Up & Coming Weekly

MARCH 3 - 9, 2010 UCW 19 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I say this every year, but I really think the Academy Awards will be better than usual (Sunday, 8 p.m., ABC). The producers are reportedly studying film of past disasters to weed out the deadliest elements (why has no one ever thought of this before?), and hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are sure to be an improvement over last year's Hugh Jackman. After watching January's Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award ceremonies, we can be pretty sure who will win the Oscars, but we can also be pretty sure that the acceptance speeches will be entertaining. Best Supporting Actress Monique will have everyone crying, Best Director James Cameron will have everyone gagging, and Best Actress Sandra Bullock (or, I hope, Meryl Streep) will have everyone laughing. The only train wreck will be Best Actor Jeff Bridges, so brilliant onscreen in Crazy Heart but so scattered in his accep- tance speeches so far. Bridges is peerless at playing a role, so maybe he just needs some talented screenwriter to pen him a few lines. He can come to the podium in character as "eloquent Jeff Bridges." Masterpiece Classic Thursday, 9 pm (PBS)) The 39 Steps is a charming adaptation of John Buchan's seminal spy novel, which was also the source for Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film of the same name. The current version turns Buchan's Richard Hannay (Rupert Penry-Jones) into a proto- James Bond: witty and cool under pressure. Hannay is a bored ex-spy who's wrongly suspected of murder after a mysterious operative shoves a codebook into his hand before dying. He eludes police on a wild journey to foil a German plot on the eve of World War I. The 39 Steps approaches the material with a playful spirit, emphasizing the ab- surdity of chase scenes and mistaken identity. Hey, Masterpiece Classic, why have you been keeping your madcap sense of humor under wraps? Who Do You Think You Are? Friday, 8 pm (NBC) Many people are interested in their own genealogical roots, but very few are interested in other people's. That's a problem for Who Do You Think You Are?, which follows celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker as they take "life- altering journeys into the past!" according to the excitable narrator. The "life-altering" part is questionable. In the pilot, Parker examines a musty page of the 1860 Ohio census that suggests one of her ancestors mined in the California Gold Rush. "Wow!" she says repeatedly. "That's so crazy! Un-be-lievable!" I can guarantee that you won't say "wow." You'll wonder why you're watching Parker trudge into the Massachusetts Historical Society on a quest that's meaning- ful only to her. "I could print this document out for you," the librarian says in the episode's most dramatic moment. Don't miss next week's exciting installment, when another librarian prints out a document for Emmitt Smith. The Real Housewives of New York City Thursday, 11 pm (Bravo) The Real Housewives franchise has always been an irritant, but it became a full-blown threat to the republic last fall when a couple of idiots auditioned by breaching the security cordon at a White House event. I kept an eye out for similar subversive activity in the new season of The Real Housewives of New York City but detected only a group of spoiled rich friends sniping at each other. "It's been a very rough summer," says Jill, while lounging on a yacht in the Hamptons. Yep, rough. The centerpiece of this week's episode is a hissy fit by LuAnn, who had been married to a count. Ramona's husband had playfully called her "countless" rather than "count- ess," and she stews about it for the entire hour. "I can take a joke," she assures the other Housewives. That's clearly untrue, but she sure can be a joke. The new Real Housewives season is as annoying as ever, but as long as it sticks to whining and backbiting, I don't think the Secret Service needs to get involved. The Oscars Won't Suck You heard it here fi rst TV by DEAN ROBBINS Each Home Instead Senior Care ® is independently owned and operated. © 2010 Home Instead, Inc. Companionship Medication Reminders Meal Preparation Light Housekeeping Shopping & Errands Personal Care homeinstead.com Call for a free, no-obligation appointment: 910.484.7200 Whether you are looking for someone to help an aging parent a few hours a week, or need more comprehensive assistance, Home Instead Senior Care ® can help. A Title III funded project Rhythm ... Melody ... Harmony ... Improv Saturdays at 6:00 P.M. Every week on JazzSet 91.9 FM Your NPR News and Jazz Station The legends ... Today's top bands ... Promising new talent

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