cityofboston.gov - Official Web Site of the City of Boston - Thomas M. Menino, Mayor

2005

National Geographic MegaStructures: Boston's Big Dig

Costing almost 15 billion dollars and taking 20 years to complete, the Big Dig is considered to be the most complex, expensive, and technically challenging civil engineering public works project in the United States. This episode looks at the many obstacles that were faced in the construction of this project, from water leaks to residential protests.

Aired: November 22, 2005
Director: Jeremy Hall
Production Company: Darlow Smithson Productions
Featured Locations: I-93 and I-90, Financial District, North End/ Waterfront, Haymarket, Logan Airport

2003

Discovery Extreme Engineering: Boston's Big Dig

This documentary examines Boston's protracted effort to ease traffic congestion by building a tunnel with a 10-lane artery more than 100 feet underground. Watch the final phases of the City's colossal urban-redesign project, which required more than a decade of research and planning. The goal? To decrease air pollution and to help Beantown's drivers navigate faster from one place to the next thanks to a smoother grid.

Featured Locations: Underground Highway, Airport Tunnel, Fort Point Channel Crossing, Zakim Bridge

2001

Trading Spaces - Boston: Institute Road

Aired: December 1, 2001 
Host: Paige Davis
Featured Locations: Institute Road

Trading Spaces - Boston: Ashfield Street

Aired: November 17, 2001 
Host: Paige Davis
Featured Locations: Ashfield Street

2000

Boston Public

The lives of 10 faculty members at a high school in Boston are complicated as they juggle dealing with trouble-makers, having a personal life, and trying to maintain some sanity.

Aired: 2000-2004 
Creator: David E. Kelly 
Stars: Loretta Devine, Anthony Heald, Chi McBride, Fyvush Finkel, Sharon Leal, Jeri Ryan 
Featured Locations: East Boston High School, Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Image Award Winner (Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Loretta Devine)  
• Peabody Award Winner  
• SHINE Award Winner (Drama Episode)

1998

Dawson's Creek

Set in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, Dawson's Creek is the coming of age story of four friends on the verge of adulthood.

Aired: 1998-2003
Creator: Kevin Williamson
Stars: James Van Der Beek, Katie Holmes, Michelle Williams, Joshua Jackson, Mary Beth Peil
Featured Locations: Boston; Cape Cod

Awards and Accolades:

• Casting Society of America Artios Nominee (Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Plot - Marcia Shulman)

• GLAAD Media Awards Nominee (Outstanding TV Drama Series)

• Teen Choice Award Winner (TV Choice Actor - Joshua Jackson; TV, Choice Drama)

1997

Ally McBeal

Ally McBeal is a single, young lawyer looking for love and life fulfillment. Working for a Boston law firm with her ex-lover and his wife, Ally must learn how to content with her raging emotions and over active imagination.

Aired: 1997-2002
Creator: David E. Kelley
Stars: Calista Flockhart, Greg Germann, Jane Krakowski, Robert Downey Jr., Peter MacNicol, Lucy Liu
Featured Locations: Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Emmy Award Winner (Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series - Nikki Valko, Ken Miller; Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series - Peter MacNicol; Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or Special - Paul Lewis, Nello Torri, Peter Kelsey; Outstanding Comedy Series; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series - Tracey Ullman)

• Golden Globes Winner (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV - Robert Downey Jr.; Best TV Series, Comedy/Musical)

• Screen Actors Guild Award Winner (Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series; Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series - Robert Downey Jr.)  

The Practice

Set in Boston, The Practice centers on a firm of passionate attorneys to whom every case is important and every client worth a fight to the end. Pursuing justice, however, often confronts them with serious ethical and moral issues of conscience.

Aired: 1997-2004
Creator: David E. Kelley
Stars: Dylan McDermott, Kelli Williams, Lara Flynn Boyle, Steve Harris, Camryn Manheim, Michael Badalucco
Featured Locations: City Hall Plaza, Suffolk Courthouse, Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Emmy Award Winner (Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - John Larroquette; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Camryn Manheim; Outstanding Drama Series; Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Edward Herrmann; Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series – Michael Badalucco; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series - Holland Taylor; Outstanding Guest Actor in a  Drama Series - James Whitmore; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - Beah Richards; Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Michael Emerson; Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - Charles S. Dutton; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - Alfre Woodard; Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series - William Shatner; Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - Sharon Stone; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series - James Spader)

• Golden Globe Winner (Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama - Dylan McDermott; Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini Series, or Motion Picture - Camryn Manheim; Best TV Series, Drama; )

• Golden Satellite Award Winner (Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Drama - Camryn Manheim; Best Television Series, Drama)  

The Real World: Boston

The 6th season of MTV's reality series; Focuses on a group of diverse strangers living and working together for several months in a major city.

Aired: 1997
Creator: Jonathan Murray, Mary-Ellis Bunim
Stars: Elka Walker, Jason Cornwell, Montana McGlynn, Genesis Moss, Sean Duffy, Kameelah Phillips, Syrus Yarbrough
Featured Locations: Beacon Hill, Downtown, East Boston

1996

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

When sixteen year old high school student Sabrina Spellman finds out she is a witch, she must learn the tricks of magic in order to receive her witch's license.

