Wednesday July 15, 2009
Wholesome fare
ON THE AIR
By S. INDRAMALAR
Follow the life of the Pryors in American Dreams.
THERE is something about a good wholesome family drama that is just hard to resist. Sure, we are bowled over by the audacity of House MD (both the man and the series), the sick humanity of Dexter (also, both the man and the series), the ridiculous dramatics and hysterics of the Desperate Housewives and the wonderfully subversive nature of The Simpsons.
But as much as we love eccentricity, you have to admit that it’s nice to unwind at the end of a particularly harrowing day be it at the office, college or school, with a wholesome (even if it’s a little trite) family drama that doesn’t require much thinking.
Wholesome themes, predictable dialogue, U-rated comedy, family dinners, tuna casseroles and some bubblegum romance – it’s kind of nice, isn’t it?
That’s precisely what’s appealing about American Dreams, a family drama set in Philadelphia, in the 1960s, that centres around an Irish-Catholic family, the Pryors, who more or less represent a slice of a bygone era.
The lead character is 16-year-old Meg Pryor (Brittany Snow) and the series charts her various relationships with her parents, Jack and Helen (Tom Verica and Gail O’Grady), her siblings: older brother JJ (Will Estes), younger sister Patty (Sarah Ramos) and little brother Will (Ethan Dampf).
The Pryors: The characters of American Dreams are (from left to right, clockwise): JJ (Will Estes), Jack (Tom Verica), Meg (Brittany Snow), Patty (Sarah Ramos), Helen (Gail O’Grady) and Will (Ethan Dampf). It also follows her coming of age: from a giddy teen whose main obsession in the first season is getting on the iconic rock-and-roll show, American Bandstand, and finding love, to a politically-astute young woman (in Season Three) in the mid-60s.
The series has gotten some flak in the United States for its lack of historical accuracy. As a period drama set in the 1960s – an era of great political and social change – the series touches on various historical events like the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, civil rights activism, racism and the Vietnam war. However, the show was heavily criticised for juggling the timeline of actual events to suit the plotlines.
For example, the first season finale saw Meg and Sam caught in a Philedelphia race riots in the summer of 1964. In the series, the riots broke out in the middle of the day while in actuality the riots started at night.
The footage shown on the series was taken from another riot – the Watts riots of 1965, which took place in Los Angeles.
One should accept that a fictional TV drama is different from a historical TV documentary. We must surely realise that there aren’t many (or any) “McDreamys” or “McSteamys” in our general hospitals and that cops don’t always (or, perhaps ever) solve crimes as efficiently as they do on the silver screen.
Back to the series. American Dreams recently returned to our screens on Hallmark (Astro channel 702) with its second season. Meg and Sam safely got away from the riots (end of the first season) but one of Jack’s stores – the one managed by Sam’s father Henry (Jonathan Adams) – is destroyed.
Though they remain friends, Meg and Sam’s friendship is tested by the growing racist overtones. Meg’s determination to keep the friendship strains her relationship with her father.
JJ is deployed to Vietnam and tries to maintain his relationship with his sweetheart Beth, whom he gets to meet periodically when he returns on home leave.
But things soon get complicated. He finds himself on unfamiliar ground, in more ways than one, when he has also to deal with the fact that his country is split over the war he’s fighting.
On the home front, Helen learns of a new and possible groundbreaking treatment for polio. She is determined that Will be put on the trial even though Jack is hesitant, fearing of putting the family through more devastating disappointment if the treatment fails.
Helen also learns that there may be more to life than her family and her husband and flirts with the feminist ideology.
Meg breaks up with her boyfriend Luke after they both realise they don’t share many things in common.
The series has not lost its warmth in the second season. It may not be the cleverest show on TV but it’s entertaining, it’s well-written (factual faux pas aside), well-acted and fuss-free.
The ensemble cast is equally strong and Verica’s portrayal of Jack, the family man who is trying to hold his family and business together in the midst of a world gone crazy, is particularly impressive.
The music is great and like the past season, there are cameos from present-day artistes like Kelly Clarkson (who appears as 1960s country-pop star Brenda Lee) in one of the episodes.
Here’s a show you can enjoy with the whole family.
American Dreams Season Two airs every Tuesday at 9pm on the Hallmark (Astro channel 702).
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