "preview
weekend" at Disney's California
Adventure theme park, giving fans the
opportunity to meet such stars as Kelly
Ripa of "Hope and Faith" and Jim
Belushi of "According to Jim."
NBC, in partnership with Campbell's
Soup Co. and Scholastic magazine, is
asking younger viewers to get creative
by entering an essay contest to
promote its 1960s drama "American
Dreams."
Campbell's will promote "American
Dreams" and the contest -- which
offers a grand prize of a $100,000
college scholarship and walk-on roles
for the winner and a friend -- on 42
million tomato soup cans, and in print,
radio and television advertising.
In return, Campbell's soup will be
integrated into numerous episodes of
the series, starting with the Sept. 26,
and "American Dreams" high school
student Patty Pryor, played by Sarah
Ramos, will enter a similar essay
contest on the show.
For its part, Scholastic will develop an
in-school curriculum focused on the
essay topic of "How does your
American dream compare to that of
your parents" that will reach more than
11 million students in 60,000 high
school classrooms nationwide. The
essay contest runs through Nov. 30.
Continued ...
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jht
ml?type=televisionNews&storyID=61210
94>
Create Buzz
Wed Sep 1, 2004 03:35 AM ET
By Gail Schiller
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) -
With the formal launch of the 2004-05
television season less than four weeks
away, marketing mavens at the six
major broadcast networks are kicking
their fall promotional campaigns into
high gear.
And with the average consumer faced
with more and more options for
entertainment these days, the
networks are forced to turn to an array
of alternative marketing tactics to
generate buzz and awareness for new
and returning shows.
From large-scale events, a la the Walt
Disney Co.'s ABC-themed weekends at
its amusement parks, to guerrilla
marketing efforts to major
cross-promotions with consumer
brands that extend all the way into the
story lines of the shows they're touting,
executives at ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC,
UPN and the WB Network are looking
anywhere and everywhere for
opportunities to tout their fall slates.
The new season officially kicks off
Sept. 20, but numerous shows are set
to get a head start by bowing during
the next two weeks.
"We've got to do anything we can to
help us get our product in front of the
very broad target audience we're
trying to reach," said Mike Benson,
senior vp marketing at ABC. "It's really
critical for us that we're not only getting
a lot of eyeballs but the right eyeballs."
ABC is mounting some of the most
elaborate fall-season launch efforts,
which comes as no surprise to industry
observers given its woes in recent
years. The network finished last
among the Big Four last season, and it
hasn't had much traction this summer
with its repeats and smattering of
original unscripted series.
Among ABC's more creative
promotions is a plan to inundate
hundreds of heavily populated
beaches on both coasts during the
Labor Day weekend with plastic bottles
containing "messages" promoting its
new stranded-on-a-deserted-island
drama "Lost," an expensive gamble for
the network from "Alias"
creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams.
ABC also plans a Sept. 10-12 "preview
weekend" at Disney's California
Adventure theme park, giving fans the
opportunity to meet such stars as Kelly
Ripa of "Hope and Faith" and Jim
Belushi of "According to Jim."
NBC, in partnership with Campbell's
Soup Co. and Scholastic magazine, is
asking younger viewers to get creative
by entering an essay contest to
promote its 1960s drama "American
Dreams."
Campbell's will promote "American
Dreams" and the contest -- which
offers a grand prize of a $100,000
college scholarship and walk-on roles
for the winner and a friend -- on 42
million tomato soup cans, and in print,
radio and television advertising.
In return, Campbell's soup will be
integrated into numerous episodes of
the series, starting with the Sept. 26,
and "American Dreams" high school
student Patty Pryor, played by Sarah
Ramos, will enter a similar essay
contest on the show.
For its part, Scholastic will develop an
in-school curriculum focused on the
essay topic of "How does your
American dream compare to that of
your parents" that will reach more than
11 million students in 60,000 high
school classrooms nationwide. The
essay contest runs through Nov. 30.
Continued ...
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jht
ml?type=televisionNews&storyID=61210
94>
Posted on Sun, Dec. 26, 2004
TV'S Top 10
1. American Dreams. Not just the best
family drama on TV, the best drama,
period. All the joys, fears, and hurts of
the 1960s. And you can dance to it.
2. The Sopranos. Only quibble: It's a
little hard to keep all those characters
straight when the show disappears for
18 months at a time.