Aired: 1996-2003
Creator: Nell Scovell
Starring: Melissa Joan Hart, Caroline Rhea, Beth Broderick
Featured Locations: Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Emmy Award Nominee (Outstanding Art Direction for a Multi-Camera Series - Scott Heineman, Julie Kaye Fanton)  

• Kids Choice Award Winner (Favorite Animal Star - "Salem the Cat")

• Young Artist Award Winner (Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series, Guest Starring Young Performer – Seth Adkins; Best Performance in a TV Series; Leading Young Performer - Melissa Joan Hart)

Boston Common

After moving to Boston from Virginia to spy on his sister, Boyd finds himself working for the student union where he raises hell more often than he should.

Aired: 1996-1997
Directors: James Widdoes, Brian K. Roberts, Tom Cherones, Rod Daniel, Linda Day, James Hampton, Philip Charles MacKenzie, Tom Moore, Max Tash, D. Owen Trainor

Stars: Anthony Clark, Hedy Burress, Traylor Howard, Tasha King, Steve Paymer
Featured Locations: Boston 

1990

Against The Law

Aired: 1990-1991
Creator: David Manson
Stars: Michael O'Keefe, Suzzanne Douglas, Elizabeth Ruscio, M.C. Gainey
Featured Locations: Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Emmy Award Nominee (Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music - Thomas Newman)

1986

The Cavanaughs

Outspoken 71-year-old Irish expatriate Francis "Pop" Cavanaugh is the glue holding together his tightly-knit, yet constantly bickering, clan who mostly reside in the same house in South Boston. Can Pop hold everyone together so that the family business can thrive?

Aired: 1986 - 1989
Starring: Bernard Hughes, Peter Michael Goetz, Mary Tanner Bailey, John Short, Parker Jacobs, Danny Cooksey, Christine Ebersole
Production Company: Paramount Television
Featured Location: Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Casting Society of America Artios Award Nominee (Best Casting for TV, Comedy - Susan Bluestein, Renee Rousselot)

• Emmy Award Nominee (Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy Series - Art Carney)

1985

Spenser: For Hire

A mystery television series based on Robert B. Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private investigator in Boston, gets involved in a new mystery every episode. Using his years of experience, his natural talents for observation and reasoning, and the occasional help from his friend Hawk, Spenser never fails to crack the case.

Aired: 1985-1988
Starring: Robert Urich, Avery Brooks, Ron McLarty
Production Company: Warner Bros. Television
Featured Location: Boston

1983

Goodnight, Beantown

Matt Cassidy is a Boston television news anchor who is surprised when his station hires a female co-anchor, Jennifer Barnes, to improve the station's sagging ratings.

Aired: 1983-1984
Starring: Bill Bixby, Mariette Hartley, Tracey Gold
Production Company: Warner Bros. Television
Featured Location: Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Young Artist Award Winner (Best New Television Series; Best Young Actress in a New Television Series - Tracey Gold)

• Emmy Award Nominee (Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Mariette Hartley)

1982

Cheers

Sam Malone, a former Boston Red Sox pitcher with a severe drinking problem, owns and runs Cheers, a cozy Boston bar. Several wacky customers make the bar their home away from home, spending a few hours there every day, divulging their problems and building friendships. 

Aired: 1982-1993
Creators: James Burrows, Glen Charles, Les Charles
Starring: Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrelson, Kirstie Alley, Shelley Long, Bebe Neuwirth 
Production Companies: Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, Paramount Television
Featured Locations: Beacon Street, Various City locations; Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Directors Guild of America Winner (Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series – James Burrows, Penny Adams, Thomas Lofaro, Brian James Ellis, Gil Clasen, Linda McMurray, Steven Pomeroy, Rick Beren)

• Emmy Award Winner (Outstanding Comedy Series; Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series – James Burrows; Outstanding Individual Achievement, Graphic Design and Title Sequences – James Castle, Bruce Bryant; Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Shelley Long; Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series – Glen Charles, Les Charles, David Angell; Outstanding Film Editing for a Series – Andrew Chulack; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – Rhea Perlman; Outstanding Live and Tape Sound Mixing and Sound Effects for a Series; Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or Special; Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy Series – John Cleese; Outstanding Editing for a Series, Multi-Camera Production – Andy Ackerman, Robert Bramwell; Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – Woody Harrelson; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series – Ted Danson; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series – Bebe Neuwirth; Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series – Kirstie Alley)

• Golden Globe Winner (Best Performance by an Actress in Supporting Role in a Series, Mini Series or Motion Picture Made for TV – Shelley Long; Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Comedy/Musical – Ted Danson; Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Series, Comedy/Musical – Kirstie Alley; Best TV Series, Comedy/Musical)

St. Elsewhere

An award winning, critically acclaimed, ambitious and realistic medical drama about the always under-the-gun doctors and nurses of St. Eligius, an understaffed, underfunded and always chaotic teaching hospital in a deteriorating section of Boston.

Aired: 1982 - 1988
Creators: Joshua Brand, John Falsey
Starring: Ed Beagley Jr., William Daniels, Howie Mandel, David Morse, Christina Pickles, Denzel Washington, Normal Lloyd, Eric Laneuville, Ed Flanders, James Coco, Doris Roberts 
Production Companies: MTM Productions, National Broadcasting Company (NBC) 
Featured Locations: Franklin Square House, Boston

Awards and Accolades:

• Emmy Award Winner (Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series – Ed Flanders; Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series – James Coco; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Doris Roberts; Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series – William Daniels; Outstanding Achievement in Costuming for a Series – Susan Smith, Robert M. Moore, Charles Drayman, Anne Hartley, Kathy O’Rear; Outstanding Art Direction for a Series – Jacqueline Webber, Norman Rockett; Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series; Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Bonnie Bartlett; Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series – Mark Tinker)

• Humanitas Prize Winner (60 Minute Category)

• Peabody Award Winner