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Bronx Burns On ESPN Starting Tomorrow
By Katey Rich: 2007-07-08 11:05:54
It was one of the hottest summers on record in New York City. Summer of 1977, and New York’s economy and spirits had been on the decline for a decade--even the Yankees were struggling to keep up. Amid a disastrous blackout, the Son of Sam murders, a brutal mayoral campaign and a deepening fiscal crisis though, the city was riveted by the power struggles amid the ranks of the Bronx Bombers. All-star slugger Reggie Jackson spent the summer duking it out with manager Billy Martin and owner George Steinbrenner while ratcheting up the home runs, resulting in one of the most thrilling World Series efforts New York ever saw.It’s that fascinating story-- baseball as a microcosm of the defeated New York of the 70’s-- that ESPN is teliing in their eight-part miniseries ‘The Bronx is Burning,’ debuting tomorrow night at 10 p.m. and running thereafter on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. The series is based on the book ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning’ by Jonathan Mahler, which takes its title from a famous broadcast by Howard Cosell. As the Yankees played their World Series game two at home, a building merely blocks away had been set on fire; the image became central to America’s idea of the Bronx, and all of New York, as a collapsing wasteland. Mahler’s book was a bestseller, a gripping non-fiction account of a New York that seems almost inconceivable now-- remember, Mary Poppins is now one of the biggest draws on 42nd Street. Early reviews of the series seem to indicate that the success of Mahler’s book might be working against the filmed version; Newsday’s sports columnist Neil Best wrote “the first three shows in the eight-part series had little chance to measure up, and mostly they didn't.” Still, Best--a New York columnist, so hey, tough crowd--gives the series credit for sticking to the details, and recommends it for both those who remember that summer and those who can’t remember a time before A-Rod. Other critics are less kind. Hollywood Reporter’s Barry Gonson lambasts Oliver Platt’s performance as George Steinbrenner, calling it “one of the season's more unfortunate casting choices.” While as a New Yorker I’m required to criticize Gonson for being in Hollywood--what the &%*$ does he know?!--Chicago Sun-Times critic Doug Elfman notes “If you've seen the Steinbrenner of "Seinfeld," you'll recognize Oliver Platt's similar portrayal of the big-city screamer. Being on the ESPN network, it’s safe to assume that ‘Bronx is Burning’ will satisfy its core audience looking for a riveting baseball story and some reminiscing. It’s a shame, though, that the interwoven excellence of Mahler’s book gets left out, as non-baseball junkies like myself could be drawn in by the sheer improbable melodrama of it all. Sports drama is one thing, but sports combined with an entire city full of egos and lunatics? That’s a story so good it could only be true.
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