Department of Justice and the NAACP, the city was found guilty of using federal housing funds to segregate the city (already 80 percent white) by only building housing projects “across the tracks” (in this case, on the other side of the Saw Mill River Parkway). Wasicsko is urged to run against Martinelli and though he thinks it’s probably too early, his ego gets the better of him and he agrees, thinking at worst he’ll learn from the experience.īut as Show Me A Hero begins, tensions in the city of Yonkers bubbles beneath the surface of the show. Idealistic political wonk Nick Wasicsko (a superb, award-worthy Oscar Isaac) is a newbie city councilman in Yonkers in the late 1980s - he’s still living with his mother and mostly voting along with incumbent mayor Angelo Martinelli ( Jim Belushi), who is likely to cruise to an easy victory. The six-part miniseries takes Belkin’s book and brings it achingly to life.

Zorzi, Hero is a true, era-specific look at not only race and class in America but the far more universal themes of home and family - of the American ideal of wanting a place of your own to settle down in. Written by Simon and long-time Wire contributor William F. This is a miniseries, rolled out in double episodes on three consecutive Sundays, that not only rewards viewers for the time they invest, but also gives them a glimpse of what could earn a very generous haul of Emmy nominations next year. Scott Fitzgerald quote, “ Show me a hero and I’ll write you a tragedy“) has a distinct “eat your vegetables” aroma to it, what becomes apparent when you settle down to watch is the unmistakable lure of being hooked by the storytelling and the first-class acting. Simon doesn’t recoil from what others might consider unsexy material.Īnd while it might seem that Show Me A Hero (taken from the F. The man digs into complex issues and refuses to take shortcuts, which is probably why his eyes lit up at the idea of taking non-fiction book, “ Show Me A Hero” by writer Lisa Belkin - about a public-housing policy dispute in Yonkers, New York, that divided a city along class lines and destroyed the career of an idealistic mid-sized city mayor - and making it into a miniseries. Which is the perfect way to say that Simon never in his life made anything easy for television executives and, by extension, viewers.

Show me a hero david simon