The Seashore Boys: An American Household is a 2000 miniseries written by Kirk Ellis and directed by Jeff Bleckner.^[1] It’s a dramatization of the early years of The Seashore Boys, from their formation within the early Sixties to their peak of recognition as musical innovators, by way of their late-Sixties decline (and Brian Wilson’s starting battle with psychological sickness), to their re-emergence in 1974 as a nostalgia and “goodtime” act.

The film was proven in two elements on ABC Tv, and featured a great deal of authentic studio and session materials by the band, which kinds the backdrop to the story. Music that could not be licensed for the manufacturing, however was essential to the story (such because the Smile album periods, and music by felony Charles Manson, who had collaborated with Dennis Wilson), was stuffed in with sound-alikes, harking back to the unique recordings.

In 2000, Brian Wilson acknowledged of the movie: “I did not prefer it, I believed it was in poor style. … And it stunk. I believed it stunk!”^[2] He elaborated additional: “I did not just like the second half. It wasn’t actually true to the best way issues had been. I might wish to see one other film if it was executed proper. However I simply form of turned my again to this one, or my different cheek, or no matter you wanna name it. It was greatest simply to disregard it as a result of it actually wasn’t true to life.”^[3] Wilson additionally felt that he was poorly portrayed by actor Frederick Weller (“He was a bit of extra tough than me”) and that there was an excessive amount of protection of Charles Manson (“That was a industrial fuckup”).^[4]