Jack & Bobby

I viewed the WB's "Jack & Bobby" on a preview DVD of the first episode which is airing this Sunday. Got it from an insert in "Entertainment Weekly". I had seen the TV trailer on the WB, and thought the series conceit was a modern retelling of Jack and Bobby Kennedy. "One brother will become President of the United States." On the surface it is, and this series has the possibility of being breakthrough television. "Jack & Bobby" centers around the conversation of the origins of greatness in all people.

The first episode is expertly crafted, effective in it's retrospective narrative, i.e. from the future looking back. I don't know who wrote the episode, but he or she is visionary, having a noble cause.

The cast is powerful. Christine Lahti plays Grace McCallister, free-spirited college professor and single mom to her sons, Jack and Bobby. Matt Long plays Jack, the older brother. Jack is a high school sophomore, track star, smart cool loner, and popular with the girls. Logan Lerman plays Bobby. Bobby is the sensitive geeky asthmatic brother, who really doesn't much care about what other people think. He also has a strength of character that even he is yet unaware.

The first episode is a battle of wills between Grace and Jack over Bobby's future, and the possibility of the man he will become. Long and Lerman have a special chemistry which is the power of "Jack & Bobby". Jack and Bobby have an unconditional and unspoken love for each other, and see the other as great. In the narrative the future First Lady recalls that Jack and Bobby are like "two sides of the same coin". Rather each fills in the other's "missing". Jack inspires the strength and character in Bobby, that he himself has not yet distinguished. Bobby brings out the heart and compassion in Jack which he often chooses to dismiss or disguise. Ultimately, "Jack & Bobby" is a story about greatness, and those who inspire greatness. It is not a coincidence that "Jack & Bobby" focuses on the relationship between three strong, smart, and special people. "Jack & Bobby" has the possibility of greatness.

I often think back to this show. How amazing it was frames. How amazing the characters were. How amazing the stories were. A lot of good shows aren't renewed. But the fact that this one wasn't is just a horrible loss.

It's not available to stream anywhere. With al' the streaming services now someone should reboot it. Or just continue it. It's been 15 years but it's time for a good show like this to have a home again.

I watched the first episode of Jack & Bobby which airs tonight on a promotional DVD that was provided by Entertainment Weekly.

The show is innovative, it is a futuristic documentary that centers around the president of the United States between 2040-2048 and looks back to when he was a normal (or not so normal) kid in our present day. The show is pretty darn innovative, mixing some great creativity of our future, with some even more great realization of our current lives. It shows how one child, not too different from you and me can grow up to be president.

The cast is nice, great chemistry between all of the actors, and no significantly weak links among any of the cast, although the boy who plays Bobby's conformist friend could have stood some more acting lessons. The story for the pilot was great, it involved Bobby's mother and brother fighting over how he should be raised, and it deals with drugs in a smart gritty way, not how 7'th Heaven would deal with it. But again, most of all is how the show seems to blend Futuristic Political Documentary With Present-Day gritty drama, so seamlessly.

8/10 - I have high hopes for this one!

I was really drawn by the premise of this show, as well as by its loose allusions to the Kennedys, and funny, even though the acting leaves a bit to be desired and the dialogue sometimes approaches the Dawson's Creek zone. We've seen these situations before on the WB -- check out, for instance, one of Courtney's first lines when Jack tries to pick her up in the opener -- "you don't know anything about me" -- obviously implying she has some deeply-buried skeletons in the closet that will be uncovered in a later episode; very much like Andie McPhee's introduction to Pacey in Dawson's ... recycled material. However, unlike Dawson's Creek, which I watched religiously for three-plus years out pure amusement (you knew you couldn't take a show seriously in which every other line was some long-winded diatribe), there's something deeper, something more fascinating about "Jack and Bobby" that makes me keep coming back.

I believe that lies in the actual characters -- in some weird way, you really care about them. Maybe part of that has to do with the relationships -- they just seem so real. Jack has a strange love-hate relationship with his brother that actually reminds me very much of the relationship between my own brothers. Jack wants to push Bobby away because he's sick of being trailed by his annoying little brother, but at the same time subconsciously longs for his company, though denyingly embarrassed to say so. Grace is fighting to find the balance between smothering her sons and letting them do what they want. Some of the previous reviewers have criticised the show for not being explicit enough -- that Jack continuously refers to Bobby being "weird" but Bobby's actions don't support the accusation -- but they should look twice. How many of the outcasts in high school were truly those one-dimensional freaks you see portrayed too frequently in bad sitcoms? More often, the line between fitting in and being "different" is all too subtle -- I find it most interesting that Bobby is such a naive do-gooder at this point, he can't even internally comprehend what makes him so "different"... and because he can't see it, you can bet that it'll take time for the casual viewer to see it, too.

Another reason may be the flash-forwards -- you know this is not just some cheesy drama focusing on teens because they won't stay eternally young; everything they do in the here and now influences the people they will someday become, and the pieces are slowly and subtly being exposed, one by one. My greatest fear for the show is that, because we're learning about the future as we're learning about the present, the writers don't eventually get too boxed in, reveal too much about the future, and have to go back and "change" characters or take certain liberties in plot and time frame. If the writers can avoid such a pitfall week after week, there's little doubt in my mind that "Jack and Bobby" the show will be destined for greatness.

Seriously worth a watch. I can't wait for episode three.

Jack and Bobby is by the far the best new show of the year,and one of the best shows on television.It is an intelligent and enjoyable drama with great actors.What more do you want?Oh wait,from what I've been reading from some people here is that it is boring and predictable.You know what I see?I see an intelligent drama that is just too intelligent for the vast majority of people.They would rather watch the crap that is reality television or gritty crime shows such as CSI which is the most predictable show on television.I'm not saying CSI is bad,I watch it and its okay,but it is just a crime/forensic drama that doesn't involve much thinking at all,I have always guessed the killers right off,and have always been right.

As for reality TV,it is ruining great dramas such as Jack and Bobby,Angel 3rd Watch which is better than ER but doesn't get near as many viewers.Jack and Bobby is beyond reality TV,it involves people to think and to get sucked in,reality TV is for the people who find it hard to think.Great acting from all the cast,most notably Christine Lahti and the young Logan Lerman and great writing from Greg Berlanti(Everwood),Thomas Schlamme(The West Wing),Vanessa Taylor(Everwood and Alias) and directors such as David Nutter (Without a Trace,Roswell,The X-Files), provide a top quality show that is just too intelligent for many people.