{"id":287066,"date":"2024-04-13T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T04:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/?p=287066"},"modified":"2024-04-12T21:21:01","modified_gmt":"2024-04-13T01:21:01","slug":"a-world-of-its-own-the-wonder-of-cbss-brooklyn-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvobsessive.com\/2024\/04\/13\/a-world-of-its-own-the-wonder-of-cbss-brooklyn-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"A World of Its Own: The Wonder of CBS’s Brooklyn Bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the late-1980s and early-1990s, producer and writer Gary David Goldberg wasn’t sure he wanted to work on television. And why would he need to? The acclaimed producer just spent seven years producing the classic sitcom <\/span>Family Ties<\/span><\/i>. The deal to syndicate that show is a show-biz legend, with some noting it made him a multi-millionaire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But, Jeff Sagansky, then president of CBS, wanted to work with him on something. Goldberg had an idea, but it came with a simple codicil: either Sagansky had to order 13 episodes on the air, or not do it all. The pitch was for a show about a Jewish family’s life in Brooklyn, New York during the mid-1950s. Thankfully, Sagansky said yes. And to date, Gary David Goldberg is the only person to successfully sell anyone the Brooklyn Bridge.<\/span><\/p>\n Brooklyn Bridge<\/span><\/i><\/a> was a semi-autobiographical series for Gary David Goldberg, centering around the life of Alan Silver and his family, and running from 1991 to 1993. While the show is labeled as a sitcom, it’s more than comedy. It doesn’t just have humorous situations befalling the Silver family, nor does it have the introspectively dramatic and poignant issues moments in the original run of <\/span>Roseanne<\/span><\/i>. Instead, the show reminds me of <\/span>Hey, Arnold<\/span><\/i>. Not only because the grandparents are hilarious voices of sometimes out-of-touch reason, but because the episodes are a slice of life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The show’s strength is its sense of realism. The situations don’t come from the what-ifs of life like<\/span> Seinfeld<\/span><\/i>, but from what happened. In one episode, we see Alan’s grandmother, Sophie, brilliantly portrayed by Marion Ross<\/a> of <\/span>Happy Days<\/span><\/i>, hosting a funeral for a much despised relative. Unfortunately, the funeral is the same day Alan has tickets to see the Dodgers. Watching Alan have to decide whether to make his grandmother happy by sticking around or see the team he loves creates a sense of agony viewers might recall from their childhoods. Perhaps, that’s the show’s ultimate strength, being rooted in a place we’ve all known well: childhood.<\/span><\/p>\n I’m a skeptical television watcher, so when I first heard of this show, I wasn’t sure I’d find any love for it. Mostly because I thought of it as a family show. Family shows are great, but when I think of family comedy in that era of television, I think of the icky sweet moments that dominated television. I get the image of the late Bob Saget sitting down with the Olsen twins in <\/span>Full House<\/span><\/i> to discuss that episode’s lesson, or Reginald VelJohnson talking to Eddie and Laura about their behavior in <\/span>Family Matters<\/span><\/i>. But, I forged ahead, thinking if I liked <\/span>Spin City<\/span><\/i>, I’d like this. <\/span>I was so right.<\/span><\/p>\nJust Over the Brooklyn Bridge<\/h2>\n