1973
Brian's Song and Something For Joey
November 24, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
In the 1970’s, two tv-movies became instant classics, particularly with men. With football as a backdrop, Brian’s Song and Something For Joey are at the top of the list of guy-cry entertainment fare. These tv-movies don’t merely tug at heartstrings. They grab them.
Statistics measure an athlete’s performance. But no statistic can measure the impact of Brian’s Song and Something For Joey or their real-life inspirations.
In 1964, Brian Piccolo was the top college football rusher in the country. His success capped a terrific college football career at Wake Forest. Surprisingly, his credentials did not impress any NFL team during the draft. Fourteen teams. Twenty rounds. No Brian Piccolo. Ultimately, Chicago Bears owner and coach George Halas signed Piccolo as a free agent.
Piccolo soon discovered he had cancer --embryonal cell carcinoma. He died in 1970 at the age of 26.
In 1971, the country discovered Brian Piccolo’s story in Brian’s Song, an ABC tv-movie produced by Columbia. The Columbia set used for the home of Bears player Gale Sayers and his wife may look familiar. It is the set for Darrin and Samantha Stephens on Bewitched, another Columbia property.
Brian’s Song showed Brian Piccolo’s gifts of courage, friendship, and strength.
Courage -- Brian Piccolo fought cancer with the same fierce competitiveness he displayed on the gridiron.
Friendship -- Brian Piccolo bonded with Sayers. Each player encouraged the other during their competition to play in the Bears backfield rather than ride the bench. Piccolo and Sayers were the first interracial roommates in the NFL.
Strength -- Brian Piccolo tackled his disease head-on.
Brian’s Song reveals the brutal honesty of pain in an athlete cut down in his prime. It also reveals two stars to be. Before their signature roles in The Godfather and Lady Sings the Blue, James Caan and Billy Dee Williams took on the immense responsibility of playing Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers respectively. No easy task, considering the subject matter.
They made the somber story interesting, compelling, and inspiring, not maudlin, depressing, and angry.
Sayers’ locker room speech in one of the final scenes makes grown men cry and shows children that even tough guys weep when a friend battles an opponent meaner, tougher, and more vicious than any football player.
In another powerful scene, Sayers accepts the George S. Halas Most Courageous Player Award. He dedicates the award to Brian Piccolo because of Piccolo’s courage in battling cancer. The last part of the speech is particularly compelling.
I love Brian Piccolo. And I’d like all of you to love him too. And tonight, hit your knees, please ask God to love him.
Brian’s Song grabs at the heartstrings and doesn’t let go. Not for a scene. Not for a minute. Not for a second. Michael Legrand’s theme song The Hands of Time compounds the story’s emotional intensity.
Brian Piccolo’s story reflects the A.E. Housman poem To An Athlete Dying Young. One passage in particular stands out.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose
In 2001, ABC aired a remake of Brian’s Song with Sean Maher as Brian Piccolo and Mekhi Pfifer as Gale Sayers. The remake focused more attention than the original on the physical effects of Piccolo’s disease.
No less compelling of a story is Something For Joey, a 1977 fact-based NBC tv-movie about Penn State powerhouse running back John Cappelletti and his kid brother, Joey.
While John tramples over opponents on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy in 1973 Joey suffers from leukemia. Their interdependence makes Joey’s fight all the more noble and John’s helplessness all the more saddening. Powerful on a football field, John Cappelletti embodies the powerless suffering that anybody endures with a family member battling a fatal disease.
Upon winning the Heisman Trophy, John has to make a speech as is the custom with Heisman winners.
Where John’s physical ability gained him respect as a football player, his emotional strength cemented his respect as a man.
During his speech, John dedicates the award to his eleven year-old brother Joseph because college football is a battle fought on Saturdays in the fall, but his brother’s battle with leukemia is year-round.
Joseph Cappelletti died in 1976. John went to the NFL and played for the Los Angeles Rams and San Diego Chargers in a nine-year career.
Marc Singer plays John and Jeffrey Lynas plays Joey in Something For Joey.
