The Bronx is Burning, the eight-part ESPN miniseries about New York politics, the Son of Sam murders, and sports in 1977, was riddled with off screen flare-ups, too.

"There were lot of bad behind-the-scenes moments ... tempers got frayed," John Turturro, who plays Yankee manager Billy Martin, told Radar at last night's premiere at Tribeca Cinemas. Did his temper get frayed? "Yeah. Other people's, too. We just didn't have enough time. It was freezing cold. There was a tight schedule ... it was a little chaotic," the actor said. "We kept re-writing ... the scripts weren't all ready. We were always refining it, so it was a little crazy, but it was very exciting. It was very collaborative."

The actor, whose roles in Coen Brothers films including Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? have earned him both indie and mainstream cred, declined to comment on who got mad at him. How was it resolved? "Someone quit, actually. It wasn't me. That's all I'm gonna say. But they didn't want to be there.... The actor was replaced by someone else."

Daniel Sunjata, who plays Reggie Jackson, confirmed the hot tempers, lateness, cold, and tired people. But asked about the tempers on the set, Oliver Platt, who plays George Steinbrenner in the film that airs July 9, replied, "I wasn't there for any of that."

Veteran newsman Jimmy Breslin, who said he didn't even know the movie was being made until after it was done, told actor Michael Ripoli at the after-party, "You did a better job of playing me than I do!"

Photo: Matt Carasella/PatrickMcMullan.com