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.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/48856
The Kids Are all Wrong Moms say I Hate My Teenage Daughter; we hate them too TV by DEAN ROBBINS It's hard to believe that Fox, the same network that premiered New Girl this fall, now gives us I Hate My Teenage Daughter (Wednesday, 9:30 p.m.). Where New Girl is a sophisticated take on the sitcom genre, I Hate My Teenage Daughter is painfully old-fashioned, with cornball punchlines that drive the laugh track mad. Annie (Jaime Pressly) and Nikki (Katie Finneran) are friends who get into kooky situations while parenting their beautiful, bratty daughters. Imagine Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance, but without the comic talent. Even worse than the lack of wit is the lack of civility. The show consists mainly of the women arguing with the kids and their ex-husbands, often at high volume. You feel like you're trapped in somebody else's nightmarish family dynamic. "We gave them a hundred dollars to stop yelling at us!" the clueless dads say of their evil spawn. I'd be willing to pitch in a hundred bucks myself to make the screaming stop. Neverland Sunday, 9 pm (SyFy) At mid-century, J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan was memorably adapted in a Walt Disney cartoon and a Mary Martin musical. Since then, everybody from Steven Spielberg to Michael Jackson has had trouble with the idea of Neverland. The lat- est misfire is a choppy SyFy miniseries in which Peter (Charlie Rowe) is a juvenile delinquent transported to a galaxy where no one ever grows old. We get Barrie's pirates, Indians and fairies but none of his enchantment. Indeed, Mary Martin fly- ing on cables felt more magical than this CGI-clogged milieu. Neverland features a supermodel (Anna Friel) in a sort of Victoria's Secret ver- sion of pirate wear. You'll shoo the kids away from the TV when she lewdly propo- sitions Hook (Rhys Ifans), who's dry and grim and no fun at all. That's right, folks — it's a Peter Pan adaptation not meant for children. Gee, who'd have predicted that might pose a problem? Leverage Sunday, 9 pm (TNT) In this week's episode, the do-gooding gang of thieves, con artists and hackers go undercover in a greeting-card company. Their mission is to find an embezzler, but it's complicated by the presence of a pompous German film- maker shooting a documentary there about American business. The gang members have to play along, speaking to the camera in character while also conducting their investigation on the sly. Soon, their actual resentments about working with each other begin to seep into their interviews, in coded form. In other words, the episode satirizes business, Germany, earnest documentaries and Leverage itself, all while delivering an exciting caper. It also takes a whack at greeting-card culture, as one of the cons offers this idea for a new card line: "Get well soon. Or don't — it's not up to you." That Leverage pulls this whole thing off is nothing short of miraculous. I feel like sending the producers a thank-you card. The Sing-Off Monday, 8 pm (NBC) Last year's installment of the vocal-group competition featured the king of a cappella music, the Persuasions' Jerry Lawson. After that, there was nowhere for the series to go but down, but word has it that Lawson will return this week for a holiday-themed guest appearance. Any current competitor who wants to win first place had better listen carefully to Lawson's performance. It'll be a lesson in Soulfulness 101 — a class most of these young singers seem to have missed in school. Something great is always going on here! DECEMBER Sunday Morning SERMON SERIES Luke 1 & 2 SINGING CHRISTMAS TREE Dec 9th 10th & 11th 7:00 "Searching For A King" Chris Dickerson Pastor SUNDAYS 8:30 Traditional Service 9:30 Sunday School 11:00 Blended Service WEDNESDAYS 5:30 Supper 6:30 Team Kids/Bible Study 7:30 Choir Practice 1095 E. Green Springs Rd. Parkton, NC www.greenspringsbc.com 20 UCW NOVEMBER 30 - DECEMBER 6, 2011 (910) 425-8602 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Candlelight Service 6:00 Christmas Eve