Up & Coming Weekly

FEBRUARY 17 - 23, 2010 UCW 23 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Before the new season began, I despaired over cast changes to American Idol (Tuesday, 8 p.m., Fox). Paula Abdul left and Simon Cowell announced he would leave after this year. The chemistry among the judges is at least half the fun on this beloved singing competition, and I thought significant depar- tures would spell disaster. I don't think that any- more. With the exception of the gum-chomping airhead Avril Lavigne, the guest judges worked well during the audition phase. Victoria Beckham shone in the sup- portive Paula role, as did Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry as sharp-tongued Simon types. When permanent Paula replacement Ellen DeGeneres showed up during Hollywood Week, she added her own brand of wit and charm. No matter what cast changes occur down the road, I now believe the American Idol franchise will be just fine. At this point, the only thing that could bring it down is Avril Lavigne and a pack of gum. Reporter Thursday, 9:30 pm (HBO) Reporter is a documentary that lionizes New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof. I've often dreamed of having such a documentary made about me (working title: TV Blurb Writer), but I don't have the luxury of flying around the world to find juicy material for my columns. Okay, it's actually not much of a luxury for Kristof. As we see, he plunges into strife-ridden areas and dodges suicide bombings to get the lowdown on humanitarian crises. He became an international hero for focusing attention on Darfur — "one of the great journalistic achievements of our time," a commen- tator says. Mia Farrow testifies that Kristof's reporting spurred her to action, along with completely blowing her mind. "His columns tore me apart and rear- ranged me," she says. Wait till she sees TV Blurb Writer. Survivors Saturday, 9 pm (BBC America) The BBC remakes its classic '70s drama about a group of people who've survived a devastating virus. 99 percent of the world has died, leaving the rest to forage for food at deserted grocery stores and form troubled alliances. If Survivors were an American production, the emphasis would be on apocalyptic sets, a doomy ambiance and grotesque corpses. But the BBC hasn't wasted money on any of that. The characters simply walk around in normal- looking streets and stores to create a very low-tech version of a depopulated world. The emphasis here is on good acting, and you'd be surprised at how ef- fective it is all by itself. Maybe there's a lesson in that, American TV networks. Sins of the Mother Sunday, 8 pm (Lifetime Movie Network) Shay (Nicole Beharie) returns home from college to fight with her re- formed alcoholic mother (Jill Scott). A lot. "Why are you here?" the mother asks after a few days of Shay's unabated hostility. The viewer can easily answer that question after about 20 minutes: Shay is there to learn to accept her moth- er and to move on with her life. That's gonna require some time, though. And frankly, 20 minutes is all I could take of this clichéd TV movie. Judicial Picks American Idol survives its cast changes TV by DEAN ROBBINS Thurs., February 25th through Sunday, February 28th! Opening Night Seats Just $12.50! Thu. FEB. 25 ( 7:00 PM Fri. Sat. Sun. OPENING NIGHT TICKETS $10!* FEB. 25 7:00 PM FEB. 26 3:00 PM 7:00 PM FEB. 27 PM *(Excludes VIP, VIP Floor and Front Row seats. No double discounts.) TICKETS $12.50* Buy tickets online, at www.ticketmaster.com, Crown Coliseum box offi ce or call 910-438-4100 TICKET PRICES: $15.50 - $19.50 - $33.50 VIP - $50.50 VIP DINING www.Ringling.com

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