Only last year, the ABC TV network was programming several female-driven new dramas.  As a result, “Revenge” scored big time, seemingly across the board in several demographic categories.

On the other hand, the reboot of “Charlie’s Angels” and the retro appeal of “Pan Am,” both shows featuring attractive female leads, flopped big time.

That the TV business is fickle and unpredictable could not be underscored more than by the failure of last year’s network shows geared to 1960s nostalgia, popularized by the cable show “Mad Men.”  I am referring to NBC’s “The Playboy Club” as well as “Pan Am.”
 
These evocative series sought to grab the essence of “Mad Men’s” gold standard for drama, ignoring the fact that AMC’s popular cable show generated the number of viewers that would sink a show on a network.

Speaking to a gathering of the nation’s TV critics last summer, Paul Lee, president of ABC Entertainment, proclaimed himself as willing to take “some risks in broadcast.”

Fast forward a year, and Lee is singing the same tune for the TV critics once again, going so far as to remind everyone that “we took risks last year, and it’s really, really fun.”

Expounding on the risk-taking theme, Lee also observed that he loves “the idea that this is a network that can really take risks with the different genres.  You see risks up there this year with the shows that we are doing.”

Well, the network executive’s claims may be valid, but one thing for sure is that there are no remakes of vintage TV series that once held appeal because of the original actors.

This year’s fall schedule on ABC has the look of everything for everybody, with a range of genres from comedy to drama, suspense to thriller, and romance to fantasy.

Having this pointed out by a critic, Lee responded that “ABC has a brand,” and that the network tends to “tell great emotional storytelling.”

“We do provocative shows,” Lee professed, going on to say that ABC does “shows that are really driven by character and emotion.”  This may be as good a reason as any for the new series “Last Resort.”

To be sure, as submarine captain Marcus Chaplin, Andre Braugher brings character and emotion to his role in “Last Resort” when he is relieved of duty for failure to follow a command.

But then, his replacement officer (Scott Speedman) is also conflicted about following orders.  The U.S. ballistic missile submarine was told, over a radio channel limited to a doomsday scenario, to fire nuclear weapons at Pakistan.

Unable to obtain confirmation of the orders, the submarine and its crew find themselves under attack and then declared rogue enemies of their own country.

The show’s co-creator, Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) told critics that “Last Resort” is not the kind of show that would seek cooperation from the Navy in order to get script approval from the military.  Yeah, this show doesn’t sound like John Wayne and “The Green Berets.”

Reba McEntire has become her own cottage industry of country music superstar and actress on the screen, large and small, and the Broadway stage.

Now Reba returns to a sitcom as a woman who moves her children away from her cheating husband in Nashville and seeks to revive her singing career in the foreign land of sunny California.

In “Malibu Country,” Reba is joined by her sharp-tongued mother Lillie Mae (Lily Tomlin), a surefire bet for comic relief.

Reba learns that relocating to Malibu is quite a challenge to her traditional southern values, while her offspring have their trials and tribulations of fitting in.
     
Sticking to the country music theme, ABC’s new drama “Nashville” explores the battle for popularity between a fading country legend and a rising star.
     
Connie Britton’s chart-topping Rayna Janes finds her popularity is waning.  Fans still line up to get her autograph, but she’s not packing arenas anymore.
     
Rayna’s record label suggests a concert tour where the legend opens for up-and-comer Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere), the young and sexy future of country music.
     
But the scheming Juliette can’t wait to steal Rayna’s spotlight.  Meanwhile, Rayna doesn’t want to share the stage with the untalented little vixen.  Hence, the inevitable power struggle ensues.
     
The title of new drama “666 Park Avenue” is somewhat revealing.  Does this mean Satan has a penthouse in the ritziest part of Manhattan?  No, not exactly.  But it is still troubling, nonetheless.
     
The seductive address is for The Drake, a fancy apartment building owned by the mysterious Gavin Doran (Terry O’Quinn) and his wife Olivia (Vanessa Williams).
     
Unsuspecting new tenants, an idealistic young couple (Rachel Taylor and Dave Annable), are given the opportunity to manage the historic building in which supernatural forces endanger the lives of its residents.
     
In “666 Park Avenue,” The Drake, home to an epic struggle of good versus evil, maintains a dark hold over all of its tenants in this chilling supernatural drama.
     
A very different sort of neighbors is found in a gated New Jersey townhome community with its own golf course in the new comedy “The Neighbors.”
     
Debbie and Marty Weaver (Jami Gertz and Lenny Venito) buy the first townhome in Hidden Hills to come on the market in 10 years.  
     
From day one, it is clear the residents of the community are a little different.  For starters, the new neighbors all have pro-athlete names like Reggie Jackson, Dick Butkis and Larry Bird.
     
