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American Dreams
American Dreams is an American television drama program broadcast on the NBC television network. It debuted on September 29th, 2002. It initially aired on Sundays at 8:00pm but moved to the same time on Wednesdays starting March 9, 2005. Season 3 began on September 26, 2004.
The show tells the story of the Pryor family of Philadelphia during the 1960s. Season 1 takes place in 1963-64, Season 2 in 1964-65 and Season 3 in 1965-66. The show is known as "Our Generation" in Australia.
Characters
Major Characters
- Helen Pryor (Gail O'Grady ) - Jack's wife. Also employed at Pine Street Travel, a travel agency.
- Will Pryor (Ethan Dampf ) - an elementary school student whose leg was crippled with polio, but underwent an operation to fix it in the show's second season.
- Henry Walker (Jonathan Adams ) - a black employee in Jack's store who later became a partner/owner in the store, who also heads a family.
- Sam Walker (Arlen Escarpeta ) - Henry's son, a bright college student and track star at University of Pennsylvania. In season 1, he went to East Catholic High.
- Elizabeth " Beth" (Mason) Pryor (Rachel Boston) - JJ's girlfriend, whom he marries in the third season shortly after returning from Vietnam. They have an infant son "Johhny" (see below).
Minor Characters
- Pete Pryor (Matthew John Armstrong ) - Jack's younger brother, an officer with the Philadelphia Police Department. Addicted to alcohol and gambling. Almost married in Season 2, but got cold feet at the last minute.
- Gwen Walker (Adina Porter ) - Henry's wife and a housekeeper, who died in Season 2 of cancer.
- Angela Walker (Aysia Polk ) - Henry and Gwen's daughter, roughly Patty's age.
- Nathan Jefferson (Keith Robinson ) - Henry's outspoken nephew. Spent some time in jail; eventually rehabilitated himself and now operates a delivery service.
- Rebecca Sandstrom (Virginia Madsen) - Helen's friend from a book club. Her character was dropped after the first season.
- Father Conti (Steve Ryan ) - The Pryor family's strict Catholic priest who also serves as the headmaster of East Catholic high school.
- Tommy DeFelice (Paul Wasilewski ) - JJ's macho friend and former football teammate.
- Danny O'Connor (Rodney Scott) - Quarterback of the East Catholic football team in the first season. His older brother was declared missing in action in Vietnam.
- Michael Brooks (Joseph Lawrence ) - the original floor producer of American Bandstand. His character left after the show's first season.
- Mr. and Mrs. Mason (James Read and Barbara Alyn Woods ) - Beth's well-to-do parents. Estranged from Beth after she became pregnant with JJ Pryor's child, although some reconciliation was attempted in the show's third season.
- Jimmy Riley (Jesse Hutch ) - an American Bandstand dance partner of Meg's who eventually leaves to fight in Vietnam (he would later return to American Dreams in the second season, in a wheelchair).
- Luke Foley (Jamie Elman ) - a record store clerk with an affinity for all things Dylan. Originally Meg's boyfriend in the first season, after they broke up Luke and Roxanne developed a relationship and began living together in the third season.
- Mr. Greenwood (Art Garfunkel) - The bohemian owner of the Vinyl Crocodile record store. Appeared sporadically during the first season; in the second season he is said to have gone "on a worldwide tour with his friend," an allusion to Art Garfunkel's singing partnership with Paul Simon.
- Drew Mandel (Sam Page ) - A college student at the University of Pennsylvania; he and Meg have several dates during the show's second season.
- Teresa McManus (Michelle Morgan ) - A regular dancer on Bandstand who does not like Meg.
- Shelly Pierce (Daphne Zuniga), a single mom who works at a nearby Playboy Club and is the Pryors' next door neighbor (starting at the beginning of Season 3).
- Chris Pierce (Milo Ventimiglia) - Shelly Pierce's son, who becomes Meg's new love interest in the third season.
- Ted Pryor (Christopher Cousins )- Jack and Pete's older brother, a successfull businessman who has a strained and distant relationship from the rest of the family. He is only seen in a couple of episodes, but dies from a car accident late in Season 3.
- John "Johnny" Pryor III - JJ and Beth's son, born in Season 3.
Family Trees
Pryor
Mr. Pryor--+--Mrs. Pryor
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+--------------+--------------+
| | |
| | |
Pete Pryor Ted Pryor Jack Pryor----+----Helen Dolan Pryor
|
Mr. Mason--+--Mrs. Mason |
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| +---------------+--------------+------------+
Beth Mason Pryor----+----JJ Pryor Meg Pryor Patty Pryor Will Pryor
| (John Pryor Jr.) (Margaret) (Patricia) (William)
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John Pryor III
("Trip" or "Johnny")
Walker
Henry Walker--+------Gwen Walker
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+--------------+ |
| | |
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Sam Walker Angela Walker Nathan Jefferson
(nephew)
Synopsis
Season 1 (2002-2003)
In the pilot episode (set in November 1963), Meg and Roxanne win the opportunity to join the dancers on the TV show American Bandstand, filmed in Philadelphia. Bandstand immediately becomes the principal creative pillar of American Dreams, with each episode featuring recreated versions of Several musical acts that originally appeared on the real Bandstand, often rendered by modern singers.
