Southie

On a warm afternoon last week, Maura Gavaghan stood at Castle Island, a tripod sticking out from a bag on her shoulder, her eyes scanning the faces lined up for hot dogs at Sullivan's. She had come to South Boston to scout talent for a reality television show that she is hoping to develop for Viacom, which owns VH1 and MTV. She's calling it "Dirty Water: The Real South Boston. " There has been a lot of talk about the "real" South Boston lately, and a lot of reality show producers combing the neighborhood claiming they are the ones that are going to reveal it. That is because...

West Roxbury walked away with a dramatic 15-14 come-from-behind victory against South Boston on Friday afternoon to clinch a berth in Saturday's city championships. (Justin A. Rice / For the Boston Globe) By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent West Roxbury's injury-plagued softball team clinched a berth in the city championships on Friday afternoon in the most dramatic fashion possible, a 15-14 win over South Boston. The come-from-behind victory on the final day of the regular season gave the Raiders the tiebreaker over Dorchester for the...

Boston Casting is on the hunt for Southie women. The agency is helping with a reality show called "Southie" that will feature women, ages 21 to 35, who are proud to be neighborhood ladies. They describe ideal "Southie" cast members as: "blue collar, hard working, good looking, wise cracking, tough talking girls . . . who like to have a good time. " So, like, Blake Lively in "The Town"? If you're a potential candidate, e-mail BostonCastingSouthies@gmail.com.

We got glimpses of it in Martin Scorsese 's "The Departed," Clint Eastwood 's "Mystic River," and Ben Affleck 's "Gone Baby Gone," but South Boston is about to get a TV show of its very own. A&E announced Wednesday that it has picked up "Southie Rules," a reality series that will track "one wicked-stubborn native South Boston family" as they deal with the gentrification of their neighborhood. The show, which begins production immediately, is the brainchild of the Somerville-based Powderhouse Productions and Magilla Entertainment, which has had a hand in such fine shows as "The Rachel Zoe ...

South Boston learned the hard way it can't win a game when it can't hang onto the ball. The Knights fumbled eight times, losing seven, as Blue Hills rolled to a 40-8 win at Moakley Field, picking up the nonleague victory before next week's Mayflower Large matchup against rival Southeastern. "This was a good test for us to find out just how good we really are," said Blue Hills coach Ed Catabia. He didn't have to wait long. Steven Snyder took the opening kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown and Vincent Burton pounded in the 2-point rush for an 8-0 lead 20 seconds into the game.

IT ISN'T hard to see why five production companies are suddenly showing interest in filming reality TV shows in South Boston, and it isn't the beautiful views from Castle Island. Rather, it's the view from the Joe Moakley Courthouse, where James "Whitey" Bulger is going to go on trial, opening up a retro world of colorful mob characters and ethnic loyalties and resentments. Fleshing out these images with real-life characters could make for great TV. But it's bad for the Southie neighborhood of today, and the city around it, because...

BROKEN IRISH By Edward J. Delaney Turtle Point, 379 pp., $18.50 South Boston's hardscrabble history and abundant local color make it fertile ground for fiction, but it's often done a disservice by stories that rely on garish caricatures and lazy stereotypes. Thankfully, "Broken Irish," the Southie-based second novel by local writer Edward J. Delaney, treats its strong ensemble of characters with dignity, even as they plunge headlong into tragedy. Set on the cusp of the millennium, the novel depicts a community in upheaval.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent With the recent release of the now viral video " The Real Housewives of South Boston " one local South Boston publication is fighting back against the negative stereotypes featured in the video. Caught in Southie , a South Boston source for arts and entertainment, recently released a more positive look at who they think the real housewives of South Boston are. The original parody video, created by Los Angeles-based comedy team Paulilu , featured five "South Boston natives"...

The Rev. Daniel J. Sheehan, senior priest in residence at St. Brigid and Gate of Heaven parishes in South Boston and lover of the Boston Red Sox, died of heart failure Saturday at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was 83. Beloved by his parishioners, students, and large extended family, Father Sheehan had the gift of listening and caring. “He could relate to anyone,’’ JoAnn Geary, business manager for Gate of Heaven, St. Brigid, and Boston Catholic Academy said.

THE ECHOES grow ever more faint as we move ever farther from their source. George Frazier has been gone for 37 years, and we don’t hear as much about him anymore. But, oh, how those echoes did thunder in their day. As a columnist at the Globe, and before that at the Herald, the wistful George Frazier could make us pine for days when Hobey Baker played for Princeton, or Count Basie and Duke Ellington played the Roof at the Ritz, their music wafting out across the Public Gardens and the Charles River and into the soul of a generation.