The Weavers soon learn that the entire community is comprised of aliens from Zabvron, where the men bear children and everyone cries green goo from their ears.
     
With the exception of an early November date for “Malibu Country,” new ABC series launch in late September and early October.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (Rated PG)

Where is it written that every film released in the summer must feature explosions, gun play, car chases and even superheroes trying to outwit each other?  

Just when you think that originality is somehow more uncommon than airline carriers arriving on time, along comes the inspiring, magical story of “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.”  
 
Writer and director Peter Hedges, who previously adapted his first novel “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” into a feature film, is the right person to bring enchantment to the screen with this new Disney film.

Oh, by the way, unlike so many other summer films, this one truly is an entertainment for the entire family, with the exception of only the very youngest who are mainly drawn to animated stories.

There’s something wonderfully old-fashioned about a happily married couple living in the idyllic rural town of Stanleyville where the main industry is a pencil factory.

Cindy and Jim Green (Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton) are eager to fill one void in their otherwise pleasant lives. The couple has been unable to produce a child of their own.

One night, they write on paper all the great qualities they would love to have in a child, such as a great heart, a sense of humor, honest disposition and the ability to score a winning goal in a big game.

All the notes about an ideal child are placed in a wooden box and buried in the garden. Even though the area has been subject to a drought, a thunderstorm that same night delivers precious water to the garden.

Low and behold, a 10-year-old boy named Timothy (CJ Adams), covered in mud and leaves, suddenly materializes at the doorstep of the Green household.

The Greens introduce themselves by their first names, but Timothy is quick to call them Mom and Dad, and thus begins an interesting fantasy saga about a little boy who brings familial love where it did not fully exist.

Naturally, Timothy is unique and different, all the more so since leaves sprout near his ankles. Yet eager to fit in, Timothy wears long socks, even while swimming, to cover his flaws.

Though his status would be impossible to explain, the Greens don’t even bother to say much of anything to relatives who arrive the next day for a long-planned family picnic.

The family dynamic proves interesting. Cindy’s sister Brenda (Rosemarie DeWitt), who has her own “perfect” children, is disdainful of the new arrival. But Uncle Bub (M. Emmet Walsh), with his own quirky sense of humor, feels an immediate rapport with the amusing Timothy.

Meanwhile, Jim’s father (David Morse), known as Big Jim, remains aloof and never gave approval to his own son, but Timothy just might crack the old man’s façade of cold detachment.

Of course, the small town is filled with oddball characters, such Dianne Wiest’s Bernice Crudstaff, the uptight wealthy boss of the Pencil Museum where Cindy Green works as a docent.

Other characters have no particular charm or endearing quirks, such as Ron Livingston’s Franklin Crudstaff, the uncaring boss at the Pencil Factory where Jim Green is a supervisor.  

In the age of the Internet, the factory faces hard times and may have to close. But Timothy, with the help of his only friend Joni (Odeya Rush), saves the day with an inspired new product.

Because the film needs a villain, Franklin Crudstaff tries to take credit for Timothy’s invention, but there’s probably no need to tell you whether he’ll be unmasked for his deception.
 
Cynics will scoff at the family fairy tale of Timothy Green’s “Odd Life,” and their thoughts may well be derisive, scornful, sarcastic and even hostile.  
     
Yet, an open mind to the simple pleasures of “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” which is by no means flawless in its execution, may prove more rewarding.  A little cuteness and suspension of disbelief never hurt anyone.

Indeed, the simple story of a childless couple and their special “gift” is emotional, heartwarming, funny and deeply touching, and so “The Odd Life of Timothy Green” is undeniably magical.

DVD RELEASE UPDATE

Just recently, this space of the column celebrated the good fortune of vintage TV detective shows being released on DVD.

This week it is time to commemorate another classic 1970s police drama that starred a young Michael Douglas as the college educated inspector Steve Keller.

If you didn’t guess, another season of “The Streets of San Francisco” is getting the full screen format treatment in two volumes.

“The Streets of San Francisco: Season Four: Volume One & Volume Two” DVD sets combined provide nearly 20 hours of thrilling crime drama entertainment.

Along with Michael Douglas, the series starred the wonderful Karl Malden as the 20-year veteran detective Lt. Mike Stone.

Douglas’ inspector Keller may have a lot to learn about being a police detective, but Malden’s Lt. Stone is the perfect mentor.

“The Streets of San Francisco” is a great police drama with excellent storylines and great performances from the winning combination of Douglas and Malden.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The 19th annual Quilt and Textile Exhibition in the Weaver Auditorium hosted by the Lower Lake Historical School Preservation Committee will wrap up this weekend.

