Unlike most network pilots, high-priced extravaganzas that stand in as the first episode of a series, "The Floodgates Open" is what Katz calls a "proof of concept," not even the project's final look at the crucial years in Philadelphia's history that it portrays, 1865-76.
The idea is that potential financial supporters of the larger project will see that Katz and his team have a good goal and know how to accomplish it. Mission accomplished. Only the most intense Wheel fan will miss Pat and Vanna and their puzzles and prizes.
The Great Experiment is a fantastic concept. Does any city in the United States have a richer history than Philadelphia? Has anyone done a video examination of it?
Katz and his team (his son Phil is a major player) demonstrate that they can work the archives, find the talking heads - ex-NPR journalist Juan Williams and MSNBC's Chris Matthews among them - and round up actors and camera crew to stage the re-creations competently. The finished product will be familiar to anyone who has watched history, especially Ken Burns' efforts on PBS.
However, it lacks the flow of more polished work, and fails to tie up obvious loose ends. City Hall is a focus, but the program never specifically mentions when ground was broken or the structure completed.
Much of the film is devoted to an Election Day, Oct. 10, 1871, following passage of the 15th Amendment which guaranteed U.S. citizens the right to vote, no matter what their "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." Amid mob violence, Negro leader Octavius V. Catto was gunned down by a crony of Irish leader William McMullen. But the year remains vague in the documentary, and it never mentions the date.