3. Carnivale. So that's what was wrong
in the 1930s -- demons walked the
earth. If John Steinbeck had written a
ghost story, this would have been it.
4. Joan of Arcadia. Give it points for
confronting the question of God, and
more points for making Him a
mysterious and not-entirely gentle Old
Testament God instead of a New Age
cosmic muffin.
5. The Shield. Rogue cops at the far
edge of civilization, without a map.
6. The Wire. A stark weekly essay on
the damage done not only by drugs,
but the war on drugs.
7. Nip/Tuck. The maxim that beauty's
only skin deep, but ugly goes right to
the bone has never been expressed
so literally.
8. The O.C. Teen angst has never
been so much fun.
9. Lost. Every time the sociology starts
edging toward sappiness, somebody
gets eaten.
10. Dead Like Me. A funny and painful
reminder that life may suck, but it sure
beats the alternative.
THE BOTTOM:
1. Janet Jackson. The fuss over her
nip-syncing ran off the air not only
Howard Stern, but Saving Private Ryan.
2. Wife Swap. This show would be less
indecent if it were about group sex.
3. The Apprentice/The
Benefactor/Rebel Billionaire. ''The rich
are different from you and me,'' wrote
F. Scott Fitzgerald. Yeah. They're
worse.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
entertainment/television/10496348.htm
?1c
TV'S Top 10
1. American Dreams. Not just the best
family drama on TV, the best drama,
period. All the joys, fears, and hurts of
the 1960s. And you can dance to it.
2. The Sopranos. Only quibble: It's a
little hard to keep all those characters
straight when the show disappears for
18 months at a time.
3. Carnivale. So that's what was wrong
in the 1930s -- demons walked the
earth. If John Steinbeck had written a
ghost story, this would have been it.
4. Joan of Arcadia. Give it points for
confronting the question of God, and
more points for making Him a
mysterious and not-entirely gentle Old
Testament God instead of a New Age
cosmic muffin.
5. The Shield. Rogue cops at the far
edge of civilization, without a map.
6. The Wire. A stark weekly essay on
the damage done not only by drugs,
but the war on drugs.
7. Nip/Tuck. The maxim that beauty's
only skin deep, but ugly goes right to
the bone has never been expressed
so literally.
8. The O.C. Teen angst has never
been so much fun.
9. Lost. Every time the sociology starts
edging toward sappiness, somebody
gets eaten.
10. Dead Like Me. A funny and painful
reminder that life may suck, but it sure
beats the alternative.
THE BOTTOM:
1. Janet Jackson. The fuss over her
nip-syncing ran off the air not only
Howard Stern, but Saving Private Ryan.
2. Wife Swap. This show would be less
indecent if it were about group sex.
3. The Apprentice/The
Benefactor/Rebel Billionaire. ''The rich
are different from you and me,'' wrote
F. Scott Fitzgerald. Yeah. They're
worse.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/
entertainment/television/10496348.htm
?1c
'American Dreams' awaits verdict
--------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
By Rick Bird
Post staff reporter
With two episodes left to air in the best family
drama on TV, the future of "American
Dreams" remains in doubt.
This month NBC moved the show to 8 p.m.
Wednesdays, from Sundays. It now
competes against such hits as Fox's
"American Idol" and ABCs "Lost."
NBC likely won't decide the fate of the series
until later this spring.
Fans of the three-old-series, which focuses
on how mid-1960s turmoil affects a
Philadelphia family, fell in love early when
many viewers had a revelation: It might be a
'60s nostalgia show, but it cleverly deals with
contemporary issues. Yes, daughter Meg
dances on "American Bandstand" as the
Vietnam War rages. But the emotionally
charged storylines were remarkably modern.
The show's creator, Jonathan Prince, told
The Post his vision for the show: "The '60s
tore a lot of things apart. We haven't done a
good job of putting them back together. No
one is telling stories on TV about how we are
dealing with that legacy -- gay rights, racism
and our current unjust war. This is no
'Wonder Years.'"
Prince, a Harvard grad and veteran
Hollywood writer and producer, sees his
show as a metaphor for the troubles facing U.
S. culture today. And he brings an
unabashed heart-strings-tugging point of
view to the serial, which is a far cry from the
cold "CSIs" and "Law & Orders" that
dominate nightly drama.