Brian’s Song and Something For Joey are two outstanding examples of high quality television. While football is a backdrop, the stories are universal.
Everyone knows the reality of disease. A friend, a loved one, maybe even we have suffered the harshness.
Brian’s Song and Something For Joey are for everyone.
For everyone who’s ever won.
For everyone who’s ever lost.
And for everyone who’s still in there trying.
david@davidkrell.com
In the 1970’s, two tv-movies became instant classics, particularly with men. With football as a backdrop, Brian’s Song and Something For Joey are at the top of the list of guy-cry entertainment fare. These tv-movies don’t merely tug at heartstrings. They grab them.
Statistics measure an athlete’s performance. But no statistic can measure the impact of Brian’s Song and Something For Joey or their real-life inspirations.
In 1964, Brian Piccolo was the top college football rusher in the country. His success capped a terrific college football career at Wake Forest. Surprisingly, his credentials did not impress any NFL team during the draft. Fourteen teams. Twenty rounds. No Brian Piccolo. Ultimately, Chicago Bears owner and coach George Halas signed Piccolo as a free agent.
Piccolo soon discovered he had cancer --embryonal cell carcinoma. He died in 1970 at the age of 26.
In 1971, the country discovered Brian Piccolo’s story in Brian’s Song, an ABC tv-movie produced by Columbia. The Columbia set used for the home of Bears player Gale Sayers and his wife may look familiar. It is the set for Darrin and Samantha Stephens on Bewitched, another Columbia property.
Brian’s Song showed Brian Piccolo’s gifts of courage, friendship, and strength.
Courage -- Brian Piccolo fought cancer with the same fierce competitiveness he displayed on the gridiron.
Friendship -- Brian Piccolo bonded with Sayers. Each player encouraged the other during their competition to play in the Bears backfield rather than ride the bench. Piccolo and Sayers were the first interracial roommates in the NFL.
Strength -- Brian Piccolo tackled his disease head-on.
Brian’s Song reveals the brutal honesty of pain in an athlete cut down in his prime. It also reveals two stars to be. Before their signature roles in The Godfather and Lady Sings the Blue, James Caan and Billy Dee Williams took on the immense responsibility of playing Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers respectively. No easy task, considering the subject matter.
They made the somber story interesting, compelling, and inspiring, not maudlin, depressing, and angry.
Sayers’ locker room speech in one of the final scenes makes grown men cry and shows children that even tough guys weep when a friend battles an opponent meaner, tougher, and more vicious than any football player.
In another powerful scene, Sayers accepts the George S. Halas Most Courageous Player Award. He dedicates the award to Brian Piccolo because of Piccolo’s courage in battling cancer. The last part of the speech is particularly compelling.
I love Brian Piccolo. And I’d like all of you to love him too. And tonight, hit your knees, please ask God to love him.
Brian’s Song grabs at the heartstrings and doesn’t let go. Not for a scene. Not for a minute. Not for a second. Michael Legrand’s theme song The Hands of Time compounds the story’s emotional intensity.
Brian Piccolo’s story reflects the A.E. Housman poem To An Athlete Dying Young. One passage in particular stands out.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose
In 2001, ABC aired a remake of Brian’s Song with Sean Maher as Brian Piccolo and Mekhi Pfifer as Gale Sayers. The remake focused more attention than the original on the physical effects of Piccolo’s disease.
No less compelling of a story is Something For Joey, a 1977 fact-based NBC tv-movie about Penn State powerhouse running back John Cappelletti and his kid brother, Joey.
While John tramples over opponents on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy in 1973 Joey suffers from leukemia. Their interdependence makes Joey’s fight all the more noble and John’s helplessness all the more saddening. Powerful on a football field, John Cappelletti embodies the powerless suffering that anybody endures with a family member battling a fatal disease.
Upon winning the Heisman Trophy, John has to make a speech as is the custom with Heisman winners.
Where John’s physical ability gained him respect as a football player, his emotional strength cemented his respect as a man.
During his speech, John dedicates the award to his eleven year-old brother Joseph because college football is a battle fought on Saturdays in the fall, but his brother’s battle with leukemia is year-round.
