Rhode Island has never had a year like 1999 for scripted or spontaneous stories

No one said a plastic surgeon servicing Southern California celebrities could not go home to Rhode Island. The respectable run that premise spawned proved the idea anything but far-fetched.

But the truth was, when NBC picked up Providence and premiered it Jan. 8, 1999, glamour was already returning to the show’s real-life counterpart. A cultural renaissance defined the decade for a long-downtrodden state capital.

It would have been trickier to try to script the winter and spring the locale savored in that culminating year. In January alone, primetime network TV premiered two series set in the 401 area code. While that signified the place’s renewed photogenic appeal, real-life Rhode Island had its share of riveting storylines in the works.

Over the ensuing months, one Providence sports team went on an unprecedented thrill ride and record-book rewrite. Another traveled a rockier emotional road with a halfway Hollywood ending that would have been cheesy were it not the naked truth.

The two shows and two teams would all succeed despite low-to-middling expectations, unfavorable preseason assignments or both.

Yes, some harsher political realities concurrently fizzed in the area. In that regard, some of the unpleasantness was not vanishing. But in a timely coincidence, one of the new works of fiction was offering Rhode Island some laugh-at-itself satire for the other 49 to see.

Under the growing shadow of a new century, these developments gave the Ocean State a perfect storm of attention grabbers. This place was ahead of most others in experiencing much-anticipated change, largely for the better.

News, sports and entertainment media never combined for this much gratifying concentration here at once. Some of the first-time visitors instantly noticed what they had been missing.

In a Jan. 6, 1999 Deseret News article, Providence creator John Masius admitted to never having previously seen the city. He told reporter Scott D. Pierce that he took his first impression of the location after the NBC greenlit the series.

That first-time firsthand experience only emboldened his intrigue, and brought everyone back for several on-site shots afterward.

“I was incredibly impressed with the diversity of the town and also the sort of renaissance of the city,” Masius told Pierce. “It’s good timing all around.”

Oh boy, he really did not know the half of it. Then again, even the locals who live to “Catch the Wave” could not be sure of the delectable deluge ahead.

Look what we’ve got now

An all-encompassing Rhode Island history and culture website, quahog.org, ponders the reason for the uptick in depictions of the state.

“Up until the last few years, television has had very little use for Rhode Island,” begins the site’s facts and folklore page. “Now, every other show seems to be set in the Ocean State. Is it because of the Providence Renaissance? The natural beauty of our coastline? Our lovable accents?”

Masius’ word was one endorsement of the first theory. After all, the other (or “othah”) two qualities are essentially immutable. But more a positive perception of the state and its capital can equal more attention for the rest.

That effectively began with the personal redemption of Providence mayor Buddy Cianci and his second stretch in office. He redressed his image and was reelected in 1990 after assault charges and near-imprisonment forced him out six years prior.

Upon returning in 1991, Cianci pushed for a host of new attractions to the town’s Downcity district. His first major head-turner was enticing the Boston Bruins’ AHL affiliate from Portland, Maine. With that, the newfangled Providence Bruins took root at the Providence Civic Center for the 1992-93 season, replacing the long-bygone Rhode Island Reds.

Two years later, the Rhode Island Convention Center opened next door to the Civic Center. In warmer months, locals and tourists got their first look at the original WaterFire display in the city’s rivers. The new Waterplace Park served to amplify the show’s aesthetics.

The park was a product of scrapping an eyesore of a bridge, replacing it with walkways and accentuating the majestic modern and Venetian-inspired architecture around the water. WaterFire would be the site’s first of many recurring festivals.

New or revamped restaurants and hotels only capitalized on and furthered the cycling downtown (or Downcity) economic boom. For those seeking a glitzy vibe away from L.A., Providence was a ringing new option.

Two decades prior, the area’s residents were reportedly deriding it as the “armpit of New England.” Escaped zoo animals embodied the disarray before and during Cianci’s first reign (1974-84). The city was teetering on bankruptcy in 1981.

By 1997, it was ranked among the 10 most livable American cities by a variety of general and niche magazines. And that was the year before the two scripted series began production in earnest ahead of their midseason premieres. By then, those who had not traveled could have a weekly look from their living room.

In the meantime, other communities were getting in-person looks at what made the Divine City the Renaissance City. In 1998, WaterFire creator Barnaby Evans, a Brown University alum, spread his gift to Houston. A who’s who of more cities, stateside and abroad, have demanded a version of his magnum opus as well.