"'American Dreams' leaves you satiated after
an episode is over. You are better for having
watched the program," said Summer Brooks,
who runs a Web site (www.
americandreamsfanclub.com) which is trying
to save the show. "Watching 'American
Dreams' is not a passive experience."
Prince's characters have been through it all:
war, racism, teen pregnancy, female
empowerment and the loss of innocence
from both a personal and cultural perspective.
The show also has been delightfully
frivolous, using current pop stars to portray
'60s music icons including "American Idol's"
Kelly Clarkson as Connie Francis to Usher
as Marvin Gaye. Tonight's episode has
modern rockers Fountains of Wayne appear
as the Hollies. It is great fun, but also cleverly
shows the often-neglected connection of how
pop music provides the soundtrack to our
lives.
Prince is preparing for both the future and for
the end. In the final two episodes he sets the
seeds for the series next season. Meg will
work on "American Bandstand" booking acts
as she holds down a TV news producer job.
Her friend Roxanne will stay on Bandstand
as the show's hairdresser. If the show is
canceled, Prince already has filmed an
ending NBC would presumably air at some
point in late spring as a conclusion for fans.
Prince, however, thinks the odds are decent
the show will return. Still, if "American
Dreams" ends, Prince has no problem
already writing its epitaph:
"If families felt something from a TV show
and could comfortably sit with their kids and
talk about drugs, sex, race, religion and war
-- and not be preached to -- then that's the
footprint we left."
• "Idol" mess: Due to an error with the phone
numbers shown onscreen during the
performance recap at the end of Tuesday's
"American Idol," a live one-hour show will air
tonight (9 p.m. on Fox) to enable a re-vote.
This show will combine new live elements
with encores of Tuesday's performances.
Only voting from tonight's show will count.
Publication Date: 03-23-2005
http://www.cincypost.
com/2005/03/23/broad032305.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
------------------
By Rick Bird
Post staff reporter
With two episodes left to air in the best family
drama on TV, the future of "American
Dreams" remains in doubt.
This month NBC moved the show to 8 p.m.
Wednesdays, from Sundays. It now
competes against such hits as Fox's
"American Idol" and ABCs "Lost."
NBC likely won't decide the fate of the series
until later this spring.
Fans of the three-old-series, which focuses
on how mid-1960s turmoil affects a
Philadelphia family, fell in love early when
many viewers had a revelation: It might be a
'60s nostalgia show, but it cleverly deals with
contemporary issues. Yes, daughter Meg
dances on "American Bandstand" as the
Vietnam War rages. But the emotionally
charged storylines were remarkably modern.
The show's creator, Jonathan Prince, told
The Post his vision for the show: "The '60s
tore a lot of things apart. We haven't done a
good job of putting them back together. No
one is telling stories on TV about how we are
dealing with that legacy -- gay rights, racism
and our current unjust war. This is no
'Wonder Years.'"
Prince, a Harvard grad and veteran
Hollywood writer and producer, sees his
show as a metaphor for the troubles facing U.
S. culture today. And he brings an
unabashed heart-strings-tugging point of
view to the serial, which is a far cry from the
cold "CSIs" and "Law & Orders" that
dominate nightly drama.
"'American Dreams' leaves you satiated after
an episode is over. You are better for having
watched the program," said Summer Brooks,
who runs a Web site (www.
americandreamsfanclub.com) which is trying
to save the show. "Watching 'American
Dreams' is not a passive experience."
Prince's characters have been through it all:
war, racism, teen pregnancy, female
empowerment and the loss of innocence
from both a personal and cultural perspective.
The show also has been delightfully
frivolous, using current pop stars to portray
'60s music icons including "American Idol's"
Kelly Clarkson as Connie Francis to Usher
as Marvin Gaye. Tonight's episode has
modern rockers Fountains of Wayne appear
as the Hollies. It is great fun, but also cleverly
shows the often-neglected connection of how
pop music provides the soundtrack to our
lives.
Prince is preparing for both the future and for
the end. In the final two episodes he sets the
seeds for the series next season. Meg will
work on "American Bandstand" booking acts
as she holds down a TV news producer job.
Her friend Roxanne will stay on Bandstand
as the show's hairdresser. If the show is
canceled, Prince already has filmed an
ending NBC would presumably air at some
point in late spring as a conclusion for fans.
