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The Fighting Fitzgerald aired from March until May 2001 on NBC.
Blustery, barrel-chested " Fitz" Fitzgerald ( Brian Dennehy), was a retired fire captain and a widower, but he wasn't enjoying his retirement. The modern world where adult men go to therapy, kids call their teachers by their first names, and political correctness reigns was to much for him. So were his 3 grown sons, who, seemingly, would never leave the house. Jim ( Justin Louis), was the sensible gym teacher, married to tart-tongued Sophie ( Connie Britton), and father to adorable Marie ( played by Dakota Fanning in the pilot and Abigail Mavity in the series). Terry ( Christopher Moynihan), was a goofy layabout bartender, who could hardly say a word without getting slapped upside the head by Fitz. Patrick ( Jon Patrick Walker), the youngest was the biggest disappointment of all, a successful stockbroker who had chucked it all in order to find himself, while returning home to sleep on the family couch. They squabbled and sparred, sometimes hanging out at Gibson's Tavern, but by the end of each episode Fitz was revealed to be, under that gruff exterior, a sentimental pussycat.
Loosely based on the 1995 film, The Brothers McMullen.
A Review From The New York Times
TELEVISION REVIEW; Dad's Irish Eyes Aren't Exactly Smiling
By RON WERTHEIMER
Published: March 6, 2001
It's a wee bit early for St. Patrick's Day, and it sure isn't time for Father's Day. So forget the calendar and join the celebration tonight as NBC serves up a new sitcom, ''The Fighting Fitzgeralds.''
The sit is familiar. The com is predictable. But with a heart as big as Brian Dennehy, who offers a deft performance as the tough-talking patriarch, this show is a keeper.
Mr. Dennehy, who recently triumphed onstage in ''Death of a Salesman,'' is a long way from Arthur Miller territory. He seems surprisingly comfortable, though, in Edward Burns territory. Mr. Burns and his brother, Brian, sons of a New York City police officer, conceived this family fable of a retired New York firefighter and his three grown sons, reminiscent of Edward Burns's 1995 movie, ''The Brothers McMullen.'' (The Brothers Burns, along with Phoef Sutton, a sitcom veteran, are credited as writers and executive producers.)
Seeming to borrow some of his characterization from that timeless farceur Moe Howard, Mr. Dennehy keeps referring to his sons as morons and slapping them upside the head. But Dad's no dolt. It's just that life hasn't worked out as he expected, and neither have his boys.
A widower who wants to be left alone to pursue his retirement hobby, painting still lifes and landscapes (see, the gruff old boy has a soft underbelly), he tries to hold on to his values while keeping the peace among his sons, who can't seem to leave home for good.
Jim (Justin Louis) is a gym teacher with a wife (Connie Britton) and young daughter (Dakota Fanning); Terry (Chris Moynihan) is a bartender with a smart remark for any occasion. The youngest, Patrick (Jon Patrick Walker), is a successful stockbroker. Make that was. Patrick has quit his job to look for another career, something he can love.
Love? Dad is appalled. ''People who do love for a living are called hookers,'' he snorts.
While Mr. Louis and Mr. Walker are a tad too earnest for this material, Mr. Moynihan makes a fine foil for Mr. Dennehy.
Dad (the script never gives him a first name) is angry that the boys never told him that Patrick had been living with his (now ex-) girlfriend. ''You can keep a secret from me, morons,'' he declares ominously, gesturing heavenward, ''but you can't keep a secret from the Big Guy.'' Terry quickly asks, ''Santa?''
And when Dad suggests that the brothers cheer Patrick up but isn't crazy about Terry's idea of taking him out to get drunk, Terry says: ''He's sad. It's happy hour. We're Irish. Do the math, Dad.''
Offensive? Maybe. Subtle? Hardly. Funny? Yeah.
Here's a funny network pilot with a dusting of charm and no whiff of rancid irony. Even this far from Arthur Miller territory, attention must be paid.