Back in Providence, a downtown state-of-the-art shopping center was in the works. In addition, residents could not help taking notice of Masius’ cast and crew taking shots for the show.

Both the mall and the program would come in 1999. Ditto a less-publicized Rhode Island-set animated series being produced back in a SoCal studio. While they waited, the citizens renewed Cianci’s tenure once more, this time in a one-candidate election.

But not all of the big news was rosy for Rhody culture that autumn. In October 1998, citing Title IX, Providence College announced it would fold its 76-year-old baseball program. The next spring was designated the swan song for a program that produced, among others, then-Red Sox infielder Lou Merloni.

Concomitant with that prickly pill, the P-Bruins were starting their seventh season desperate to kick ice chips on its predecessor. They had won 19 games out of 80 in 1997-98, finishing 18th out of 18 in the AHL’s collective standings.

Further struggles on the ice would potentially test the loyalty of the fans, who now had more on-the-town entertainment options than in 1992-93. Fortunately for the Bruins brass, the team at least regained a competitive persona to start Season 7.

With one-time captain Peter Laviolette as their new head coach, they climbed above the .500 mark by Game 12. By the time 1998 gave way to 1999, they were 21-10-3 on the season.

Although, with many of its home games occurring on Friday nights, AHL Providence would soon go head-to-head with NBC Providence.

 

 

From a TV town to a title town

With a self-explanatory title, Providence had protagonist Dr. Sydney Hansen (Melina Kanakaredes) moving back cross-country to the Rhode Island capital. While no locals permeated the cast or brass, the show had reason for lofty expectations. It was the creation of an award-winning Touched by an Angel veteran in Masius.

The program took its share of fact-and-flaw liberties in portraying the town. Beyond the on-location outdoor scenes, it relied on its Los Angeles hub to look the part. But there was enough to flatter Ocean State viewers. As the network’s local affiliate, NBC 10, noted ahead of the pilot’s premiere, SoCal spots did their best impression of the Foxy Lady strip club and Roger Williams Park.

Meanwhile, up-and-coming actor and animator Seth MacFarlane was putting his Rhode Island School of Design education to use. MacFarlane had graduated in 1995, when the Providence renaissance was in full swing. The P-Bruins completed their third season of existence, and their third of four straight as the AHL’s runaway attendance leaders. Meanwhile, the Rhode Island Convention Center and WaterFire were each in their first full calendar year at the time.

As part of his senior thesis, MacFarlane produced an animated short, The Life of Larry. He himself gave title character and his dog, Steve, the same basic voices as Peter and Brian Griffin later on. The familiar cutaway gags were an immediate habit as well.

Upon moving to L.A., amidst other work, MacFarlane produced a sequel, Larry & Steve. That played no small role in convincing Fox to give him a tryout at a full-fledged series. He triumphed, and set Family Guy in fictional Quahog, an obvious Providence suburb based on the remarkably accurate backdrop drawings.

The series premiered it on the final night of January as a Super Bowl lead-out. Going in, there was some critical skepticism, as many adult animated series were susceptible to unfavorable comparisons to The Simpsons.

Three weeks ahead of the premiere, Chicago Tribune pundit Steven Johnson questioned MacFarlane’s experience. “A 25-year-old is behind it, so expect something more like “South Park” than “The Flintstones,’” he wrote.

After the first episode aired, some critics cringed over its crassness and supposed shortage of originality. But others envisioned a solid foundation for the series ahead.

Regardless, six more installments constituted the short inaugural season, all airing in the spring. This introduction coincided with Fox’s last ride as the NHL’s U.S. network abode, allowing for a cross-promotional teaser.

The only question is why did a family of Ocean Staters cheer for a Rangers goal against the Bruins? Did the Connecticut-born MacFarlane lean New York?

That aside, Rhode Island’s real-life Bruins affiliate was generating unprecedented fervor among its fans. While NBC viewers were checking out Masius’ new creation, the P-Bruins were on the road, edging the Rochester Americans, 4-3.

That Jan. 8 win was their eighth in an eventual streak of 11. They would keep going unbeaten until the eve of the Family Guy premiere, when they lost a 6-1 laugher in Hershey.