Prince, however, thinks the odds are decent
the show will return. Still, if "American
Dreams" ends, Prince has no problem
already writing its epitaph:
"If families felt something from a TV show
and could comfortably sit with their kids and
talk about drugs, sex, race, religion and war
-- and not be preached to -- then that's the
footprint we left."
• "Idol" mess: Due to an error with the phone
numbers shown onscreen during the
performance recap at the end of Tuesday's
"American Idol," a live one-hour show will air
tonight (9 p.m. on Fox) to enable a re-vote.
This show will combine new live elements
with encores of Tuesday's performances.
Only voting from tonight's show will count.
Publication Date: 03-23-2005
http://www.cincypost.
com/2005/03/23/broad032305.html
Posted on Wed, Mar. 30, 2005
R E L A T E D C O N T E N T
NBC
Brittany Snow and Arlen Escarpeta, as Meg
Pryor and Sam Walker, have an emotional
bond.
More photos...
Sweet 'Dreams'
By Cary Darling
Star-Telegram Pop Culture Critic
About 7.5 million TV viewers will crawl under
the sheets tonight a little bit sadder. That's
the number of people who regularly make
time for the Pryors and the Walkers, the two
families at the core of NBC's American
Dreams. The heartfelt yet embattled drama
about race, war and changing times airs its
season -- and possibly series -- finale
tonight.
While fans, sniffing cancellation in the
airwaves, have been waging a campaign of
earnest e-mails on its behalf, they may be
tilting at network windmills. NBC has been
silent on the show's fate, but the ratings have
spoken loudly: Demolished on Sundays by
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, it's now
sinking beneath the crushing weight of Lost
on Wednesdays.
If American Dreams does slip from prime
time's mortal coil into the afterlife of cable
repeats and DVD releases, this season will
have lost one of its finest, if flawed, hours.
Because, even at its most pedestrian,
American Dreams -- like the doomed Once
and Again, and Freaks and Geeks before it --
attempts to show three-dimensional
characters that most people might actually
recognize from their daily lives.
After all, the number of TV viewers who are
forensic scientists, homicide detectives,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, big-city
hospital docs or desperate housewives
trying to solve a murder is absurdly small.
And, as wonderful as Six Feet Under and The
Sopranos are, chances are if your family is a
10th as twisted as these, you're probably not
watching much TV anyway because your
home life has way too much drama already.
Instead, American Dreams, set in the early
and mid-1960s, offers the Pryors, a white,
Catholic, working-class Philadelphia family
coping with the decade's rapid and confusing
changes. Jack (Tom Verica), owner of a
small TV store, is an old-school patriarch.
Helen (Gail O'Grady) is the dutiful wife raising
four all-American kids: track and football star
J.J. (Will Estes); bubbly Meg (Brittany Snow),
who'd like nothing better than to dance her
life away on American Bandstand; know-it-all
Patty (Sarah Ramos); and Will (Ethan
Dampf), who's recovering from polio.
But this bubble of picture-perfect-yet-
hardscrabble domesticity can't be shielded
from the outside world. African-American
Henry Walker (Jonathan Adams), who works
for Jack, is beginning to question his role at
the bottom of the food chain.
Meanwhile, his son, Sam (Arlen Escarpeta),
and nephew, Nathan (Keith Robinson), take
their growing awareness in different, and
sometimes conflicting, directions. Sam
wants to go to college and push the system
forward from within, while Nathan has more
radical, Afrocentric ideas.
There's also the looming shadow of the
Vietnam War, which Jack and J.J. support -- J.
J. signs up for a tour of duty -- while Meg
becomes increasingly vocal against it. At the
same time, Helen begins to wonder if her life
has moved beyond packing lunches and
making dinner.
With such ingredients, it would be easy for
American Dreams to be consistently ham-
fisted -- especially considering
creator/producer Jonathan Prince's
unvarnished liberalism. Yet Jack and his cop
brother, Pete (Matt Armstrong), are never
conservative caricatures but deeply
developed characters. By contrast, some of
Meg's anti-war friends -- such as brooding
boyfriend Chris (Milo Ventimiglia) -- come off
as hollow and insincere.