JJ Pryor, a running back for the East Catholic Fighting Crusaders football team, tries to earn a full athletic scholarship to play at the University of Notre Dame, but can only earn a partial scholarship. He later applies for and is accepted to Lehigh University, but a nagging ankle injury curtails his football career - and thus he enlists in the Marines to pay for school. Meanwhile, JJ's on-again, off-again girlfriend Beth chooses to attend the University of Pennsylvania in order to be near JJ.
In the early part of the season, Meg develops a crush on Bandstand dancer Jimmy Riley, and they go on a couple of public appearance dates. While never becoming romantic, they remained good friends until Riley shipped off to the Marines. Meg later developed a romance with Luke Foley, the bespectacled record store clerk and fellow East Catholic student.
Sam Walker wins a track scholarship to East Catholic. Some in the majority-white student body resent Sam's presence, especially Tommy DeFelice, who is later expelled after a football betting scandal. Sam and Meg develop a friendship, even creating a record-swapping club while meeting at the Vinyl Crocodile record store.
In the final episode (18 May 2003), JJ departs for boot camp at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, while Meg and Sam are caught in the riots that shook Philadelphia in the summer of 1964.
Season 2 (2003-2004)
Meg and Sam survive the riots unharmed, but the branch of Jack's store under Henry's management is destroyed. Gwen dies from cancer. JJ excels at boot camp and arrives in Vietnam. While on leave, he and Beth are reunited in Hawaii; they break up, but Beth soon learns she is pregnant with JJ's child, and moves in with the Pryors.
Helen discovers that there might be a possible surgical treatment for Will's paralysis, and the early part of the season deals with Will's medical treatment. By the end of the season, Will's leg braces have been removed and he is able to walk normally.
Sam wins a scholarship to Penn. Jack decides to run for the City Council. In the final episode (4 April 2004), Sam's cousin Nathan is drafted and opts to go to jail rather than serve, JJ is caught in a fierce firefight while Meg and Sam are arrested at a campus rally protesting the Vietnam war.
Season 3 (2004-2005)
The arrests widen the communications gap between parents and children, and inspire Meg to lead additional protests. A strict new headmaster also fires Meg up. An injured JJ wakes up in an American military hospital, and learns of his forthcoming child; Beth refuses to accept JJ's offer of marriage. Roxanne, estranged from her mother, moves in with the Pryors. JJ gets recruited for special, somewhat mysterious duty for the US government. Jack wins an upset victory for the City Council.
As Thanksgiving nears closer, JJ is captured by the Viet Cong. He and his sergeant escape, but are presumed missing in action (the sergeant is later found buried in a shallow grave). The Pryors learn of JJ's "Missing In Action" status just before Thanksgiving.
Luke Foley returns to Philadelphia, and Roxanne, who moves out on her remarrying mother, moves in with him in a loft above the Vinyl Crocodile record store.
On a commercial-free special episode (sponsored by Ford) that aired November 21, 2004, JJ returns home. At episode's end JJ glares harshly at his mother. It could be a sign of things to come. In the next original episode (aired January 2, 2005), JJ becomes a Marine recruiter and suffers from post-traumatic flashbacks. He proposes to Beth. Beth and JJ are married on the January 23, 2005 episode. Helen becomes involved with a Catholic peace group.
As the show enters 1966, JJ marries Beth at a church ceremony. Jack Pryor, newly elected to the Philadelphia City Council, is forced to take a bribe, with the money going to help JJ repay some gambling debts. Eventually Jack votes to elect a local activist in his district. Reverend Davis, to the Police Review Board; essentially voting against the Council. For this act of disloyalty, several members of the police force beat up JJ after a traffic stop. Pete soon finds the culprits who attacked JJ and roughs them up, but Jack decides to resign from the Council.
Chris and Meg's relationship becomes more intimate, but Meg is troubled by reports that Chris helped set fire to a recruitment center. Despite this, Meg and Chris eventually have sex - with Chris revealing afterward that he did indeed lie to Meg about the recruitment center. Meg and Chris eventually break up, and Chris leaves Philadelphia.
Meg and Sam consider the possibility of a romantic relationship, but JJ and Nathan discourage the idea. Meanwhile, Jack and Pete's older brother Ted gets into a serious car accident, putting him on a respirator. After much soul searching, the Pryors decide to disconnect the machine. After returning home from a Rolling Stones concert, Meg finds her ex-boyfriend Chris standing in front of her home. He's just been drafted.