The show is open during regular business hours, Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. through Saturday, Aug. 25.

Featured artists this year include the Clear Lake Quilt Guild, Ladies of the Lake Quilt Guild, art quilter Julia Regina and weaver Sheila O’Hara and her talented students Janis Eckert, Pam Perry, Suzanne Britz, and Ellen Hardenburger, and mother-daughter-grand daughter trio Sylvia Anderson, Lorna Rochman-McEntire and Hana Musgrove.

Antique quilts and an 1807 spinning wheel are also be on display.

An artists reception was attended by over 70 enthusiastic people who enjoyed viewing the colorful quilts and textured weavings as well as the educational wool carding, spinning and weaving demonstrations on Saturday, Aug. 11, from noon until 2 p.m.

The Schoolhouse Museum is located at 16435 Main St. in Lower Lake.

For more information please call 707-995-3565.

One of my favorite poems is by Ruth Stone, about eating at a McDonald’s, and I have myself written a poem about a lunch at Arby’s.

To these fast-food poems I now propose we add this fine one about IHOP, by Christine Stewart-Nuñez, who teaches at South Dakota State University.

Breakfast for Supper

At IHOP, after the skinny brunette
with a band-aid covering her hickey
comes to whisk away burnt toast,
Mom mentions Theresa, face
brightening. She had a dream
about her—80s flip hair, smooth
complexion. I’ve been living
in Tulsa for eighteen years,
Theresa said. I understand.
Even as I watched men lower
her casket, I fantasized the witness
protection program had resettled her.

How funny we look, mother
and daughter laughing over
scrambled eggs, tears dripping
onto bacon, hands hugging
coffee mugs. For a moment Mom felt
Theresa there. Such faith. Freshen
your cup? the waitress asks me, poised
to pour. Cloudy in the cold coffee,
my reflection. I offer the mug.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Christine Stewart-Nuñez from her most recent book of poems, Keeping Them Alive, WordTech Editions, 2011. Reprinted by permission of Christine Stewart- Nuñez and the publisher. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – Tickets are now on sale for the concert on Saturday, Sept. 8, by Rita Hosking and Sean Feder that will benefit Anderson Marsh State Historic Park.

The concert will take place at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre, 275 S. Main St., Lakeport.

Proceeds from this event will go toward helping to keep Anderson Marsh State Historic Park open to the public.

The park offers a wonderful local resource for walking and birdwatching, provides important open space and habitat for wildlife and is the site of educational tours for student groups and others.

Volunteers with the Anderson Marsh Interpretive Association (AMIA) are presenting the concert and are hoping for a sold out crowd.

“There are not many things in life in which you can do something good for your community and be completely entertained at the same time!” commented AMIA board member, Anna McAtee in reference to the Sept. 8 concert.

Opening for Hosking will be local groups the Clear Lake Clikkers, Three Deep and Uncorked.

“When you purchase your ticket and enjoy the music, you will also be contributing to the future of Lake County,” McAtee said.

Tickets are on sale now online at www.soperreesetheatre.com .

Tickets are also available at The Travel Center in Lakeport, 1265 S. Main St., the Lake County Chamber of Commerce office at Vista Point and Watershed Books. Tickets also will be available at the door.

Tickets are $25 and will also be available at the door. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show opens at 7 p.m. with the Clear Lake Clikkers.

For more information about Rita Hosking, you can visit her Web site at www.ritahosking.com .

A while back, we published a poem about a mockingbird, but just because one poet has written a poem about something, he or she doesn’t hold rights to the subject in perpetuity.

Here’s another fine mockingbird poem from Carol V. Davis, who lives in Los Angeles.

Mockingbird II

    How perfectly he has mastered
the car alarm, jangling us from sleep.
    Later his staccato scatters smaller birds
that landed on the wire beside him.
    Perhaps the key to success
is imitation, not originality.
    Once, when the cat slinked up
the orange tree and snatched a hatchling,
    the mockingbird turned on us,
marked us for revenge.
    For two whole weeks he dive bombed
whenever I ventured out the screen door
    lured by his call: first tricked into thinking
the soft coo was a mourning dove courting,
    next drawn by the war cry of a far larger animal.
He swooped from one splintered eave, his mate from the other,
    aiming to peck out my eyes, to wrestle
the baby from my arms, to do God knows what
    with that newborn.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation ( www.poetryfoundation.org ), publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2008 by Carol V. Davis, from her most recent book of poems, Between Storms, Truman State University Press, 2012. Reprinted by permission of Carol V. Davis and the publisher. Poem first appeared in Permafrost, Vol. 30, Summer 2008. Introduction copyright © 2012 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. They do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.