The day has finally arrived. The premier of the television series, “Terriers”, shot mostly in Ocean Beach, is this evening on FX at 10pm. For months, OBcieans have endured blocked streets, parking taken, lighting mechanisms in front of their fave stores on Newport, throngs of spectators hanging around the film crews, and quite a bit of controversy and complaints. There was even that nude swimmer who disrupted one filming.
Well, OB survived the shooting itself. And there is a special showing tonight, September 8th, at the Harp on Newport Avenue in OB. Ted, the owner of the Old Townhouse Restaurant – where at least several scenes of the series were shot – and his wife have organized this special showing. They have set up the equipment in preparation for the novel event. Ted says people should get there by 9pm as he also has a short half hour film he is also premiering before “Terriers” is broadcast.
The airwaves, blogosphere, and pages of Hollywood media have been bursting with a cacophony of articles and interviews of the actors and the show itself, directed by Adam Arkin.
Here is a money quote by Donal Logue, one of the main characters in the series, which has sold 13 episodes:
And I think it was such a great idea these guys had to go down there, because there’s something about San Diego that is quite different than Los Angeles, and something specifically about Ocean Beach’s community that we shot in, that it’s still this kind of working-class enclave that’s right on the beach that really fought hard against having big, kind of corporate condo development, no-Starbucks-type stuff, and it really gave us this kind of foothold to create this universe in.” Ocean Beach is a small community just outside of downtown San Diego and is the heart of the series.
Keep this all in mind: a “working-class enclave”, “that really fought hard against having big, kind of corporate condo development, no-Starbucks-type stuff …” OB was picked for the site of the series precisely because of the battles to “save Ocean Beach” over the years.
OB survived the actual filming, but will OB survive the “success” that the TV series might bring?
Here is a sampling of articles about the show making the rounds:
I know I’ll be watching, though probably on recording after I get my US Open tennis fix. The reviews make it sound like it might be a quality show, and they seem to say that the community is a character as well as a setting, and that shows appreciation for the real OB!
. . . But I think for me it will be mainly nostalgia . . .a chance to see OB every week from afar: sunsets over the pier, a panorama of Newport Street, and maybe a look at the great blocks and hoods that I love so much . . ..
I’ll be watching, but what’s the story with getting there early to watch another video.?Nah, I’ll drink a few down the street & avoid their breakfast agenda
Tomorrow, the day after, we’ll post a series of reviews on the show. If you’d like your review to be posted, please send it in to us via our email: obragblog@gmail.com and get it to us at a decent hour – like before 10am Thursday.
Cool! I’m looking forward to it. Although I won’t be at the Herp to watch since I gave up drinking (on wednesdays). I hope the show does well. I like Donal, and I think OB has survived through much worse than a TV show.
Donal Logue would know that better than most: he grew up in El Centro.
Think about all of those people driving up and over the mountains and down to the end of the 8 in the heat of summer, running mad in to the ocean.
Donal Logue was interviwed by Madison on KPRI this AM…………good stuff he loved the OB scene…..A local group The Professors has some of their original surf music ( instrumental acid trips for your ears) on the show as well !!!!!
Here is a good comment from dailycomet.com:
“Terriers” moves from crime to crime episodically, but the big case that threads through to create a running narrative involves the severely tarnished morality of a local land developer. This being Southern California, it is fitting that the biggest villain is in real estate and that the most disturbing nut job is a home-loan officer.
“Terriers” hangs rich people out to dry, makes fun of yuppie affectation and seeks as much to position itself on the right side of the class war as it does to amuse us. It succeeds amiably on both fronts.
The above quote was lifted from Ginia Bellefante’s review in the New York Times – http://tv.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/arts/television/08terriers.html?ref=television
Television Blend: An interview with Michael Raymond-James
Question: So there aren’t many PI shows that take place in San Diego, or a variation there of. Can you talk about how that informs the stories?
Answer: Well San Diego is a major character in this, particularly Ocean Beach, which is the sort-of scruffy, scrappy, blue-collar beach community. And it fits Hank and Britt to a T. There are a few places around the country, north shore of Oahu would be one that I would point to, where people really look out for each other, it’s a real local sort of a place and once you’re in that sort of ohana, or that family, everybody kind of looks out for each other. So it’s definitely a major character. Shooting down here, we couldn’t have gotten that sort of feel or that sort of vibe if we had shot it in Santa Monica.
Boston.com: “Terriers’’ is far from another cool procedural with office desks and badges. Set in San Diego’s ragged, hippie-tinged Ocean Beach neighborhood, the series is as much about retro townie atmosphere and two flawed heroes as it is about crime-solving. This is beachfront noir.
And finally, the Wall Street Journal interview with Donal Logue:
I have huge history with San Diego, both good and bad. Growing up, I lived in Nogales, Arizona and Calexico and El Centro, California. I was a border town kid. San Diego is where you take that hot, three-hour car ride to in the summer. I was always painfully aware of how we were this red-haired, freckly Irish family in this blond beach community. A lot of my friends from high school are rolling around Ocean Beach. My sister lives in San Diego. I didn’t have to do much research. I know how to be a person in this environment.
I thought it was great, mainly because I was playing “Name that block” every few minutes.
I have to say I am enjoying it so far.
Okay. Maybe not the breakout hit of the fall, but I’ll bet it outlasts the Ex List…