In the final episode of the season, Meg and Chris both leave Philadelphia on Chris' motorcyle, with plans for them to live in Berkeley and campaign against the war. JJ Pryor applies for and receives a job in aeronautics, assisting in space suit design for future NASA missions to the moon.
Timeline of Events in the Series
"Past" Events
- c. 1925 - Jack Pryor is born.
- c. 1927 - Helen Dolan is born.
- c. 1946 Beth Mason is born.
- c. 1947 Sam Walker is born.
- c. 1948 - Roxanne Bojarski is born.
- c. 1952 - Angela Walker is born.
- c. 1956 - Will Pryor is born.
Events Depicted On Screen
- November, 1963 - Meg Pryor becomes a regular dancer on American Bandstand.
- June, 1964 - JJ and Beth graduate from high school.
- July, 1964 - The Philadelphia riots take place.
- June, 1965 - Sam graduates from high school.
- June, 1966 - Meg and Roxanne graduate from high school.
"Future" Events
- June, 1968 - Patty's graduation from high school is estimated to take place at this time.
- June, 1973 - Will's graduation from high school is estimated to take place at this time.
- June, 1983 - John Pryor III's graduation from high school is estimated to take place at this time.
An Uncertain Fate for a New Season
On February 2, 2005 NBC reduced the number of third season episodes of American Dreams from 19 to 17. The network also moved the program away from its original Sunday night timeslot to Wednesday nights, airing before The West Wing. In the show's final episodes, many of the program's loose ends are being wrapped up, fueling speculation that the program will be cancelled at the end of its third season. The show's third season ratings have dropped 33% from its first season and 13% from its second season. Fans of American Dreams organized an online petition drive and letter writing campaign to save the show. NBC expects to make a decision about the future of American Dreams by May 1, 2005.
Rumors have arisen that if the show is cancelled a special extra "concluding" episode may air sometime during the summer of 2005, rather than leave any remaining loose ends in limbo. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on April 12, 2005 that in late February NBC ordered two endings filmed for the season finale (see http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/entertainment/11370090.htm for the article). The one that was not aired continues after Meg runs away to Berkeley, showing that once she leaves she does not contact her family for 3 years, concluding with her coming home to face them on the day that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Some have surmised that since NBC did not show this ending it means the show will not be cancelled (in the article, Tom Verica hints this as well), while others have said it could mean that the unshown footage will become part of a special extra "finale" episode (or 2 hour TV movie). Will Estes, Rachel Boston and Gail O'Grady have filmed pilots of prospective new shows for next season, however, they are contractually obligated to return to American Dreams if the show is renewed by NBC.
Another article that hints at the show returning appeared on April 19, 2005 in the Mobile, AL Register (http://www.al.com/tv/mobileregister/mbrantley.ssf?/base/entertainment/1113902204208630.xml). In this article, Jonathan Price reveals some of the plotlines for a fourth season if one airs.
It is presumed the show will have to end after six seasons regardless, as the story would otherwise have to be taken into the 1970s. The alternate "end of series" finale that wasn't aired does jump ahead to 1969 before ending. However, creator Jonathan Prince has suggested that his long term plans for the show were to show how America changed between JFK's assassination and Watergate.
Accuracy
Despite its popularity as a family drama, American Dreams has been heavily criticized for its various levels of historical inaccuracy. Several historic events have been restaged earlier or later in the timeline to fit a plotline, and some of the music and pop culture references do not match up with the show's current timeline.
Some examples of this include:
- American Bandstand still tapes a daily after-school show in Philadelphia; where in real life the show moved to Los Angeles in 1964 and was only broadcast once a week, on Saturday afternoons.
- During the show's first season, the music of several artists, such as the Kinks, Dusty Springfield and Manfred Mann, are heard and referenced in 1963, months before the Beatles' appearance on the Ed Sullivan show (February 1964) that triggered the musical British Invasion.
- In one episode in the show's third season, set in late November 1965, the East Coast Blackout of 1965 and the Leonid meteor shower were both "rescheduled" so that they would fall on the same day that Beth Mason gave birth to JJ Pryor's son.
- JJ and Beth have intimate relations in January 1965 and July 1965, yet Beth gives birth in November 1965, making her pregnancy either 11 months long or 5 months long.
- In the show's first season, set in November 1963, Meg Pryor and Luke Foley argue over the merits of Bob Dylan, and Luke hands Meg a 45 of Dylan singing "Mr. Tambourine Man." Dylan was two years away from writing that song; he never released it with his voice on a commercial 45; and when it was released, it was sung by the Byrds.
