Actor and director Olivia Wilde has many recognizable titles in her filmography, but many people don't know about controversy-ridden Don't Worry Darling. Most recently, she had a cameo in Apple TV+'s The Studio as herself.
If there's one project that can be attributed to Wilde's A-list status, it would be the medical drama House. Wilde ed the House cast in season 4 as Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley, the deeply secretive physician who harbors a tragic secret. The actress received tons of acclaim for her performance, which spanned 81 episodes before Wilde left House to pursue a film career. Both Wilde and House deserve all the success they've received, but so did The Black Donnellys, her crime drama series that premiered the same year she made her House debut.
The Black Donnellys Was A Gripping Crime Drama About Four Irish American Brothers
Olivia Wilde Played Jenny Reilly
Premiering in 2007, The Black Donnellys centers on the four titular Donnelly brothers living in Hell's Kitchen, New York City. They engage in local criminal activity to varying degrees, with the second-eldest brother, Tommy (Jonathan Tucker), trying to keep his siblings on the straight and narrow to the best of his abilities. However, when reckless eldest brother Jimmy (Tom Guiry) finds himself in trouble with both the Irish and Italian mob, Tommy kills both leaders to save him. This sends off a dangerous chain reaction that finds Tommy getting deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld he was trying to avoid.
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However, the beating heart of The Black Donnellys isn't the gripping main crime plot, but Tommy's tumultuous love story with Olivia Wilde's character, Jenny Reilly. Jenny helps run her father's diner, and she grew up with the Donnelly boys. Tommy has always carried a torch for her, and though it's revealed that she returns his feelings, heartbreaking obstacles continue to prevent them from being together. While Jenny's primary purpose in the story is to be Tommy's love interest, Wilde delivers a layered performance that very well could have been her breakout role.
Wilde and Tucker have chemistry to burn in the show, which is a big part of what makes The Black Donnellys so special, and I found myself screaming at my TV every time Tommy took another step away from being with Jenny in order to bail out his brothers. His fraternal loyalty is ultimately his tragic flaw, making Tommy Donnelly a complex, fascinating, and underrated TV antihero. While he may never have been talked about in the same breath as Walter White or Tony Soprano, if the show had lasted longer, he definitely would have been a bigger part of the pop culture conversation.
Why The Black Donnellys Was Canceled
It Never Stood A Chance
Sadly, the odds were stacked against The Black Donnellys from the beginning. After being bumped from NBC's fall 2006 lineup, the show premiered on February 26, 2007, as a replacement for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which went on hiatus due to low ratings. The critical reception to The Black Donnellys was strong out of the gate, but it never found the audience it needed. NBC canceled the show in April 2007 due to low ratings, pulling The Black Donnellys from their primetime lineup before the full season had even aired.
Only six of The Black Donnellys' 13 episodes made it on network TV, with NBC releasing the remaining seven online.
I can't help but wonder how The Black Donnellys would have fared if it had had a cable channel as its home rather than a major network, or if it had premiered years later on a streaming service. The Sopranos had HBO, Breaking Bad had AMC, and Ozark had Netflix, but The Black Donnellys had NBC.
The network certainly didn't help the show's ratings by pulling its third episode from the airwaves due to it being "too intense" — a problem that wouldn't have happened on cable or streaming. Plus, Tommy Donnelly would have fit right in with the antiheroes of his era. He just wasn't given the chance to.
House Was Olivia Wilde's Perfect Breakout Series
Thirteen Was A More Impactful Character Than Jenny Reilly
The Black Donnellys may have deserved better, but everything certainly turned out okay for Olivia Wilde. Just six months after the NBC crime drama was prematurely canceled, Wilde made her debut on House. Thirteen was part of a controversial cast shakeup in season 4, and the character was introduced along with several others, including Kal Penn's Dr. Lawrence Kutner. But Wilde stood out, stealing every scene she was in. Her performance was widely praised as being one of the most positive portrayals of a bisexual TV character at the time.
If The Black Donnellys had been a hit, then Wilde may not have even been cast in House at all
While Wilde also turned in incredible work with The Black Donnellys, there's no guarantee it would have gotten her as much attention as House did. Furthermore, if The Black Donnellys had been a hit, then Wilde may not have even been cast in House at all, and we would have never gotten the fantastic character of Thirteen. If there was a world where I could have both, I would. Alas, I'll keep enjoying both my Black Donnellys and House rewatches.
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The Black Donnellys
- Release Date
- 2007 - 2007-00-00
Cast
Tommy Donnelly
Tom GuiryJimmy Donnelly
Olivia WildeJenny Reilly
Billy LushKevin Donnelly
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingBUYThe Black Donnellys is a crime drama series that follows four Irish-American brothers in Hell's Kitchen, New York, as they navigate their involvement in organized crime while dealing with personal and family struggles. Created by Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco, the show explores themes of loyalty, brotherhood, and the consequences of their decisions.
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House is a medical mystery drama in which the villain is typically a difficult-to-diagnose medical malady. It follows Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a world-renowned disabled diagnostician with a notorious substance abuse issue. With his team of world-class doctors, House has built a reputation as one of the most brilliant doctors in the world - an especially impressive feat when taking into that he rarely actually sees his patients.
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