Despite that uncharacteristic stinker, the Baby Bruins still went 10-1-1 on the month. In between, four of their players participated in the AHL all-star game. Three forwards (Randy Robitaille, Andre Savage and Landon Wilson) each scored an assist. Goaltender Jim Carey played one period, stopping all seven shots faced.

(That’s Carey with one R, not the Jim Carrey from the first Farrelly brothers movie — 1994’s Dumb and Dumber.)

With their streak carrying over from December, the Bruins had gone unbeaten for 16 straight outings before the January finale. They would drop seven more regular-season games after that, never by more than two goals.

By mid-April, the P-Bruins were the AHL’s regular-season champions with 120 points and a league-record 56 victories. Robitaille was the regular-season MVP, Laviolette the coach of the year.

The run signified a resurgence for the entity credited with spearheading Providence’s modern renaissance when it came to town in 1992. The Bruins’ historic turnaround put any specter of a Reds-like demise to rapid rest. As the modern representative of one of the league’s charter cities, they looked like they were there to stay.

But the same could not be said about another sports team across town. By January, PC baseball was in the homestretch of a bittersweet offseason ahead of February’s opener. The team entered the season ranked seventh in the Big East poll, which only turned up the fire below.

While a Major League-like surge would not reverse the school’s decision, the Friars channeled the Rachel Phelps-owned Cleveland Indians’ mentality. In so doing, they also matched the contemporary P-Bruins’ otherworldly output, winning a program-high 45 games leading up to the conference tournament final.

The week after Rhode Island’s historic TV season ended (Family Guy’s Season 1 finale aired May 16, Providence’s May 21), the Friars delivered on their defiance. They won their second and final Big East pennant and an automatic bid to the NCAA regionals.

In a subsequent in-depth wrap-up, Hartford Courant columnist Jeff Jacobs called the Friars’ mid-May home finale “a scene both sad and wonderful.” Outfielder Michael O’Keefe told Jacobs that, despite the decision’s obvious downside, “it did turn a lot of college kids into young adults.”

Two nights after Jacobs’ report was published, the P-Bruins throttled the Fredericton Canadiens, 6-1. That home triumph at the Civic Center in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final gave them a slot in their first Calder Cup Final. To sweeten the moment further, it happened on May 29, Rhode Island Statehood Day.

But even with everything else quieting on the entertainment front, hockey was not the only local newsmaker. While Fredericton, the affiliate of the Boston Bruins’ dreaded Montreal nemesis, was briefly staving off elimination in Game 5, an indictment was made in connection with a Providence mayoral scandal.

The FBI had made its first Operation Plunder Dome arrests the preceding month. Ultimately, the investigation made its way to the top of Cianci’s office. The late Prince of Providence was no Adam West of Quahog. But he was one of the reasons for Rhode Island’s reputation for political corruption.

Cianci, who guest starred on the March 12, 1999 Providence episode “Taste of Providence,” lasted another three years. But racketeering would catch up to him, ending his political power in September 2002. He would serve a five-year prison sentence and then spend the rest of his life as a radio talk-show host.

 

But that was not before the man who campaigned to bring the P-Bruins down from Maine joined in their party. Providence met the aforementioned Americans, the regular-season and playoff champions of the Western Conference, in what paper proclaimed a titanic final card.

At home, though, the Bruins were multiple cuts above. East Greenwich native and Brown University graduate Steve King spelled the difference with two goals in Game 1 on June 5. The next night, Providence posted a 6-0 runaway.

A week later, after splitting two tilts in Rochester, the Bruins sold out the Civic Center and paced themselves to a 5-1 Cup clincher. It was Providence’s first AHL playoff title since the bygone Reds raised the trophy in 1956.

A midweek parade followed in Downcity, ringing in the summer solstice in style. Two months later, the newly opened Providence Place Mall offered a little dog-day relief. Now, instead of going out to Warwick, Lincoln or out of state to Massachusetts, local shoppers could flock across the street from one of WaterFire’s best viewing spots above the river.

And not to be forgotten, the Farrellys released their third locally shot-and-based film in six years prior to Labor Day. Adapted from Peter Farrelly’s 1988 novel, Outside Providence fetched a decent 65 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie variously utilized and depicted the city proper plus Cranston, Kingston, Pawtucket and Woonsocket.