Sam and Meg, who both enjoy an interest in
music, have long shared an unspoken
emotional connection. (Internet fans even
dubbed them "Smeg" because they seemed
like such an obvious couple.) But the barrier
of race has kept them apart for three
seasons, and Prince is not succumbing to
some feel-good Kumbaya moment. When
Meg recently confessed to her usually even-
tempered brother J.J. -- who himself crossed
the color line during the war with a
Vietnamese woman -- that she might be
having feelings for Sam, he exploded like a
mortar shell.
It's this shifting sand of emotions and
loyalties that makes American Dreams so
satisfying. The complexities of race and war
are rarely dealt with in weekly prime time,
and that American Dreams does this -- even
if it's set safely in the past instead of a more
pointed present -- gives it texture.
In this sense, it very much parallels another
NBC show from just over a decade ago that
failed to find a mass audience, I'll Fly Away.
Set in the early '60s Deep South, it too was
the story of white and black families held
together yet pushed apart by history and
happenstance. Created by the team of
Joshua Brand and John Falsey (Northern
Exposure, St. Elsewhere) and starring Sam
Waterston and Dallas' Regina Taylor, I'll Fly
Away -- inexplicably still not available on DVD
-- was more sharply written than American
Dreams.
With the civil rights movement as its
backdrop, the story of by-the-book small-town
prosecutor Forrest Bedford (Waterston) and
his maid, Lily Harper (Taylor), I'll Fly Away had
moments of pure literary grace. (Thankfully,
I'll Fly Away came along before the specter of
such blatant product placement as the
Campbell Soup essay-contest plot point in
American Dreams.)
But that, along with a shelf full of awards,
wasn't enough to avoid cancellation after 38
episodes (a wrap-up sequel later aired on
PBS).
It's funny: Americans say they want quality
family programming, but when they get it,
they flip the channel in favor of the grisly CSI
or Fear Factor.
Part of the problem is that viewers tend to shy
away from period pieces, but Prince tried to
soften the blow by having well-known
contemporary pop stars guest-star on
American Dreams, playing musical heroes of
the day.
This season alone, John Legend was Stevie
Wonder, Fountains of Wayne were the
Hollies, and Everclear's Art Alexakis appears
tonight playing Country Joe & the Fish's I Feel
Like I'm Fixin' To Die. Music seemed to be
the show's original flashpoint -- NBC pushed
this side of it relentlessly during the first
season, and some hardcore pop fans fumed
about songs being played with no respect for
their actual release dates.
But music, while still an integral part of
American Dreams, has rightfully receded in
importance, taking a back seat to stories of
growing up in troubling times and seeing the
parallels with our own.
Prince has said he has a 10-year arc for
American Dreams, taking the Pryors and
Walkers to the cusp of the '70s. But even if
American Dreams gets a stay of execution --
NBC head Jeff Zucker is a big admirer -- it's
doubtful Prince will have several years to take
his characters on their life journeys.
And when American Dreams goes dark, it
may be down to a hardy few like Everwood,
The Gilmore Girls and Jack & Bobby -- none
of them ratings blockbusters -- to remind us
that TV families don't need to coast by with
empty heads and smart mouths. They can
have brains and hearts, too.
American Dreams season finale
• 7 tonight, KXAS/Channel 5
http://www.dfw.
com/mld/dfw/entertainment/11259549.htm
R E L A T E D C O N T E N T
NBC
Brittany Snow and Arlen Escarpeta, as Meg
Pryor and Sam Walker, have an emotional
bond.
More photos...
Sweet 'Dreams'
By Cary Darling
Star-Telegram Pop Culture Critic
About 7.5 million TV viewers will crawl under
the sheets tonight a little bit sadder. That's
the number of people who regularly make
time for the Pryors and the Walkers, the two
families at the core of NBC's American
Dreams. The heartfelt yet embattled drama
about race, war and changing times airs its
season -- and possibly series -- finale
tonight.
While fans, sniffing cancellation in the
airwaves, have been waging a campaign of
earnest e-mails on its behalf, they may be
tilting at network windmills. NBC has been
silent on the show's fate, but the ratings have
spoken loudly: Demolished on Sundays by
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, it's now
sinking beneath the crushing weight of Lost
on Wednesdays.
If American Dreams does slip from prime
time's mortal coil into the afterlife of cable
repeats and DVD releases, this season will
have lost one of its finest, if flawed, hours.
