barrybass

This is a great series. There are little things that they got wrong that you would only know if you grew up then... some songs that were a year or two off but it does a fantastic job of capturing life in N.Y. in the 70s.. I graduated from Taft H.S. in 1973 so I know the flavor.. I recognize some of the places and I love the way they blended historic footage with film footage to create a nice image of The Bronx in the 70s. Some of the stuff .. like some of the gang stuff.. was a little over done.. When I was coming up the gangs I knew about in my area were The Black Pearls, The Young Saigons, Savage Skulls and The Black Spades .. there were many others.. but I was not a gang banger. When I moved to the Belmont Ave Ave area the Ching A Ling Nomads had a clubhouse right around the corner on Arthur Ave.. This series does a good job of capturing the fashions and dialog of the time as well..

When I saw the previews I expected just another cop show set in the past.. This is a great series.. How great it truly is will be lost on some folks.. but if you grew up in N.Y.C. in the 60s you will know exactly what I mean.. They even had a Skelly's board in the street.. The emerald and black cars.. There were little things that were off that only someone who lived through it would pick up.. and one scene where they had a 68 Impala, which of course did not exist in 1965.. but some of that is to be expected.. The park benches and the street signs were off but they did an absolutely amazing job of transporting you to 60s N.Y. The writing is good.. the acting is very good.. and the story has a lot of potential. I like what they did with the music also.. there was one scene where someone was singing a Sinatra song.. It was not Sinatra but the singer sounded like him... and they did that with some other songs from the times.. to great effect. I look forward to seeing where this series will go... it has a lot of potential.. Michael Rappaport finally has a role that goes beyond a character role and every time I see him in this (I watched all 3 episodes On Demand and saw the first two twice..) I cannot help but think of Popeye Doyle. Must be the hat. I would not be surprised if I see some kids playing Ringolivio or playing in the Johnny Pump when things move into summer.. Ed Burns has done a great job with this .. and the strong supporting cast makes this series in my opinion one to watch. If you like crime shows.. and period pieces.. this series is for you. It actually does a better job of taking you back than a certain recently finished series about advertising moguls.. This series is the next best thing to Mr. Peadody's way back machine of you want to get a glimpse of life in New York City in the 60s..