Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Bridge And Tunnel’ On Epix, Edward Burns’ Dramedy About 6 College Grads Clinging To 1980 Long Island

It’s been 26 years since Edward Burns burst onto the Hollywood scene with The Brothers McMullen, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in. But, now that he’s almost 53, he’s not playing the young twentysomethings he writes about in his films; he’s playing their dads. His new Epix series, Bridge And Tunnel, is Burns’ view of a group of Long Island college grads who hang onto life in the ‘burbs while things are changing around him. And, yes, he not only writes, produces, and directs the six-episode series, he plays the dad of the main character.

BRIDGE AND TUNNEL: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “Long Island, NY. Spring, 1980.” A man and a woman burst into what looks like the bathroom of a bar. They have a quickie right on the sink. Let’s hope it was somewhat clean.

The Gist: The people having the bathroom quickie are Jimmy (Sam Vartholomeos), who just graduated college that day, and Jill (Caitlin Stasey). They used to date but they haven’t seen each other in a few months. Jill initiated the breakup the last time; she was about to find an apartment in Manhattan to start her career in fashion, and he’s on his way to being a nature photographer.

That hasn’t changed; Jimmy is close to leaving for Alaska for a plum assignment for National Geographic. But Jill has been under his skin forever, since junior high. So he thinks their hooking back up is an opening for something more. His buddy Pags (Brian Muller), waiting to hear from law schools he’s applied to, is worried that getting sucked into Jill’s orbit will be trouble for him. Jill’s spitfire friend Stacey (Isabella Farrell) warned her that going to that graduation party where Jimmy would be would mean that they’d hook up again. Tammy (Gigi Zumbado) is just happy that everyone is hanging out in the area for the summer; she’s about to go to Columbia for business school.

Jill tells Jimmy that they should go out the next night; they stay out so late, that Jimmy is woken up after noon by his dad Artie (Edward Burns), telling him to mow the lawn, but also telling him to keep his eyes on the NatGeo prize. Jimmy and Pags hang out with their buddy Mikey (JanLuis Castellanos) and talk about the whole “Jill thing.”

Jill, meanwhile, is convinced by Stacey and Tammy (mostly Stacey) that the two of them are leading “incompatible lives,” leading Jill to think that she’ll have to leave Manhattan and follow Jimmy on the road as he photographs various natural wonders. She tries to cancel that night, but Jimmy proposes that the entire group, including their buddy Mikey (JanLuis Castellanos) hangs out.

Stacey, who dropped out of college and is living in Manhattan with an older guy, is still stoked to connect with Mikey again, and at the bar the two of them flirt and dance. Pags tries to ask Tammy out, but is more concerned that she’s gotten into grad school while he’s still waitlisted for law school. But mostly, Jill and Jimmy have it out how Jill now thinks that the two of them seeing each other again is a bad idea. Jimmy disagrees; they should enjoy their time together even though he’s leaving in the next few weeks.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Freaks And Geeks combined with Saturday Night Fever combined with The Brothers McMullen.

Our Take: Bridge And Tunnel has all the hallmarks of an Edward Burns production: Fast-talking, quippy characters with New Yawk-area accents (in this case, it’s the distinctive Long Island patois) and lots of youthful angst, set against an era-appropriate pop and rock soundtrack. But there’s something about these six characters that makes us feel that we’ve been here before, maybe not in setting but in age and time period.

In a way, Bridge And Tunnel is a less laugh-track-heavy take on That ’70s Show. Sure, it’s 1980 instead of the late ’70s, and Long Island is much different than Point Place, Wisconsin. But it’s still about people who have no idea what directions their lives will take and they cling to their hometown for comfort as life gets more complicated.

There’s nothing really remarkable about any of the characters, or the coming-of-age situations they’re in. Jimmy feels like he’d throw his whole career away for Jill, who seems none too appreciative of the attention. Tammy is nice; Stacey is a party girl; Mikey thinks he can get any girl he wants; Pags is mostly a mook. It all elicits a shrug, especially because the chemistry among the members of the group isn’t well established in the first episode.

Bridge And Tunnel is potentially a good show, with some funny situations and a good amount of drama in the mix. Burns’ dialogue is generally spot on and well-delivered by the cast. But by the end of the first episode, there wasn’t one character we could latch onto and root for or against.

Sex and Skin: The bathroom quickie is the only sex in the first episode.

Parting Shot: Jimmy, heart broken by Jill once again, and Pags, realizing that he may not get into law school, give the finger to Mikey, who says he’s having a great night.

Sleeper Star: We want to see more of Gigi Zumbado as Tammy, the only member of the group who seems to have a human personality.

Most Pilot-y Line: There’s some weird time period inconsistencies on the show. Burns looks like he did his scenes as Artie in the clothes he wore from home that day. Our middle-aged parents in 1980 did not dress like Artie does. The women’s clothing looks more 1977 than 1980 — where are the skinny Sergio Valente jeans? And when Jill calls Jimmy to cancel, she uses a cordless phone, something that was around but not common in 1980.

Our Call: STREAM IT. We were definitely left cold by the first episode of Bridge And Tunnel, but Burns knows how to craft characters that aren’t stereotypes, so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt here.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Watch Bridge and Tunnel on EPIX