THE FIGHTING FITZGERALDS
NBC, tonight at 8:30
(Channel 4 in New York)
Faye Oshima Belyeu, producer; Phoef Sutton, Edward Burns and Brian Burns, writers and executive producers; James Widdoes, director; Mark Legan and Brian Dennehy, co-executive producers; Will Gluck, supervising producer. Produced by Artists Television Group with NBC Studios.
WITH: Brian Dennehy (Mr. Fitzgerald), Justin Louis (Jim Fitzgerald), Connie Britton (Sophie), Christopher Moynihan (Terry Fitzgerald), Jon Patrick Walker (Patrick Fitzgerald) and Dakota Fanning (Maria Fitzgerald).
A Review From The Seattle Post
'Fitzgeralds' serves plenty of spirit and stereotypes
Tuesday, March 6, 2001
By JOHN LEVESQUE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER TELEVISION CRITIC
I have this idea for a sitcom about a Franco-Canadian-American family. It really ought to fly someday, because how many comedies can you remember about people named Levesque? Or Cournoyer? Or Robitaille? I'm thinking of calling it "The Fighting Canucks." The networks are always looking for fresh new material about feisty people who shout a lot.
True, the French-Catholic families in the neighborhood where I grew up were about as feisty as creme brulee, but seething beneath those pale Gallic exteriors were emotionally repressed souls just aching to burst into fits of unchecked moderate behavior.
Alas, I've been aced out again this midseason by a similar idea from the actor Edward Burns ("The Brothers McMullen") and his brother, Brian. The Burnses' show is about an Irish American family, which hasn't been tried on TV since "Madigan Men" went off the air 20 minutes ago. It's called "The Fighting Fitzgeralds" and features Brian Dennehy (also an executive producer) as a cranky widower whose three grown sons can't seem to leave the house. One actually lives there with his wife and daughter, another doesn't live there but spends most of his time there mooching, and a third recently quit his job as a stockbroker and is staying over until he gets back on his feet.
The Fitzgeralds: Brian Dennehy as the patriarch, surrounded, from left, by sons Jim (Justin Louis), Patrick (Jon Patrick Walker) and Terry (Chris Moynihan). The show premieres tonight on NBC.
Chris Haston/NBC
Hilarity ensues as Dennehy, aka Mr. Fitzgerald, cuffs his boys in the back of the head, talks about the good old days of corporal punishment and cracks wise when he finds out the youngest son is seeing a therapist. The outward Mr. Fitzgerald is a clueless lout who fits all the negative Irish stereotypes, but we're given to understand he's a knowing, sensitive dad who can't show his true colors because, one, he's a macho Irishman who can't show his true colors and, two, NBC wouldn't have a comedy if he were something else, now, would it?
At least it wouldn't have a fresh, original, never-been-tried-before comedy. In "The Fighting Fitzgeralds," NBC has an ordinary, safe TV show about an Irish family with familiar names (the sons are James, Terry and Patrick), familiar jobs (Dad is a retired fireman, one of the sons is a teacher, another a bartender) and familiar habits (drinking and arguing).
"The Fighting Fitzgeralds" premieres tonight at 8:30 on KING/5, bracketed by episodes of "Frasier," but its actual time slot will be Tuesdays at 8 p.m. for the next several weeks while "3rd Rock From the Sun" takes a breather.
Presumably, if audiences take to "The Fighting Fitzgeralds," it could return next fall. And NBC could certainly do worse. Dennehy is a fine actor with a good sense of comedic timing. After one episode, the sons (Justin Louis, Christopher Moynihan and Jon Patrick Walker) are largely indistinguishable, but solid. And Connie Britton, who shone as Nikki Faber for five seasons on "Spin City," brings her wise-woman presence to the role of Sophie Fitzgerald, wife of Jim the gym teacher and mother of 6-year-old daughter Marie (Abigail Mavity).
So, for those who don't mind leftover Irish stew, "The Fighting Fitzgeralds" may be the perfect dish. Those waiting for creme brulee will have to wait a little longer.
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