What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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T10 WHATS UP! January 19 - 25, 2020 The cast is rounded out by Strand's troubled son, T.K. (Ronen Rubenstein, "Dead of Summer"), officer Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva, "Fluidity" 2019) and the captain's hand-picked team of firefighters. The "Fine ... but I get to pick my team" trope is a classic part of a mod- ern hero's journey, and Owen uses it well, selecting devout Muslim Marjan Marwani (Na- tacha Karam, "The Brave"), the adrenaline junkie, Paul Strick- land (Brian Michael Smith, "The L Word: Generation Q"), a transgender firefighter with enough brains for the whole house, and Mateo Chavez (Ju- lian Works, "American Crime"), who has no known qualities yet, because no team is com- plete without someone every- one else can call "rookie." Setting the series in Austin, and Texas in general, creates room for some distinctly south- ern emergencies that would seem out of place in Los Ange- les, where the parent series is set. The show's trailer includes a rampaging rodeo bull, for ex- ample. Another small blessing "9-1-1: Lone Star" appears to be offering viewers is a lack of ter- rible Texas accents. In fact, the only team member (so far) who is meant to be from Texas is ac- tually played by an actor from Texas (Parrack). Though the cast hails from all over — from Michigan to Rehovot, Israel — the series is set up so that the main character's diction and di- alogue won't leave you needing to suspend your disbelief when you hear a New Yorker like Ty- ler attempting a natural "y'all." Part of what makes the 9-1-1 series special is the way it seamlessly weaves comedy into a drama that, on the surface, has absolutely no business be- ing light and funny. However, everyone who knows (or is) a police officer, firefighter, para- medic, nurse or any one of the real-life superhero professions knows that this kind of work has two hidden requirements: an iron stomach and a pitch- black sense of humor. These people risk their lives for strangers on a daily basis, often exhausting and some- times traumatizing them- selves for the sake of people they don't even know. If they want to pretend to hit a hole- in-one with a recently ampu- tated leg, then I say swing away (that particular story comes from my aunt, a psychi- atric ER nurse who chuckled along with the paramedics when that quirky event played out). A bit of humor goes a long way towards keeping the terrors at bay, and fun comra- derie on the job can keep a first responder sane. In a sneak peek of the up- coming series, Lowe said, "To bring to life these characters, who are based on people who are actually out in the trench- es saving lives every single day, is a profound honor for me." You can catch Lowe and the rest of the "9-1-1: Lone Star" cast in the series pre- miere, which airs on Sunday, Jan. 19, on Fox. So far, every- thing points to the success of this new offering, and the first episode is sure to leave y'all commin' back now, y'hear? Liv Tyler as seen in "9-1-1: Lone Star" continued from page T2 'Lowe'n Star State: New '9-1-1' spinoff takes on Texas TV FEATURE