Joseph Cappelletti died in 1976. John went to the NFL and played for the Los Angeles Rams and San Diego Chargers in a nine-year career.
Marc Singer plays John and Jeffrey Lynas plays Joey in Something For Joey.
Brian’s Song and Something For Joey are two outstanding examples of high quality television. While football is a backdrop, the stories are universal.
Everyone knows the reality of disease. A friend, a loved one, maybe even we have suffered the harshness.
Brian’s Song and Something For Joey are for everyone.
For everyone who’s ever won.
For everyone who’s ever lost.
And for everyone who’s still in there trying.
The Taking of Pelham 123
October 13, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
The remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 opened in theaters this past summer. The film stars three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen.
Denzel Washington.
In Pelham, Washington plays Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant who becomes the link of communication to hostage takers on a subway train.
Washington was part of the terrific ensemble cast of St. Elsewhere. In this 1980’s NBC drama set in a Boston hospital, Washington plays the Yale-educated Dr. Phillip Chandler.
His breakthrough movie was Glory, a 1989 film set during the Civil War. Washington earned on Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
John Travolta.
In Pelham, Travolta plays Ryder, the leader of the hostage takers.
Travolta exploded onto America’s consciousness as dim-witted, girl-crazy, and self-involved high school student Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter.
Kotter premiered in 1975. In the space of three years, Travolta’s career became hotter than a supernova. On the silver screen, he starred in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Grease.
For the most part, notoriety subsided during the 1980’s. Travolta signaled his comeback in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in 1994.
James Gandolfini.
In Pelham, Gandolfini plays the Mayor of New York City. If managed properly, the hostage crisis can be good for the politics business. Or very bad.
After highly significant roles on Broadway and supporting roles in films, Gandolfini got the role for which he will forever be identified.
Henry Winkler has Fonzie.
Alan Alda has Hawkeye.
And James Gandolfini has Tony Soprano, the main character in The Sopranos.
Gandolfini’s emotions as the New Jersey mafia don range from the tender to the explosive. He reveals a touching side when talking about or interacting with animals, like his racehorse, Pie-Oh-My.
There is a flip side. Disloyalty, betrayal, and disrespect trigger rage, violence, and an underlying fear of a weakened position in the Soprano mob family.
In 1973, Morton Freedgood wrote the novel The Taking of Pelham 123 under the pseudonym John Godey.
A year later, the story hit the big screen for the first time with Walter Matthau as Garber, Robert Shaw as Ryder, and Lee Wallace as the mayor.
The film accurately captures the aura of violence, fear, and despair surrounding New York City in the 1970’s. Riots. Crime. Financial turmoil. They all contributed to the pressure.
The feeling permeates the film. Walter Matthau’s Garber is in the middle -- a civil servant trying to do his job. On this particular day, it is an ordinary job under extraordinary circumstances. Matthau perfectly fits the role of the rumpled Garber.
The ending of this version of Pelham is an excellent example of a setup and payoff. Something occurs early in the story that recurs at the end.
Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman play two of the hostage takers. Elizondo later starred in Chicago Hope and played supporting roles in a deep roster of films that include The Flamingo Kid, The Princess Diaries, and Pretty Woman.
Hindman’s face is not recognizable from his signature role -- Wilson, the neighbor on Home Improvement. The running gag on the show was the hiding of Wilson’s face behind the backyard fence and other objects.
Jerry Stiller plays a policeman working with Matthau. Maybe the hostage crisis was a source of sorts for Frank Costanza’s anger.
david@davidkrell.com
The remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 opened in theaters this past summer. The film stars three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen.
Denzel Washington.
In Pelham, Washington plays Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant who becomes the link of communication to hostage takers on a subway train.
Washington was part of the terrific ensemble cast of St. Elsewhere. In this 1980’s NBC drama set in a Boston hospital, Washington plays the Yale-educated Dr. Phillip Chandler.
His breakthrough movie was Glory, a 1989 film set during the Civil War. Washington earned on Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
John Travolta.
