Critic Reviews
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This look back at the America of 1963 breathtakingly captures the dying roars of an old culture and the triumphant cries of the new one. It may be the closest thing to time travel we'll ever experience. [29 Sep 2002, p.M8]
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Without a doubt, the season's best new show.
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American Dreams, although set in the supposedly kindler, gentler days of 1963, manages not wrap itself in a “things were so much better then” haze. In so doing, it encourages viewers to think about the issues it tentatively raises, and to make connections between the lives it portrays and the lives we live now.
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The new series' production values are impeccable, its cast is solid, and there are occasional moments of fresh, specific detail that suggest the show could transcend the overstuffed pilot episode. [27 Sep 2002]
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The show looks slick, the attention to detail is painstaking and the music inspires toe tapping.
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Fueled by the rock 'n' roll music of the '60s and using "American Bandstand" as a story component, American Dreams is unabashedly hopeful in spite of enough personal crises to spawn a Party of Five revival.
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At least the ambitious pilot makes it clear that the show has a vitality and passion sadly lacking in a lot of other fall offerings.
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All programs about the '60s should go down as well as this one.
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A softer and sweeter show, and though it may sometimes seem obvious and even corny, it too has an emotional pull that is lacking in much of what might be called video noir.
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This show tries to deal with the major cultural shifts during this time by showing an American family going through them. The season première is promising. Let's hope it doesn't devolve into mere melodrama.
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This is a drama about a family — the Pryors of Philadelphia — that's actually interesting for viewers' entire families.
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American Dreams is a complex, poignant look at a family finding its way as the '60s rock their world. All that, and the best soundtrack on TV.
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With the emotional tug of Wonder Years presented with the production values of The West Wing, Dreams should follow Wing, The Sopranos and 24 as stellar shows that live up to the promise of its pilot.
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With its strong female performances — Snow and O’Grady are superbly nuanced — ”Dreams” maintains a nurturing warmth that appeals to young viewers as well as the boomers I mentioned earlier.
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American Dreams will need to change and develop if it has any hope of mimicking the success of American Bandstand. But tonight's opener has a nice beat and is easy to dance to. [29 Sep 2002, p.2]
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NBC's American Dreams, opening in 1963, too often plays like a sentimental journey or a clumsy history lesson. [29 Sep 2002, p.4]
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Bottom Line: Good beat, weak drama.
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American Dreams is as soft-focused and jelly-bellied as a close-up of Shelley Winters, and the message gets a little garbled in the nostalgia.
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American Dreams is a frustrating mix, often sensitive and winning in its treatment of the Pryor family, and hackneyed in its reach for historical relevance.
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An icky exercise in nostalgia, this series is set in Philadelphia in the early 1960's and is about the evolving problems and joys of a big Catholic family.
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