What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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February 25 - March 3, 2018 WHATS UP! T5 BY ANDREW WARREN TV Media Book smart: Things have gotten biblical at CBS. The net- work's long-anticipated sitcom based on a bestselling non-fic- tion book has been in the works since 2015, and "Living Biblical- ly" finally premieres Monday, Feb. 26. Jay R. Feguson ("Mad Men") stars as Chip, a lapsed Catholic who suffers a one-two series of emotional punches after his best friend dies and his wife (Lindsey Kraft, "Grace and Frankie") re- veals that she's pregnant. After taking a look at his life — and af- ter his deceased friend's mother reveals that she doesn't believe her son made it into heaven — Chip decides that the best way to improve himself is to start fol- lowing the rules found in the Bi- ble as literally as he can. The premise is lifted straight from the 2007 book "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bi- ble as Literally as Possible," by magazine editor A.J. Jacobs. For the sitcom, which was called "By the Book" earlier in pro- duction, the writers and pro- ducers have attempted to craft a comedy that can poke fun at the idea of interpreting certain biblical rules literally (like, say, the stoning of adulterers) in our modern world, without ever making fun of Christians themselves or their beliefs. To be sure, that's a fine line to walk, but "Living Biblically" has a strong team behind it. "The Big Bang Theory" star Johnny Galecki serves as pro- ducer, while Camryn Manheim ("Ghost Whisperer"), Ian Go- mez ("Cougar Town"), David Krumholtz ("Numb3rs") and Carla Renata ("Hart of Dixie") round out the show's cast. It's a laugh-out-loud comedy with a biblical twist, and it pre- mieres on CBS on Monday, Feb. 26. Bad boys: The word "mafia" may conjure up images of Pro- hibition-era mobsters, or of "The Godfather" (1972) star Marlon Brando making offers that can't be refused, but it's no secret that organized crime hasn't gone away over the de- cades, as one British import makes all too clear. "McMafia" aired earlier this year in the United Kingdom on BBC One, and on Monday, Feb. 26, it makes its way across the pond to premiere on AMC. The eight-part drama may be a work of fiction, but it's inspired by Misha Glenny's 2008 non-fic- tion book "McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld," which peels back the veil that usually keeps mod- ern day organized crime hid- den from sight. James Norton ("Grantches- ter") stars as Alex Godman, an accomplished businessman who's successfully left the shadow of his Russian exile fa- ther. He's spent his life avoiding his father's criminal past, but when that ugly history rears up and refuses to let him get away so easily, he finds himself tempted by the lures of corrup- tion. Sound intriguing? British critics sure thought so, giving the series' excellent reviews, and users of AMC's Premiere service don't even have to wait to watch the whole series, with all eight episodes available to subscribers once the series pre- miere has aired. Of course, Norton isn't the only star in this black-hearted drama. Juliet Rylance ("Ameri- can Gothic") stars alongside him as his loving fiancée, Re- becca, while American actor David Strathairn ("The Black- list") plays powerful Israeli businessman Semiyon Klei- man. The mafia certainly isn't a thing of the past, and AMC's "McMafia" isn't afraid to take a look at its modern incarna- tions. The drama premieres Monday, Feb. 26. Bergen's back: First it was reboots and now it's revivals of classic '90s TV shows. Fox was first up to the plate with the return of "The X-Files" in 2016, and in 2017, NBC brought back "Will & Grace." ABC's "Roseanne" returns March 27 more than 20 years after it went off the air, and now CBS is getting in on the revival ac- tion as well. Thirteen new episodes of "Murphy Brown" have been green-lit for the 2018-19 TV season, bringing back one of the sharpest, smartest and most popular sitcoms from the 1990s. Candice Bergen ("Boston Le- gal") is lined up to return as the titular character, a role that she played for all 10 seasons of the show's original run. The series was agenda setting at the time: Brown was a powerful single woman who anchored fictional newsmagazine series "FYI." Bergen won an impressive five Emmys for her role before re- fusing future nominations so that other actresses could com- pete. The media landscape has changed dramatically since "Murphy Brown" went dark in 1998, with concerns about fake news and questions of bias dominating the modern dis- course. It's exactly the sort of environment that's perfect for a series that was never shy about courting controversy to come into. The revivals just keep on coming, and "Murphy Brown" is just the latest one coming down the pike. Watch for the revived series starring Candice Bergen to premiere next TV season. ALF ARCADE ATARI BERLIN WALL BREAKDANCE CARE BEARS DENIM DUCKTALES HACKY SACK HAIR SPRAY HE-MAN IBM PC LIVE AID MACINTOSH MADONNA MIAMI VICE MOUSSE MTV MULLET MURPHY BROWN NES NINJA TURTLES NOT! PAC-MAN POPPLES PRINCE SEGA SMURFS SPACE SHUTTLE SWATCH VHS WALKMAN Big in the '80s Jay R. Ferguson stars in "Living Biblically" WORD SEARCH STARS ON SCREEN Solution on page T23 A/Elder Law Practice 2 x 3