The series (all 13 episodes) has finally made it to DVD this week and right now you can get it on Amazon for $19.99 Check out link below. http://www.amazon.com/Day-Break-Com...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1206810713&sr=1-1 A little breakdown. Some of you may remember this series. I think it was discussed in these forums actually. It was an ABC series starring Taye Diggs that was going to temporraily replace Lost before getting a new timeslot. If successful it woud go for 22 episodes its first season and then move on to a second season. Well, it never got to 22. In fact it only got 13 episodes and TPTB had to wrap it up quicker than expected. But ratings kept getting so much worse that ABC only aired six of the 13 episodes. The remaining seven would be shown online. That was unfortunate because those last seven episodes were stronger even than the six that aired and a lot of people (including all fans living outside the US) were not able to catch the episodes online. The good news was that the writers/producers wrapped the story up in a way to give the series a mostly solid conclusion. So you can think of it as a long miniseries, a self-contained story that takes place over 13 episodes with a beginning, a middle and an end. Now I'm not the biggest Diggs fan in the world but I liked his work on this show and I really loved the series itself. And to all fairness to ABC the network REALLY promoted the hell out of this thing when it was making its debut. Ads were everywhere during daytime and primetime series. But most astounding to me was how the advertisement really played up the romantic angle between Diggs' character and the gorgeous Moon Bloodgood's character. It was clear that the network was trying to draw the interest of women by its concentrating on the love angle as much as they did the action and mystery angles. I had never seen such an approach when a black male lead was involved. Never. Not even for Denzel Washington. His somewhat similiar "Deja Vu" movie came out around the same time and the ads for that film downplayed the romantic part of the story. "Day Break" though emphasized it and that made the advertisement historic in my eyes. The cast was multi-racial and multi-cultural. Diggs' love interest was played by a babe of an Eurasian background. I would post pictures but I don't know how to do so....oh, well. Diggs' character was a police officer who had a hot white female partner and he had a good looking sister on the show as well, so there was plenty of eye candy for us guys. There was a somewhat Groundhog Day approach to the show with every day repeating with him trying to figure out who had set him up for murder and who was trying to kill the people he loved. But it was more complicated than Groundhog Day and the stakes were higher. Plus TPTB displayed some brilliant writing to keep every episode fresh and different from the previous one. The cool thing though is that because every day started with our lead waking up in bed with his girlfriend, you get to see Moon Bloodgood half-dressed all the time (what a great bod!). Now as I mentioned the ratings were awful. People kept tuning the show out. Partly it was because the Lost fans didn't want to deal with a replacement show, even a temporary one. Part of it was probably because it was a complicated show that took time to hit its stride. But I'm sure the race of the male lead also had a lot to do with it. This is not the type of storyline that a black man gets and its not the type of romantic lead that white America is used to watching. This show did not downplay Diggs' sexuality. So many scenes of him and his girlfriend in the bed, making out in the shower, etc. He got the white boy treatment in this one and i'm sure that made some people uncomfortable. Also there was a rumor being spread that black women refused in large numbers to support the show because Diggs' lover on the show was "white' (actually she was Eurasian and looked too exotic to be seen as white but I guess to many black women that's a small issue to quibble over). Whether its true about black women's attitudes towards this show can't be proved by me but I wouldn't be surprised if a few did indeed boycott the series. Anyway, why should you buy this DVD? Because on these forums we bemoan the lack of IR possibilities for black men in TV and film. We are upset with black men not being presented as leading men whom women find desirable. We hate the fact that black guys don't get to be part of a true onscreen romance where the the notion of love is just as important as the lust. We don't see enough black males get three dimensional roles as well as being the ones who save the day. That's why I applaud the foks who were color-blinded enough to cast Taye in the role. And when you litsen to the commentaries (every episode has at least one on-going commentary) you can hear Taye repeatedly talk about how he will never have another role like this again. The directors, producers and writers at first are asking him what he means by that, but I knew exactly what he was saying. Later he would come out and say that as black actor roles like this are never offered him. How true. This role is not the best role that a black actor has ever had on TV. But it's the one that offered the most romantic possibilities and leading man benefits. for a black man. Because of that it is truly ground breaking for American TV. And I could detect that Taye understands that that worthless Grey's Anatomy show he is now on does not offer him the same possibilities. Its a fabulous show. By the comentaries you get to know how the cast and production staff all got along splendidly (the main director was one of the people who was responsible for "The X-Files"). Its also clear that they all wish the show had lasted so they could still be working together. I give Hollywod a lot of grief for its cowardly way of handling black male sexuality. So I'm happy to say that this show does more on that front then almost all of the previous 30 years of TV did combined. So for all of you who talk the talk about wanting to see progress in Hollywood you don't have an excuse to pass up this gem. Especially for its current price. You need to make this part of your collection. Well, that's my opinion at least.
From what I was able to catch of Daybreak it seemed like a well done show. I also found the fact that they didn't shortchange the Diggs/Bloodgood relationship impressive. I will definitely be picking this up on DVD, maybe Kevin Hill too if it's available.
They are releasing all 13 episodes on DVD even when they only showed I think 5 or 6 episodes on t.v., but they didn't show all the episodes. THey don't usually do that with unsuccessful t.v.s shows, something tell me there is a little more to this story. But Im glad, because I was a big fan of that show and it's set up. Very Unique.
I was one of the first to lend commentary to the show on here as well. There's a thread about it somewhere here. For what it's worth, all points are dead on. This was a truly groundbreaking role for Taye, much less for ANY dark-skinned brotha. THe producers must have given the full green light because he got to do everything a white male counterpart in that position would have done, including the bedroom scenes. The writing was dead-on. And there were a strong cast of characters will real depth to them. As for the politics of the whole thing. I think race was a factor in why it didn't last, but I'd like to offer another thought. Jamal mentioned Lost fans not wanting to deal with the show. Well, I'm a Lost fan (stating hesitantly) and I can tell everyone that the writing on that show has gone to the dogs. They went from a potential major motion picture based on the show to a worst idea for marooned on an isle than Gilligan's Island. I think the writers are LOST quite frankly. So no, it wasn't a bad trade off at the time. I think it was largely due to the shows format of having to repeat the same day each episode, regardless of how different the outcome would be each time. People just don't have that kind of time in TV land anymore, even if the lead were a white dude. My logic is the same for superhero TV shows. They just don't survive. The fickle viewing public is simply not willing to put the time in for that type of progressive storyline. Finally, as for black women potentially complaining about the IR relationship, what else is new. They should get over themselves because Hollywood and TV is seemingly moving more towards wm/bw IR these days anyways.
Public is fickle but its not the viewers who are as impatient. Viewers of today support serial shows that rely heavily on continuity unlike viewers on the past who were more used to shows that relied on stand-alone episodes. No, its the networks themselves that are less patient and its the networks that want immediate dividends. But the starnge thing about "Day Break" was how its ratings sank like a stone immediately despite it being a serial show that audiences had grow accustomed to (24, HBO shows, Lost, BSG, Heroes, tc). Moon Bloodgood would move on to an NBC show with a similiar plotline called "Journeyman" (with a white male lead) and its ratings never fell off like that. No hour show on network TV with a black lead has ever been a huge ratings hit and most have actually been ratings disasters.
I have not seen much of that show but I will buy that season pack of Daybreak. America is not like Europe when it comes to BM in their sexuality to women of other races. Lost on the other hand is like a Gilligan's Island with a bit of a grownup Lord of the Flies. Where is Tina Louise on that show? I thought she would love a dramatic part.
shaft and soulthinker, you won't be disappointed if you do purchase it. Let me know what your final thoughts are once you watched it all.
