“The Bronx Is Burning” is an eight-episode television series based on the New York Yankees’ 1977 season, under the backdrop of a tumultuous summer in New York, with the Son of Sam murders and a crippling blackout in July. It is adapted from Jonathan Mahler's 2005 book, “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning.” The show premiered on Monday, July 9, 2007, and new episodes are scheduled to air on ESPN at 10 p.m. each Tuesday, with repeats throughout the week on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic.
The Subjects
George Steinbrenner (played by Oliver Platt) is at his meddling best and worst, firing and hiring Billy Martin (played by John Turturro), dealing with outspoken free agent superstar Reggie Jackson (Daniel Sunjata). The rest of the Yankees are played by actors, many of whom have a striking resemblance to their real-life counterparts, such as Thurman Munson (Erik Jensen) and third base coach Yogi Berra (Joe Grifasi).
The Good
Footage with new material: The technical work meshes real-life footage with the action almost seamlessly. The opening scene of the series, when Martin benches Jackson from right field in the middle of a game, then gets in an argument that the TV cameras can see in the dugout, is a great hook and is well done.
Capturing Billy: Turturro does a good job (at least in the pilot) playing Martin, who is argumentative one moment and as tame as a kitten the next, a paranoid, flawed lifelong baseball man who is over his head one moment and a brilliant strategist the next.
The Bad
The overacting: Some scenes are as overacted as a high school musical. We all know how boisterous Steinbrenner used to be, but Platt takes him over the top at times.
Feels forced: Meshing the Son of Sam murders with the team seemed forced in the pilot – perhaps it will come together later.
Overall
I’m not a Yankees fan, but fans of the team should enjoy this. I’m looking forward to the next seven installments in the series and have given it a season pass on my DVR. The Yankees went on to win the World Series, of course, with Jackson hitting three home runs in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
