Saturday, August 28, 2004

YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS GOOD TV: The fall TV season is upon us this week, with this week marking NBC's premieres of Father of the Pride on Tuesday and Hawaii on Wednesday. Honestly, it's difficult to care less about either of those (although I'm ticked that I have to choose between "Scrubs" and "Amazing Race" on Tuesday night this week due to rescheduling), but I bring you a preview of one of this season's most anticipated shows, at least for me--"Jack and Bobby"--courtesy of "EW," which enclosed a DVD of the pilot with this week's issue.

"Jack and Bobby" is about present day brothers Jack and Bobby McAllister, who are being raised by their addled single mother (Christine Lahti). If it were just that, it would probably be a boring and fairly pedestrian WB show. The twist is what makes it work. One of the brothers (it's revealed which one at the end of the pilot) is elected President in 2040, and intercut with the "present day" materials is "documentary" material discussing the McAllister presidency and McAllister's rise to power made up of interviews with both aged versions of characters we know in the "present day" and those that we don't yet know (including an appearance by David Paymer).

The pilot's damn solid, but my concern is whether it can carry forward for any length of time. We know by the end of the pilot (at least in broad outlines) what happens to both of the brothers as well as at least one of the other characters we've met for the rest of their lives. Given that, the question of whether there's any suspense in the plotting going forward is an obvious one. However, the show has a top-notch creative team, led by Greg Berlanti, who created "Everwood," Vanessa Taylor, who's worked with Berlanti on "Everwood" and wrote two of the episodes in the astoundingly good first season of "Alias," and underrated legal thriller writer Brad Meltzer. What the documentary segments reveal is that the creative team has developed a complete history for all these characters and for America--tiny details drop hints about what is to come, like the fact that a character is referred to as a "former first lady" and that a Vice-President served from "2040-2046." The question is whether that detail and though will come across on TV in an interesting and entertaining manner. Check out the pilot when it premieres two weeks from tomorrow--I will be doing so, and adding it to my TiVo season pass list.

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