Because, even at its most pedestrian,
American Dreams -- like the doomed Once
and Again, and Freaks and Geeks before it --
attempts to show three-dimensional
characters that most people might actually
recognize from their daily lives.
After all, the number of TV viewers who are
forensic scientists, homicide detectives,
prosecutors, defense attorneys, big-city
hospital docs or desperate housewives
trying to solve a murder is absurdly small.
And, as wonderful as Six Feet Under and The
Sopranos are, chances are if your family is a
10th as twisted as these, you're probably not
watching much TV anyway because your
home life has way too much drama already.
Instead, American Dreams, set in the early
and mid-1960s, offers the Pryors, a white,
Catholic, working-class Philadelphia family
coping with the decade's rapid and confusing
changes. Jack (Tom Verica), owner of a
small TV store, is an old-school patriarch.
Helen (Gail O'Grady) is the dutiful wife raising
four all-American kids: track and football star
J.J. (Will Estes); bubbly Meg (Brittany Snow),
who'd like nothing better than to dance her
life away on American Bandstand; know-it-all
Patty (Sarah Ramos); and Will (Ethan
Dampf), who's recovering from polio.
But this bubble of picture-perfect-yet-
hardscrabble domesticity can't be shielded
from the outside world. African-American
Henry Walker (Jonathan Adams), who works
for Jack, is beginning to question his role at
the bottom of the food chain.
Meanwhile, his son, Sam (Arlen Escarpeta),
and nephew, Nathan (Keith Robinson), take
their growing awareness in different, and
sometimes conflicting, directions. Sam
wants to go to college and push the system
forward from within, while Nathan has more
radical, Afrocentric ideas.
There's also the looming shadow of the
Vietnam War, which Jack and J.J. support -- J.
J. signs up for a tour of duty -- while Meg
becomes increasingly vocal against it. At the
same time, Helen begins to wonder if her life
has moved beyond packing lunches and
making dinner.
With such ingredients, it would be easy for
American Dreams to be consistently ham-
fisted -- especially considering
creator/producer Jonathan Prince's
unvarnished liberalism. Yet Jack and his cop
brother, Pete (Matt Armstrong), are never
conservative caricatures but deeply
developed characters. By contrast, some of
Meg's anti-war friends -- such as brooding
boyfriend Chris (Milo Ventimiglia) -- come off
as hollow and insincere.
Sam and Meg, who both enjoy an interest in
music, have long shared an unspoken
emotional connection. (Internet fans even
dubbed them "Smeg" because they seemed
like such an obvious couple.) But the barrier
of race has kept them apart for three
seasons, and Prince is not succumbing to
some feel-good Kumbaya moment. When
Meg recently confessed to her usually even-
tempered brother J.J. -- who himself crossed
the color line during the war with a
Vietnamese woman -- that she might be
having feelings for Sam, he exploded like a
mortar shell.
It's this shifting sand of emotions and
loyalties that makes American Dreams so
satisfying. The complexities of race and war
are rarely dealt with in weekly prime time,
and that American Dreams does this -- even
if it's set safely in the past instead of a more
pointed present -- gives it texture.
In this sense, it very much parallels another
NBC show from just over a decade ago that
failed to find a mass audience, I'll Fly Away.
Set in the early '60s Deep South, it too was
the story of white and black families held
together yet pushed apart by history and
happenstance. Created by the team of
Joshua Brand and John Falsey (Northern
Exposure, St. Elsewhere) and starring Sam
Waterston and Dallas' Regina Taylor, I'll Fly
Away -- inexplicably still not available on DVD
-- was more sharply written than American
Dreams.
With the civil rights movement as its
backdrop, the story of by-the-book small-town
prosecutor Forrest Bedford (Waterston) and
his maid, Lily Harper (Taylor), I'll Fly Away had
moments of pure literary grace. (Thankfully,
I'll Fly Away came along before the specter of
such blatant product placement as the
Campbell Soup essay-contest plot point in
American Dreams.)
But that, along with a shelf full of awards,
wasn't enough to avoid cancellation after 38
episodes (a wrap-up sequel later aired on
PBS).
It's funny: Americans say they want quality
family programming, but when they get it,
they flip the channel in favor of the grisly CSI
or Fear Factor.
Part of the problem is that viewers tend to shy
away from period pieces, but Prince tried to
soften the blow by having well-known
contemporary pop stars guest-star on
American Dreams, playing musical heroes of
the day.
This season alone, John Legend was Stevie
Wonder, Fountains of Wayne were the
Hollies, and Everclear's Art Alexakis appears
tonight playing Country Joe & the Fish's I Feel
Like I'm Fixin' To Die. Music seemed to be
the show's original flashpoint -- NBC pushed
this side of it relentlessly during the first
season, and some hardcore pop fans fumed
about songs being played with no respect for
their actual release dates.
But music, while still an integral part of
American Dreams, has rightfully receded in
importance, taking a back seat to stories of
growing up in troubling times and seeing the
parallels with our own.
Prince has said he has a 10-year arc for
American Dreams, taking the Pryors and
Walkers to the cusp of the '70s. But even if
American Dreams gets a stay of execution --
NBC head Jeff Zucker is a big admirer -- it's
doubtful Prince will have several years to take
his characters on their life journeys.
And when American Dreams goes dark, it
may be down to a hardy few like Everwood,
The Gilmore Girls and Jack & Bobby -- none
of them ratings blockbusters -- to remind us
that TV families don't need to coast by with
empty heads and smart mouths. They can
have brains and hearts, too.
American Dreams season finale
• 7 tonight, KXAS/Channel 5
http://www.dfw.
com/mld/dfw/entertainment/11259549.htm
Posted on Tue, Apr. 05, 2005
Critic picks 12 family-friendly TV shows
By MIKE DUFFY
Knight Ridder Newspapers
When it comes to tastes in television,
subjectivity rules. One family's favorites might
not fly in another home.
With that in mind, here are father and TV critic
Mike Duffy's Captain Video Swell 12, a
rundown of a dozen family-friendly network
shows that should, at least in part, past
muster in many homes.
• "Joan of Arcadia" (8 p.m. Friday, CBS). A
witty, thoughtful and engaging family odyssey
anchored in Amber Tamblyn's excellent
portrayal of a teenager who talks with God.
• "The Bernie Mac Show" (8 p.m. Friday, Fox).
Playfully irreverent, funny and sweetly
appealing tales of stand-up comic Bernie
Mac's experiences raising his sister's
children.
• "American Dreams" (8 p.m. Wednesday,
NBC). This nostalgia-laden family drama is
set in Philadelphia during the tumultuous
1960s and utilizes star Brittany Snow's after-
school life as a dancer on "American
Bandstand" as a colorful backdrop for golden
oldies.
• "Everwood" (9 p.m. Monday, WB). A clever,
affecting mix of teen and family drama,
revolving around the multigenerational
stories of a brilliant New York surgeon (Treat
Williams) who moves with his two children to
an idyllic Rocky Mountain town after his wife
dies.
• "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8 p.m.
Sunday, ABC). Ty Pennington and his design
crew answer the home-remodeling dreams
of deserving families in a wholesome,
touching architectural variation on old, old
shows such as "Queen for a Day." Shedding
a few tears is usually part of the fun.
• "Veronica Mars" (9 p.m. Tuesday, UPN). In a
sly, sharp-witted 21st-century variation on
Nancy Drew, Kristen Bell brings postmodern
moxie to her portrait of a teen sleuth who's
totally bonded with her loving detective father.
• "7th Heaven" (8 p.m. Monday, WB). The
current granddaddy of genial, G-rated family
drama, this saga of the Rev. Eric Camden
(Stephen Collins), wife Annie (Catherine
Hicks) and their seven children has already
been renewed for a ninth season. A sense of
humor helps the formulaic sugar go down.
• "Everybody Loves Raymond" (9 p.m.
Monday, CBS). Television's biggest family
comedy hit -- featuring the funny, neurotic,
caustic and often emotionally insightful
stories of Ray Barone (Ray Romano) and his
bickering clan -- says farewell after nine
seasons in May.
• "Jack & Bobby" (9 p.m. Wednesday, WB).
Christine Lahti is a knockout as a flawed,
emotionally intense mother and college
professor struggling to raise two adolescent
sons. WB's provocative, offbeat family and
political drama is TV's best show that no
one's watching. Sigh.
• "Kevin Hill" (9 p.m. Wednesday, UPN). Taye
Diggs has the best smile in prime time. And
he's a charming treat as a hotshot
entertainment lawyer and ladies man who's
suddenly forced to deal with parental
responsibilities after adopting the infant
daughter of a recently deceased cousin.