In Pelham, Travolta plays Ryder, the leader of the hostage takers.
Travolta exploded onto America’s consciousness as dim-witted, girl-crazy, and self-involved high school student Vinnie Barbarino in Welcome Back, Kotter.
Kotter premiered in 1975. In the space of three years, Travolta’s career became hotter than a supernova. On the silver screen, he starred in 1977’s Saturday Night Fever and 1978’s Grease.
For the most part, notoriety subsided during the 1980’s. Travolta signaled his comeback in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction in 1994.
James Gandolfini.
In Pelham, Gandolfini plays the Mayor of New York City. If managed properly, the hostage crisis can be good for the politics business. Or very bad.
After highly significant roles on Broadway and supporting roles in films, Gandolfini got the role for which he will forever be identified.
Henry Winkler has Fonzie.
Alan Alda has Hawkeye.
And James Gandolfini has Tony Soprano, the main character in The Sopranos.
Gandolfini’s emotions as the New Jersey mafia don range from the tender to the explosive. He reveals a touching side when talking about or interacting with animals, like his racehorse, Pie-Oh-My.
There is a flip side. Disloyalty, betrayal, and disrespect trigger rage, violence, and an underlying fear of a weakened position in the Soprano mob family.
In 1973, Morton Freedgood wrote the novel The Taking of Pelham 123 under the pseudonym John Godey.
A year later, the story hit the big screen for the first time with Walter Matthau as Garber, Robert Shaw as Ryder, and Lee Wallace as the mayor.
The film accurately captures the aura of violence, fear, and despair surrounding New York City in the 1970’s. Riots. Crime. Financial turmoil. They all contributed to the pressure.
The feeling permeates the film. Walter Matthau’s Garber is in the middle -- a civil servant trying to do his job. On this particular day, it is an ordinary job under extraordinary circumstances. Matthau perfectly fits the role of the rumpled Garber.
The ending of this version of Pelham is an excellent example of a setup and payoff. Something occurs early in the story that recurs at the end.
Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman play two of the hostage takers. Elizondo later starred in Chicago Hope and played supporting roles in a deep roster of films that include The Flamingo Kid, The Princess Diaries, and Pretty Woman.
Hindman’s face is not recognizable from his signature role -- Wilson, the neighbor on Home Improvement. The running gag on the show was the hiding of Wilson’s face behind the backyard fence and other objects.
Jerry Stiller plays a policeman working with Matthau. Maybe the hostage crisis was a source of sorts for Frank Costanza’s anger.
Mid-Year Review
July 02, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
And so 2009 is officially half-finished.
What kind of half-year has it been?
A half-year of transition.
We saw a transition of power from a republican president to a democratic president -- the first-ever minority to be elected to the highest office in the land.
We saw a transition of power in the coveted Tonight Show host job from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien.
O'Brien passed the torch at Late Night to Jimmy Fallon.
And we saw a transition of power in the technological sense from antenna television to digital television.
A half-year of controversy.
Controversy was in abundant supply during the first half of '09.
Because of a joke during a monologue about Sarah Palin's daughter getting pregnant by New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez during the Palin's visit to New York City, David Letterman went from television star to hot-button topic.
Although he meant Bristol Palin, the daughter who got pregnant by her then boyfriend Levi Johnston last year, 14-year-old Willow Palin was the daughter accompanying her mom at the Yankee game.
The Palins took action and belittled Letterman.
A clarification of sorts took place a few days later with Letterman showing self-deprecation, humor, and a literal wink at the audience that the controversy was nonsense.
The Palins took action and again belittled Letterman.
But after a weekend of thought, deliberation, and analysis, David Letterman gave a sincere apology the following Monday night.
The Palins accepted Letterman's apology.
We saw Miss California lose her crown because of an honest answer to a politically-charged question.
A half-year of television shows that deserved a longer chance to find an audience.
In Life on Mars, the series finale revealed that Sam Tyler was actually an astronaut on the first manned to Mars. The events he experienced in 1973 were triggered by a meteor shower wreaking havoc with virtual reality program. He was supposed to be a New York City cop in 2008, but the meteor incident caused the virtual reality glitch that sent him to 1973.
