Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2014 UCW 17 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Father Knows Best In Surviving Jack, hapless '90s teens make room for daddy by DEAN ROBBINS Fox had the brilliant idea of building a sitcom around Christopher Meloni's hard-guy routine. In Surviving Jack (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.), the veteran character actor (42, True Blood) does what he does best: finding the humor in a fearsome authority figure who's exasperated by the idiots in his midst. In this case, the idiots are his teenage kids, Frankie (Connor Buckley) and Rachel (Claudia Lee). Meloni's no-nonsense Jack is left in charge of them when his wife (Rachael Harris) starts law school, and his drill- sergeant ways throw the house into turmoil. He makes Frankie do a lap around the block in the middle of the night in his pajamas, for example, as penance for viewing porn. The gap between Jack's self-confidence and Frankie's anxiety makes for a particularly funny father-son relationship. Surviving Jack is set in the 1990s, when teenage girls idolized Christian Slater. Jack rolls his eyes over the era's pop culture, as do we. Indeed, there's so much eye-rolling that the series' compassion sneaks up on you. Jack's reign of terror is really an expression of love, and I surprised myself by choking up at the end of the first episode. That probably makes me an idiot, too, but so be it. Masterpiece Classic Sunday, 9 pm (PBS) British period pieces can be slow-paced and staid, but the season-two premiere of Mr. Selfridge crackles with energy. The subject is U.S.-style capitalism feeling its oats in 1910s London, so propriety would be entirely out of place. American hustler Harry Selfridge (Jeremy Piven) celebrates the fifth anniversary of his revolutionary department store, which has London ogling its lavish displays and sniffing at its perfume counter. The camera whirls through the store to keep up with Harry, who juggles mistresses, his estranged wife and legions of distressed staff members. Yes, there is murmuring of war — there is always murmuring of war in British costume dramas — but so far it hasn't spoiled the fun. "Let's talk," Harry snaps at a journalist covering his story. "You have five minutes." I appreciate the urgency. Friends with Better Lives Monday, 9 pm (CBS) In this new sitcom, six attractive young friends (à la Friends) deal with marriage, divorce and dating, jealous of each other's lives. Andi (Majandra Delfino) and Bobby (Kevin Connolly) worry that the excitement has gone out of their relationship; Jules (Brooklyn Decker) falls in love with New Age nut Lowell (Rick Donald); Will (James Van Der Beek) splits from his wife; and Kate (Zoe Lister-Jones) can't find a man because of her impossibly high standards. The ensemble has chemistry galore. You'd expect great work from TV veterans Connolly and Van Der Beek, but even the less familiar faces know their way around a punch line. Lister-Jones could be the breakout star with her original take on the heartless-businesswoman role. My only reservation is the writing. The sniggering sex jokes make Friends With Better Lives feel desperate, as if the producers worried it wouldn't be hip enough without constant references to boobs and balls. Calm down, guys — with a cast like this, your worries are over. The only thing missing is You! Whether you are a golfer, swimmer, tennis player, or enjoy dining. Gates Four Golf and Country Club has a membership for you and your family. For more information call 910.425.6667 or visit us at www.gatesfour.com