Still no encores

Two nights after the anniversary of the fateful Friars baseball announcement, the P-Bruins raised their Calder Cup banner. A more tumultuous 1999-2000 regular season did not indicate their playoff preparation, as they came within an overtime goal of another Eastern Conference crown. That was enough for Laviolette to move up the coaching ranks to the NHL afterward.

It was also enough for the Bruins to remain the royals of Rhode Island’s sports scene for a while longer. And still no other team has ravaged the AHL record book quite like the bar-setting 1998-99 Providence squad.

 

Meanwhile, the state’s two fictional sagas caught on, with one enlisting the aforementioned West for an April 25, 2000 episode.

With Providence and Family Guy, January 1999 proved the beginning of a still-uncontested one-two punch. In the annals of Ocean State teleplays, no other era comes close in collective prominence and staying power.

Previously, CBS had 40 episodes of Doctor Doctor from 1989 to 1991. In 1992, the same network contemplated the Providence-based Better Days but never aired its pilot.

No other Rhody-set network program mustered a full season between then and the Providence premiere. Ocean Staters’ best bets for entertaining local depictions in that interlude were the Farrellys’ Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary.

Since the pair that premiered in January 1999, none of the state’s scripted small-screen sagas have matched their legs.

In the spring of 2008, Julianna Margulies played the title role in all six episodes of Fox’s Canterbury Law. Margulies would soon have more success in another legal drama, CBS’ The Good Wife, set in Chicago. Meanwhile, back in “Rhody,” ABC carried all 13 episodes of Eastwick in the fall of 2009.

CBS could have fictionalized the state and capital city government’s infamous side, but decided against it. Five episodes of Waterfront, featuring Billy Baldwin as the state attorney general, were produced but never aired.

Outside of the four main networks, only two Rhode Island series have sustained a multi-year run. Last year, historic Newport got the last of its love from Comedy Central, which cancelled Another Period after three seasons and 32 installments.

Beyond basic cable, Showtime shot Brotherhood on location, giving Providence an authentic depiction from July 2006 to December 2008. But that only amounted to 55 episodes in three seasons.

Conversely, despite occupying the inauspicious Friday-night slot for its whole ride, Providence mustered five healthy seasons and 96 episodes.

Family Guy was cancelled in 2002, the same year Cianci was jailed, but returned in 2005. It is now in its 17th overall season, a Sunday-night staple opposite The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers. As of this week, it has churned out 320 episodes.

Besides MacFarlane’s breakout brainchild, the P-Bruins are only other holdover from that momentous winter and spring. They still draw exemplary fanfare in the AHL, but have yet to win another championship. Four return trips to the penultimate round of the playoffs have not yielded a second Calder Cup Final ticket.

And PC baseball has had no renaissance. In fact, America’s pastime is preparing to peel more of itself away from the Ocean State. The Pawtucket Red Sox will conduct their 48th and final campaign next year before moving to Worcester, Mass., in 2021. Providence could have kept that club in its eponymous county, but no deal for a venue nailed down the pegs.

Both Providence and Quahog’s most famous mayors have passed away within the last three years. Cianci was still hosting a local talk show when he died unexpectedly at age 74 on Jan. 28, 2016. In June 2017, West’s 88-year-old homonymous voice artist of Batman fame succumbed to leukemia.

But even with the former’s sketchy side, each are remembered for their shots in Rhode Island’s cultural arm. West was the first established A-list ringer with a recurring role on Family Guy, appearing 117 times. His 17 years in office (also nonconsecutive, as Lois Griffin briefly replaced him) fell only four short of Cianci’s.

Amid West’s reign, his constituents were seen advertising Del’s Frozen Lemonade, buying groceries from Stop & Shop and driving by the Big Blue Bug. More out-of-staters undoubtedly saw those entities because the guest star’s veteran presence drew them to the series. He gave it some Y2K compliance after its 1999 grace period.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have given us, Mr. Mayor,” MacFarlane stated on Twitter after West’s passing. “You’re irreplaceable.”

Quahog’s school system even acknowledged West’s Providence counterpart with Buddy Cianci Junior High.

“I wish I had gone there myself,” the namesake joked to Bloomberg TV in a June 2015 interview.

Well, you can’t have it all, as Cianci learned the hard way when his misdeeds caught up with him. But he and others also warrant credit for the way substantial scripted and sports narratives went through his city and state two decades ago this year.