We saw The Unusuals, another solid program with depth of characters, unique stories, and realistic relationships set in the fictional 2nd precinct of Manhattan. This show starring Adam Goldberg and Terry Kinney looks like it will not be renewed.
A half-year of veteran sitcoms and dramas setting up story lines that were months, sometimes years in the making.
We saw Michael Scott, inefficient manager extraordinaire, attempt to start a paper company with receptionist Pam and temp Ryan. He sought to compete with Dunder Mifflin, only to have Dunder Mifflin buy the company on The Office.
We saw Barney and Robin reveal their feelings for each other on How I Met Your Mother.
We saw Justin propose to Rebecca and we saw Rebecca say Yes on Brothers and Sisters.
And we saw Michael J. Fox in an Emmy-worthy guest role on Rescue Me as Dwight, the paraplegic, pill-popping boyfriend of Tommy Gavin figurative ex-wife Janet, played by Denis Leary and Andrea Roth respectively.
A half-year of goodbyes.
In the space of a few days, we lost three legends -- an angel, an icon, and a voice. Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Ed McMahon.
If the second half of '09 is anything like the first half, then fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
david@davidkrell.com
And so 2009 is officially half-finished.
What kind of half-year has it been?
A half-year of transition.
We saw a transition of power from a republican president to a democratic president -- the first-ever minority to be elected to the highest office in the land.
We saw a transition of power in the coveted Tonight Show host job from Jay Leno to Conan O'Brien.
O'Brien passed the torch at Late Night to Jimmy Fallon.
And we saw a transition of power in the technological sense from antenna television to digital television.
A half-year of controversy.
Controversy was in abundant supply during the first half of '09.
Because of a joke during a monologue about Sarah Palin's daughter getting pregnant by New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez during the Palin's visit to New York City, David Letterman went from television star to hot-button topic.
Although he meant Bristol Palin, the daughter who got pregnant by her then boyfriend Levi Johnston last year, 14-year-old Willow Palin was the daughter accompanying her mom at the Yankee game.
The Palins took action and belittled Letterman.
A clarification of sorts took place a few days later with Letterman showing self-deprecation, humor, and a literal wink at the audience that the controversy was nonsense.
The Palins took action and again belittled Letterman.
But after a weekend of thought, deliberation, and analysis, David Letterman gave a sincere apology the following Monday night.
The Palins accepted Letterman's apology.
We saw Miss California lose her crown because of an honest answer to a politically-charged question.
A half-year of television shows that deserved a longer chance to find an audience.
In Life on Mars, the series finale revealed that Sam Tyler was actually an astronaut on the first manned to Mars. The events he experienced in 1973 were triggered by a meteor shower wreaking havoc with virtual reality program. He was supposed to be a New York City cop in 2008, but the meteor incident caused the virtual reality glitch that sent him to 1973.
We saw The Unusuals, another solid program with depth of characters, unique stories, and realistic relationships set in the fictional 2nd precinct of Manhattan. This show starring Adam Goldberg and Terry Kinney looks like it will not be renewed.
A half-year of veteran sitcoms and dramas setting up story lines that were months, sometimes years in the making.
We saw Michael Scott, inefficient manager extraordinaire, attempt to start a paper company with receptionist Pam and temp Ryan. He sought to compete with Dunder Mifflin, only to have Dunder Mifflin buy the company on The Office.
We saw Barney and Robin reveal their feelings for each other on How I Met Your Mother.
We saw Justin propose to Rebecca and we saw Rebecca say Yes on Brothers and Sisters.
And we saw Michael J. Fox in an Emmy-worthy guest role on Rescue Me as Dwight, the paraplegic, pill-popping boyfriend of Tommy Gavin figurative ex-wife Janet, played by Denis Leary and Andrea Roth respectively.
A half-year of goodbyes.
In the space of a few days, we lost three legends -- an angel, an icon, and a voice. Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Ed McMahon.
If the second half of '09 is anything like the first half, then fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride.