The Bronx is Burning

[Olympic Fan]

In view of the baseball interest on this forum, I wonder if anybody else got to see the first episode of ESPN's 8-part mini-series, "The Bronx is Burning."

It's based on Jonathan Mahler's interesting (but not totally convincing) 2005 book of the same title, which attempts to use the Yankees' internal struggles in 1977 as a metaphor of a city in turmoil -- with heavy emphasis on the search for the Son of Sam and the mid-July blackout and the contentious mayoral race (eventually won by underdog Ed "How'm I doing?" Koch).

The first episode was about 89 percent baseball, 10 percent Son of Sam and just a few hints of the other stories. It will be interesting to see if these other major themes get more play in future episodes. In the first one, the Son of Sam stuff just seemed tacked on to a baseball story and made little sense.

A word about the actors. John Turturro, one of the great character acters of our generation (great in O Brother Where Art Thou?, Rounders, Cradle Will Rock, Barton Fink ... he's in this summer's The Transformers, although I haven't seen that one), has IMHO nailed Billy Martin, both in look and speech.

On the other hand, I love Oliver Platt (his performance in the overlooked "Funny Bones" deserved an Oscar), I can't buy him as George Steinbrenner. I don't think he looks or sounds like the Boss, although the part is particularly well written to bring out George's nasty qualities.

The big surprise to me was Daniel Sunjata, a guy from TV that I can't remember seeing, who is a great Reggie Jackson -- he capture's Reggie's unique combination of arrogance and inferiority ... and of great intelligence combined with a an amazing lack of common sense.

Some of the minor parts are well filled (Erik Jensen is an absolute dead ringer for Thurman Munson). The guy doing Mickey Rivers gets in some great (and historically accurate zingers, such as Player one: "Reggie says he has an IQ of 160" ... Mickey: "What? Out of 1,000?")

I'm anticipating the upcoming episodes (it will be a regular feature on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.). So far, they've basically got the baseball facts right (and according to reviews, they'll continue to do so). I know the Yankees made a failed run for Bobby Grich before the '77 season and I know that George didn't like Fred "Chicken" Stanley at short (although the trade for Bucky Dent must come in episode 2). They even go out of their way with a post-episode exploration of the controversy over the story that Reggie claimed he was "the straw that stirs the drink" (he claims he never said it).

On the other hand, ESPN's previous efforts at drama -- from "A Season Inside" to the remake of "Brian's Song" to "3" were virtually unwatchable and that makes me leery. But so far, so good ... it's not great, but it has potential. If you like baseball, I'd recommend it.

[Windsor]

I have it Tivo'ed but haven't watched it yet...I was a teenager in New York in '77 (and a Yankee fan ) I will be interested to see how the show and my recollection match up.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I enjoyed it. Seeing a "fictionalized" true account of the relationship between Billy Martin (who, as I said two months ago for those who weren't paying attention, shares my birthday) and The Boss was fascinating. And watching Chris Chambliss' game winning home run from 1976 still gave me chills. Sort of like watching replays of Laettner's shot!

I loved "Tugs", aka Thurman Munson. At least until I found out how anti-semetic he was. He is the reason Kenny Holtzman failed as a Yankee.

I look forward to seeing the next installments. And it is nice knowing how it turns out