Two years ago, he fashioned his campaign around a simple slogan with a firm sense of place: "I'm Scott Brown, I'm from Wrentham, and I drive a truck. " But these days, Brown is advertising his allegiance to a different place, South Boston. On Twitter, he walks with his dogs in South Boston, near his campaign headquarters, and touts the endorsement of former Mayor Ray Flynn, a South Boston fixture. At last month's St. Patrick's Day breakfast, Brown belted out the chorus of "Southie is my Hometown" and teased Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren as if she were a tourist: "I hope you didn't...

Two years ago, he fashioned his campaign around a simple slogan with a firm sense of place: "I'm Scott Brown, I'm from Wrentham, and I drive a truck. " But these days, Brown is advertising his allegiance to a different place, South Boston. On Twitter, he walks with his dogs in South Boston, near his campaign headquarters, and touts the endorsement of former Mayor Ray Flynn, a South Boston fixture. At last month's St. Patrick's Day breakfast, Brown belted out the chorus of "Southie is my Hometown" and teased Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren as if she were a...

IT ISN'T hard to see why five production companies are suddenly showing interest in filming reality TV shows in South Boston, and it isn't the beautiful views from Castle Island. Rather, it's the view from the Joe Moakley Courthouse, where James "Whitey" Bulger is going to go on trial, opening up a retro world of colorful mob characters and ethnic loyalties and resentments. Fleshing out these images with real-life characters could make for great TV. But it's bad for the Southie neighborhood of today, and the city around it, because it's representative of...

On a warm afternoon last week, Maura Gavaghan stood at Castle Island, a tripod sticking out from a bag on her shoulder, her eyes scanning the faces lined up for hot dogs at Sullivan's. She had come to South Boston to scout talent for a reality television show that she is hoping to develop for Viacom, which owns VH1 and MTV. She's calling it "Dirty Water: The Real South Boston. " There has been a lot of talk about the "real" South Boston lately, and a lot of reality show producers combing the neighborhood claiming they are the ones that are going to reveal it. That is because...

South Boston may be in the throes of gentrification, but some things never change. It's an annual rite of spring, more reliable than the first robin at the bird feeder: When Sullivan's at Castle Island starts serving its "trifecta" of hot dog, fries, and an ice cream cone, it's time for all South Boston to return to Southie's shore. Opening day last month proved too blustery for the otherwise obligatory stroll around Pleasure Bay, but neighborhood residents descended on the food bar like seagulls on a french fry. Two hardy souls in the parking lot were donning wet suits, presumably for a...

The production company behind "Jersey Shore" confirmed yesterday that it's producing a South Boston-based reality series for TLC. The show, titled "Southie Pride," will offer "an insider's look at the faith, hard work, and family that make this blue-collar enclave Beantown's beating heart," according to 495 Productions. It'll focus on five South Boston women and their families. That said, 495 Productions is best known for the MTV series "Jersey Shore," so prepare yourselves. 495, which is run by SallyAnn Salsano, says the show will premiere this fall.

Before class began, Laurie Lydon had a quick question for the teacher. “Is it OK,’’ she asked, gesturing back toward the door, “if I pahk ovah theeyah?’’ Marjorie Feinstein-Whittaker looked at Lydon and smiled. On a scale of 1 to 10, Whittaker had Lydon’s Boston accent at a 9-plus. This was going to be a challenge. There are really only two reasons anyone has ever signed up for Whittaker’s “Boston Accent Modification’’ program, where she teaches people how to “neutralize’’ their accent: because they want to act, or because they think it makes them sound dumb.

John Shea , artistic director of the Nantucket Theatre Workshop, is showing some "Southie"-style loyalty to Sue Costello , arranging an island performance of Costello's solo show "Minus 32 Million Words" before it heads off-Broadway. The Dorchester-bred comic's cameo in Shea's 1998 film "Southie" led to her CBS series "Costello. " Recalls Shea: "She deviated so wildly from the script, much better than anything I could have come up with. "

Boston Casting is on the hunt for Southie women. The agency is helping with a reality show called "Southie" that will feature women, ages 21 to 35, who are proud to be neighborhood ladies. They describe ideal "Southie" cast members as: "blue collar, hard working, good looking, wise cracking, tough talking girls . . . who like to have a good time. " So, like, Blake Lively in "The Town"? If you're a potential candidate, e-mail BostonCastingSouthies@gmail.com.

SLAINE With Action Bronson At: the Middle East Downstairs, Friday. 8 p.m. 18-plus. Tickets: $18, $15 in advance. 617-864-3278. "I got enough rage for every page in the book. " George "Slaine" Carroll, who performs Friday at the Middle East Downstairs with Action Bronson, is sitting in the corner of the comfort room at a cigar bar in the North End, taking puffs as the Monday Night Football game flickers on a small TV mounted to the wall in front of him. "I don't feel like my demons have been exorcised.