- References are made in the show's second season to I Dream of Jeannie, which was still a year away from premiering.
- The Monkees perform on the Bandstand stage in January 1966, despite their television series not even premiering until September 1966, or the four actors playing the Monkees even performing a live concert until a year later.
- While working at the space suit company, JJ Pryor meets Gus Grissom, and they discuss the Apollo 1 mission. Grissom later says, "Get me back to Cape Canaveral." In reality, the Apollo 1 mission was not designated by that number or name until after the accident that claimed the lives of Grissom and two other astronauts (at the time the mission was known as Apollo/Saturn 204), and the reference to Cape Canaveral would have been wrong, as the area where the space center was located had been renamed "Cape Kennedy" during the 1960's. While the town was officially renamed back to Cape Canaveral in 1973, the space station was (and still is) known as the Kennedy Space Center, and at least three years had passed since the town was renamed from Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy; so although it is not impossible that in a casual conversation Grissom would have used the traditional name, it is still unlikely that this would happen).
- Artists such as Blake Shelton, Jon Ondrasik and Joss Stone are allowed to perform their current pop hits, which in real time would have been 40 years away from ever existing.
Special guests
During the show's run, several contemporary artists recreated performances of artists from the 1960's. These recreations were either stages on the American Bandstand stage; although several performances took place at a performing area adjacent to the Vinyl Crocodile record store. In the second and third seasons, several of the recreations took place at The Lair, a coffee house/student union facility on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
The following contemporary artists, along with the songs they performed and the artist they "interpreted," are listed below.
Performances on Bandstand
- 112, as The Four Tops, performing "Reach Out I'll Be There"
- Fantasia Barrino, as Aretha Franklin, singing "Respect"
- Kelly Clarkson, as Brenda Lee, singing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree "
- JoJo, as Linda Ronstadt, auditioning for Bandstand with "That'll Be the Day"
- Jennifer Love Hewitt, as Nancy Sinatra, performing "These Boots Are Made For Walking "
- Chris Isaak, as Roy Orbison, performing "Pretty Woman"
- Monica, as Mary Wells, performing "My Guy"
- Lil' Kim, as Shirley Ellis, performing "The Clapping Song"
- Third Eye Blind, as The Kinks, performing "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night"
- Kelly Rowland, as Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas, performing "Dancing in the Streets"
- Alicia Keys, as Fontella Bass , performing "Rescue Me"
- Steadman, as the Dave Clark Five, performing "Do You Love Me"
- Hilary Duff and Haylie Duff, as The Shangri-Las, performing "Leader of the Pack"
- Richie Sambora, as Eric Clapton of the Yardbirds, performing "For Your Love"
- Brad Paisley, as Ricky Nelson, performing "Dream Lover"
- Macy Gray, as Carla Thomas, performing "B.A.B.Y"
- Nick Lachey, as Tom Jones, performing "It's Not Unusual"
- Liz Phair, as Jackie DeShannon, performing "When You Walk in the Room"
- Evan & Jaron , as The Everly Brothers, performing "Wake Up Little Susie"
- Fefe Dobson, as Tina Turner, performing "River Deep - Mountain High"
- Wyclef Jean, as Curtis Mayfield, performing "Woman's Got Soul"
- B2K, as The Temptations, performing "My Girl"
- Hawk Nelson, as The Who, performing "My Generation"
- Phantom Planet, as The Zombies, performing "Tell Her No"
- Usher, as Marvin Gaye, performing "Can I Get A Witness"
- Brandy Norwood, as Gladys Knight, performing "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"
- Duncan Sheik, as Bobby Darin, performing "Beyond the Sea"
- LeAnn Rimes, as Connie Francis, performing "Where the Boys Are"
- Vanessa Carlton, as Dusty Springfield, performing "Wishin' and Hopin' "
- Ashanti, as Dionne Warwick, performing "Walk on By"
- Fountains of Wayne, as the Hollies, performing "Bus Stop"
- John Legend, as Stevie Wonder, performing "Uptight - Everything's Alright"
- Van Hunt , as Jimmy Ruffin, performing "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted"
- Jason Mraz, as Dion DiMucci, performing "Ruby Baby"
Performances at the Vinyl Crocodile
Performances at the Lair
Other Guest Star Appearances
Trivia
- Jonathan Adams and Gail O'Grady are the only member of the primary cast who were alive when the pilot episode is set (though O'Grady was just an infant then).
- Dick Clark is a co-producer of American Dreams. Clark, who hosted and produced American Bandstand, can also be seen in archival footage whenever the Bandstand scenes are filmed.
- An episode from the show's third season, "Tidings of Comfort and Joy," was broadcast without commercial interruptions, although Ford sponsored the episode (due to the fact the episode prominently featured JJ getting a Ford vehicle)
External links
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