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American Dreams

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TV Series

The Resume

    (September 29, 2002-March 30, 2005)
    Drama series
    Originally aired on NBC
    Principal cast
    Brittany Snow as Margaret 'Meg' Pryor
    Tom Verica as John J. 'Jack' Pryor
    Gail O'Grady as Helen Pryor
    Will Estes as John J. 'J.J.' Pryor, Jr.
    Sarah Ramosas Patricia 'Patty' Pryor
    Ethan Dampf as William 'Will' Pryor
    Jonathan Adams as Henry Walker
    Arlen Escarpeta as Samuel 'Sam' Walker
    Vanessa Lengies as Roxanne Bojarski
    Rachel Bostonas Elizabeth 'Beth' Mason-Pryor
    Premise: A Philadelphia family struggle with angst and everyday problems during the 1960s

Why American Dreams might be annoying:

    It's a more soapy and melodramatic version of 'The Wonder Years.'
    It probably later inspired 'Mad Men' and 'This is Us.'
    Estes portrayed Jack and Helen's oldest son J.J. despite being only 14 and 15 years younger than the actors portraying them.
    Television critic Hal Boedeker of the 'Orlando Sentinel' said of the series, 'Too often plays like a sentimental journey or a clumsy history lesson.'
    The series relied on very special episodes.
    It was constantly beaten in the ratings by 'Cold Case' and 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.'
    When the series was moved to Wednesday nights, the ratings behemoth 'Lost' trounced it in the ratings.
    As a result of low ratings and high production costs, the series was cancelled despite having a few unresolved plot lines.
    Only the first season has been released on DVD because of high music licensing fees.
    The series has been heavily criticized for its various levels of historical inaccuracy such as shifting historical events in order to fit the plot line of the show.

Why American Dreams might not be annoying:

    It made a star out of Brittany Snow.
    Milo Ventimiglia and Chris Pine had recurring roles in the series.
    It tackled touchy subjects such as feminism, racism, war, and homophobia.
    Singers such as Alanis Morissette and Chris Isaak made guest appearances (the latter portrayed his idol and mentor Roy Orbison).
    Dick Clark was an co-executive producer of the show.
    Tonic lead vocalist Emerson Hart sang the show's theme song.
    Ironically, Snow would go on to play a character in the 2007 film 'Hairspray' (another piece of nosalgia-laden media) that's the opposite of her character on this show.

Credit: Birdienest81


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 152 Votes: 41.45% Annoying