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January 23 - 29, 2023 Page 3 ACROSS 1. __ Whistler; "NCIS: Hawai'i" role 5. Clark or Van Dyke 9. Adam __ of "Picket Fences" 10. Urge on 12. __ Stabler; "Law & Order: Organized Crime" role 13. __ Lane; "Smallville" role 16. "__ Given Sunday"; Pacino movie 17. Jenna Elfman's age 18. "Ben __ __"; 2018 Julia Roberts film 20. Nolte's initials 21. Superman's alias 23. Black gem 25. "Baby, Take a __"; Shirley Temple film 26. Role on "The Big Bang Theory" 27. Prefix for form or cycle 28. Sense of self-esteem 29. Shoelace problem 30. Arthur with a racket 32. CD forerunners 33. One of the Munsters 38. Setting for "Bonanza": abbr. 39. Garden soil after a rainfall 41. Miles, for one 42. __ up; run out of 43. Ryan of "The Beverly Hillbillies" 45. Dr. __ Glassman; "The Good Doctor" role 47. "The Seven __ Itch"; Marilyn Monroe film 48. Sherman Hemsley series DOWN 1. Actress on "Big Sky" (2) 2. Actress Larter 3. Note of the musical scale 4. Dangerous sea swimmers 5. Part of DVD 6. "__ With Her" (2003-04) 7. Numbers expert, for short 8. Actor on "S.W.A.T." (2) 9. "The Lawrence __ Show" (1951-55) 11. Wild feline 14. __-GYN; doctor for women 15. Midwest state: abbr. 18. "You Can't Take __ __ You"; James Stewart film 19. Like Daniel Dae Kim's family 22. Advice to Nanette (2) 24. Unpleasant spouses 29. Cotler of "The Waltons" 31. Get __; seek revenge 34. "Unhappily __ After" 35. Prefix for view or print 36. "__. Mayor" 37. Excellent report card 40. Billy __ Williams 42. Suffix for advent or press 44. Ming-__ Wen 46. Morning, for short Solution is on page 2. CoverStory By Jay Bobbin Football-championship season can mean good news for certain series. Networks often decide to give extra postgame airings to shows they want to boost ... and on Sun- day, Jan. 29, CBS' "Fire Country" receives such treatment, as the Max Thieriot-starring drama gets a showcase outside its usual Friday slot, follow- ing the AFC Championship contest. In the new story, a plane crash sparks a blaze that Bode Donovan (Thieriot) and other fire- fighting volunteers among Northern California prison inmates unite to battle. Thieriot recently ended his connection to "SEAL Team" with the death of his character on that show, now seen on Paramount+, so he's now exclusive to "Fire Country" — some- thing that could have been foreseen, since he's also a creator and executive pro- ducer of the latter series. He claimed at the start of the television season that he had the energy to keep doing both programs, but his larger commitment clearly was to the latter one. Having based "Fire Country" (which already has been renewed for a second season) on his own experiences growing up in the Sonoma County region that the show con- cerns, Thieriot reflects, "I'd say the stuff that's kind of most memorable right now is the stuff that's really occurred in the past few years ... obviously, a large portion of the Santa Rosa being destroyed, Coffey Park and all those neigh- borhoods, all the lives that were tragically lost. It was a really, really devastating fire, so I think that one probably has the biggest impact on me emotionally." Additional "Fire Coun- try" stars include Diane Farr, Billy Burke, Jordan Calloway, Kevin Alejandro (who also directed a recent episode), Jules Latimer, Stephanie Arcila and W. Tre Davis. For viewers who may not have seen the show yet — one aim of the after-football sched- uling being to draw more viewers to it — executive producer Tony Phelan says they shouldn't worry about not being able to get up to speed quickly. "We conceived of it as having some serialized elements," he allows, "but I think it will be easy for the audience to come in if they if they have missed some episodes. There are obviously fire events, res- cue events. Our firefighters battle wildfires from the Oregon border all the way down to Mexico. They also do water rescue; there's all sorts of stories to tell. And we've got quite a few mysteries at the center of our town." CBS gives 'Fire Country' a special post-football airing The identity of the featured celebrity is found within the answers in the puzzle. In order to take the TV Challenge, unscramble the letters noted with asterisks within the puzzle. InFocus "Harlem: Season 2" (Prime Video — season premiere, Feb. 3) The sophomore round of this original comedy series from Tracy Oliver ("Girls Trip") finds Camille (Meagan Good) trying to pick up the pieces after blowing up her career and love life, Tye (Jerrie Johnson) looking to the future, Quinn (Grace Byers) on a journey of self-discovery and Angie's (Shoniqua Shandai) career taking a promising turn.

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