Breaking Away

This was based on a great 1979 movie about four buddies in Bloomington, Indiana (a small town) and their adventures.

They got some of the movie cast to recreate their roles (Barbara Barrie was the standout) and replaced unknown Dennis Christopher with Shaun Cassidy. It was no masterpiece of TV but it was a good TV show that captured teenage life pretty accurately (although all the "teenagers" in the cast were in their 20s). I saw all of the episodes that aired (I think there were 8) and I was surprised at how quickly it was cancelled. It was never even given a chance! Bsd time slot too. But, if you can see it take a look. It's well worth it.

I loved the movie and never had a chance to see it when the series aired in 1980 and thought I'd never have a chance to see the series period and so I e-mailed people who made Shaun Cassidy websites and they directed me to someone who has all the shows Cassidy was involved in and I couldn't believe my luck!!! Only 8 episodes were made of this series and then it got axed! I know that when a movie is popular enough producer's try to make a TV series out of it with a different cast and it flops but some shows like M*A*S*H, Fame and The Highlander that were based on popular movies make more successful TV shows and I thought Breaking Away could be one of them. But this show aired during the writers strike so they should've waited till the strike was over cause I enjoyed the series, of course not as much as the movie but still enjoyable!!!!

In addition to being a smart sequel that explored questions that went begging in its source material, this was a smart show that anticipated the "dramedy" shows of the mid-80's, as well as shows like "My So-Called Life." The original movie left viewers hoping against hope that our hero would leave the world of the "cutters" for college, yet retain the delightfully delineated friendships with the other boys. Here we got to see that really could happen, and what's more, television explored issues of class in a way that is seldom seen on the small screen. The parents were a hoot, too. Although the IMDb credit list doesn't show it, the show also featured Dominique Dunne in a recurring role as the gal pal Shaun Cassidy met at college and provided further evidence that she would have become a great actress if she hadn't been murdered.

If my mom hadn't recommended I watch this movie when it came on TV for the first time, I never would have seen it. My mother's taste in movies was the only reason I watched it at all. A movie about a bicycle race? No way, Hose. Well, what a treat it was. I do not understand ,however, why they would make a TV show out of it. The role was made for Christopher and he only. Christopher and Paul Dooley made the movie what it was. Out of the four friends I thought Dennis Quaid's was the weakest character. He of course went on to a great career in Hollywood (due mostly to his good looks and being the real life brother of the more talented Randy.) I believe Christopher's career was Sabatoged due to his homosexuality. He never did much of anything after this worth talking about with the exception of playing the father and son role with Paul Dooley 2 other times.Once on Law and Order CI and the other in another movie "The Wedding). Cryil and the Mooch, played by the recently resurrected Jakie Earl Haley and John Stern also were great in this movie. Quaid did a good job with the role of Mike but the other three were all better. Make a TV show out of "Breaking Away" didn't work because it was a dumb idea. The movie ended the way it should have, with Dave having changed his dad's look at life and him going to college instead of being doomed to remain a "cutter". Shaun Cassidy? Come on now. I actually found out that I attended grade school with Christopher for 2 years at St. Philomena's parochial school. He was 5 years ahead of me so he is age is bogus in this site. I was born in 1955 and I will be 53 next month. Sorry David,but as we learned in catholic school, it's a sin to tell a lie. This movie was nominated for best picture and should have won. Cristopher deserved a best actor nomination while we are on the topic but didn't get it.

Little known fact: there were two versions of the pilot. The one that aired on ABC was pretty similar in tone to the other episodes. But when the show was rerun on A&E, the pilot episode was recut: scenes cut, other scenes never seen before added. Plus it was given an opening credits sequence (the other episodes just opened with titles over the opening scene) and a new theme (not used in any of the other episodes). Plus the entire hour was rescored in a manner not consistent with the classical adaptations heard in the other episodes and in the movie. Don't know whose idea it was, but it didn't help matters. It was nice to see some new footage from the pilot, and I even made up a tape combining the footage from both versions for an expanded version.