• "Gilmore Girls" (8 p.m. Tuesday, WB). The
mother-and-daughter relationship stories of
over-caffeinated Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren
Graham) and her cerebral Yalie daughter
Rory (Alexis Bledel) have the bantering, fast-
paced energy of a classic screwball comedy
from the 1940s. A loopy delight.
• "Summerland" (9 p.m. Monday, WB). An
upbeat California beach party and family
drama, starring Lori Loughlin as a cheerful
fashion designer and pretty aunt raising her
dead sister's three kids.
http://www.montereyherald.
com/mld/montereyherald/living/11314988.
htm
Critic picks 12 family-friendly TV shows
By MIKE DUFFY
Knight Ridder Newspapers
When it comes to tastes in television,
subjectivity rules. One family's favorites might
not fly in another home.
With that in mind, here are father and TV critic
Mike Duffy's Captain Video Swell 12, a
rundown of a dozen family-friendly network
shows that should, at least in part, past
muster in many homes.
• "Joan of Arcadia" (8 p.m. Friday, CBS). A
witty, thoughtful and engaging family odyssey
anchored in Amber Tamblyn's excellent
portrayal of a teenager who talks with God.
• "The Bernie Mac Show" (8 p.m. Friday, Fox).
Playfully irreverent, funny and sweetly
appealing tales of stand-up comic Bernie
Mac's experiences raising his sister's
children.
• "American Dreams" (8 p.m. Wednesday,
NBC). This nostalgia-laden family drama is
set in Philadelphia during the tumultuous
1960s and utilizes star Brittany Snow's after-
school life as a dancer on "American
Bandstand" as a colorful backdrop for golden
oldies.
• "Everwood" (9 p.m. Monday, WB). A clever,
affecting mix of teen and family drama,
revolving around the multigenerational
stories of a brilliant New York surgeon (Treat
Williams) who moves with his two children to
an idyllic Rocky Mountain town after his wife
dies.
• "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (8 p.m.
Sunday, ABC). Ty Pennington and his design
crew answer the home-remodeling dreams
of deserving families in a wholesome,
touching architectural variation on old, old
shows such as "Queen for a Day." Shedding
a few tears is usually part of the fun.
• "Veronica Mars" (9 p.m. Tuesday, UPN). In a
sly, sharp-witted 21st-century variation on
Nancy Drew, Kristen Bell brings postmodern
moxie to her portrait of a teen sleuth who's
totally bonded with her loving detective father.
• "7th Heaven" (8 p.m. Monday, WB). The
current granddaddy of genial, G-rated family
drama, this saga of the Rev. Eric Camden
(Stephen Collins), wife Annie (Catherine
Hicks) and their seven children has already
been renewed for a ninth season. A sense of
humor helps the formulaic sugar go down.
• "Everybody Loves Raymond" (9 p.m.
Monday, CBS). Television's biggest family
comedy hit -- featuring the funny, neurotic,
caustic and often emotionally insightful
stories of Ray Barone (Ray Romano) and his
bickering clan -- says farewell after nine
seasons in May.
• "Jack & Bobby" (9 p.m. Wednesday, WB).
Christine Lahti is a knockout as a flawed,
emotionally intense mother and college
professor struggling to raise two adolescent
sons. WB's provocative, offbeat family and
political drama is TV's best show that no
one's watching. Sigh.
• "Kevin Hill" (9 p.m. Wednesday, UPN). Taye
Diggs has the best smile in prime time. And
he's a charming treat as a hotshot
entertainment lawyer and ladies man who's
suddenly forced to deal with parental
responsibilities after adopting the infant
daughter of a recently deceased cousin.
• "Gilmore Girls" (8 p.m. Tuesday, WB). The
mother-and-daughter relationship stories of
over-caffeinated Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren
Graham) and her cerebral Yalie daughter
Rory (Alexis Bledel) have the bantering, fast-
paced energy of a classic screwball comedy
from the 1940s. A loopy delight.
• "Summerland" (9 p.m. Monday, WB). An
upbeat California beach party and family
drama, starring Lori Loughlin as a cheerful
fashion designer and pretty aunt raising her
dead sister's three kids.
http://www.montereyherald.
com/mld/montereyherald/living/11314988.
htm