Today's Entertainment

‘The Cape’ unfurls action-packed plots on NBC By Jacqueline Cutler © Zap2it Heroes usually deflect praise, saying they’re just ordinary folks thrust into ex- traordinary circumstances. When firefighters storm into blazing buildings, sol- diers hurl themselves on live grenades and commuters pull strangers from hurtling trains, that’s the standard, humble response. Vince Faraday (David Ly- ons, “ER”) is such a charac- ter in NBC’s ambitious “The Cape,” premiering Sunday, Jan. 9. “He’s an ordinary man trapped in an extraordinary circumstance,” Lyons says. “He is a family guy first and a fighter second. And when his family is taken from him, he only has one option left, and that is to fight for them.” Faraday is a solid Ameri- can, a vet who played Little League and whose dad was sheriff. For more than 200 years, the Faraday family has lived in Palm City, a fic- tional West Coast metropolis that Faraday takes pride in policing. Then the police depart- ment becomes privatized, and in a series of fast-ac- tion sequences, Faraday is framed for a series of mur- ders and presumed dead. He becomes The Cape, his son’s favorite comic book hero. This setup requires plen- ty of action, and Lyons does his own stunts. “They won’t let me jump through windows or do wire work,” Lyons says of being suspended in midair. “When I receive a swift kick and go flying over 10 to 15 meters, that’s when the voice on high screams out, ‘You are not doing this!’ I would defi- nitely do it. It is not about machismo. It is just great fun.” He has no innate super- powers but has a phenom- enal cape, spun from spider silk stronger than Kevlar. Faraday is a great cop, a terrific dad to his young son and a loving husband forced into a hellish alternate uni- verse where, as The Cape, he views his former life from the outside. It gets weirder. The Cape winds up with a band of bank robbers who resemble the cast of “Caba- ret” - only nastier and more disaffected. Like so many bandits, though, they have their own code of honor and harbor The Cape. Their leader is Max (Keith Summer Glau stars in “The Cape,” premiering Sunday on NBC. Take a break in our David, “Death at a Funeral”), a magician. Given his fe- lonious nature, one would expect Max to be a bad guy, but he’s quite decent when it comes to mentoring The Cape. Then, there’s the uber- EVERY TUESDAY! Antiques & Collectibles beginning at 4:00 p.m. Our Newest Addition CEO, Peter Fleming (James Frain, “True Blood”), the epitome of a sophisticate. Frain describes his aloof character as “a billionaire’s billionaire. He is charming and roguish.” He’s also evil. By night, Experience the elegance, tradition, and unmatched Amish quality of tables, chairs, bedroom suites, and more. B Dutch Village Borkholder Antiques, Crafts, and Gift Mall 700 N Tomahawk Tr., Nappanee, IN 574.773.2828 • www.borkholder.com he’s the demented serial killer Chess. If those bodies don’t pile up fast enough, by day he’s Fleming, a capital- ist of such gross proportions he considers murder part of the cost of business. And he’s hellbent on world domi- nation. “That is unfortunate,” Frain says archly, pretty much keeping in character. “The things about James Frain and the character is, if James Bond were a psy- chopath,” show creator Tom Wheeler says, pausing. “He is evolving into this. You love him. I need to make sure people know what an awful person he is.” In an odd bit of trivia, which Wheeler says is un- intentional, Peter Fleming was the name of the older brother of James Bond cre- ator Ian Fleming. This Peter Fleming, CEO of ARK, is on a mission to privatize all industry and services. “There is something very interesting about privatiza- tion, and corporations that have values that are larger than certain nations, and becoming nation-states unto themselves,” Wheeler says. Few have the courage to challenge the man reigning over all of this. Among those few is Orwell (Summer Glau, “Ter- minator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”), an investiga- tive blogger whose website, Orwell Is Watching, refers to George Orwell’s classic “1984.” In a clever bit of branding, NBC has posted a site about the show at or- welliswatching.com. “She is doing all of this on her own and has been for quite some time,” Glau says of her character. “I love that she’s a young woman making her own rules and going out and saying what she thinks is right and blaz- ing her own trail and creat- ing new kinds of software.” As cutting-edge as the technology is, the essence of the show boils down to a good guy in a cape, fighting for truth, justice and yes, the American way. “He is a superhero in training, and I use the term ‘superhero’ with quotation marks,” Lyons says. “It is a different thing because he doesn’t believe he is a superhero, and that is what makes him really interesting. He is on a singular journey to reclaim his life, and the only way to do so is through his character, The Cape.” As The Cape, he trains as if he were competing in the superhero Olympics, yet Faraday is ultimately a bro- ken human. “The heart of our story and the message we are trying to send is that a person’s love for their family knows no limits,” Glau says. “And Vince, he is willing to do whatever he needs for his family. And Orwell, in her own way, will do anything for justice. She is fighting to do what is right.” 2 The Goshen News • Viewer’s Choice • Saturday, January 8, 2011 - Friday, January 14, 2011 Life Serial ‘Beyond Scared Straight’ tries to keep saving lives By Kate O’Hare © Zap2it In 1978, Arnold Shapiro produced the Academy Award- and Emmy Award- winning documentary “Scared Straight!” in which inmates confronted trou- bled youth with the shock- ing reality of prison life. The film inspired sev- eral sequels on different TV networks and several more, similar programs in prisons around the country. On Thursday, Jan. 13, A&E Network - which has helped addicts confront their issues in the hit series “Intervention” - pre- mieres “Beyond Scared Straight.” Launching with a 90-minute episode, the seven-episode series - Shapiro says it was origi- nally five, but then A&E added two more - follows at-risk youth of both sexes, from 13 to 18, as they go through intensive, one-day sessions with inmates. “It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?” says Shapiro of the fact that more than 30 years since the original “Scared Straight!” the in- terventions are still need- ed. “I started wondering what the 21st-century ver- sions of these programs were like. How are they the same? How are they different?” The show is different from the original in that it features far more exten- sive interviews with the teens and the adults in their lives, along with more follow-up on the results of the program. “Some make immediate changes,” says Shapiro. “Some do not make im- mediate changes. But they are more open to listening to the counselor or the po- lice officer or maybe even their parents, who are finally able to reach them, because of the prison ex- perience. “There are really inspir- ing success stories, and there are a few shocking stories of kids who didn’t change.” -What’s different to- day than at the time of the original “Scared Straight!” in 1978: Dan- gers in the street have increased for many teens, and at the same time, music videos, television and video games have glamorized the criminal lifestyle. In modern programs, there are one-on-one sessions with teens and inmates whose life histories are similar to the teens’ re- alities, so that the teens can more readily see how their choices can have dire consequences. Old Softener needing a check-up???? NOW IS THE TIME January Special 1-888-WeDuMor Performance Check $25 Expires January 31, 2011 Call today

• Cover